The Best Academic Christian Books - Frank Viola

Updated: January 2025

What follows are my top picks for Christian theological and scholarly works (along with my favorite New Testament commentaries).

Note that these titles were selected out of the Christian academic books I’ve actually read – which admittedly is a small slice of what’s been written. There are thousands of academic books I’ve never read, and I’m still sifting through volumes that people recommend to me.

I created this list because many people who read my Best 100 Christian Books Ever Written list wanted my “theological and scholarly works” recommendations, including New Testament commentaries.

Please keep the following in mind as you view this list:

* I originally had 100 books listed, but over the last decade, so many new books have released that I wasn’t able to keep up. So I’ve reduced them to what I consider to be “the essentials.”

* I’ve not added Old Testament commentaries simply because I haven’t read enough of them to rate them against one another. What’s listed are the most helpful New Testament commentaries I’ve come across and that I use regularly.

* Just because a book or commentary appears on this list doesn’t mean that I agree with every word of it. Nor does it mean that I agree with everything the author has ever said or done. In many cases, I disagree strongly.

* The books do not appear in any particular order, except that the commentaries appear at the end.

To read my non-academic Christian book list, click the 100 Best Christian Books Ever Written. (There are a few academic works on that list, but they are accessible.)

Note: I removed the hyperlinks because so many of them expired. You can easily find the volumes by searching for them on the Web.

Enjoy!

Psalm 115:1