Click Here to download a printable PDF version

We are emasculating our men. We are not teaching them what being a man is all about. And perhaps worse than that, in our current climate, the world is teaching them the lies of feminism - that it is a bad thing to be a man.

The great news is that God has provided us with the antidote. He has told us what it means to be a man. He has told us how and why He made man. He has provided many examples of godly men. And most remarkably of all, the Son of God himself has taken on flesh and become the perfect man in order to redeem His people. In all of this there is much for us to learn, pray over and follow.

We have put together this hand-picked selection of great Christian books that we pray will help men to be Men of God.

Highly Recommended Reading for Men

Masculine Mandate

by Richard D Phillips

This is a great starter book for working out what it means to be a man. It should be compulsory reading for teenage and young adult men!

In this great work, Richard D Phillips provides the biblical starting point for manliness. Phillips takes us back to look at the garden of Eden in Genesis 1-3.

Phillips explores the creation mandate - the job that God gave Adam - and how that still applies to the sons of Adam today. At the core it is simple: God told Adam to work and keep the garden. Phillips masterfully expounds just what that means and how it provides men even today with great purpose and meaning.

 

Masculine Mandate

by Richard D Phillips

 

 

 

Disciplines of a Godly Man

by R Kent Hughes

Where some of the other books on this list will provide the right motivation and direction for what being a man looks like and examples to follow, this book will help you take the first, and second, and third, step towards biblical manliness.

R Kent Hughes provides practical areas in which a godly man requires discipline and explains what that discipline looks like in practice. The book is divided into four sections, covering important disciplines in relationships, soul, character and ministry.

Filled with biblical exposition, examples and searching practical questions, this is a great book to consider reading with another man (or group of men) as you seek to become godly men together.

Hughes doesn't hold back and calls us to a high standard of manliness providing us with practical suggestions to get us started.

 

Disciplines of a Godly Man

by R Kent Hughes

 

 

 

Thoughts for Young Men

by J C Ryle

This is a very short and inexpensive book containing four addresses from Ryle specifically for young men. That said, the message it contains would be of great value to older men as well. Perhaps we could say that it is compulsory reading for young men and highly recommended for all men.

At less than $10 and fewer than 100 pages there is absolutely no excuse for men to not read this book.

The four addresses cover:

1. Why Ryle is addressing young men
2. Five dangers young men particularly need to be warned against
3. Six general counsels to young men and
4. Five special rules for young men.

Ryle writes for non-Christians as well as Christians although his exhortation is that young men must follow Christ and serve God. I found one of Ryle's points in the first section particularly worthy of note: that what young men become depends largely upon what they are now. The call is urgent and clear, which is what young men need. And the call is to holiness and the simple means of grace that God has provided.

 

Thoughts for Young Men

by J. C. Ryle

 

 

 

Men of God

by various contributors including Tim Chester, Phillip Jensen, Vaughan Roberts, Rico Tice and Richard Coekin

Consisting of a collection of chapters by various contributors, this book will take you through what being a man looks like in different areas of your life - work, singleness, marriage, sex, discipling, rest and more.

This is an intensely practical book and thoroughly biblical, which is why it makes it onto the Reformers recommended list of books for men.

 

Men of God

by various contributors

 

 

 

 

Further Reading for Men

A Few Good Men

by Richard Coekin

Men of God is practical by looking at various topics. A Few Good Men is practical by examining the lives of some of a 'few good men' in the Bible. Richard masterfully presents crucial situations faced by men such as Joseph, Moses, and Paul and shows how they demonstrated a particular aspect of biblical masculinity.

Richard starts each chapter by quoting a passage of Scripture and then dramatically re-telling the account. I found these sections alone very helpful as they enabled me to put myself in the shoes of the men I was reading about in a way I had not done previously.

Richard ensures that in each chapter he notes that the exemplary man described in the passage is only pointing to, and is far surpassed by, the ultimate Man of God - Jesus. The last chapter of the book is wonderful to read as Richard lifts up Jesus before you as the most exemplary man.

 

A Few Good Men

by Richard Coekin

 

 

 

Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole

by Eric Mason

Eric Mason sets out in Manhood Restored to show us three things: how God made man and what man's purpose is, the ways manhood is destroyed and twisted by sin and the restoration to true manhood that comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

His chapter on 'daddy deprivation' is a fascinating look at how our fatherless society has impacted our view of manliness. Throughout the book, Eric focuses on three main areas of manhood - sex, home and work, and brings the gospel to bear on these areas. His call is strong and biblical - exhorting men to follow after the great man Jesus.

 

Manhood Restored

by Eric Mason