W. H. Griffith Thomas Books: A Guide to All 8 and Where to Start
W. H. Griffith Thomas (1861–1924) was an evangelical Anglican Bible teacher who led Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, taught at Wycliffe College in Toronto, and helped found what became Dallas Theological Seminary. He wrote more than twenty-five books. TheWay Library has eight of them, all free to read: three on the Christian life, two Bible studies, his Princeton lectures on the Holy Spirit, and two handbooks for ministers. For his life story, see who was W. H. Griffith Thomas.
This guide sorts them so you can pick the right one.
Where to start
If you're new to Griffith Thomas, start with Life Abiding and Abounding. It's short, and it gives you the heart of his teaching: the Word and prayer as the two ways God keeps a Christian growing.
After that, choose by what you want:
- A simple guide to the Christian life: The Christian Life and How to Live It.
- A fuller map of grace, justification and holiness: Grace and Power.
- Help with prayer: The Prayers of St. Paul.
- A study of one book of the Bible: Christ Pre-eminent, on Colossians.
- Serious study of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit of God.
- For pastors: The Work of the Ministry, or its shorter form, Ministerial Life and Work.
Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For more, see our collection of W. H. Griffith Thomas quotes.
The Christian life
Life Abiding and Abounding (1910)
A short book on the twofold secret of abiding in Christ. It began with a question at the Keswick Convention: how do you keep a blessing once you've received it? One chapter treats the Bible as daily food, "more than my necessary food," and the other treats prayer as "the Christian's vital breath," with its parts, its conditions and the work of praying for others.
There is no joy like the joy of living in the presence of God, the joy of asking Him for what we need, the joy of receiving His blessed answers to our prayers.
Life Abiding and Abounding, The Christian's Vital Breath
Read Life Abiding and Abounding.
The Christian Life and How to Live It (1919)
Ten short, warm addresses, first printed in England as Royal and Loyal. They answer three plain questions, what Christianity is, what we believe and what a Christian is, and then turn to surrender ("Here am I"), service ("I serve"), walking with God, peace, joy and praise, and the good surprises God gives those who trust Him. It's a good book for a new Christian or a church class. Read The Christian Life and How to Live It.
Grace and Power (1916)
Twelve studies of the Christian life as God's provision and our response. Thomas covers knowing Christ, power, privilege and joy; then grace, justification, sanctification and consecration; and last meditation, prayer, faithfulness and obedience. If you've ever wanted these big words explained in order and in plain terms, this is the book.
Our sufficiency is not of self, but of grace, and our service is the outflow of the grace of God in the heart.
Grace and Power, Grace
Bible studies
The Prayers of St. Paul (1914)
A compact study of the prayers in Paul's letters to the Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians, taken in pairs of themes like grace and holiness, knowledge and obedience, and strength and indwelling. Each has a clear outline. Thomas points out that most of Paul's prayers are for other people, and he shows how to pray the same way. It works well for Bible classes. Read The Prayers of St. Paul.
Christ Pre-eminent (1923)
Twenty-three short studies on Colossians, built around its theme that Christ must have first place in everything. Four chapters go slowly through the great passage on the Son as Creator and Redeemer in Colossians 1. Later chapters take up the warnings against false teaching, life with the risen Christ, the Christian home and Paul's friends. This edition was restored from a scan and has some uncorrected misreadings, but it reads well. Read Christ Pre-eminent.
Theology
The Holy Spirit of God (1913)
His Stone Lectures at Princeton, written up as a full study for students. It has four parts: what each part of the Bible teaches about the Spirit; how the church has understood the doctrine from the early fathers to the nineteenth century; a statement of the doctrine; and its bearing on modern questions such as modernism, mysticism and church problems. It's the most demanding book on this list and the most thorough. Our list of the best books on the Holy Spirit shows where it fits among the classics.
Reason is not the origin but the organ of truth.
The Holy Spirit of God, The Holy Spirit and Intellectualism
For ministers
The library has two versions of the same book. Both grew from the pastoral addresses and lectures Thomas gave every week at Wycliffe Hall.
The Work of the Ministry (1910)
The full book. Part I studies the minister in Scripture (the prophet, the Twelve, Paul and the Pastoral Epistles) and then in the Church of England's service for ordaining ministers: its Bible readings, the questions put to the candidates and the bishop's charge. Part II covers the work itself: services, preaching, visiting, confirmation, children, Bible classes, missions, the prayer meeting, social work, personal work and common problems. Part III asks what makes a ministry competent, and finds the answer in the minister's own life with God.
Not merely must we love ideas but men, not only truth but lives, not only congregations but individuals.
The Work of the Ministry, A Competent Ministry
Read The Work of the Ministry.
Ministerial Life and Work (1927)
The shorter revision of The Work of the Ministry, published after his death. It keeps the studies of the minister in Scripture, the call, preaching, visiting, Sunday schools, missions, the prayer meeting and personal work, but leaves out the chapters on the Prayer Book services, the ordination service and confirmation, along with a few others, and adds one on receiving church members. That makes it the better choice for pastors outside the Anglican church. If you're an Anglican, or you want everything, read the 1910 book.
In all Christian work there are three elements absolutely indispensable: the Spirit of God as the power, the Word of God as the message, and the man of God as the instrument.
Ministerial Life and Work, The Ministry in the Pastoral Epistles
Read Ministerial Life and Work.
Why read Griffith Thomas today
He's clear. He takes a big subject, breaks it into a few points you can remember, and fills each point with Scripture. And he never lets study drift away from prayer and obedience. Begin with Life Abiding and Abounding, then go on to The Prayers of St. Paul. All eight books are on the W. H. Griffith Thomas author page.