For the new Christian, this book may be one of the best starting places. Every entry is only one to two pages long, and includes brief summarizes of major Christian doctrines.

The Westminster Confession of Faith is the best succinct summary of the Christian faith by topic that can be found. For anyone just learning about the Christian faith, it may seem so simple, but put this into their hands.

Most of the people I know who were not raised in Presbyterianism were schooled through the teaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. This book is an excellent (though quite large!) entry level book that walks through the Westminster Confession. This would be an excellent companion for someone wanting to read through the Confession for themselves.

Generally it is hard to recommend edited volumes, because the quality varies between authors. However, I have found Matthew Barrett to be an excellent ringmaster when it comes to juggling the various contributors to his volumes. This volume is a tremendous overall introduction to Reformed theology, such that I would feel very good putting this book into the hands of someone who was new to Christianity, but who was hungry to get a solid overview of the whole matter.

I frequently recommend this book to those who come to our church from an evangelical background and don’t know much about Reformed theology, but they want to go deeper. This is easily my favorite one-volume book to put into the hands of the person looking to go to the next level without being overwhelmed.

In terms of challenge, Calvin is a slight step up from Bavinck’s Wonderful Works of God. However, this (in my opinion) is the superior edition of Calvin that the majority of Christians today ought to be reading. It lacks the details, the polemics, and the footnotes of the two volumes Lewis-Battles translation, but that is to this version’s advantage. Not only is the translation modern and easy to follow, but it’s shorter, less intimidating, and simpler for your average reader.

This is it: the single best systematic theology set that a person can buy. There is no better overall systematic theology on the planet (in English, at least) than Herman Bavinck’s magnum opus the Reformed Dogmatics. It can be a challenging read, but I believe that any Christian can still pick this up and be blessed by it. I’m convinced this will never go out of use in Christ’s church.