God teaches us we must love Him with all our minds as well as our hearts and souls, (Matthew 22:37) and that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds, (Romans 12:2). Of course, the Bible is the most important book to read, it is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). We must be diligent in studying His Word.
What a privilege that God has raised up teachers for His Church to help us to do just that, (Ephesians 4:11). One great way we can grow as Christians is to read good books that teach us from the Bible. I like reading books, good Christian books can point us back to and help us understand and apply the Bible better. As Paul wrote to Timothy, don’t forget the books!
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
2 Timothy 4:13 (ESV)
I think I might do a little series of on reading Christian books. It might go something like this: 1. Why? 2. What? 3. How? 4. Writing about Reading (?)
Firstly, why read Christian books you may ask? (Caveat: The best…) Books tend to be much better thought out, they have much more time and energy spent on them than other some mediums e.g. blogs (?!). People read them through before they are published and people review them after they are published. In the best cases, books stand the test of time and scores of generations learn from and enjoy them, for example John Bunyan’s 17th Century classic Pilgrim’s Progress. In other words, there is often much more “quality control” on books. Secondly, they often say things that are more substantial and in a more structured way than things like blogs, see Mark Dever’s The Unbearable Lightness of Blogs.
Indeed there are lots of reasons to read good Christian books for their content. Tim Jowett gives a few reasons why to read Christian books (paraphrased here):
1. To know God’s Word better
2. To benefit from the wisdom of the saints
3. To understand specific issues
4. To be encouraged by others’ examples
Read the whole article here: Tim Jowett, Why Read Christian Books, (2004) or with slightly smarter editing here.
Any thoughts?
Posted in Books
