Good Books

Since next week marks the beginning of the summer semester, let me use this post to encourage you in your studies. Reading is a key component of every type of schooling and it is especially important in the study of the Bible. Books give us access to the theological formulations of previous centuries; they give us access to the thought process of people long since dead. Books give us access to the accumulated knowledge of people who have spent their whole lives studying language and history. Without books, it would be impossible to benefit from all these things.

Nevertheless, in our modern world—though the phenomenon is certainly not new—a glut books crowds the shelves of our libraries, our bookstores, and our homes. Authors are writing at such an incredible pace that even the most dedicated scholar cannot keep up everything that is produced about any one subject. Catalogs full of books are published every year; the pace shows no signs of slowing.

That does not mean, however, that every book is a good book, nor does it even mean that most books are good books. On the contrary, the increasing ease with which we are able to author and publish books seems to have caused a decrease in the depth of most books—an inverse relationship. More books are available, but an ever decreasing percentage of those books are worth reading.

Let me encourage you, then, students and visitors, to READ GOOD BOOKS! Please, please, please, if you are going to read then read what is worthwhile! You could waste your life reading what is trashy and futile without ever exhausting the stock of available, bad books. So don’t do it.

Your time is precious—do you realize that? It will soon be gone. Your life is a vapor. The best possible book to read is the Bible, wherein the truth of God is contained. Yet there is some profit in reading other good books. The Bible is the sole source of our understanding about who God is, but books can help us understand the Bible better through textual exegesis, historical examination, and theological explanation. Good books are good precisely because they clarify what is obscure, whether historically, grammatically, or theologically. Bad books merely distract us from the message of the Bible.

Books can be bad for any number of reasons, but there are two reasons that seem most common. First, books can be bad because they are fallacious and misleading. Any book that leads people away from Christ is definitely a bad book. There are plenty of books in this category from all ages of history. Second, books can be bad because they are poorly written, and this might be the most common kind of bad book. It seems to be particularly a modern phenomenon. Let’s face it—some books are just not worth the recycled paper on which they are printed. Working through a hundred pages for one or two sickly insights into God’s character is an absolute waste of time and is terrible stewardship. Yet these books are being printed by the thousands. If you do not believe me, walk through the ‘religion’ section of any major bookstore. Even many so-called ‘Christian’ books are vague, trite, and man-centered.

So spend your time reading good books. If you are getting well into a book and it seems like a bad book, then put it down and read something else! The blessing of our modern printing capabilities is that we have unprecedented access to good books. All those good books do us no good, however, if we do not read them.

I want to add a final category of good book. Just as some books are bad because they are poorly written, some books are good merely because they are well written. Well written books are good books not necessarily because they give direct insights into God’s character (though I think that is most often the case), but sometimes because they are delightful to read, and as such they are a gift from God. These books can be profitable to read, too.

That being said—read good books! As you read them, praise God for the knowledge of Himself He gives us, and for the blessings He pours out on us in this life. To Him be the glory!

--Dean of Admissions