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"Bring the Books"--The Importance of Reading in the Life of a Christian
“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)
Writing to Timothy, his spiritual son in the faith, the apostle Paul is languishing in a Roman dungeon awaiting his certain execution. While the emperor Nero has for many years reigned supreme over the Roman Empire, the political climate has turned utterly hostile to the Christian faith, and now Paul faces execution as an enemy of the Caesar simply because Paul served a greater Lord. And having only Luke with him, doubtless to attend to his health while he was in harsh prison conditions, Paul wants to be reunited with Timothy once before he dies. He wants to have his cloak brought to him in order to keep warm, and he also wants “the books” and “the parchments”. And in commentating on this passage, Spurgeon exclaimed the following.
“He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has had wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He has written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every Christian, 'Give thyself to reading.' The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”
Throughout the centuries of the Christian church, particularly after Christianity was no longer viewed as a hostile religion to the Roman Empire, the importance of books became a vital part of the Christian life. The most important surviving books are the great codices of the early church wherein the Bible was written in Greek, such as Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus. And throughout the church, particularly as the printing press was developed, literature was able to pour once more into the homes of Christians. Bibles such as the Geneva Bible from the 16th century still exist today, and magnificent libraries such as the library in Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland stand as testaments to the importance of reading throughout history.
Therefore, the following five principles prove helpful in integrating reading as a vital part of the Christian life. They are principles that help me leverage reading in order to benefit my soul and grow my own mind, and may they be helpful to the readers as well.
1. Read to Renew Your MindIn Romans 12, the apostle Paul begins a new section in this letter written to the Roman church. In Romans 1-8, the apostle Paul lays out a detailed argument for what the Gospel is, what it means, and why it is necessary. Then after three chapters dealing specifically with how the Gospel relates to his own Jewish countrymen, Paul now develops the practical applications of his theology in the remainder of this book. And so beginning in chapter 12, he instructs us to renew our minds in order to present our bodies as spiritual sacrifices in our worship to God.
Therefore, when we read, we need first of all to read in order to renew our minds and put on the mind of Christ. Reading Scripture is of course a prerequisite; however, interested readers may read this article I wrote, as this particular post does not deal with that subject here. When we read, we need to read books about God, about Scripture, about Christ, and about His church. We need to grow in our knowledge of God in order so that we may know Him more fully. We need to read about Scripture in order to understand its history and theology and background. We need to read about the glories of Christ, so that we may worship Him for who He really is and that we may follow in His footsteps. And we need to read about the church for which He died, in order that we might know how to exist in and serve the body of Christ in its various functions and capacities.
2. Read to Grow in Knowledge
Proverbs is replete with calls for us to gain knowledge and understanding, and reading proves a very valuable way that we can heed these calls. Reading opens windows into new worlds, allowing us to gaze on vistas we previously did not know existed. For example, growing up I would read about the history of medieval warfare and found the development of human weapons and military tactics to be fascinating. The earliest books I read on my own were books from the library on astronomy, and as a young 7 year-old I was immediately confronted with evolutionary cosmology, spurring me to collect and read many books over the years about creation vs. evolution. I would read about the Cambrian explosion, for example, or the Big Bang theory.
But not only can we read about science, as that is only one example, we can read about a great many fields. We can read to learn about the historical and modern sociological factors of cultures and nations. We can read about the academic disciplines, such as mathematics, science, philosophy, literature, and the arts. We can read about politics and economics. We can read about significant individuals in history in the form of biographies—or even better, autobiographies. Reading the autobiography of Davy Crockett, for example, is not only entertaining but demonstrates that the level of biblical literacy of this famed outdoor hunter is greater than the average level of biblical literacy of mainstream evangelicals, reflecting the changes in culture from that day to our own.
3. Read to Connect with History
“’Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.” So said Mark Twain, and his wry comment demonstrates that all too often we praise books from history or about history without actually reading them. In the Old Testament, the Lord repeatedly impressed upon the Israelites that they greatly needed to know their own history: how the Lord had redeemed them out of Egypt, how He had given promises to the patriarchs, and how He had established them in the Promised Land. Those who do not read their history are doomed to repeat it. For example, a common argument from the homosexual left today is that the ancients had no understanding of “sexual orientation.” But is that true? No, for reading the ancient Greek writers reveals that they very much espoused the darkened thinking of marred sexuality that has been resurrected by modern writers today. It is reading history that affirms to us that there truly is nothing new under the sun.
Therefore, what type of history should we be reading? In my own library, the books about history I own primarily deal with early church history and the history of the United States. Growing up, I read much historical fiction (and some nonfiction) about the Civil War and World War 2, as those eras of American history have always fascinated me. As Christians, we need very much to know how Christ has built His church throughout the ages, and so we must read the history of the church from the time of the apostles all the way until now. How exactly did Christianity spread under intense persecution? What brought about the Council of Ephesus, for example? These questions and more are vital to ask, and can be answered by the pages of history.
Not only should we read church history, however, but also the history of western civilization. How did the Roman Empire thrive and flourish? What social factors created “the powder keg of Europe” in the Balkans? How did World War 1 massively rearrange empires and nations? How did the U.S.S.R. develop, and how did it pose such a threat to the free world? Also, included in this history should be the history of missionary endeavors. Who was the first missionary to China? How did the Gospel spread across South America? Connecting with the great examples of heroic missionary service encourages us to better follow the Great Commission today.
4. Read to Interpret Texts
Lastly, the more we read, the better equipped we will be in analyzing and interpreting literary texts. Why should this be important? If we know not how to follow an argument in literature, we will not be able to trace Paul’s argument from Romans 1 to the end of Romans 8. The more we read, the better we will be with our tools of literary analysis. Grammatical and syntactical analysis become more ingrained. We can see the importance of modifiers and prepositions and clauses—and this need not be wearisome, as in studying grammatical textbooks, but becomes more greatly intuitive the more we develop our minds to analyze written texts.
Honing our ability to interpret literature enables us to understand the significance, for example, of the storm in Matthew 8:23-27. This was no ordinary storm—it was a “great” storm, for the adjective sets apart this storm from any other. And using literary contrast, Matthew then describes the result of Jesus’ rebuke to nature as a “great” calm. What was a great storm turned into a great calm, and this contrast is intentional on the part of the author. A man who can turn a great storm into a “great calm” demands an answer to the question: who is this man that even wind and waves obey Him? Being able to understand how authors use literary devices helps us understand how the authors of Scripture use them and enables us to come to the conclusions they wish us to make.
Reading in the 21st Century
In conclusion, having covered a few points as to the nature and necessity of reading, how should 21st century readers approach this wonderful discipline? First, while I greatly prefer the printed page over the digital page, Kindle books are much more cost effective than purchasing them in softcover or hardcover. You can store a few thousand books on an iPad, while it would take a room to store them in printed form. Digital books can be carried anywhere, while printed books take up much space. You can highlight them, add notes, look up definitions to words, and navigate cross-references very easily with digital books, in contrast to printed books.
However, for reading comprehension, being able to physically hold a book in your hands and read right-to-left, top-to-bottom, page-to-page is better for remembering what is read. I can remember some extracts from books simply because I can remember the page and where on the page it was. A digital book on a Kindle does not offer these same benefits for memory comprehension. And admittedly, having a bookshelf full of books warms the reader’s soul more than scrolling through a list of e-books in an app. Also, the constraints of screen sizes sometimes makes printed books more practical. For example, one of the tools in my library is Throckmorton’s Gospel Parallels, a volume that measures 11 inches high and 8 ¾ inches wide. The large size of this book enables him to lay out the synoptic gospel accounts side by side for easy comparison with each other. Doing so on a smaller digital screen, however, would be impractical.
Therefore, having given reasons for reading and considerations for the modern reader, let us—like Paul—continue to say, “Bring the books.”
A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.
