11/09/2020
(A continuation from Sinclair Ferguson's "Read any Good Books?")
WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN BOOKS SHOULD WE USE?
Honestly, there is NO required reading a prescribed list of books for every Christian. But we are “prone to wander,” as one great hymn puts it. Here are some principles from Dr. Ferguson to help us profit more from our Christian reading.
1. Read the great books! – This is worth reiterating. Listen to Ferguson’s advice, “Great books were written to show a great God and a great Christ to the people of God You must never let yourself be tricked into reading lesser books about great subjects when you are perfectly capable of reading great books about great subjects! As you will discover, they are very often among the clearest and most enjoyable to read.”
Remember to have a proper, balanced diet and you will find that John Calvin’s Institutes of Christian Religion is far easier to read than you feared. Ferguson exclaimed, “It is far more heart-warming, far more instructive, far more Christian than you ever imagined!”
2. Read according to plan - Unless we read according to plan, we will avoid reading great books and stick to the small, easily-read ones. A generous time and place for reading in a day, and you might realize you have read the whole Institutes - even a “short work” by the great John Owen (out of 16 volumes!).
3. Read selectively - Francis Bacon explained, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, whole, and some few to be chewed.”
You need to read this slowly to remember clearly: “BEING A GOOD READER DOES NOT MEAN HAVING READ MANY BOOKS, BUT KNOWING SOME GOOD BOOKS, AND HAVE MASTERED YOUR BEST AND GREATEST BOOKS.”
“[I]t is all too easy to become lovers of books-possessing them and reading them- yet not grow as lovers of God. Large libraries, knowledge of the latest thing- these can co-exist with a lack of growth and depth in character development and grace. Book-lovers can become like butterflies, flirting from one flower to the next.”
“Master a few; treasure them; study them; know them. For it is only as you know them that you will be able to use them further for God’s glory.”
That is a solid reminder, brethren. You may have done these things - buying and collecting books impulsively and without discernment - but it is not too late.
Use, therefore, your limited resources – time, money, interest – to read what really matters, to shape you and lead you to the greatest battlefields of the Christian faith where He commissioned us to go.
