Last year David Steele created this document: “A Christian Reading Manifesto.” It bears review for those of us in the writing of books and those who believe in the power of reading said books.
Given the efforts of our secular culture to redefine words and their meaning, his statement “Reading Forces Us to Reckon With Words” resonated. I’ve often said, “People of words must be people of the Word.” As Steele writes, “So reading forces us to pay careful attention to words. Instead of condemning words, then, we celebrate words and affirm their importance to historic Christianity.”
Below are the subject headlines of the manifesto. However, I really encourage you to read the entirety of the work.
The Christian Reading Manifesto
1. Reading forces us to think
2. Reading cultivates discipline
3. Reading forces us to reckon with words
4. Reading fuels our minds and ignites our hearts
5. Reading helps us love God with our minds
6. Reading is essential for Christian growth
7. Reading builds humility
A Modest Proposal
1. Commit to reading
2. Set an annual reading goal
3. Read broadly
4. Read joyfully
I have two nonfiction books set as a personal goal to read in their entirety this year:
(1) Systematic Theology (second edition) by Wayne Grudem
(2) Providence by John Piper
Of course there are many more I’ll read, but these two will be wonderful mountains to climb.
A new book was released last month by Leland Ryken and Glenda Mathes titled Recovering the Lost Art of Reading (Crossway). It promises to be a future book of the month!
What book or books would you like to have in your completed pile this year?
Made for Such a Time
Isaiah, by J. Alec Motyer
Get your Bible out to read his theology.
“Art + Faith” by Makoto Fujimura
“The Lonely Man of Faith” by Rabbi Soloveitchik
I also want to re-read
“The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel
In the darkest, now of nights,
the kind that seems it never ends,
I find comfort in the lights
brought by old and trusted friends
whose words once taught a diff’rent man
to look for dreams unto the hills,
but now they help me understand
that only most resilient wills
can face the demons of the dawn
with light heart, and with a smile
and though I may be set upon
by fang and claw, I’ve yet a mile
or two in me before I’m dead,
borne along by hope I’ve read.
First of all, I want to finish reading all those books that have bookmarks in them from where I left off. Then, I have The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard that I recently bought and can’t wait to dive into.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing. I’ll definitely be looking for this manifesto, and giving it a good read.
I am hoping to finish my reading of the Bible this year; it’s my seventh or eight time through. With “publish or perish” now a reality in my life, my pleasure reading has dropped considerably.