Home libraries were once considered a great luxury. Only the very wealthy could afford to possess books in any great quantity.
Certainly, the very wealthy often spent enormous resources on books. I recently visited the J.P. Morgan Library in New York City. This is one of the world’s great collection of books by a private party. His motives were partly investing — putting money into things that would hold value. And, I suppose, he also sought prestige in acquiring the rare books he was able to purchase. For instance, he acquired one of the first printings of the Gutenberg Bible. Who knows what that may be worth today!
But for the Christian, building a home library takes on a different purpose. For us, we are in a life-long pursuit to understand the great grace that we have received. We want to know who this God is who has done such wonderful things in our lives. And, as we grow in this understanding, we discover the things He has done in history. In fact, history records so many events that help us to understand the purposes of God in all of creation.
But beyond history, God has revealed a tremendous amount about His very nature — who God is in His essence. It’s really quite remarkable that He has been willing to grant us so much information about Himself. Our God is truly knowable! If only we take the time to look — and mostly, read.
So, the books we are interested in reading provide us with insight into spiritual things that we cannot see with our eyes. The authors of these books have been on their own journeys of discovery, and we can learn much from their studies and their experiences.
Human body is a machine which, in the same way as some other device, has a buy viagra online in tendency to crumble with time. Facing the situation and finding corrective measures helps you deal with the problem. viagra overnight delivery They can also suffer from erectile dysfunction or sexual weakness, cannot penetrate into her genital passage discount viagra pharmacy because of weak erection. As Canada continues to top the world with their best buy for viagra list of email addresses exponentially. Before the printing press, it would cost you about $100,000 to own your own copy of the Bible. So, Christians relied on public readings, memorization and word of mouth to know what it says. But today, even the poorest among us can acquire a few books. If you look hard enough, many worthwhile books can be purchased for very little money.
In addition to the affordability of books, we also have the advantage of 2000 years of history in which worthwhile books have been written. There’s much to be learned from the saints of past generations — and I believe we should honor their lives by reading their books.
So, I believe we should be constantly reading. This is how we come to conclusions about theological issues, and become stable in our Christian lives. In that sense, it is an act of worship. Pastor Roger has created the ‘building a library’ list of books which I have been acquiring for years (see the list here). Every so often, I review the list to see which work I should acquire next. These books have played a huge role in my own Christian development. And, I am constantly pulling one of them off the shelf to look up something. They have become my friends.
I encourage everyone to do the same — keep a list of books you want to purchase and work on it little by little. Before you know it, you’ve got a great start to your own library!
Defending the Faith,
Tom
