The Right Way to Read

Dr. Gene Edward Veith Jr. wrote a wonderful article about reading books the right way. As Christians we must never stop reading books the right way. In his article, Flex the Brain, Veith writes,

"A personal relationship to God, like human relationships, is built on the medium of language, of two people communicating with each other. The Christian speaks to God in prayer; God speaks
back by means of His Word."

"So Christians dare not despise reading. In fact, where Christianity has gone, literacy has always followed. The Old Testament scribes and the reading of the books of Moses as a rite of passage for young Hebrews led to Christian academies and the invention of the universities. The very goal of universal literacy grew out of the
Reformation and its emphasis on the Bible."

Veith's point is this: as Christians we should be reading our Bible, and we should be reading books. Veith continues,

"Arthur W. Hunt, in his new book The Vanishing Word, shows how Christianity and the written word have prospered together. He also shows what happens when the habit of reading is lost and people orient themselves instead to sensate images. Reading encourages thinking, reflecting, and the cultivation of truth, but image cultures tend to be driven by subjectivism, superstition, hedonism, and propaganda."

Does any of this sound familiar? As Christians we should be marked by our deep thinking, reflection and cultivation of truth. But, Veith goes deeper in this article and actually provides instructions on how to read and discusses the books we should read.

Reading and the Christian go perfectly together. I highly recommend reading this article as your first step toward reading in the right way. Blessings!