Yesterday I finished a fairly popular book on being a Christian husband and father by a well-known evangelical author. I enjoyed the book and learned from it, but was disappointed with its lack of attention to serious dialogue with scripture. The book was well-written, but it made its points more from sociology and psychology than it did scripture. The irony is that the foundation of the author's argument was the need for men to become regular Bible readers!
This caused me to reflect on much of what I've read (and read about) in contemporary evangelicalism, and it seems to me that the most popular books are light on scripture, theology, and church history. When scripture is used, it is almost always used to proof-text something or to illustrate a point already made apart from the Bible. Experience first; Bible second. In this case, our experience serves our understanding of the Bible.
I don't mean that every book written needs to be a theological tome, or a doctrinal magnum opus. But what do we have to gain by being so light on scripture that some books don't even have a copyright notice of a Bible on the colophon page?
The outcome of this is simple: The more Christians read these Bible-lite books, the more we lose the larger picture--of the Bible, of God, his plan, of Christ, and so on.
When compared with books written by people from a Reformed perspective, or even a Catholic or Orthodox perspective, many contemporary evangelical books are lite-fare indeed. But someone might object and say those books are too difficult, too theological, or too entrenched; they're not "practical" enough. That's precisely my point--we sacrifice proper theology for the sake of what's practical; we water down our understanding and sacrifice it on the altar of ease.
Let us regain our heritage of being "back to the Bible," not in proof-texts or shallow assertions, but in knowledge of the story and the gospel. Let the gospel inform your understanding. Read books that hold to a high view of the Bible. Don't become anemic in your faith and understanding. If you've had a diet of these sorts of books, find a trusted person that can refer you to something stronger, with more meat in it.
This caused me to reflect on much of what I've read (and read about) in contemporary evangelicalism, and it seems to me that the most popular books are light on scripture, theology, and church history. When scripture is used, it is almost always used to proof-text something or to illustrate a point already made apart from the Bible. Experience first; Bible second. In this case, our experience serves our understanding of the Bible.
I don't mean that every book written needs to be a theological tome, or a doctrinal magnum opus. But what do we have to gain by being so light on scripture that some books don't even have a copyright notice of a Bible on the colophon page?
The outcome of this is simple: The more Christians read these Bible-lite books, the more we lose the larger picture--of the Bible, of God, his plan, of Christ, and so on.
When compared with books written by people from a Reformed perspective, or even a Catholic or Orthodox perspective, many contemporary evangelical books are lite-fare indeed. But someone might object and say those books are too difficult, too theological, or too entrenched; they're not "practical" enough. That's precisely my point--we sacrifice proper theology for the sake of what's practical; we water down our understanding and sacrifice it on the altar of ease.
Let us regain our heritage of being "back to the Bible," not in proof-texts or shallow assertions, but in knowledge of the story and the gospel. Let the gospel inform your understanding. Read books that hold to a high view of the Bible. Don't become anemic in your faith and understanding. If you've had a diet of these sorts of books, find a trusted person that can refer you to something stronger, with more meat in it.
