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Give Heed to Reading
Reprinted from The Spiritual Sword
David R. Pharr
When Paul told Timothy to “give attendance to
reading” (I Tim. 4:13), he referred to the
public reading that was done in the church (cf.
Rev. 1:3; Col. 4:16; I Thess. 5:27). As there
was not the easy private access to books that we
now enjoy, public reading was a necessity. The
admonition may imply attention, not only to the
need for reading, but also for giving heed to
the selections to be read. Certainly that which
was read in the churches should be such as would
edify. There was no place for sharing anything
that might deceive or confuse (I Tim. 1:4;
6:20). Churches today would do well to consider
Paul’s instruction as regards the literature
they provide for their classes.
One’s private reading should be no less guarded.
It is sometimes necessary for careful students
to read works of error in order to be prepared
to expose them, but the principle of Romans
16:17-18 should be applied to what is written as
well as what is preached. “Good words and fair
speeches” which “deceive the hearts of the
simple [unsuspecting, NASB]” in printed form
should be marked and avoided. Some books ought
to be burned (Acts 19:19). On the other hand,
good books are to be greatly cherished and
avidly read.
The Place of Books
The Bible is the ultimate source of all
spiritual understanding. It is the revelation of
God to mankind. No other book can substitute for
it. It is the source of faith (Rom. 10:17) and
our guide for living (Psa. 119:105). It is the
only acceptable authority in religion. It is
inspired of God, he is its Author (II Tim.
3:16). All books written by men are secondary to
it and must be tested by it (Isa. 8:20). The
preacher or teacher who wants to be approved by
God will be diligent in "interpreting correctly
the message of truth” (II Tim. 2:15 McCord).
Why, then, do we need other books? Bible
students often have large libraries. Hundreds of
new religious books are published every year.
Faithful men of God frequently recommend and
even promote various publications. Capable
preachers and teachers study numerous works. If
the Bible is the one book that can guide us to
heaven, why do we need other books?
Other books have a very important place in
helping us to understand and use the word of
God. Just as more learned people may explain
things to us in person, so books give us the
benefit of the knowledge of others. Reading a
good book is much like listening to a good
sermon—one is oral, the other printed on paper.
One may not agree with everything he hears,
neither should one accept everything he reads.
Yet, much can be gained by both listening and
reading. One can have a far greater access to
knowledge by means of books than can be found in
all other sources combined. In an article about
books, Guy N. Woods reminded of the supreme
place of the Bible itself and then observed:
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Since it [the Bible] appeared, more
scholarly effort has been expended in
turning light on its various parts and
portions than on any other book; and
this vast deposit of learning is at our
fingertips, in our libraries, ready to
inform us at will. How inestimable is
the privilege of being able to gather
wholly without effort, and in condensed
form, in a few moments, that which took
some earlier student hours, perhaps
days, of the most arduous and laborious
effort, to uncover. Surely, good books
are our most valued heritage. We should
cultivate an abiding interest in them,
and an avid taste for them.
. . . .
Were we, after more than a third of a
century of the most intensive effort as
a gospel preacher, asked to designate
what, in our view, are the most
effective aims which should characterize
one just beginning, high on our list
would be the accumulation of a good
library, the cultivation of an affection
for great books, and the formation of
regular habits of study.i
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Wayne
Jackson quotes the late T. W. Brents: "If you will
show me a man who reads nothing but the Bible, we
will show you one who reads and understands very
little of it." Another has observed that the length
of a preacher's stay with a congregation is
frequently determined by the size of his library.
The point is that every student needs tools for
study. The Bible is God's inspired revelation which
is able to save our souls (Jas. 1:21). All other
writings must kneel before its authority. But
thousands of other works are available to assist us
in understanding the sacred volume. Such provide
what no one could discover on his own with only a
copy of the Bible. Consider, for example, the task
of someone trying to produce a concordance on his
own, or of compiling a dictionary that would bring
together archaeological and historical research. How
would one write his own lexicon of biblical
languages?
Commentaries
Howard
Winters was reared in the poverty-stricken mountains
of East Tennessee. “But,” he wrote, “worse than the
poverty was the isolation.” He was in the church for
a considerable time before he “had the benefit of a
single paper or book published by our brethren. I
had no helps in my study . . . How my heart longed
for some help in studying the Scriptures . . .”
Eventually a visiting preacher promised to bring him
some books that would help.
| The next time he came he
reached to me one of the most precious
possessions of a lifetime, The People’s New
Testament With Notes, by B. W. Johnson.
When I got home and began to explore them, a
whole new world suddenly opened to me. Here
was a storehouse of Bible knowledge I never
dreamed existed, condensed and ready for my
use. . . . There was help available. And I
could learn from books. What a giant step that
was for an illiterate mountain preacher.ii |
Some might feel that Johnson’s
Notes are too rudimentary, but for one
starved for help they were a priceless treassure.
Brother Winters went on to build a fine personal
library, was well read, and became distinguished as
an author and editor.
In
1876 Charles H. Spurgeon, the famous Baptist
preacher, published a bibliographic
review, Commenting & Commentaries. Almost
fifteen hundred works were listed. (If so many
commentaries were available over a century ago,
imagine how many are offered now.) Spurgeon briefly
reviewed them with considerable candor about their
value or lack of it. He used a peculiar format in
that different sizes and styles of type were
used—the largest type being used for the ones most
recommended and the smallest type for the ones
considered the poorest. His frank evaluations were
sometimes both humorous and sarcastic. His caustic
observations included such criticisms as: “One of
the dreariest works ever written. . . . It is as dry
as Noah's ark” and “If the author would write in
plain English his readers would probably discover
that there is nothing very valuable in his remarks.”
On the
other hand, Spurgeon had high recommendations for
some works that are still widely appreciated.
Included are the works of Matthew Henry, Albert
Barnes and Jamison, Fausset & Brown. Spurgeon is
reported to have read over 16,000 volumes in his
lifetime, averaging six books a week. His personal
library numbered around twelve thousand. Regarding
the importance of commentaries he wrote:
| Of course, you are not such
wiseacres as to think or say that you can
expound the Scripture without assistance from
the works of divine and learned men who have
labored before you in the field of exposition.
. . . It seems odd that certain men who talk
so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to
themselves, should think so little of what He
has revealed to others.iii |
Burton
Coffman’s 37 volumes on both Testaments provide
simple verse-by-verse commentary. Brother Coffman
gets right to the point and does not hesitate to
incorporate the observations of others. Among older
commentaries, Matthew Henry is good for suggesting
homiletical as well as expository thoughts. The New
Testament commentaries by R. C. H. Lenski are
tedious at times and strongly Lutheran in theology,
but students may profit by what are often
non-traditional interpretations. In the Gospel
Advocate New Testament series, we strongly recommend
the volumes by Guy N. Woods.
No
library should be without Homer Hailey’s
commentaries on Isaiah, the Minor Prophets and
Revelation (as well as other of his works). G. K.
Wallace used to say that J. W. McGarvey’s original
commentary on Acts was one of the most valuable
works ever printed. Wayne Jackson has a new
commentary on Acts. (Brother Jackson’s books are
always helpful. Readers should get a copy of his
recently revised, The Bible Translation
Controversy.) Serious students of Hebrews will
find much value in Jesus Christ Today, by
Neil R. Lightfoot.
Numerous lectureships have focused on specific books
of the Bible, as well as other topics of current
interest. Many of these lectures are quite valuable,
but some have the shortcoming of being overly
simplistic in dealing with difficult passages. Also
many of the speakers seem bound to demonstrate their
soundness on some currently hot controversy,
regardless of the subject assigned. In various
lectureships we see advertised it sometimes seems
that the same speakers are speaking on much the same
topics (with different titles) in the same places
year after year. Still, many of the lectureship
books can be helpful. We especially appreciate the
many volumes of the Freed-Hardeman Lectures because
certain volumes include comprehensive indices
covering several years.
History
Most
will find Edershiem, The Life and Times of Jesus
the Messiah, to be tedious. Studies in the
Life of Christ by R. C. Foster is generally more
appealing. For a non-conventional survey of Bible
chronology, one should secure the little book by
Philip Mauro, The Wonders of Bible Chronology,
which is based on the work of Martin Anstey.iv
Another valuable work by Mauro is The Seventy
Weeks and the Great Tribulation.
For
easy summary of church history we recommend The
Eternal Kingdom by F. W. Mattox. One’s love for
the church, as well as his understanding of the
history and issues of the restoration, will be much
enhanced by reading Earl I. West’s volumes on The
Search for the Ancient Order, especially volumes
I & II. The small work, Up to Bethany, by
Howard Winters is outstanding in its simple
presentation of restoration principles. There is
good reading in Biographies and Sermons of
Pioneer Preachers, edited by F. D. Srygley in
1898. One example is in a sermon by William L.
Butler, in which he warned, “Leading men do not find
places in the church big enough for themselves . . .
A company of Christians do well till leading men
arise, then the blind lead the blind into the
ditch.” He then illustrated with an incident which
has its parallel to problems before us today.
| At the Brents-Ditzler debate,
at Murray, Ky., Jacob Ditzler said to me:
“Brother Butler, I am satisfied that the
leading men among your people are going to
depart from the doctrine of baptism for the
remission of sins.” I replied: “Certainly they
are. There is nothing in the kingdom that can
stand before leading men; but I want you to
remember that I am not a leading man. I am a
following man; and as long as I follow Christ
and his apostles, there is no danger of my
departing from the doctrine."v |
Doctrine
We are
greatly indebted to Everett Ferguson for his 1996
work, The Church of Christ, a Biblical
Ecclesiology for Today. His approach is rarely
what we might be accustomed to, but over all we find
his conclusions to be both sound and convincing.
The
classic work on millennium issues is the book so
titled by Loraine Boettner. Most of us got our
primary grounding on the subject with Foy E.
Wallace, Jr., in God’s Prophetic Word. For
excellent reading on several topics, one should read
(and reread) G. C. Brewer, Contending for the
Faith. I have treasured a little book by Brewer
which was introduced to me by Alan Highers over
forty years ago, titled A Medley on the Music
Question. In it the great logician and master of
language reduces to fluff arguments made in favor of
instruments. As a reference tool for in depth study
of baptism, there is Baptism in the New Testament,
by G. R. Beasley-Murray, a Baptist theologian in
Great Britain. Regardless of one’s opinions on the
question of word only or personal indwelling,
everyone should profit by reading Gus Nichol’s
Lectures on the Holy Spirit.
Guy N.
Woods was almost extravagant in his praise of
Life in the Son, by Robert Shank, describing it
as “the most devastating exposure of the doctrine of
the impossibility of apostasy we have ever read."vi
Those
who can find a copy will treasure Debates that Made
History (J.J. Haley), which summarizes the
history and contents of five of Alexander Campbell’s
great debates. There is also interesting reading in
The Story of the Fort Worth Norris-Wallace Debate.
Because of their novel efforts to defend instrumental
music, G.K. Wallace’s debates with Julian Hunt and
Burton Barber have a place in the literature of that
issue.
Warren
W. Wiersbe wrote of a work he recommended, in which he
found much he did not accept, but said that it should
be read twice: “once to disagree and once to be
helped.” Without agreeing with much that has been
advanced by the authors, we must commend The
Worldly Church, by Allen, Hughes and Weed, as
being very helpful in refocusing us to the right
distinctions between what is secular and what is
spiritual. Likewise, we are disappointed in some of
the things advanced in Who is My Brother, by F.
LaGard Smith. However, the book will challenge
well-grounded students to face what are sometimes
problems and inconsistencies in our approach to
fellowship.
| Some books are to be tasted,
others swallowed; and some few are to be chewed
and digested. —Sir Francis Bacon |
Endnotes:
i. Gospel Advocate, Feb. 14, 1963.
ii. Howard Winters, Commentary on Romans,
(Greenville, SC: Carolina Christian, 1985), pp.7f.
iii. C.H. Spurgeon, Commenting &
Commentaries, published in 1876.
iv. Martin Anstey, Chronology of the Old
Testament, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Pub., 1973).
v. “God’s Way Under Protest,” Biographies
and Sermons, first published in 1898, p.103.
vi. “‘Life in the Son’–A Review,” Gospel
Advocate, 11/3/60, p.695.
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