Books

I recently began reading two books. One was called "The Shack"; it had been recommended by a friend. The other was "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." I have several criteria for a good book. A strong beginning is a positive. Remember that Snoopy in the comics, when he fantasized himself as an author, would always start with, "It was a dark and stormy night...", a great start. Another rule that I have is that if the book hasn't grabbed me by 100 pages, I'm done. I gave The Shack 130 pages and found that I couldn't do it. It was very Biblical; it is obvious that the writer knows a lot of Bible, but it seemed to be humanizing God too much. Then I ran across Jonathan Livingston Seagull and enjoyed the beginning so much. But the theology got heavy and inaccurate, and short though it is, I bailed. For example, it brought in incarnation (many lives) and said heaven is not real.


I came to the conclusion from these two cases that I don't want my understanding of "truth" to come from mere men. Certainly there are many good books that will encourage us, build our faith, motivate us, etc. But when it comes to philosophy, to knowing what is and what isn't, what is really true, what the real purpose of our lives is, what is the end of a man, and where we come from, I only want my teaching to come from the Bible. It can become very irritating to read some author's opinion of all this, especially when it is obvious that their opinion is tainted in some way.


Here is some Bible truth. Jesus was asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:36+). Note Paul's teaching to Timothy, "..continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2Timothy 3:14+).


I will read other books. But I will always remember that the real and only source of Truth is God's Word, the Bible. (And at the risk of seeming contentious, we can't get truth from Mohammad, or the Koran, or the Book of Mormon, or the Watchtower Society, or the myriad of other man made offerings.) See you next week!