Daniel Webster once said, "If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will."1

Millions of people are going to read. If they don't read contemporary Christian books, they are going to read contemporary secular books. They will read.

It is amazing to watch people in the airports. At any given moment there must be hundreds of thousands of people reading just in airports. One of the things we Christians need to be committed to, besides reading, is giving away solid books to those who might read them, but would never buy them.

The ripple effect is incalculable. Consider this illustration: A book by Richard Sibbes, one of the choicest of the Puritan writers, was read by Richard Baxter, who was greatly blessed by it. Baxter then wrote his Call to the Unconverted which deeply influenced Philip Doddridge, who in turn wrote The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. This brought the young William Wilberforce, subsequent English statesman and foe of slavery, to serious thoughts of eternity. Wilberforce wrote his Practical Book of Christianity which fired the soul of Leigh Richmond. Richmond, in turn, wrote The Dairyman's Daughter, a book that brought thousands to the Lord, helping Thomas Chalmers the great preacher, among others.2

It seems to me that in a literate culture like ours, where most of us know how to read and where books are available, the Biblical mandate is: keep on reading what will open the Holy Scriptures to you more and more. And keep praying for Bible-saturated writers. There are many great old books to read. But each new generation needs its own writers to make the message fresh. Read and pray. And then obey.

Notes:
[1] Ernest Reisinger, 'Every Christian a Publisher,' Free Grace Broadcaster, Issue 51, Winter, 1995, p. 17.
[2] 'Every Christian a Publisher,' p. 18.

From John Piper’s desiringGod website, February 20, 2002.

It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord—lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness—that you are on the verge of becoming a Christian indeed. When you realize that the antidote to being bad is not just being good, you are on the brink. If you follow through, it will change everything—how you relate to God, self, others, the world, your work, you sins, your virtue. It’s called the new birth because its so radical”

– Timothy Keller The Prodigal God (Dutton Books 2008) pp 77-78

Light of true Light! whose winsome ray
Earthward descends from bright
And never-ending heaven's day
In grace, – true Light of Light!

That from the Father's blazing throne
Pierced through our sinful night
With healing wings out o'er us thrown, –
Bright Sun of light and right!

Beat darkness down and go before,
Illuming all our way;
Let sins and doubts and devils cow'r
Before swift-dawning day;

Make dark deeds cease, and fears and strife;
Earth dark make heaven bright;
Bring light which is our truth and life
And peace, true Light of Light.

"Love is doing whatever you have to do at whatever cost to yourself to help the one loved be enthralled fully and forever with what is most satisfying - namely, God." - John Piper

Five 23-minute messages on CD:
Hail Mary?
A Model of Submission
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Listen to Him!
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Available for any sized gift to Ligonier Ministries until Sunday March 21, 2010 here.

Here is an excellent short article on this subject dealing with the verse in its proper context. Once again we see the value of seeing a verse in its proper setting rather than in isolation.

I believe it would help every teacher of the Bible to have even a short course in logic. I need it. We all need it. It definitely would stop some ridiculous stuff being taught.

In the realm of logic, I am very much a layman. However, I do know this - in logic we learn the difference between a necessary implication (because something is explicitly stated) and a statement that is a possible implication (but not necessary).

An example of a necessary implication of a statement:

Statement 1. If it snows - the school will close.

Implication - It is snowing, therefore the school is closed.

There is no wiggle room here - if the first sentence is true, then the second sentence (the implication) necessarily follows.

On the other hand, here's an example of a possible implication (that may or may not be true):

Statement 2. Timothy will work at his father's farm this summer.

Implication: Timothy will work at both his father's farm and at the grocery store.

Here if the first sentence is true, then the second sentence in the statement MAY be true, but it does not follow from the first. He may work in two different places - this is true, but that is not something that can be verified from the first sentence. It is a possible but not a necessary implication.

Here's where I go with all this. We as God's ministers should only preach and teach necessary implications as doctrine - that which is explicitly stated. Doctrine should never be built on POSSIBLE implications of a text, but NECESSARY implications - this is the essence of exegesis, drawing out from the text what is actually there. The opposite is eisegesis, reading into the text things that are never actually stated.

Just exercising this principle of logic would serve us all so well, especially over passages such as Hebrews 6:4-9:

When it comes to discerning the nature and degree of the loves and passions bound up in the souls of men, it is evident that, whenever any action they should perform is motivated by multiple desires or goals, any one of those goals or desires is lesser than it might have been. If, for example, I should drive into town to buy three or four different items, when no one of them alone would have been sufficient to motivate me to make the trip, I am showing that no one of those items is as important to me as another single item might be at another time, if that one item could compel me to make a trip just to acquire it alone. But still, there may be an object or goal more highly valued and desired than that one item alone for which I was willing to make a trip; and this may be shown by my willingness to devote a whole series of actions for the accomplishment of a single goal. I may value a high education, and perform many actions requisite to obtaining a degree from an acclaimed university. The number and quality of the actions and goods that I exchange for the accomplishment of this goal shows that it is very dear to me indeed. Or else, I may love a woman and make many trips and do many things with the single goal in mind of making her my wife. Because she is dearer to me than that one item I was willing to make a single trip for, I am therefore willing to make many trips in order to gain her. So then, if the goal or desire compelling my action is single, it evinces a greater love than if it is divided between various ends; and if that single goal or desire motivates many actions and sacrifices, it evinces a greater love than if it motivates one or two actions alone.