Cultural Critique Column

This article was published exclusively online in the Christian Research Journal, volume 48, number 01 (2025).

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And further, by these, my son,
be admonished: of making many books there is no end;
and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV

I am committed to owning, reading, re-reading, and writing books. In a recent move, I committed to moving three hundred boxes worth of books cross the country to my new house. My recent book adventure reveals how serious — or fanatical — I am in this pursuit. Let me explain before making my case for reading books assiduously. As the Preacher says, study may be exhausting (Ecclesiastes 12:12); but it is worth it if we study the right things for the right reason, which is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

As I write this, I sit in a basement study in rural Michigan lined by bookshelves filled to the brim with books of all kinds. The room to my right is what I call The Great Book Room, which is much more capacious and lined with bookshelves filled to capacity. Although I spent a year culling my library in Denver, Colorado, when it came time to move to Grand Rapids for a new job at Cornerstone University, I was faced with a mountain of books to transport.

My loading of books into boxes started after a basement flood just before Christmas of 2023. It took me six weeks to empty my many shelves of books — a ragtag combination of bricks and boards and assorted bookcases — into banker boxes. (I kept the box company in business during this time.) This came to three hundred boxes of books. After they were all packed, I invited friends to move the books into the storage room and to remove the bookshelves that we would not take with us, so that the library room could be fixed from the damage. The moving company estimated that one large truck would hold all our belongings, the vast tonnage of which was my books. They were wrong. After a day of loading one truck to the maximum, another truck was needed the next day, which was also filled completely.

When we got to Michigan, a mere fifty boxes of books were taken to my capacious office at Cornerstone University. The rest had to find a place in our new home. That required purchasing and assembling about a dozen large bookcases. Since I have no practical skills of assembly, some soul built them from the kits. Then it was up to me and two friends to take the books out of the boxes and put them on shelves.

Please don’t ask if my books are in order. They were in some order in Denver, became less ordered when boxed, and even less ordered when unboxed and shelved in Michigan. I have no clear plan to ever get them adequately organized but will chip away at it. I do have most of my books by and about Francis Schaeffer in one place, and the same goes for the works by and about Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard, Jacques Ellul, Carl Henry, Os Guinness, Craig Blomberg, C. S. Lewis, R. J. Rushdoony, Roger Scruton, and a few others. And most of my books on music — mostly jazz — are behind me to my right (I think).

Before we moved from Colorado to Michigan, I gave a friend a brief tour of the old “philosopher’s cave,” which was dominated by books as well as tons of vinyl and CDs. The person commented to my wife, “I didn’t know Doug was a hoarder.” She did not know that, since it is impossible to know something that is false. I am not a hoarder. Knowledge is defined as justified and true belief. If you are a reader (especially a teacher and/or writer), you cannot hoard books. Even if you barely have room to sleep or to eat, you are not a hoarder. Nor do you “collect” them, as one collects dolls or coins. Rather, you build and have access to a library. At some point your “books” becomes your “library.” This happened to me about forty-five years ago.

A hoarder keeps unnecessary and outdated items — such as pop bottles, paper bags, candy wrappers, junk mail, and stuff of that ilk. Books are nothing like that. They are repositories of knowledge, even the bad ones, and I have had to read my share of bad books, given my calling as an apologist and cultural critic. I read dozens of books on New Age themes in the 1980s to write my responses to the New Age movement. I still own all of them.

This autobiographical excursus into my relationship to books introduces the topic: Why read books?

The Act of Reading. The act of reading is an act of humility, since you are submitting yourself to a source outside yourself that you need — or think you need. It should be an attempt to know what someone else was thinking — that is, what they were intending to communicate. Reading, thus, places you in a receptive position before information that is potentially knowledge. Reading is, in this way, a discipline of focused attention. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “Now the true reader reads every work seriously in the sense that he reads it whole-heartedly, makes himself as receptive as he can.”¹ In viewing a painting, what Lewis wrote about art applies to reading as well:

We must not let loose our own subjectivity upon the pictures and make them its vehicles. We must begin by laying aside as completely as we can all our own preconceptions, interests, and associations….The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way. (There is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.)²

You may find a use in art, a practical purpose. Or you may appreciate it for what it is, whatever its use may be. As Lewis writes, “The distinction can hardly be better expressed than by saying that the many use art and the few receive it.”³ If we choose to use rather than to receive, the book (or painting, or piece of music) is instrumentalized and its essence is ignored or even contradicted. To receive the ideas of a book is to take the humble place, to recognize something apart from one’s own interests. The writer of the book of Hebrews chastises his readers for not attending to the teachings they should know, for they had not received them as they ought.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11–14)⁴

Especially since the dawn of the internet — and before that through the dominance of television — the attention required to read texts has dwindled.⁵ The moving image eclipses the inert word. The screen captures most words and humiliates words through its “cyber-charms.” By contrast, a written page stays put, in its place; it is unconnected to anything except the rest of the book or the mind that reads it. It does not amuse or entertain the way screens amuse and entertain. Reading, unlike viewing or watching a screen, requires cognitive work. As Neil Postman wrote in Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985):

A written sentence calls upon its author to say something, upon its reader to know the import of what is said. And when an author and reader are struggling with semantic meaning, they are engaged in the most serious challenge to the intellect. This is especially the case with the act of reading, for authors are not always trustworthy. They lie, they become confused, they over-generalize, they abuse logic and, sometimes, common sense. The reader must come armed, in a serious state of intellectual readiness. This is not easy because he comes to the text alone. In reading, one’s responses are isolated, one’s intellect thrown back on its own resources. To be confronted by the cold abstractions of printed sentences is to look upon language bare, without the assistance of either beauty or community. Thus, reading is by its nature a serious business. It is also, of course, an essentially rational activity.⁶

We need more “serious business,” that is if we care about truth in a world of lies; that is if we care about “rational activity” when the irrational dominates our screens, our politics, our purchases, and our lives.

What to Read. You should read books that make you a better person — a more knowledgeable, virtuous, godly, and interesting person. (Too many people are too dull because they read too little.) As Dr. Vernon Grounds, my friend and the patriarch of Denver Seminary, said, “We should be a master of one Book and a reader of many books.” I have been reading the Bible as the Word of God — not just as another book, even the most influential book — since my conversion in 1976 at age nineteen. This is the Book of books you read and re-read, study, memorize, and meditate upon. It is our guide to life, as Paul wrote to Timothy, his young mentee and pastor:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14–16)

You read the Bible, and the Bible reads you.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

In my many years of Bible reading, I have found some study Bibles to be beneficial, such as The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan)⁷ and The Reformation Study Bible (Ligonier Ministries). Authors such as J. I. Packer and John Stott have instructed me deeply on the teachings of the Bible as well.

Christians are part of a wonderful intellectual tradition, so they should read classic Christian authors such as Augustine, Anselm, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Blaise Pascal, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and so many others, as well as classic statements of faith such as The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and The Westminster Confession. C. S. Lewis advised, “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.”⁸

Besides the Bible, Christian classics, books about the Bible, and theology, one should read at least some apologetics, even if this is not your specialty. This skill should be developed since we are all called to defend the faith (1 Peter 3:15). There is a wealth of resources available on apologetics, ranging from the technical to material for teenagers and even children. My book, Christian Apologetics, 2nd ed. (IVP Academic, 2022), is wide-ranging and goes deep. As such, it has been used as a textbook in seminaries. However, it does not assume any background in apologetics or philosophy and is written in a warm, interesting, and, at times, humorous style, I am told. Andrew Shepardson and I co-wrote a more introductory apologetics book called The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word (Zondervan Academic, 2022).

All apologetics must defend a Christian worldview, but understanding this worldview goes beyond apologetics. A robust Christian worldview equips us intellectually to discern false worldviews and apply the biblical message to all of life. Again, we have many resources to choose from. Still, I will mention only two: James Sire’s The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalogue, 6th ed. (InterVarsity Press, 2020) and Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Crossway, 2005).

Given the dangers of worldliness and false philosophies (1 John 2:15–17; Colossians 2:8), Christians should also read some cultural critiques. Our greatest living social critic is Os Guinness (who is also an apologist),⁹ who I have been reading since 1977. He has long warned America of its imminent demise and has called for its renewal. See Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat (IVP, 2018), Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times (IVP, 2014), and many others. Historian Carl Trueman is another insightful source for understanding the times. His book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Crossway, 2020), is a superb analysis of what fuels the hedonistic individualism we see in the LGBTQ movement and elsewhere. Others include To Change All Worlds (Crossway, 2024), which is on critical theory, and Crisis of Confidence (Crossway, 2024), which addresses the church’s need for historic Christian creeds and confessions.

A magazine or a journal is not a book, but it is still a physical object containing messages. So it is akin to a book, but may not be as permanent. I will address this briefly. Although we are tempted to get all our news online, reading magazines and journals is still advisable if you want to explore issues more deeply. The Internet is the fastest way to get news, but it may not be the most in-depth or reliable. World Magazine is a monthly periodical that covers culture, politics, and more in a fair and thorough manner. First Things is a leading journal of Christianity and culture, which tilts Catholic but also features evangelical writers such as Carl Trueman.

How to Become a Reader. If I have given a sufficient apologetic for reading books, magazines, and journals, a few recommendations on how to become a reader are in order. Books need to get into minds through good habits.

A good way to torture most Americans would be to lock them into a room for twenty-four hours accompanied only by physical necessities — food, water, shelter — and a stack of thoughtful books. No Internet, television, or radio would be allowed. But once the twitching subsides, some reading might get done, unless 911 is called.

Less draconian measures can be taken. First, pray before you read a book, asking the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13), to teach you what you need to know. Most people need a quiet place to read, so one must be created and guarded against distractions. A friend has a small space in his basement completely lined with books, which he calls “the hole.” You can imagine what happens there in solitude. Since our screens so easily entice us, they should be put away during times of serious reading. If there is no such place in one’s home, public libraries still exist, and some may be quiet enough to read in. Or one might plan a reading retreat for a few days in a cottage or other peaceful location.

If we should read and find time and a place to read, what should we do with the books we read? I cannot read well without a pen or pencil, since I want to notate the pages to make the book my own. Various methods exist for graphically sculpting a book to one’s best use. I write in the front of the book when I begin reading it and when I finish it (if I do). That gives me some intellectual history with my reading. I make vertical marks in the margins of significant sections and write notes summarizing or critiquing the content. I underline some passages also. When I find something of special significance, I note that in the book’s front matter, as in “Page 36: good discussion of postmodernism.” This becomes a personal index.

When I was a young Christian (about 1979–1985), I usually took notes on the books I read on several sheets of paper. When I was done reading the book, I placed the sheets into the book. I still use those notes, although I no longer use this method. When writing on Zen Buddhism for my book World Religions in Seven Sentences (InterVarsity-Academic, 2023), I referred to my notes on D. T. Suzuki’s book, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism (Grove Press, 1964), which I read in 1981.

You are probably reading this essay online, but I want you to get offline as soon as possible. Then unplug from the Internet, find a good book, find a good place to read that good book, and start reading!

Douglas Groothuis, PhD, is Distinguished University Research Professor of Apologetics and Christian Worldview at Cornerstone University. He is the author of Christian Apologetics, 2nd ed. (IVP Academic, 2022) and, most recently, Beyond the Wager: The Christian Brilliance of Blaise Pascal (IVP Academic, 2024). Access his website at DouglasGroothuis.com.

NOTES

1. C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (Cambridge University Press, 1961; repr., New York: HarperOne, 2013), 11, Kindle Edition.
2. C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, 18–19.
3. C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism, 19.
4. Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are from the NIV.
5. See Jacques Ellul, The Humiliation of the Word (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985) and Sven Birkerts, The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006).
6. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985; New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 50, Kindle Edition.
7. See Douglas Groothuis, “An Informal Guide to Study Bibles,” April 6, 2016, https://www.douglasgroothuis.com/post/an-informal-guide-to-study-bibles.
8. C. S. Lewis, Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation (1944), in St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, trans. John Behr (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 12.
9. Os Guinness, Long Journey Home: A Guide to Your Search for the Meaning of Life (Waterbrook, 2001), Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion (IVP, 2015), and Signals of Transcendence: Listening to the Promptings of Life (IVP, 2023).