A Puritan's Advice on Reading

This is a short excerpt from the book of Banner of Truth Magazine Issues 1-16, originally published from September 1955 to August 1959, from an article by Richard Baxter (1615-1691), a well-known Puritan writer. This particular source article is from the 11^th issue, July 1958. I have not changed his words, but have taken the liberty of separating his arguments by bullet points for easier comprehension.

He begins by noting the primacy of scripture over all other books. “Let scripture be first and most in your hearts and hands and other books be used as subservient to it.” But then he proceeds to describe the importance of the reading of good books:

“The writings of divines are nothing else but a preaching of the gospel to the eye, as the voice preaches it to the ear. Vocal preaching has the pre-eminence in moving the affections, and being diversified according to the state of the congregation which attend it: this way the milk comes warmest from the breast. But books have the advantage in many other respects:

• you may read an able preacher when you have but a mean one to hear. Every congregation cannot hear the most judicious or powerful preachers: but every single person may read the books of the most powerful and judicious;

• preachers may be silenced or banished, when books may be at hand:

• books may be kept at a smaller charge than preachers:

• we may choose books which treat of that very subject which we desire to hear of; but we cannot choose what subject the preacher shall treat of.

• Books we may have at hand every day and hour; when we can have sermons but seldom, and at set times.

• ·If sermons be forgotten, they are gone; but a book we may read over and over, till we remember it: and if we forget it, may again peruse it at our pleasure, or at our leisure.

So that good books are a very great mercy to the world: the Holy Ghost chose the way of writing, to preserve His doctrine and laws to the Church, as knowing how easy and sure a way it is of keeping it safe to all generations, in comparison of mere verbal traditions.”

He is obviously restricting his approval to books that are good and profitable in a spiritual sense, not to cheap and worthless romantic or sensual drivel. Even some books which are not necessarily evil are not worth reading. The Puritans were very serious in listening to, and reading books of sermons or others of a spiritual nature.

A necessary corollary to this advice on reading, actually a prerequisite, is the importance of being able to read, and to read well – quickly and with good comprehension. As parents we should be doing our utmost to make sure our children can read and write well (in cursive, but that is beside our present point). I have been dismayed to have known people personally who said they had never read a book since high school, or who say their reading ability is so low that reading is a chore, not a pleasure. On the other hand, we knew a man who said that before he came to Jesus as a believer he did not know how to read, but afterwards learned. I would recommend that those whose reading ability is poor, to take heart, pray to God and ask him through his Holy Spirit to teach you to read and to read well. Then use that new ability to your spiritual profit – first and foremost in the scriptures as the words of life, but then in truly good and beneficial spiritual books. (A side benefit is that you will also be able to learn things of a how-to nature, like auto repair, running electric or plumbing lines, woodworking, cooking, etc.)