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20 – Keeping an open mind
THIS series has been encouraging readers to build up a library of useful and profitable books and to read those books all the way through, and refer to them often. It has suggested works as diverse as concordances, lexicons, atlases, dictionaries, books about history, biographies and commentaries. Recommendations have been made in all of these different categories, and more have appeared in the appendices to each article, on the Christadelphian Office website. This time the concluding appendix recommendations are about non-Christadelphian commentaries on the Biblical text.
Many other recommendations have been received by me as the series has progressed. It’s heart-warming to hear a brother say, “I’ve just read Brother L. G. Sargent’s excellent book A Sound Mind; don’t forget to give it a mention”. But, of course, you can’t mention everything! That’s why catalogues and booklists are produced by the CMPA, CSSS and other publishers. But remember, personal recommendations are invaluable, especially from someone you know and whose opinions you value.
Open book
The key thing is to be reading something all the time. Have a meaningful book by your bedside, near your favourite armchair, on your desk. I remember once visiting the home of two avid readers and discovering a very good selection of reading material in the bathroom! Once you get bitten by the reading bug you take every opportunity to enlarge your mind, provided you don’t fritter your time away by always reading inconsequential stuff. It may be relaxing, but is it the best use of your time?
Of course, people have differing views about what suits them best, and that is as it should be. What is right for one person may not be right for another. That too is what this series has been about: being willing to learn from everyone, including from books by non-Christadelphians, provided we read carefully and with discrimination.
If you can, it is often worth reading about the writer before you read his or her writings, so you know their doctrinal position (or the lack of it). If they are academics, it is worth knowing if they are believers or sceptics. Sometimes, as with Birmingham-based Dr. Michael Goulder, they start off believing and lose their faith during their writing career. Despite writing some challenging books, especially about the Gospels, Goulder became a self-styled “non-aggressive atheist” as far back as 1981. Nowadays there are several sources available to keep you informed about such things, including the flyleaf of the book and the Internet. ‘Google’ the author’s name and see what comes up.
Standing on another’s shoulders
Isaac Newton once said, in a letter to Robert Hooke, “If I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. He meant that he owed a debt to the scientists who had preceded him, from whose writings and findings he had learned much. We too want to see as far forward as we can, especially as we try to anticipate events associated with the coming of the Lord. And we need to find every means of communicating with an increasingly self-obsessed world. Our early brethren set us a good example in this respect, for they were evidently well-read.
Sometimes they were helped by what they read; sometimes they were provoked to find better answers. Brother Thomas starts Eureka with a Preface which refers critically to the four-volume work Horae Apocalypticae by E. B. Elliott, and later mentions the views of the Early Church fathers, Polycarp and Irenaeus. In God’s Way, Brother John Carter quotes extensively from the writings of contemporary theologians, to show how far Christendom has strayed from the true Gospel. The late Brother Edward Whittaker once told me that he regularly read the works of non-Christadelphians to keep abreast of modern theological thinking. There is always something to learn from conscientious people who have tried their best to explain what scripture means, and their findings can often be illuminating and thought-provoking. And it helps to know the new theological ideas so that we can challenge them as they develop.
New books like The Da Vinci Code or The God Delusion offer another such opportunity – to deal with topical and controversial issues in a positive and Biblical way, thus re-presenting the age-old Gospel message in a modern and appealing way. Political developments offer a similar opportunity, if we keep abreast of them. Invariably, the writing community also responds to controversy, producing much useful material, which can bring the reader up to date with Gnosticism, Evolution, or whichever human notion has become fashionable again. These are also shoulders upon which to climb if we want to look ahead with advantage.
Open not empty
There is an important difference between an open mind – one which is open to different points of view and willing to learn – and an uninformed mind. We need to read everything carefully and to weigh new ideas thoughtfully, in the light of our distinctive understanding of scripture. Make your mind up about things and stick to your committed beliefs, but always be ready to accept that other people can help you along the way, even if their doctrinal position is uncertain in some things. Be willing to learn, but always make the word of God your key instructor.
As a final thought, read widely but read wisely! It was the Apostle Paul who made this enlightened comment: “I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise” (Romans 1:14).
