by A. W. Tozer
It is a doubtful compliment to a book to say that we found it so interesting that we "read it at one sitting." A book that can be so read is not likely to be the most helpful one.
The best book is the one that sets us off on a train of thought that carries us far away from and far beyond the book itself. Sometimes a single paragraph will accomplish this, or a single sentence; then we will be wise to close the book and let God and nature and our hearts be our teachers.
When the noted scholar Dr. Samuel Johnson visited the king, the two sat for a while before the fire in silence. Then the king said, "I suppose, Dr. Johnson, that you read a great deal." "Yes, Sire," replied Johnson, "but I think a great deal more." One of the English poets-I believe it was Coleridge-boasted to a Quaker lady about his study habits. He began his studies the instant he got up in the morning: while he dressed he memorized poetry; he studied his Greek vocabulary while he shaved; and so to the end of the day. The lady was unimpressed. "Friend," she asked reproachfully, "when does thee think?"
Apart from technical information which, of course, must be received from others, a man can teach himself much more than he can learn from books. A good book should do no more than prime the pump. After that the water will flow up from within as long as we keep the handle working and long after the original cup of water has been forgotten.
All else being equal it is desirable that Christians, especially ministers of the gospel, should be widely read. It is a disagreeable experience to present oneself before a teacher for religious instruction and discover in less than three minutes that the said teacher should have changed places with his listeners and learned from them rather than they from him. If he is a humble man and sticks close to the small plot of ground with which he is familiar, he may, if he loves God and men, succeed in ministering to the spiritual needs of his flock. If, however, his ignorance is exceeded by his arrogance, then God help his hearers. If he boasts of his ignorance and scorns learning, show me the nearest exit! I can learn more from a child laughing on the lawn or a cloud passing overhead.
Another type of speaker that drives me out into the fresh air is the unco-learned who knows more than he can handle comfortably and has more big words than he knows what to say with. He looks at his hearers in a faraway detached manner and talks of matters remote from their interest and above their understanding. His vocabulary consists almost wholly of academic jargon. He is sure to try to establish a "frame of reference," and "think in terms of" while he exhorts his listeners (if they are still listening) to "live horizontally" instead of "vertically," or vice versa. The racy, colloquial language people understand is carefully avoided and an artificial argot that blocks communication studiously chosen. For the great majority of persons it amounts to hearing a sermon preached in Sanskrit. Learning that produces this effect must be classified as pseudo-learning and surely has nothing to recommend it.
The book that informs us without inspiring us may be indispensable to the scientist, the lawyer, the physician, but mere information is not enough for the minister. If knowledge about things constituted learning, the encyclopedia would be all the library one needed for a fruitful ministry. The successful Christian, however, must know God, himself and his fellow men. Such knowledge is not gained by assembling data but by sympathetic contact, by intuition, by meditation, by silence, by inspiration, by prayer and long communion. I therefore recommend reading, not for diversion, nor for information alone, but for communion with great minds. The book that leads the soul out into the sunlight, points upward and bows out is always the best book.
The man who can teach me to teach myself will help me more in the long run than the man who spoon-feeds me and makes me dependent upon him. The teacher's best service is to make himself unnecessary. The book that serves as a ramp from which my mind can take off is the best book for me. The book that follows me into the pulpit and intrudes itself into my sermon is my enemy and an enemy to my hearers. The book that frees me to think my own inspired thoughts is my friend.
( The Size of the Soul, Chapter 6 )
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