Old Books and Ancient Beliefs
In a technologically driven society, the old smell of leather bound books is the last thing on Earth people want to experience. For some, the mere inconvenience of not having enough space for those heavy tomes in a house or a book bag is reason enough to give them up. Yet, in our quest for ridding our homes and abodes of these antiquated door stops, we fail to see the richness that lies within old books. IPhones, Kindles, E-readers of all shapes and sizes emit pages on a screen that allow us to read on the go, anywhere there is a wafting aroma of coffee. These devices provide E4 with the opportunity to bring the best ancient biblical wisdom of the past and link them with today’s readers in whatever capacity they engage in reading. But, this linking of the past with the present, the ancient with the modern begs us to ask a most fundamental question. Why read old books anyway?
1. Many old books are chalk full of wisdom that is both theologically sound and personally edifying.
For example, take the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, the Genevan Reformer of the 16th century. Calvin sought to harmonize the best of biblical studies within a theological framework that exalts the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of every Christian to live out his calling in life for God’s glory. One might object to his insistence on predestination but certainly not to his understanding of prayer, the need for repentance, and the centrality of the church.
The Dutch Reformed theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper took the concept of the sovereignty of God and applied it to all spheres of life. He says early on in his work that, “Calvinism provides us with an unity of life system…and addresses our relation to God, our relation to man, and our relation to the world” (Calvinism: Six Stone Lectures, 16). Kuyper provides his readers with a comprehensive system that promotes understanding in every facet of life, from art to recreation, from education to government. With a mature theological vision and a desire to see God’s glory capturing every sphere of life, Kuyper was able to instill biblical wisdom for the Christian. Notice how Kuyper does not segregate the life of the Christian from the world that he lives in, is employed, and spends his waking hours. These lectures that Kuyper gave some 114 years ago still ring true today, not because they are full of novel ideas but rather they exude a spirit of faithfulness to God through honoring him in every sphere of life in which we live. Some Christian denominations and groups want to either divide the sacred from the secular in the world or they desire to allow the cultural interests to swallow up the unique identity of the church. Kuyper cuts through these faulty notions with a Christian worldview that calls the church to holiness all the while maintaining the idea that we must engage the culture critically with the good news of Jesus Christ.
2. Old books reveal the faithfulness of Christians of the past as an example for us to follow.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians writes with a strong accent concerning the way in which believers should conduct their lives. Highlighting the importance of looking out for the interests of others he composes this remarkable hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. In the first few verses he writes, “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). In these few short verses, we see the action of Jesus Christ in not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped, making himself nothing, taking the form of a servant and humbling himself unto death. All of these actions done by Jesus are acts of obedience to God the Father. In one sense, we can say that all of Jesus’ life, ministry, teachings, death and resurrection are one big story of Jesus fulfilling the task to which he was called, which included suffering, being ostracized by others, and ending up on a cross designed for criminals.
If obedience is at the heart of the story of Jesus in his relationship to the Father, how much more is following Jesus unto death the heart of our story as believers in Christ. We see this kind of radical obedience in old books by authors who held a profound grasp of the importance of Christ in life as well.
We see the truth of the priesthood of all believers coming out in the teaching of Martin Luther as he writes, “Hence we deduce that there is, at bottom, really no other difference between laymen, priests, princes, bishops, or, in Romanist terminology, between the religious and secular, than that of office or occupation and not that of Christian status. All have spiritual status, and all are truly priests, bishops, and popes” (An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility). Luther is connecting the idea that at the foot of the cross, through our justification by grace through faith, every Christian believer is on an equal footing spiritually. Although there might be different roles in the church and out of the church, believers share one common bond that unites them, namely Christ. In highlighting this important teaching, Luther makes it apparent that the milkmaid and the noble are called to fulfill their jobs and callings in obedience, not for namesake but out of devotion to Christ. For Luther, obedience was not like an additional topping you put on a sundae at the end of the line, but rather obedience to Christ is at the heart of the Christian faith, exuding from the inception of faith to death.
J. Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to inland China was instrumental in evangelizing a large part of the people of China, converting thousands to follow after Christ. Ruth Tucker says of Taylor, “No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematised plan of evangelising a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor” (From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1983). In his short book entitled Retrospect, J. Hudson Taylor writes, “Furthermore, in our privileged position of fellow-workers with Him, while fully recognising all the benefits and blessings to be bestowed on a sin-stricken world through the proclamation of the Gospel and spread of the Truth, we should never lose sight of the higher aspect of our work—that of obedience to God, of bringing glory to His Name, of gladdening the heart of our God and Father by living and serving as His beloved children. The activity of obedience for Taylor is never an end in itself but is a motivation to bring glory to His name, gladdening the Father’s heart and serving as His children. Being adopted as sons and daughters of God, being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light gives us the push to live obedient lives for Christ, always knowing that will never be abandoned by the one who died for us. J. Hudson Taylor’s Retrospect, a book written over 100 years ago still remains an honest witness of the kind of obedience that we seek to emulate.
