Books books books...what about them?

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Permalink Reply by Matteo Masiello on February 26, 2012 at 2:53pm

I like this question.  I have only been in the habit of wanting to read nonfiction books related to Christian life, and theological topics, because I am very interested in the views and opinions of Christians whose belief differ greatly from my own, and those who I agree with to some extent.  From these opinions, I pick and choose what I agree with and what I don't agree with.  I consider all of humanity as my family, so it's important, for me, to understand the world better.  I'm not a fundamentalist, or adhere too much to what some consider as "orthodox" but if you were to put my feet to the fire my "beliefs" would fall into what is considered orthodox.  At the same time, I am deeply interested in modern literature and non-Christian writing, again, because I am interested in what people have to say. I read books by people who have very different points of view and I use that to see where my own boundaries of thought are. I also read from a couple of different translations of the Bible to get a broader, more amplified, sense of what it says. I think we should also read what we want to read and not feel we have to read this or that.  I say this with some irony in that, in terms of literature, I feel so ignorant since I made it through to college without reading so many "important" works of the past and sometimes think whether I "should" be reading the works of "important" writers. I don't think that I have to be afraid of reading something as it might threaten my faith. But that's just me. I also realize that there just isn't time to read I want to read, so given what little time I have I'll keep it between the Bible and other works related to Christian thought, throwing in something else once in a while. I also have to be at peace with the idea that I don't always have to be reading something. Sometimes my mind needs a break!