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Literary Reconstruction
An Editorial by Ryan Mawhar
Christians are the last people who need to be reminded of the
importance of words. The God we serve is the Word
made flesh. Our knowledge of and communion
with God is based upon the Bible, the Word of
God revealed to us. In a world where words
and books link us directly with our Creator they can never be taken light.
Thus it is absolutely critical that Christians learn, not only rightly
to divide the Word of Truth, but rightly to divide whatever words come their way,
accepting or rejecting them on the basis of God's Word.
This is even more obviously true in a society where words surround and
threaten to engulf us, whether as books, web pages, emails, newspapers, magazines,
billboards, bulletin boards, newsletters, pamphlets, speeches, briefs, debriefs, or blogs,
from headlines to fine print; if we are not ready for them WE WILL BE MANIPULATED BY THEM. No Christian can allow himself to be manipulated,
for if he is he cannot "appraise all things, yet be himself appraised by no
one." It is our duty, therefore, to
appraise all these words; that is, to assess their true worth.
To begin to do this we must clearly understand two things. First, words presuppose, and therefore
communicate or even embody, ideas. Second,
ideas have consequences. The best and most
familiar example of this is, of course, the Word of God.
The Bible assumes, embodies, and communicates certain ideas, and if I
believe them, I will act accordingly. This is
why James says that faith without works is dead. Similarly,
if I believe (or disbelieve!) the words and ideas of any other book, I will act
accordingly. But we can go further than this.
What happens, for example, if I read a book without knowing whether I
believe its ideas or not? Surely my ignorance
will not make them disappear; God has appointed words as the bearers of ideas, and I
cannot by any means change that. My ignorance
does not simply leave me clueless, it leaves me defenseless. Have you ever noticed how after you've been
reading a book for a long time and then put it down, afterward your thinking resembles the
tone and style of the narrative? And this is
only the surface. Beneath the surface,
repeated exposure to words and ideas of any kind will train you to think like the author
thinks, without your ever being consciously being aware of it.
Now I am sure we have all read those words of Jesus, "No man can
serve two masters. Whoever is not with Me is against Me." I cannot absolve myself of my responsibility to
examine as I read by saying to myself that the book is harmless; there are no such books. Whatever author is not with Him is against Him.
Everyone, authors and readers alike,
has beliefs about how we got here, what we are doing, what we should be doing, and where
we'll end up when it's over. We also have
beliefs about how and why we believe what we believe.
This is true whether those beliefs are conscious or subconscious; remember,
either we serve the Lord or we don't, and our beliefs about these questions are a
reflection of whether we serve Him or not.
Our mission in this review is to take some books you've heard of, some
books you've read, some books you were or are forced to read for school, and some books
that are brand new, and go farther up and further in than book reviews often do. We want to find out what the author really thinks
about God, the universe, and everything, and how this is expressed in his book. We want to share our findings with you, fairly and
openly.
But we also want you to learn to do
this on your own. We want all Christians to
be able confidently to cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, and bring his kingdom hard against the gates of hell, which cannot prevail. And for this we will be careful to give Him the
praise, for it is in His name that we have gathered together, and it is He Who goes before
us.
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