On the Reading of Books
“When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.” So writes Dutch humanist and theologian, Desiderius Erasmus, a contemporary and sometimes opponent, of Martin Luther. Anybody who has ever helped me move can testify that I can relate to Erasmus’ philosophy. I like books, all sorts of books, classic and new fiction, history, politics, academic, and more than anything else—theological books. My shelves (when I have space for bookshelves) are full of books. In addition to the 150 on the shelves in our apartment I also have one 4’ X 6’ X 7’ storage room packed with books. I’ve read all of them but about 20 that are sitting on the shelf when I get a few minutes or hours of leisure time. The best ones I’ve read several times. I’ve underlined them and made notes in them. That’s an advantage to owning a book as opposed to borrowing a book. You can go back to it again and again. The books that ...