Should Christians Read Non-Christian Books?
Despite visual media’s best attempts to kill off reading, people still really like books. Between libraries, online bookstores, Google Books and devices like the Kindle, it’s almost trivial to find any book we could ever want.
But with all those choices comes the next question of “What do I read next?” For Christians that question takes on a spiritual element as well, becuase—as we all know—what we read does affect us.
So, with that in mind we’d like to hear your thoughts on the question: should Christians read non-Christian books?
Yes and no…I think prayer should be involved before reading/choosing.
Why not understand the books in conflict with God’s teaching, thereby learning the mind of the enemy. Wisdom should always be used when looking into darkness.
Should Christians read non-christian books? That is a very good question, and one that each one of us must consider. Many of us became Christians at one point in our lives and have a good understanding of the ways of the world. For those believers that grew up in Christian homes and have never departed, you may also have some understanding of the world ways but not with the fullness of experiencing such ways. For a christian that is grounded and unmovable it should be no problem. For a christian that is not sure of many aspects of God or is still in the proses of learning to know God should dedicate every effort to christian literature. In aether case the type of reading material has to be consider. There are books and magazines that are not good even for the unmovable christian. The content of books that provokes our sinful nature and entices temptation must be avoided. Remember that we are tempted from withing, and that no one of us is exempted from falling into sinful temptation. Each one of us should take this question personally and with sincerity of heart decide if it will be proper. Paul tells us in the book of Romans, “to renew our mind” and this is by God’s word. Know what you read and bring every though into the submition of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I think that reading non-Christian books is fine, though I don’t do it very often. I don’t like to get legalistic with it, because that’s not helpful to anybody. But, I think that things like romance novels can be unsafe and lead a person farther away from the Lord. So…as long as it doesn’t, seems okay to me!
yesbut not every book I thing one has to be carefull with the subject being tought by that book
I believe Christians should read books — any and all books –that they think will add value to their lives, even if that value means reading a book they don’t agree with, but which challenges their thinking, their point of view, their faith. Isn’t that part of the point? I agree with whoever said some books are just trash — no one should read them! I’m reading a book now about interpreting life’s spiritual messages called “Decoding the Spiritual Messages of Everyday Life: How Life Teaches Us What we Need to Know,” by Dr. Paul DeBell. Perhaps the “everyday” decoding might offend those who find inspiration should come only from the Bible. But isn’t it important to open a spiritual connection that it us to you to nurture? This book helps do that — and if YOU learn something, then someone ELSE can benefit from your explaining it. And it helps us take good care of our souls, as well.
Absolutely! The thought of not reading a book because it is not christian, is very dangerous thinking. As christians we need to be aware of the world and explore our surroundings. If we only know our faith and our books and media, we are alienating ourselves from the rest of the world. This does not mean that we must read and view every type of “non-christian” media, because yes our brains are sponges and yes we need to protect them.
As christians we are called to wisdom, we need to know more than our ‘christian bubble’, how can we evangelize and relate with others if we are not open to anything outside of “christian media”? As christians we believe that our faith in God is the right faith and is the most reasonable and intelligent path, but if we are not willing to learn about any thing else outside this faith , no one else will be open to learning about ours.