Benjamin Franklin remarked on how difficult it was, even in the American wilderness, to find an illiterate American. If he enjoyed the hospitality of some frontier family for a night (there weren’t any motels), even in a one room log cabin, he was sure to find a Bible and more than likely several volumes of the classics. This is the more impressive when we realize that, at a time when nearly every American could read, only one Frenchman in forty-eight was literate. The Bible had given birth to a nation of readers; the great Enlightenment had not!

Today’s America, under the impress of Secular Humanism, is regressing to illiteracy. Sadly, the television has replaced the book. Where the world leads, the "church" is sure to follow. The original choices are still the only ones: conformity to the world, or transfiguration by the renewing of our minds.

Every American should have a library; especially every American Grace Believer! The Grace Believer’s Library should begin with a Bible translated from the Majority Text in modern English. It should have several helpful "tools": Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, Berry's Greek-English Interlinear, The New Englishman’s Greek Concordance and Lexicon; Unger’s Bible Dictionary; Baker’s A Dispensational Theology. Little by little (actually, as fast as the budget will allow), titles should be added from such fields as Apologetics, Creation Science, Dispensational Truth, and so forth. Don’t forget a good dictionary, a thesaurus, and a user-friendly book on English grammar and usage. An encyclopedia can be a used one bought at a library sale. Add some good history books, especially American History, and a few of the classics.

If you have children, "fall them in love" with good books as early in their lives as possible. No matter how tired you are, read to them at bedtime...make it a priority! Encourage them to acquire their own books and to take good care of them. Remember, a home without books is culturally deprived...a life without books is an abnormal life!

A major goal of this periodical is to encourage Bible study, Bible understanding, and Bible application to life and ministry. Through our Literature Section we are doing what we can to help Believers acquire libraries--libraries that can greatly improve the quality of their lives and the effectiveness of their ministries. Call us at (630) 834-0884 for more information.

The GRACE BELIEVER does not endorse every view of every author. Through this column and its literature ministry, the Grace Believer seeks to aid Christians in building an interesting and informative Home Library that will add to their understanding of God’s Word, enhancing personal growth and increasing effectiveness in ministry.