# What to do with your books?



## JS116 (Oct 20, 2011)

What do you guys do with the books that you disagree with?I'm pretty sure all of us have bought book(s) that we thought were good but werent what we expected.

I have about 3,since I embraced reformed theology 2 years ago I rarely these books,they are books like; a compact bible commentary,strong s bible concordance(KJV) and a NIV study bible.What do you guys do with books you disagree with?

Side Note:I'm thinking about keeping the concordance until I get another one,then I will give it away


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## JoannaV (Oct 20, 2011)

Burn the Bibles but buy two new (good) ones to give away?


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## JS116 (Oct 20, 2011)

Ehhh,wish I could but if I buy two new ones they will be for myself lol.I will maybe keep them to show my progression over time


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## seajayrice (Oct 20, 2011)

I have the Herbert Lockyer "All the . . ." collection. He's arminian but nevertheless has moments of scholarly and devotional insights. So I continue to parse the works from time to time. Yet his books are like the garden on the shady side of the house, I find myself thinking I could better use my time.


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## BobVigneault (Oct 20, 2011)

Put them all together in a section of your library or bookcase and label it "Cults".


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Oct 20, 2011)

I either re-sell them on amazon or keep them in a special place if there is some redeeming value.


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## Fly Caster (Oct 20, 2011)

What's the objection to Strong's Concordance? I'm curious here.


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## FenderPriest (Oct 20, 2011)

There's a bit of a spectrum on this for me. When it comes to the value of books, I judge off of a few categories: 

Usefulness to my own soul
Usefulness for understanding brothers in Christ
Usefulness for understanding false teaching
Usefulness for understanding our culture
Usefulness for understanding church history

I don't see a reason to chuck a book _just_ because it's got some bad parts in it, or is just bad through and through. But I guess it depends largely on an individual's strengths and weaknesses as a student, as well as their own personal interests and delights. Personally, I have loads of books that are horrible for one reason or another that I keep around for various reasons. Some times, I keep them because I just don't want to give them away and cause somebody else to stumble. Or, I just can't bring myself to burn them. Other times I keep them because they fit into one of the categories above - and with bad books, it's usually for the benefits I get from their scholarship, _or_ for examples of how _not_ to do scholarship (which is most often the case). To add to this, like D.A. Carson has said, I don't think I've ever read a book that I've agreed with completely. I think knowing what to keep in your library is determined by what you want your library to do for you. If you're not a scholarly-type who reads loads and loads (which is perfectly fine - one shouldn't feel fear of man in this category in the slightest) then your books should reflect that personal make-up. So for me, my library serves to edify my and my family's soul in Christ, help us study the Bible better, expand our love for good literature and poetry, and as I can, help me understand the scholarly world I dip into from time to time. So, my library reflects those aims, with books on the spectrum of really good, to really bad (i.e. I will confess, I have Paul Tillich and Francis Turretin).

Just a few thoughts...


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## Stargazer65 (Oct 20, 2011)

This brings up a bad memory of one of the worst things I ever did. Ten or so years ago I was weeding out old books and found we had two Ryrie study bibles. One was pretty old and worn, the other was new. I decided to keep the new one, and put it with the other dispensational literature, and pitch out the old, Some weeks later, my wife is perusing the book shelf, and asks me about the other RSB. I said, " ...Do you mean that old one?" She looked at me worried now, because I had that look that implied I threw it away. She said, "Yes, the one that was _signed inside the cover by Ryrie_!" I said, "I didn't notice that." It turns out my wife knew C. Ryrie during her college days, used that bible back then, and it was a keepsake from her college days. It would have gone with other keepsake bibles like the ones owned by her grandparents.

I was in the doghouse for a while on that one. She's very sentimental about old books, cards, letter, etc... Even now, I still earn a dirty look if something brings the memory of that back.


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## JBaldwin (Oct 20, 2011)

BobVigneault said:


> Put them all together in a section of your library or bookcase and label it "Cults".



I was going to make the same suggestion. My brother-in-law keeps a "cult" shelf in his library and says he actually refers to it from time to time.


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## TexanRose (Oct 20, 2011)

I thought Strong's concordance was pretty orthodox? We have several copies and use them all the time, and we're as Reformed as can be.


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## Rich Koster (Oct 20, 2011)

I mark up the inside cover with a red marker, warning the future reader of the error contained. Really bad ones I'll write on the side of the pages or in cases like Watchtower publications or Benny Hinn stuff, burn them. Joyce Meyer can heat a house quite well.

BTW, I used to be a librarian for a congregation. People would donate some really theologically bad stuff from time to time. It was my duty to shelve it properly, or dispose of it properly. I thought the woodstove was the perfect place for some of it.

Reactions: Rejoicing 1


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## Stargazer65 (Oct 20, 2011)

TexanRose said:


> I thought Strong's concordance was pretty orthodox? We have several copies and use them all the time, and we're as Reformed as can be.



I can't imagine there being anything wrong with it either. It's a concordance, and it's technically accurate. There's nothing that would even be controversial in it.


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## Andres (Oct 20, 2011)

Don't stumble over a pride issue here. You're allowed to have books in your library that you don't agree with 100%. As others have suggested, we can still learn from those we don't agree with completely. I have several books that I disagree with. I don't have a literal label of "cults" but they are on a separate bookshelf in my library. 

Then there are books that you don't agree with and you know you won't ever read again. These are books that maybe you read because they're surging in popularity and you want to be able to explain them to people. I trade those books on Paperback Swap. If you've never used it, it's a wonderful website. I've probably acquired close to 30 books from there in the last two years alone. And the best part is it's free!


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## Constantlyreforming (Oct 20, 2011)

cult is a strong word.




how about Heresy?


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## GulfCoast Presbyterian (Oct 20, 2011)

What do I do with them? If they have any value (subjective) to me for study, etc. I keep them. For example, Dr. William Barclay's books, for instance, stay on my shelf despite being a universalist, and worse. If not, I take them down to the Singing River Yacht Club and put them in the "sailor's book swap" bin so that perhaps some visiting mariner looking for a book will at least have a "christian" option besides romances and spy novels.

Reactions: Sad 1


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## Joseph Scibbe (Oct 20, 2011)

It is a rare day that I throw out a book. I have a Quaran on my shelf for 2 purposes: 1 I want to read it to know what Islam teaches and the man who gave it to me was a Chaplain I worked with that I had a great relationship with and it has some sentimental value. Also, how can the Strongs be disagreeable? It is a concordance...just a list of words. Don't throw them out. Also, the NIV is a good thing to keep around. It isn't a bad translation and can be helpful with comparative study.


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## Herald (Oct 20, 2011)

If they don't serve apologetic purposes I trash them. I am not going to give someone a book that will lead them into error.

sent from my most excellent Motorola Atrix.

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## CharlieJ (Oct 20, 2011)

On Strong's, I don't know that it's bad; it's just not very useful. Any Bible search website or computer Bible program performs many more search features much faster than a book could. Plus, the book is keyed only to one version. Since I've moved recently, I've started (literally) weighing my bookshelf. Is this book worth the 4.3 pounds and x cubic inches it takes up on my shelf? Strong's isn't.

Reactions: Edifying 1


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## Stargazer65 (Oct 20, 2011)

CharlieJ said:


> On Strong's, I don't know that it's bad; it's just not very useful. Any Bible search website or computer Bible program performs many more search features much faster than a book could. Is this book worth the 4.3 pounds and x cubic inches it takes up on my shelf?



That's fine until TEOTWAWKI. When the power goes down for good you might be glad for a good old-school concordance. Plus when the zombies attack, it's heavy enough to hurt them while you scramble for your shotgun.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## TexanRose (Oct 20, 2011)

CharlieJ said:


> On Strong's, I don't know that it's bad; it's just not very useful. Any Bible search website or computer Bible program performs many more search features much faster than a book could. Plus, the book is keyed only to one version. Since I've moved recently, I've started (literally) weighing my bookshelf. Is this book worth the 4.3 pounds and x cubic inches it takes up on my shelf? Strong's isn't.



Some of us like to take a break from the computer now and then. Plus the advantage of a physical concordance, as with a physical dictionary, is that as you're looking up one thing, you sometimes stumble across another that proves interesting or useful. We love those felicitous discoveries.


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## JS116 (Oct 20, 2011)

Yeah I figured someone was going to ask that haha..but I dont object to the concordance I just have founda better one,that's why I say I'm going to keep it until I get it.

I guess I should've made myself clear I'm not really asking(although I like some ideas)what to do with my books,im asking what do you guy's do with your books that you disagree with.

I personally will probably keep some resources that I dont agree with,Example:I have 7 Seventh Day Adventist books given to me my older brother,supporting the SDA positions.I dont want to throw them away because I feel it would be a good study to further examining what they believe, do I agree with them?No,so I choose to keep the unbiblcal and unsound books in the back of the closet and dont usually throw them away.


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## baron (Oct 20, 2011)

Put them in boxes and take to attic. But then again that's what I do with most of my book's, seeing that I have no where else to put them.


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## seajayrice (Oct 20, 2011)

Stargazer65 said:


> CharlieJ said:
> 
> 
> > On Strong's, I don't know that it's bad; it's just not very useful. Any Bible search website or computer Bible program performs many more search features much faster than a book could. Is this book worth the 4.3 pounds and x cubic inches it takes up on my shelf?
> ...



That is exactly what I was thinking. Try fending off a hungry Zombie with an IPad. Now picture Strongs hardbound in your hand - yeah, that's the same picture I get.


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## "William The Baptist" (Oct 20, 2011)

I usually go to the nearest Half Price Books and get a few dollars from the books I don't want to keep for various reasons. I figure I might as well profit a little off some heresy... generally they are ones I either bought in ignorance years before from HPB or were a gift. But I saw someone mention Amazon and that seems like a good alternative if you don't have a used books store nearby.

Reactions: Sad 1


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## BobVigneault (Oct 20, 2011)

I've hollowed all mine out and filled them with guns and ammo for when the zombie apocalypse happens... which if Harold Wingnut Camping is right, may start tomorrow.


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## JS116 (Oct 20, 2011)

"William The Baptist" said:


> I usually go to the nearest Half Price Books and get a few dollars from the books I don't want to keep for various reasons. I figure I might as well profit a little off some heresy... generally they are ones I either bought in ignorance years before from HPB or were a gift. But I saw someone mention Amazon and that seems like a good alternative if you don't have a used books store nearby.



As good as that sounds seeing how bad the economy is,that would be nice,but selling them wouldnt sit well with my conscience,to me selling heretical or bad hermeneutical books would be the equivalent of selling a Illegal drug to a an addict,just my personal conviction although.

Reactions: Rejoicing 1


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## O'GodHowGreatThouArt (Oct 20, 2011)

The only books I've ever disagreed with scripturally are in a single box in the back of my closet.

I don't want to sell them, but considering they were recieved as gifts by my immediate family, I can't muster up the strength to burn them (even though one of the books deserves to be quartered).


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## "William The Baptist" (Oct 20, 2011)

JS116 said:


> As good as that sounds seeing how bad the economy is,that would be nice,but selling them wouldnt sit well with my conscience,to me selling heretical or bad hermeneutical books would be the equivalent of selling a Illegal drug to a an addict,just my personal conviction although.



Fair enough. I figure those who are willing to buy such trash are going to buy it regardless of whether or not I sold it to HPB or not. Those who want it will get it either way. But, I would not try to convince you I am right, since it is just a conviction of mine. Just my

Reactions: Sad 1


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## Stargazer65 (Oct 20, 2011)

seajayrice said:


> Stargazer65 said:
> 
> 
> > CharlieJ said:
> ...



Not to mention that a bookshelf filled with big heavy books is great for blocking doorways and windows. The more books the better.

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BobVigneault said:


> I've hollowed all mine out and filled them with guns and ammo for when the zombie apocalypse happens... which if Harold Wingnut Camping is right, may start tomorrow.



Very practical, good thinking!


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## cwjudyjr (Oct 20, 2011)

[EBAY][/EBAY]


BobVigneault said:


> I've hollowed all mine out and filled them with guns and ammo for when the zombie apocalypse happens... which if Harold Wingnut Camping is right, may start tomorrow.



Why bother? Has he been right about anything?


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## Pilgrim (Oct 20, 2011)

The question of what to do with them probably hinges somewhat on how much room you have for books to begin with. If your available space is limited, you necessarily have to be more selective. 

I was converted later in life and never had a charismatic phase or any other really aberrant phase. I did however throw away some books that were heretical and blatantly non-Christian that I had sort of looked to prior to my conversion. I've held on to at least one Dave Hunt book, which was instrumental in my conversion from a new agey mushy mysticism that rejected the accuracy of the Bible's teaching on the Deity of Christ and other issues. I'll never get rid of that book short of flood or fire. Although I haven't looked at it in years, despite the author's flaws (which are admitted even by many Arminians,) it also remains somewhat helpful as a catalog of errors of almost every sort in the "evangelical" world WRT ecumenism, psychology, new age and cultish views, etc.

Well, if anyone has books they just have to throw away or burn, please send me (or post) a list so I can have an opportunity to claim some of them for informational purposes, etc.  I've picked up a number of books from Goodwill for those purposes in recent years.


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## Reformed Thomist (Oct 20, 2011)

Hold onto them. Every book tells a story.


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## Philip (Oct 20, 2011)

JS116 said:


> What do you guys do with the books that you disagree with?



Read them. I often find that theologians I disagree with nonetheless have useful things to say and may see part of the picture that I don't. If I can justify keeping Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud on my shelf, then Barth, Chesterton, Lewis, and the like can stay.

I've never met a theologian with whom I agree 100%.


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## NB3K (Oct 25, 2011)

I keep them on a seperate shelf. They are good for teaching against. Calvin had great insight of the errors of the ECF and how would he if he simply burnt them?


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## ClayPot (Oct 25, 2011)

The NIV Study Bible is so bad it needs to be burned? Is it unorthodox or just non-reformed? Perhaps you could put it on Craigslist to see if someone might have use for it.


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## reformed trucker (Oct 25, 2011)

I still own every book I've ever bought; My discernment is honed enough to sort truth from error.

Although I do have some old Doonesbury books that I should chuck because they promote hippyism...


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## Peairtach (Oct 26, 2011)

Strong's Concordance and the NIV Study Bible, clearly cultic.


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