Blueridge Believer
Puritan Board Professor
Too many novels
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16
"Of making many books there is no end." Ecclesiastes 12:12
(Sophia Smith's journal entry, 7 November 1863)
"I have done too much light reading in the past--too many novels.
Although interesting and well written, they take up too much time,
and are too absorbing. They induce a disrelish for more substantial
reading. And they also have a tendency to dissipate the mind and
take it off from more solemn things."
"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk." 1 Peter 2:2-3
"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long!" Ps. 119:97
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"There are many books," said John Newton, "which I cannot sit down
to read. They are indeed good and sound--but have a great quantity
of pages, compared to their insignificant value. There are some silver
books, and a very few golden books; but I have one book worth more
than all, called the Bible--and that is a book of priceless gems!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Gorham Abbott, "The Family at Home", 1833)
To a man who knows the value of the Word of God, it is . . .
nearer than his friends,
dearer than his life,
sweeter than his liberty,
pleasanter than his daily comforts.
"How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey
to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103
"They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are
sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb." Psalm 19:10
This one book is worth more than all the other books in the world!
He who reads this book with attention, humility, prayer, and self
application, can never be ignorant of that which it chiefly concerns
him to know. "Therein are contained the words of eternal life. It
has God for its Author, salvation for its object, and truth, without
mixture of error, for its matter."
Guard against the love of light, trifling reading. At best, it wastes
the time and enfeebles the mind, and disqualifies it for the relish
of more solid subjects. By giving a false and delusive coloring to
the scenes of human life--it excites unreasonable expectations,
unfits for common duties, and produces discontent with the sober
realities of life.
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16
"Of making many books there is no end." Ecclesiastes 12:12
(Sophia Smith's journal entry, 7 November 1863)
"I have done too much light reading in the past--too many novels.
Although interesting and well written, they take up too much time,
and are too absorbing. They induce a disrelish for more substantial
reading. And they also have a tendency to dissipate the mind and
take it off from more solemn things."
"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk." 1 Peter 2:2-3
"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long!" Ps. 119:97
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"There are many books," said John Newton, "which I cannot sit down
to read. They are indeed good and sound--but have a great quantity
of pages, compared to their insignificant value. There are some silver
books, and a very few golden books; but I have one book worth more
than all, called the Bible--and that is a book of priceless gems!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(Gorham Abbott, "The Family at Home", 1833)
To a man who knows the value of the Word of God, it is . . .
nearer than his friends,
dearer than his life,
sweeter than his liberty,
pleasanter than his daily comforts.
"How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey
to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103
"They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are
sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb." Psalm 19:10
This one book is worth more than all the other books in the world!
He who reads this book with attention, humility, prayer, and self
application, can never be ignorant of that which it chiefly concerns
him to know. "Therein are contained the words of eternal life. It
has God for its Author, salvation for its object, and truth, without
mixture of error, for its matter."
Guard against the love of light, trifling reading. At best, it wastes
the time and enfeebles the mind, and disqualifies it for the relish
of more solid subjects. By giving a false and delusive coloring to
the scenes of human life--it excites unreasonable expectations,
unfits for common duties, and produces discontent with the sober
realities of life.
