Should we read only Christian books?

I personally don't think we are limited to only christian books. But I do think we need to be careful in choosing a non christian book.
Yes, some think we should only read christian books. And the same people will read the daily news papaer, watch the news, even watch movies that aren't christian made(even if they had a standard, they still aren't christian movies, to me a christian movie was written by christians and made by chrsitians. Like I love to read sci fi, but I have to be very careful of which sci fi I read.
And I'm sure you'll get plenty of other opinions. Of which I refuse to debate over.

 

I just finished reading Gore Vidal's "Lincoln". Not a Christian book, but a good one. Before that, I read the biography of Lucille Ball, Isaac Asimov's "2010", and Dr Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (hey, I needed something light!!). None of them are Christian works. But none are inappropriate.

So to answer your question, "no".

 

Paul refers to authors other than those in the OT in some of his New Testament books. If we read widely, we will better understand our culture and how to minister to it.

 

It would be impossible to read only Christian books that are really Christian, because so many books that claim to be Christian books aren't.

Instead, making it a habit of always relating what you see and hear back to the bible is better. A example of that is when I saw a sign the other day that said "zero-tolerance", but what the bible says is one of the fruits of the spirit is patience.

http://home.fuse.net/gospel

 

Still chuckling at Dickens being referred to as "great." I could never stand having to read Dickens. Sorry, Dr. Bob.

I think that to restrict ourselves to only Christian books (I'm assuming you refer primarily to fiction?), we are depriving ourselves of so much.

It does depend on our ability to separate truth from fiction. I wonder, though - would Christian fiction be considerd secular? I know that doesn't have to do with this topic, but just curious.

On top of that - and maybe it's only because I haven't looked hard enough - I haven't found much specifically Christian fiction that's well written, or interesting. Kind of a sad state of affairs, I think. But, having said that, what makes a novel "Christian?" Is it that it has Christian characters? Is it directed solely at salvation? What makes it Christian?

There are plenty of good books that, if not specifically Christian, are not unChristian.

 

Boy have you got the right Dr.Bob. Before I was a christian I only read romance books (always hated harliquin), and they made me very dissatisfied with my life. I always wanted more then I had. And as a result my marriage was awful. Once I was Saved I found no attraction in those books anylonger, and my marriage is better then ever. They aren't good for anyone.

 

I think that many different genres of art can lead us to a great appreciation of Christ. One of the best college courses I ever took was on Chaucer and the approach that the professor took to it really challenged me to think in new ways both about the literature itself and my faith. I ended up writing about the Wyf of Bath's Tale as an allegory for Christian salvation -- not something you would necessarily think of on first "read" of the excerpt.
Along the lines of one's mindset as you read literature, I am reminded of the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. Many of my friends who love the series were not aware of its Christian heritage, and I was able to use our common interest in the works to discuss Christianity with them in ways that I couldn't have had if I had not been exposed to it.