What Makes A Good Book Good?

“The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.” – II Timothy 4:13

Reading is a dying discipline overtaken by sound byte education, videos, and a host of other assorted pleasures. I wish we would get back to reading and reading good books. There are wonderful books that have no religious axe to grind. There are books that are referred to as the classics – Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe. Reading makes you think. It expands the mind and calls upon our sense of reason. We learn about words and their proper usage. We begin to see life through the eyes of others and gain insight into life. A good book can move you to tears and make you laugh. Your emotions may be touched as no other medium of expression can.

But what makes a good book good? Secular classics are always written well. Words and sentence structure are crafted by the genius behind the pen. Good books hold our attention and draw us into the suspense and make the characters real.

But what about Christian books – what makes a good book good? I have but one word – transcendence. Transcendence means it cuts through time and culture. Read A. W. Tozer and you don’t know if what he wrote was 500 years ago or last week. It makes no difference where you are when you read him – it transcends. Most Christians literature is market driven and targeted to certain needs, which are often frivolous and faddish but sell very well. Whenever a book is a best seller you can be almost certain that it is man-centered. This is not always the case but 9 out of 10 times it is. People want something light, refreshing, and a quick fix. Books on holiness, prayer, revival, missions, and our pilgrimage are not usually found at the top of the list in sales.

John Piper is a rarity today. You can read Piper on the beach in Hawaii, in a prison cell or in a hospital bed and it will transcend. His books will not tell you what a happy life is in store for you. Try telling that to a hurricane Katrina victim. He won’t tell you if you obey God all will be well, because that may not be the case. He will tell you the truth and back it up with Scripture. Here are a few of my favorite authors: John White (The Fight, Drawing Near), Jay Oswald Sanders, A. W. Tozer, John Piper, Andrew Murray, Kurosake (Let’s Get Back to Christian Unity), Watchman Nee, Dallas Willard (Divine Conspiracy), and Chambers.

That’s the way I see things.