Fewer things can be more mind
boggling and perhaps frustrating in trying to decide what book to purchase and
read, when a vast library of resources surrounds you. This can happen when you
visit a place like a local Christian bookstore (LifeWay Christian Stores),
Barnes and Noble (my personal favorite), and even other online stores (Amazon
and Christianbook.com).
And oftentimes people feel
overwhelmed and hardly know where to start and to end up when searching for a
good read on a topic they find interesting! Even good interesting topics can
sometimes be vague and broad. For example, just take for instance these topics
and see how many different books could be written about these subjects: Leadership,
Spiritual Warfare, Church History, Christian business, Apologetics, and so on.
I’m not going to try explaining in
great detail on what a person can do to find a good and worthwhile book to read
that is worth his/her time. However, I do have some suggestions in mind that I
think can be beneficial to anyone who wants to make it a continuous habit of
cultivating a Christian mind. These suggestions are by no means exhaustive.
I. Pick a certain topic that directly relates to a question you have in
your mind. For example, if you are pondering about the issue of abortion
and how it relates to ethics and the rights of women, then you will need to
browse (preferably www.Christianbook.com)
underneath one of the 3 topics mentioned: abortion, ethics, & women’s
rights. A good book that would illustrate this would be what’s called The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to
Engage the Culture.
Another example would be if you had someone come up to you
and challenge your confidence in the reliability of the New Testament in its
history, then you would want to find a book like Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of
the Gospels.
II. Make sure the
author is qualified in writing about the subject you want to explore. This
is important because although someone – for example – could write some truthful
things about chemical engineering (while being a pharmacist), he wouldn’t be
the best source of information on chemical engineering because that’s not his
field of specialization! The same would apply to other different fields. For
example, you don’t go to a dentist to find out what’s wrong with your kidneys
or your heart. Why? Because that’s not what he was trained for. The same
applies to looking for a qualified author.
This might require a little bit of research but I believe it
will prove beneficial to you. Let me give some suggestions for knowing whether
the author, who wrote a book you’re considering to purchase, is competent.
First, find out what
university or college he graduated from. A person’s school background can
shed good light on how qualified he is to write on certain issues. This can
show whether the school he attended actually trains people, in this area, more
or less tackles issues head on that you’re thinking of at the moment. Second, find out what he wrote his thesis or
dissertation on. When a Master’s or Doctoral candidate finally submits his
thesis/dissertation and it’s finally accepted, he becomes a qualified expert in
his field. So find out if anything what his thesis/dissertation was on pertains
to what book you’re trying to buy. For example if you’re wanting to find a good
book on the moral argument, then finding someone who specialized in the field
of moral philosophy and wrote their dissertation on that subject would be a
good candidate to consider as an author. And thirdly, see if there are any footnotes in the book that can serve as
additional resources of information for you. The reason why this is crucial
is because this shows you that he consulted other expert witnesses about the
issues and has alluded to them in his book. This can apply to someone who
doesn’t qualify as an expert or has specialized in this field because he has
already interacted with other major and secondary viewpoints out there and has
sifted through them carefully. One prominent example is Lee Strobel. Lee
Strobel actually has a background in law and journalism, not in history,
philosophy, or science. But, since through his research that culminated in his
books The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and The
Case for the Real Jesus, those footnotes serve to show he has done his
homework and has interacted with the certain experts in other fields.
III. Consult with
certain friends and colleagues about what they have read on the subject you’re
interested in and their viewpoints on the book you’re considering to purchase.
You’re going to have to be selective in who you choose to ask
for advice on this issue. Not everyone has taken the time to reflect on certain
issues and hence isn’t equally qualified to speak on the matter. Pick someone
you can trust.
Furthermore, consider what they have to say and compare it
with the book and see if what your friend(s) say is confirmed or not confirmed
by what you find in the book. Then come to a decision for yourself.
I certainly hope and pray these suggestions will prove to be
beneficial to you as you hope to make it a daily or weekly habit of cultivating
a life of the mind.
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