The Dangers of Reading Old Writers | The Whole Counsel

The Dangers of Intellectual Pride in Reading Old Writers

When you think about reading old writers, we would certainly not want to give the impression that there are no dangers there. I don't believe that the dangers are inherent to old writers only. I think that there is the temptation to abuse the gifts that the Lord has given us.

We see that all through Scripture, that that is a tactic of our enemy. So, what are some of the dangers that you see a person could encounter in picking up an old book and really becoming, you know, really diving in and becoming fascinated by these people?

Well, one big problem is intellectual pride. Either I can do this or I have done this. And you end up with some guys who are reading for the sake of saying they have read. So, rather than reading for the benefit of one's soul in order to draw nearer to God, to be instructed with regard to the Lord, the triune God in all his saving majesty, or to have a better equipment to minister to others, we end up turning the spotlight on ourselves.

And I think there's a danger to if you sort of get a reputation for someone who likes that kind of reading, you keep doing it to maintain the reputation rather than actually to profit from it and to use it as a means to serve God.

Reading to Build a False Identity

So, we can't read to create a false identity. You know, I'm this kind of man. I mentioned when I was young going into a church library, I had a grandfather that was godly who loved Spurgeon. He gave me those little paperback kind of books, Twelve Sermons on Prayer by Spurgeon, you know.

And I was a little disappointed as I grew up to find out that Spurgeon actually didn't write a book called Twelve Sermons on Prayer. It was a collection. But I remember as an 11-year-old, that's nine years before conversion, I read Spurgeon.

I plowed through these things so that when I went to church and the adults ask a question in a Bible study, and I was in that study because my family was always there, I could raise my hand and they would kind of say, okay, John, do you have something to say?

And I'd throw out a Spurgeon comment. And they would all kind of, you could feel the wow. And it was so intoxicating, you know, the drug. So I certainly misused Spurgeon long before I used him correctly.

Old Writers Must Drive Us Back to Scripture

I think one of the dangers, other than spiritual pride, is becoming enamored with old writers to the point that they supplant scripture. Obviously, it's not limited to old writers, but any writer that's worth reading ought to drive us not only to God, but back to the scriptures.

You know, in a sense, so if we're saying Spurgeon, he becomes a friend, like you mentioned, a lifelong friend who constantly says to me, to you, look to Christ. And then instead of guiding us to kind of some, some, you know, idea of Jesus we create in our own mind, he drives us to the scripture and kind of hands us a shovel and says, dig your own well, you know, don't only drink from mine.

And I think they'd be horrified if you were to have a conversation with them and say, yeah, you know what? I read you for an hour a day. I read my Bible for 10 minutes a day. They would be looking at you and saying, are you mad?

Are you almost perhaps, are you even converted? Why have you elevated me over the word of God?

Yeah. Can you imagine quoting Spurgeon to Spurgeon and him being proud of you?