Joel Miller, “The Quiet Collapse of Reading—and the Only Real Solution” (Miller’s Book Review)

“So let’s take encouragement from those around us and do the one thing we all control and which will make a significant difference: Read a book, and, if you have kids, do it in the living room so they can see you. If you find a fantastic passage, stop them passing through to the kitchen and grace their ears with it. Reading is a transmissible condition, communicable by the ears and eyes.”

Alan Noble, “How to Read a Novel” (You Are Not Your Own)

“With humility you accept that if this is good literature, there is something for you to learn here, regardless of whether it was written by a Christian or a non-Christian. I have learned a great deal about the nature of guilt, shame, and sin from non-Christian authors, even if they couldn’t tell me about redemption. With grace you accept that there will be inaccuracies and even falsehoods about reality. Characters will say things unrealistically (I think the mother’s dialogue in The Road is powerful but unrealistic, for example). Views will be promoted by authors or characters that are harmful or simply false. And this is also where the importance of discernment comes in, the ability to sift through the truth-telling and the falsehood to understand when the author is communicating something true and meaningful about the reality of God’s creation and when they are wrong.”

Neil Shenvi, “Don’t Let the ‘Friend-Enemy Distinction’ Derail Your Faith” (The Gospel Coalition)

“If you’ve wandered into certain back alleys of the internet, you’ve likely run across discussions of the ‘friend-enemy distinction.’ Carl Schmitt, a German political theorist, introduced the phrase in his 1932 book The Concept of the Political. That text has become a staple of the Dissident Right, an amorphous collection of right-wing theorists, activists, and YouTubers, and the disaffected young men who follow them online.

“Schmitt’s philosophy now plays a central role in how many people—including some Christians—think about politics, relationships, denominational affairs, and social media interactions. It frames politics as a life-and-death struggle between friends and enemies: those who want to preserve the American Anglo-Protestant way of life against those who want to destroy it.”

Andrew Limbong, “Most Americans Want to Read More Books. We Just Don’t” (All Things Considered)

“51% of people read a book in the past month, according to the poll. In comparison, about 80% of people watched streaming services, used social media or watched a short-form video.

“Interestingly, respondents who classify themselves as readers are also more likely than non-readers to consume other forms of media. So it’s not necessarily a direct competition between, say, reading and scrolling on your phone. When asked about the ‘reasons you don’t read more,’ ‘other life activities’ was the most common answer, which could mean anything from doing chores to sleeping to hanging out with friends.”

Kevin DeYoung, “Is This the Way? A Review of Practicing the Way By John Mark Comer” (Clearly Reformed)

“I know Comer believes that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is God, that he died for our sins, and that he rose again from the dead. Comer acknowledges all this in the book, but these essential truths have almost no bearing on the overall project Comer is putting forward. What’s important is that the way of life in Jesus is beautiful and healing and what is best for us and for the world. Throughout the book, it is hard to see what difference it makes who exactly Jesus is and what he objectively accomplished for sinners. There is certainly no sense that ‘the Way’ is about the way of salvation that saves us from coming judgment and from the wrath of God.”