Plundering Plato
by Laurence Windham

There was this guy that I worked with back in Texas, way back when I was a young Christian. He was a young believer too at the time. Well, we had the opportunity during work to talk quite a bit and one day he said something that really stumped me. He said, "Why should the Christian read anything else until he has read and come to understand the Bible?"

Such a statement sounds sound. How would you argue against that? How could a person justify reading non-Christian authors when the question by its nature would not even justify reading C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Conner, or even John Calvin?

I knew that my friend was sincere but I also knew that he was wrong. Allow me to carefully explain why as I encourage you to read good books by bad people. You might say that the Christian writers of this age have been "left behind" when it comes to producing literature of worth. There are of course a few exceptions. But be they Christian or not, good writing is still, good writing.

A prime example would be Ernest Hemingway's character, the young Nick Adams. Here is a study in conflict. If you are male, you immediately want to be the young Nick and to raise your sons to be like him. He is resourceful, respected even at a young age by the adults around him, worshiped by his younger sister, and mature beyond his years. You want to be like him even though his family life is terrible. You come away reading the stories still wanting his character and virtues even though it may cost you as much as it did him. But as a believer, you know that life doesn't have to be that way. That manliness and wisdom and earthiness can come without living under the sun. That what made Nick so colorful and appealing is attainable righteously. The portrait of this youth is painted so well by Hemingway that you even read between the lines in understanding what a son remembers about and desires from a father.

As you can see, such a reading when put through the grid of Scripture can have many benefits.

John McPhee is another of my favorite writers whose books you will not find at your local Christian bookstore.

His investigations and descriptions of peoples and places arc fascinating. The reader gets accurate portrayals of lifestyles and subcultures they may never have known about or will ever encounter in their lifetime. But the benefit is an expanded knowledge of types. McPhee transports his audience to the places he goes-the hallmark of great writing. The benefit is we are less naïve and more conscious of the world. This can be an aid, even subconsciously, in appreciating the book of Acts. Understanding that as we go from chapter to chapter we are encountering, with the Apostle Paul and his companions, different indigenous peoples with their own customs, religions and ideas.

The Philosophers are a great read as well. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Decartes, Neitzsche, et al. There is a lot of brain stretching exercises going on here. It doesn't take much Christian knowledge to see when and where they miss the boat in their formulations. But the way they connect the dots they have left can be instructive and stimulating. The best in this category were deists. They were smarter than the moderns in that they realized that there had to be Someone out there.

Aristotle's categories, Nietzsche's prose, Socrates' rhetoric, expand our applications and add to our apologetics.

Social commentators can be utilized by the Christian as well. Read Neil Postman or Paul Fussel. Their insights into the direction that the culture is taking and the ill chosen values that most people have clue us in more to where people are and how our culture is changed by war, technology, and pseudo-intellectualism. The careful reader can use these types of books to help them evaluate their own lives as well as discern the basics of how the government, advertisers, and religions manipulate people by appealing to their basic appetites and desires. Not a bad thing to know.

Well read Christians tend to be less one-dimensional and more secure in their contact with non—believers. Remember that even Paul quoted extra-biblical sources as he engaged in evangelizing those around him. He even used these pagan writings when talking to the Greeks as a springboard to his witness of Jesus.

We would do well to do the same.

Of course you need to stay way from bad writing, sensationalism, corrupt ideas, and superficial candy-coated stuff. (Right! The religious section of most book stores.) Also stay away from anything recommended by TV talk show hosts. Our steady diet should always be the Scriptures. God's word is what we use to order our lives by. We must be careful to remember that, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," not a library full of the New York Times BestSellers. The Bible is not just the first book we need to read, or the book we should read the most, but the book that all other information should be judged by. This calls for ongoing in—depth study and understanding of the Word as we read the words of others. Be careful not to become intoxicated with the reading of even good Christian books. Never get away from the B-I-B-L-E. Understand?

Don't make me come out there and find you.