A good book ...

Monday July 16, 2012. What books do you like best? What books have you read recently? Today, we have millions of books available, fiction and science, poetry and do-it-yourself guides. What type of fiction do you like? Thriller, novels, science fiction, phantasy?

What books do you like? …

The last book I read was a book where my daughter came to me: dad, read this! It was the dragon story of Eragon, and I had to read it because usually I had gone to my daugther: here, read this. Now it was her turn and I had to follow. But I admit that I enjoyed the book, the fantastic adventures of the young man who had to fight for freedom.

Do you like Harry Potter? It is a very popular book, but there are also quite conflicting ideas about it. Some do not want to come close to anything which is linked to magic. Others search the magical ideas, they are attracted by it. My kids have read Harry Potter many times now and still enjoy it - they do not seem to have a difficulty in drawing a line between fiction and reality.

Reading a good story can be really relaxing. We get emerged into another world. We can let go, we can be absorbed by some different reality. We can feel with the other characters, we can suffer with them and enjoy their victory. It is a wonderful human capability to be able to emerge ourselves into a fictitious world.

What about the bible? …

Do you like reading the bible? It is a book quite different from the novels and fictitious stories. It is partly a historical book, it contains stories, but it is not fictitious. It is not purely historical, since it is written for every generation. It talks about our world, but it is not scientific. It is a special type of literature, but not less fascinating!

Often, people have some difficulties making sense of the bible. You need to know a little bit about its framework, to understand where you are and what is meant. For example, just opening it somewhere will probably raise more questions than it will help you. Start with the stories about the life of Jesus, with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Then, you might continue with the letters of the Apostles, with Ephesians, Galatians, Romans.

Reading the bible can be absolutely amazing. It can be a source of encouragement every day, with new ideas and new creative possibilities for our daily challenges. Usually, you need to find access by talking to people about it, for example by joining some bible study group. These groups are around in every active church today, just search, and you will find one not far from your place …! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts