The Dynamist makes important points here. I've harped on this before, and will continue to do so given the fact biblical illiteracy is practically co-extensive with evangelical Christianity.[According to evangelical polls. Don't kill the messenger.]
A great example: I just went into a new Christian bookstore looking for a gift for a friend. As soon as I walked in the door, I was asked what I was looking for.
"Do you have any books by Puritan or reformed authors?" "No," was the quick response, followed by "Well, what do you mean by that?"
"Thomas Brooks, Thomas Watson...Richard Baxter? Jeremiah Burroughs? John Flavel? "
I was hoping they might have a facscimile copy of John Preston's 17th-century "Breastplate of Faith and Love" (which I have) and John Murray's "Redemption Accomplished and Applied."
"No, we don' t have anything like that." He had no clue what I was even talking about. He had never heard of "Puritans" or "reformed" writers.
In fact, like a lot of the bookstores inside megachurch complexes, there were no classics in sight. But there was a wall full of Joyce Meyers, and all the latest 'how to' books....
That said, it's a reminder of the reason for the founding of the Banner of Truth publishers: that the best literature of historic Christianity had fallen into oblivion.
