wfn.org | TCN Editorial: Let’s start with buying and reading books

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>

>Taiwan Church News

>2993 Edition

>July 6~12, 2009

Editorial: Let’s start with buying and reading books!

>Translated by Lydia Ma

As we approach the Sunday set aside to remember and support  communications ministries

within the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, we are reminded once  again of Thomas Barclay,

the founder of Tainan Theological College and Seminary. Barclay  brought a small printing

press to Taiwan from England offered by Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell  and began a new era

of publishing in Taiwan. Barclay also translated the Bible into  Romanized Taiwanese so that

people who spoke Taiwanese could read God’s word in their  mother language.

Barclay wrote in his memoirs that his ancestors had discovered a  purchase order in the

English version of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian  Religion published in 1726. This

order included a list of the names of 500 lowly peasants from his  hometown in Glasgow,

Scotland, which included storekeepers, seamstresses, shoe-makers,  etc. Barclay said that

it was rare to find a group of peasants so passionate about  theology that they became avid

readers of theological works. He made a special mention of these  people who had lived

>before him because he was proud of them.

Why did this purchase order end up being included in Institutes?  The answer is, it hadn’t

been for these 500 Scottish peasants, the English version of  Institutes wouldn’t have been

published in the first place because these 500 subscribers’  passion for learning motivated

the publication of a renowned Christian classic. As a proponent of  communication

ministries, Barclay highlighted this story in his memoirs because  it deeply impacted his life.

What about Taiwan? A story told by Lin Wen-ching, President of  Avant-Garde, a publishing

company in Taiwan, can quickly give us a clue about Taiwanese  people’s values. According

to Lin, his company had published a few volumes on Taiwanese  authors some time ago and

used an elaborately designed box set to sell these volumes  together as a collection.

Unbelievably, Lin said he received calls by people enquiring about  the price of the box set

by itself, without the books, because they were interested in  buying the box but not the

>books!

Taiwanese people tend to think that besides academic reference  books, all other books are

for entertainment purposes and thus unnecessary purchases. It goes  without saying that

people who rarely purchase books most likely don’t read  either. A survey conducted in 2007

by a popular magazine on the subject of reading found that a  typical Taiwanese adult

spends only 23 minutes reading books every day and spends merely  $1,375 NTD (about

$40 USD) on purchasing books every year. About 25% of survey  respondents did not read

>books at all.

Is this trend also true of Taiwanese Christians? Among the 25% of  Taiwanese who never

read books, how many are Christians? When we sincerely pursue  spiritual growth and

maturity, do we really think we can do it without buying or  reading books? When we avidly

pursue spiritual gifts and yet we don’t spend time reading  books or invest any money buying

books, how will we discern which spiritual gifts are from God and  which spiritual abilities

>come from the devil?

Communication ministries within the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan  not only lag behind

those from other denominations, they probably also pale in  contrast to those from other

religions. Perhaps we cannot see the impact of ignoring  communication ministries in the

short run, but dire consequences will surface in the long run.

We cannot fool ourselves by touting to be the founder of  communication ministries in Taiwan. Instead, we must learn from those  500 peasants from Glasgow who willingly

invested money and time in buying and reading books to educate  themselves and impact

younger generations. As we purchase and read books, we give  publishing companies and

communication ministries our most direct and strongest source of  support.

The power of written words is immeasurable and long-lasting. If we  ignore it today, we will

>definitely regret it in tomorrow!

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