Nobody reads anymore. Or so they say. Certainly, it seems like people everywhere are wringing their hands over the state of literacy today and the decline of reading against the rise of screens. I have young children and it sometimes feels like my wife and I have been having one, years-long conversation about how to get our kids to read more. We’ve tried all kinds of things—limiting screen time, imposing silent daily reading requirements, actively modeling reading ourselves. But still, it feels like we are swimming upstream.

A 2019 piece in The Atlantic magazine that I recently came across gave me some insight into what might be going on:

American elementary education has been shaped by a theory that goes like this: Reading—a term used to mean not just matching letters to sounds but also comprehension—can be taught in a manner completely disconnected from content. Use simple texts to teach children how to find the main idea, make inferences, draw conclusions, and so on, and eventually they’ll be able to apply those skills to grasp the meaning of anything put in front of them.

We seem to be talking more and more about the importance of reading as we think less and less about what is worth reading and why.

The Importance of Reading

So why is reading important?

Some may say reading matters because it is a bulwark against technologically-driven societal decline. More reading time equals less screen time. Related to this are more concrete accounts of the fruits of reading: Why read fiction? Because of the skills it gives us! As a 2020 piece in the Harvard Business Review titled “The Case for Reading Fiction” concludes: “the act of reading is the very activity—if done right—that can develop the qualities, traits, and characteristics of those employees that organizations hope to attract and retain.”

But do I really read novels because they make me a better employee??

The good news is that your answer can be “no.” Or at least, not primarily. Earlier this summer, Pope Francis issued an official letter where he celebrates and commends the role of literature in spiritual formation. He extols the importance of “finding a good book to read” on “one’s path to personal maturity” (§1-2). Although, like so many of us, he falls into the trap of pitting books against other forms of media, most of his case for the importance of reading is simply: it makes us more human.

Why Read the Bible?

This is an important insight for everyone, especially for Christians. The same attenuated accounts of why reading fiction matters are transferable to scripture. “Why read the Bible?” Because it is better than other things we might pay attention to. Or, to get the ‘knowledge’ or ‘skills’ necessary for salvation.

Do I read the Bible because it makes me a better Christian? Well, I certainly hope it does. But really, I read the Bible first and foremost to understand who Jesus is and who we are in relation to Him. Sure, I read the Bible because it will make me a better human, but that’s only because it will first help me work out what it is to be a human at all.

Reading Fiction and Reading Scripture: Developing a Picture of Life

There is a direct connection between our approach to reading fiction and our approach to reading Scripture. If we read fiction for the tools it gives us, we will probably read the Bible in the same way.

There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but you only know what tools you need once you’ve considered what you’re trying to build. And if that’s your own humanity, and the humanity of your family, friends, and community, then Pope Francis’s words serve as an important reminder. For as he says, we read literature, as we read the Bible, not simply to learn or be edified in ways that fit our preconceived notions of what matters, but because it “’helps us to ‘develop’ the picture of life’, to challenge us about its meaning, and, in a word, to experience life as it is” (§30).

Now, take a minute and ask yourself: What was the last work of fiction you read?

When you have your answer, sit with this: Why does this matter to my life?