The Last Gasps of Literate Christianity

"The comment wasn't all that unusual, but it has stuck in my head for weeks now. "Mr. Spencer, does it matter if I don't read the Bible?" The student speaking was one of my juniors, attractive and smart, and one of the more visible, serious Christians on our little Christian school campus. I could have simply answered the question with yet another admonition on the importance of Bible reading, but the question struck me as representing much more. It hit me right in a developing hypothesis that has taken up more and more of my thinking recently: We are living in the last gasps of literate Christianity."