Rev. Lane Keister’s recent musings on exercising discernment regarding one’s devotional reading.

We do not want Faulkner [“stream of consciousness”] theology. . . . So read books that will make you stretch. Read books where you will not automatically understand everything that is said, but where you have to grow in order to understand. Read books where you might need a dictionary of theology terms handy. Read Calvin’s Institutes, Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, Shedd’s Dogmatic Theology, and get what you can out of it, which is a lot more than you might think. Then ask questions so that you will grow. If you are not growing, then your students won’t grow either. So work through that tough bit of theology with a pipe between your teeth and a pencil in your hand! You might find your heart singing the praises of God more often than you might think.

All that to say, I haven’t read either Berkhof’s ST or Shedd’s DT. Yikes!