on Reading by a Theological Bibliophile

Wilbur M. Smith

"I have often been asked, at conferences and at other gatherings, "How do you get so much reading done?" May I say here, again, that there is only one way to get any reading don, and that is to read. Whatever reading I may do, I do not deprive myself of needed sleep, and am always in bed for at least eight hours every night; I do not withdraw myself from society; and I am not a man free from obligations, that is, I have been a minister or professor all my adult life, and thus many hours of the day are not my own. There is only one way to get any reading done, and that is to read."

- A Treasury of Books for Bible Study (Natick, Massachusetts: W. A. Wilde Co., 1960).

Wilbur Moorehead Smith (1894-1977) is one of my "earthly" heroes. He was born in Chicago and attended Moody Bible Institute. After one year at MBI, he transfered and finished his college education at Wooster College. About ten years after his graduation, he accepted the position of Professor of English Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. In 1947, he was asked to teach at Fuller Theological Seminary. In 1963 he resigned his position at Fuller due to their slackening position on the inerrancy of the Bible, and he took up a position at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he remained until 1973. (It was interesting to learn that Smith never earned a seminary degree.)

Wilbur Smith is known for his notes and recommendations on theological books. Over the years he steadily built a personal library that exceeded 25,000 volumes. From this massive resource and his constant reading of good books he was enabled to offer sound comments and recommendations for busy pastors, teachers, and laymen.

His notes on books can be found in the volumes he edited of Peloubet's Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lesson. He also published a small book entitled Profitable Bible Study 2nd rev. ed. (Natick, Mass.: W.A. Wilde Co., 1963), and a slightly larger books entitled A Treasury of Books for Bible Study (Natick, Massachusetts: W. A. Wilde Co., 1960).

Other Works -
Chats From A Minister’s Library (Boston: W.A. Wilde Company, 1951)
Good Books and the Good Book, edited by Joel A. Carpenter (New York: Garland, 1988)
The Minister in His Library (Chicago: Moody Press, 1973)
A list of bibliographies of theological and biblical literature published in Great Britain and America, 1595-1931 (Coatesville, Pa., 1931)
and others...

Biographical -
Before I Forget – Memoirs (Chicago, Moody Press, 1971)

on Reading by a Theological Bibliophile