Are Images Making Us Illiterate?

Christians are meant to have an ongoing conversation with God. We address Him in the language of prayer, and He addresses us in the language of Scripture.

Today, missionaries in non-literate societies reduce the native language to writing and teach people to read by reading the Bible. But here in the West we are in danger of coming full circle: The visual media, and our increasing reliance on images in everyday life, may ultimately undermine literacy, transforming us back into an image-based culture.

If that happens, will biblical faith still flourish?

It’s something to think about when we’re tempted to gorge on television or video games—and a reason to fight back against our culture’s insistence that virtually everything can be reduced to an image. Give your family a good lesson: read a book together.