Reading and writing have been distinguishing characteristics of God's people from the beginning. "And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; and by them their children were taught to read and write" (Moses 6:5-6).

Nephi "was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father" (1 Nephi 1:1). King Benjamin made sure his sons were "taught in all the language of his fathers... that they might know concerning the prophecies" and be able to read "these plates." These plates had been "preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand... and have his commandments always before our eyes," King Benjamin also admonished his sons "to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby" (Mosiah 1:2, 3, 5, 7).

Before Gutenberg invented the printing press, scriptures and other books were exceedingly rare and precious. Earlier, for millennia, many books were written with no spaces or punctuation (*as is the headline of this piece). At the Shrine of the Book, in Jerusalem, the 66 chapters-long Isaiah scroll has long lines of text with no spaces or punctuation. Because books were scarce, readers were very much more careful in how they read them.

Gutenberg's invention wonderfully made scripture more accessible. It is no coincidence that the first major work printed was the Holy Bible, in 1455. This development had radical repercussions and was an indispensible element of the Reformation. As the Bible became more available, literacy blossomed.

Decade after decade, century after century, books became more available and reading more widespread. This led to a deep change in our reading habits — especially in modern times. This is particularly true of how we read the scriptures. In recent years the explosion of information has brought even more changes, some for worse. With literally trillions of bits of information available, studies show that even the nature of our "reading" has changed. It is more the processing of information rather than the development of knowledge.

In her book, Distracted, The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, Maggie Jackson quotes Walter Ong: "We are captives of information, for uninterrupted information can create an information chaos." Jackson goes on to say, "Now we don't ingest the text, we battle to keep it from swallowing us up." She also quotes Daniel Boorstin, former Librarian of U.S. Congress, "The greatest menace to progress is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."

The words, "immerse," "search," "ponder," "feast," "meditate," "drink," "hunger and thirst" are utterly incompatible with our modern habits of reading. Yet, these are the very words used in the scriptures and by latter-day prophets in instructing us how to study the scriptures. In fact, in their admonition to search the scriptures, the Brethren rarely use the word "read." Literacy is necessary, but not sufficient if we are to truly search the scriptures.

"Reverential religious reading is quite different. For the religious reader, the work read is an object of overpowering delight and great beauty. It can never be discarded because it can never be exhausted. It can only be reread, with reverence," notes Professor Paul J. Griffiths of Duke University.

Holy scripture is categorically different from any other kind of writing. For Latter-day Saints, it is important to understand that searching and immersing ourselves in the scriptures is not an end in itself. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks wrote in the January 1995 Ensign: "For us, the scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge, but what precedes the ultimate source. The ultimate knowledge comes by revelation. We encourage everyone to make a careful study of the scriptures and of the prophetic teachings concerning them and to prayerfully seek personal revelation to know their meaning for themselves. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation."