1 April 2026

This is not an April Fool. But if you walk into the main library in Oslo (and, by the way, there are twenty-three libraries in the capital) you will discover no less than 1,100 chairs for people to read their books. Everyone is full! Can you imagine that in Scotland?

Our reforming forebears were keen on reading. They not only wanted the Bible to be translated into English but they wanted everyone and children, in particular, to be able to read so that they could absorb the good news of Christ, his ministry, his passion and resurrection.

They were successful although it took time to establish schools in every parish. And when the Kirk handed over its schools to the government in the late Victorian era, they handed over an inheritance which has blossomed save in one essential, the gospel which has been squeezed out of our schools ever since.

The Norwegian government made a big mistake. In 2016, every child who started school was given an i-pad without any parental controls. Books disappeared and children stopped reading. International performance in reading plummeted.

Instead of gaining a vocabulary of 55,000-70,000 words, children were left with a vocabulary of some 17,000 words. This is only enough to talk about everyday things. But now i-pads have been removed from children in the first three years of school and mobile phones are banned.

In an age of i-pad and mobile phone, books are not so attractive. The Kirk is centred on the Bible which is a book which in places is not easy to read. It requires not only a reading ability but an attentiveness to read until understanding is accomplished. It is more to be desired than gold - and sweeter than honey! Taste and see!