Sunday, September 30, 2007

Comments on Boettner Will Be Few After All

I first intended to deal with every error about the Church that appears in the book. But that prospect, conceived before I had read very far in it, became far too daunting to pursue upon discovering the number and extent of the errors. I just don't have the time or the inclination to deal with that.

So then I thought that I would deal with representative errors from each chapter in the book. But after starting work on a post related to his second chapter, I found it nearly impossible to pick and choose between the errors, and it was really irritating to even bother with it. Life is too short to wallow in an irritant longer than necessary, so I have scrapped that plan as well. Hey, I'm not an apologist, so I don't feel any particular burden to deal with this book longer than necessary. My particular interest would be more along the lines of teaching rather than apologetics, anyway.

That statement might seem bizarre given the number of posts I have labeled as "apologetics" here on the blog, but it's true nonetheless. I am neither qualified nor called to be an apologist, except perhaps incidentally - insofar as it is a duty of every Christian to defend his beliefs.

Instead, my Plan C will be to post from the book if something catches my eye that simply can't be borne in silence. That might be a few posts, or it might be none at all. At any rate - whether I post or not - I intend to continue wading through the book. I read Salmon before converting, and was totally disappointed with the complete absence of scholarly detachment to be found there (to say nothing of the errors and misrepresentations); so far, this book is even more disappointing in its rhetoric and in its own errors and misrepresentations. Boettner had a reputation as an author which I so far find to be quite unwarranted.

2 comments:

Aunty Belle said...

Howdy do. I stumbled in here 'cause we like some of the same movies...and mercy! youse takin' on Boettner??

Well, good fer ya! I got riled up some years back over Jack Chick comics--seen any of 'em? As bad as Boettner.

Bless, ya Sugar. Enjoyed lookin' around in yore blog.

Fred Noltie said...

Hello Aunty Belle,

My original intent was to address errors in the book, yes. But that's a bit of a daunting prospect, in view of the sheer volume of them. I just don't have the time or inclination for that.

I haven't seen any Jack Chick tracts in a very long time - maybe not since I was a young Presbyterian in college. I was not overly impressed even then :-)

Thanks for your kind words, and thanks for visiting. BTW Ladyhawke is one of my favorite movies too - just didn't make the list in my profile :-)