# American Reformed Biography Series



## Backwoods Presbyterian (Feb 4, 2010)

This is the series done by P&R that has so far included biographies of Van Til, Nevin, Boyce, and Dabney.

Overall I have to say the only one I have not read is Boyce's and I have found the others to be missing something substantial. I am not sure of the purpose of these biographies in regards to the concept of the series by the editors but the individual volumes have been very uneven.

The Van Til biography never grabbed my attention and seemed to skip over large swaths of Van Til's life and oddly spent very briefly on the end of his life also mentioning the death of his wife in a sentence or two. One got the feeling Mrs. Van Til and the immediate Van Til's were not a major part of Van Til's life (and maybe that is true). 

The Dabney volume would have been better (I realize my bias) if it was written by someone who understood the "Southern Ethos" a bit more, especially as it surrounded Dabney. I got the feeling the author had contempt for Dabney personally and because of that the biography really suffered. 

The Nevin volume was overall very good. Even though D.G. Hart is not my favorite author he is a good writer and really captured Nevin and made me want to read more about him and things he had written. The only downside was the end of the book seemed very rushed as if it needed to get to the publisher at the end of the day. 

I am looking forward to reading the Boyce volume. Though I must say overall I have been very disappointed in the series as a whole.


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## SolaScriptura (Feb 4, 2010)

I believe the Boyce volume is being written by Nettles... quite frankly, I find Nettles writing style to be quite tedious. I wish they would have had Greg Wills write it. I think he is a MUCH better writer.


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## Wayne (Feb 4, 2010)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> One got the feeling Mrs. Van Til and the immediate Van Til's were not a major part of Van Til's life (and maybe that is true).



Ben: I will categorically say that such a conclusion would be very wrong. Mrs. Van Til was indeed a major part of his life. Besides, it would be illogical to conclude that simply from the way the author chose to write the book. 



> if it was written by someone who understood the "Southern Ethos" a bit more



Lucas was a Bob Jones grad. Not Southern enough? At that point, should I say, "Whatever" ? 



> The Nevin volume was overall very good.



In my estimation, the major flaw of that book was the failure to interact with, or even mention, some of Nevin's contemporary critics. I will admit I'm biased in the other direction, as an opponent of Nevin's theology and what he tried to accomplish. For one, consult the work of J.J. Janeway.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Feb 4, 2010)

Wayne said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > One got the feeling Mrs. Van Til and the immediate Van Til's were not a major part of Van Til's life (and maybe that is true).
> ...


 
As far as Dabney goes I know many people born below the Mason/Dixon that do not "get" the South. See this review done here on the PB. I am not the only one to get that vibe. 

I knew Van Til's family was very important to Van Til and they played a great role in his life, but I knew this prior to this biography. Which is why I noticed the noticeable absence of Mrs. Van Til, other than on the couple occasions he mentioned she missed Munster, IN. 

The whole book seemed disjointed and "rushed" to me, quite similar to the Nevin book in that regard.


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## SolaScriptura (Feb 4, 2010)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> As far as Dabney goes I know many people born below the Mason/Dixon that do not "get" the South. See this review done here on the PB. I am not the only one to get that vibe.



That's funny to me. If you can be from the South and, in your estimation, not "get" the South, it occurs to me that what you're calling the "Southern ethos" may in fact be something different than actual "southern ethos."


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Feb 4, 2010)

SolaScriptura said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > As far as Dabney goes I know many people born below the Mason/Dixon that do not "get" the South. See this review done here on the PB. I am not the only one to get that vibe.
> ...


 
Let's just say I know a lot of "self-hating" Southerners.


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## Wayne (Feb 4, 2010)

> Let's just say I know a lot of "self-hating" Southerners.



Kin-folk said, "Move away from there!"


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## Wayne (Feb 4, 2010)

> The whole book seemed disjointed and "rushed" to me, quite similar to the Nevin book in that regard.



I wrote a paper once for a professor, in which he wrote a note saying that I raised his hopes for a good conclusion and then failed to deliver. And in that instance, it was precisely that--it was rushed and I lacked the time to put it together properly. From what little I've written thus far, I have new appreciation for those who write well, write with few errors and write with frequency. It becomes akin to being able to play some immense musical composition with no visible errors.


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