shackleton
Puritan Board Junior
I have seen Doug Wilson's books on the book table in a couple of churches and knew that he was a Federal Vision guy so I wondered if his books on the family were good or bad or tainted with his Federal Vision views.
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His stuff on education is ok. It is good in what it originally set out to do (popularize Rushdoony regarding Christian education). I am still not impressed with the classical model.
Firstly, I didn't say just read the Puritans. But also the Puritanesque, which would include modern day Theologs (particularly those who've read the Puritans).It's alright saying "just read the Puritans" but we need modern books, written by modern authors, on these themes.
If Reformed theologians would get out of their Calvinistic cloisters, and start writing stuff for people in the real world, we would all be a lot better served.
Secondly, speak for yourself (and I'll speak for myself), but I've profited more from the Puritans than any modern day writer. Unless your trudging through Owen or the like on some Doctrinal Treatise, the Puritans are excellent and very understandable writers on all things family.
Better choices: anything by the Tripps, Powlison, Welch and company!!!
Better choices: anything by the Tripps, Powlison, Welch and company!!!
Are they better books? The men might be better, but what about the content?
Better choices: anything by the Tripps, Powlison, Welch and company!!!
Are they better books? The men might be better, but what about the content?
Daniel,
One must remember that Wilson is not the one and only Reformed person to write well on family issues.
CT
Better choices: anything by the Tripps, Powlison, Welch and company!!!
What would y'all recommend then?
Better choices: anything by the Tripps, Powlison, Welch and company!!!
Are they better books? The men might be better, but what about the content?
What would y'all recommend then?
It's alright saying "just read the Puritans" but we need modern books, written by modern authors, on these themes.
If Reformed theologians would get out of their Calvinistic cloisters, and start writing stuff for people in the real world, we would all be a lot better served.
Doug Wilson is popular because of his style. I actually listened to hours of his lectures on the family on tape and pretty much exhausted the material. After you've read a bit you realize there really isn't a tremendous amount of information in his books (I've read most of them on the family) but that he sort of re-treads the same patterns over different areas.
One thing to be wary of with Wilson is that he crosses the line from opinion to dogma very quickly and, unless you're aware of it, you think he has Biblical warrant for turning an opinion into a Biblical precept. His ideas about manliness in some of his books reflect his own disdain for effeminate masculinity and what he thinks real masculinity is about. You practically get the idea that a boy can't be saved if his Dad throws like a girl. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating raising effeminate boys but his advice crosses the line like that dogmatically throughout his books.
Because he writes in an accessible way he is good but I would use his material in an environment where somebody more mature could guide somebody less mature and mediate his writings because you have to take some of his writing with a grain of salt. If you imbibe the whole thing and get sucked into the cult of personality then you'll soon lose track of the line between a Wilsonism and Scriptural teaching.
Had Wilson added, in regard to the physical work thing, that "This is I speaking, not the Lord, but I think I have wisdom on this," that would have been great. There have been times in my life when I put down the theology books and did hard work and it couldn't have been better.
And Dabney did hard manual labor before he did theology every morning, or something like that.
It's alright saying "just read the Puritans" but we need modern books, written by modern authors, on these themes.
If Reformed theologians would get out of their Calvinistic cloisters, and start writing stuff for people in the real world, we would all be a lot better served.
I guess you wouldn't approve of my proposal, for the spiritual health of the church, to impose a 10-year moratorium on all Christian publishing (reprints of works by dead people excluded), as a time of repentance for commercialism, heterodoxy, pride, and publishing bilge and to seek greater light before leading more people astray.
Had Wilson added, in regard to the physical work thing, that "This is I speaking, not the Lord, but I think I have wisdom on this," that would have been great. There have been times in my life when I put down the theology books and did hard work and it couldn't have been better.
And Dabney did hard manual labor before he did theology every morning, or something like that.