A Prayer of Confession

I've been avoiding this topic for a while, but I received a brochure in the mail today to which I needed to respond. Westminster/John Knox Press has recently published a book accusing the United States government with orchestrating the attacks on 9/11/2001. The brochure was titled: "Faithful, Informed and in Touch with Today's World." Amazingly, Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 by David Ray Griffin misses on every count.

I know I am a few weeks behind. Plenty of folks have already made their comments on the book. There is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about the book featuring "A Classical Presbyterian." The best line from the article is from our Moderator Joan Gray...

"To me personally, and I am sure for the great majority of Presbyterians, the idea that the United States government engineered the 9/11 attacks is too over the top to be taken seriously." (Thank you, Joan!)

The denominational magazine, Presbyterians Today, has helpful analysis of the book by Alan Wisdom. Quotidian Grace quotes a "liberal" in the Christian Century complaining that the shoddy scholarship and conspiracy thinking actually hurts the legitimate critics of the Bush Administration. And in the interest of rolling eyes, here is Presbyterian Publishing Corporation's defense of the book's publication.

Why have I avoided making a comment? First, I could not fathom that anyone would be that far off the parade route. Good people can disagree with foreign policy decisions made after 9/11, but reality is reality. That took some time to digest.

Secondly, I realize now that I had been a bit selective. Although WJK has published many good books, it has also published lots of garbarge. Many titles of which contradict the historic teachings of the Church. In a way, these books are an affront to the reality of the faith. Should I be so upset about a book that questions the reality of world events while accepting books that question the revelation of God in Jesus Christ? Especially if they are from the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation?

Father forgive me.