I have been pondering whether or not I should read a book that was recently released. There has been much attention given to the author and speculation about the contents of the book. Even I have been caught up the circus surrounding the release. I watched with rapt attention a town hall meeting and multiple television interviews by the author.
But as I sat in the chair last night and price-checked the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore, I did not feel good about buying it. I was rationalizing to myself why I needed to buy the book; in order to discuss the book with those who have read it, I needed to read it.
Around midnight I had just finished a book, The Art of Curating Worship (fantastic if you are at all interested in worship design and the arts), when I realized why it was not necessary for me to read this new controversial book. The list below is a summary of my reasons.
- People whom I trust and are smarter than I read the book and summarized the fallacies, and each of the summaries corroborate the others findings.
- It is not a wise financial decision to spend money on a book whose findings I know to be untrue, and whose author will be more empowered when more people buy the book.
- My position on the matter will not change and my defense of the subject is not strengthened by author’s musings, it is strengthened by reading Scripture faithfully.
Because of these points I believe it would not be profitable to read what seems like the book of the moment. Time will pass and controversies like these will wane as they have done in the past.
