Primer Time

Douglas Wilson is a man with a pen. "But," you say, "Do not many men have pens?" Yes, many men have pens. But if the pen is mightier than the sword, then Arthur with Excalibur would have trouble matching Douglas Wilson. That may be overstating it. But he is gifted with, and has worked hard to hone, a kind of prolific poly-competence in written communication that is astonishing.

On one hand he is making the great disciple of the god Reason, Christopher Hitchens, look like an Elementary Logic flunky, and on the other he muses poetic about babies and the taste of beer. Actually, he does it at the same time. Let me say it plainly. Doug Wilson is, to my knowledge, the finest generalist writer we have in Christendom. This is not an endorsement of his particular views on every subject. There are some significant points of disagreement between he and I. (Don't you hate weasely disclaimers like that?) But the man can write, and he is deftly effective at knocking down the folly of unbelief found in militant atheism.

I have also found him very helpful when it comes to issues of the arts, education, politics, the family, and the Church. This is what makes him unique; he writes with aplomb on a wide scale. There is breadth and there is depth when Wilson writes. It clearly runs in the family as his son, N.D. Wilson, is an excellent novelist.

I am going to give a brief review of a forthcoming book by Wilson called A Primer on Worship and Reformation: Recovering the High Church Puritan. It releases on November 11 from Canon Press.

This is like other books by Wilson. It is very short, very witty, and contains helpful wisdom for the Church at large, lessons on how we should live and breath and eat and sing.

But it is most pointed where it criticizes. The books singles out Christianity in America as an idolatrous gang of fools and fool enablers. And he seeks to identify the root of the problem and does so well. In a way it is easy to criticize, and I come away from much of Wilson's writings imagining what his uncensored version would look like, knowing that it takes a lot of restraint to hold back when you have a perfect “dis” on the tip of your tongue. If this is his filtered version imagine what zingers lay dormant in the arsenal of his mind.

But happily scolding is not the point of this book. In fact, Wilson utilized repetition as a device to underscore the fact that he considers the problems with the Church in America as "Our Problem." He takes ownership. He points out the problem in a mirror. He says "Us" not "them," he says "we must confess" and not "stone them."

It is perhaps here where he is most appealing. Laying out the case against the money-loving corruptors and then joining in the processions and calling for repentance.

The book is a good one. He explains his apparently contradictory title well, advocating a high view of the Church that reflects a sincerely high view of God.

While I do not endorse every position of the man, or this book, Douglas Wilson is a man that ought to be read, considered and appreciated by Christians for many reasons. In summation, he advocates a life that is intellectually convincing, stout in apologetics, but is not apologetic about life and the Faith. If that makes sense. Wilson is an advocate of robust living, of not slinking away into a corner to "wait it out," but for living intentionally with a delight in and appreciation for the good gifts of God the Father. His is a Theology of consequence. And conquest. In this book he examines the Church and how she worships her God.

I recommend it.