Book Brief: Papa Don’t Pope

Papa Don't Pope: Why I'm Not a Roman Catholic by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Plenty of good thoughts, which is no surprise; although lately Wilson’s books feel like blog post compilations, which I’m not crazy about. And adding to the bloggy flavor were an unusual number of typos.


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I’ll list a few of the typos/errors that I noticed, and these were just the ones that I marked. It seems that there were others earlier in the book that I didn’t mark. I’m not trying to make mountains out of mole hills or anything, but Canon Press usually doesn’t overlook these sorts of things. Wilson’s meaning is clear in all of these places, but when you regularly notice errors like this, it’s hard not to ask if the book was even proofed before going to print. In any case, it’s very clear that Canon Press should hire me as an editor. :)

pg. 87 – “And this is where I believe those who are consider adopting Roman Catholicism . . .”

pg. 95 – “Do covetous people pour over catalogs, full of desiderata? . . . A covetous woman pouring over a catalog is worshiping.” – It’s poring, not pouring.

pg. 98 – “Because of the presence of the calf, not because of the absence an invocation of YHWH.”

pg. 115 – “Not only does God warn the Israelites in Deuteronomy 4 to remember that they saw no form on the mountain (which would prevent them from trying to make an image of the true God), we also see in Aaron’s brief excursion into idolatry in the golden calf incident.” – This sentence seems to be missing something.

pg. 122 – “Then you have deal with them, and their arguments, along with taunts from the left ditch behind you.”

pg. 133 – “There is absolute no other way to get to the liberation of no condemnation.”

pg. 151 – “. . . a handful of kirkers (as we call them) have gone out there and (I say this with deep affection for every bone in their heads) and done some idiotic things.” – There’s an “and” on both sides of the parentheses.

pg. 155 – “To take one striking example, I really don’t really think that . . . .” – I really don’t really think there’s supposed to be two reallys there.

pg. 161 – “And we need to have a high view of that which of first importance . . .”