[YP0534]

I also purchased a copy of the 1977 edition of Walter Martin's book and the revisions to the story above are minor but interesting. Perhaps I'll discuss that here later.

I wanted to report that I now own a copy of the Harvest House book and while I can still agree with the courts regarding the outcome, as a careful and critical reader, I'm just not at all impressed and I'm quite disappointed. Most of the introduction, that the Local Church took specific exception to, is just of very poor quality and above the copyright notice it contains an apology/excuse for inadequate references that's akin to "the dog ate my homework." I've never in my life seen such a thing in any book, certainly not with regard to anything based in serious scholarship and particularly not for something called an "encyclopedia." The rambling introduction, while making a good point now and then, is on the whole a literary disaster that eventually descends into a peculiar defense of Christianity in general against secular attacks of every stripe. Essentially, "WE'RE not a CULT! THEY ARE!"

Alternately weak, bizzare and nearly unintelligible, the introduction, to the extent that it sets the stage for appreciating the individual articles that follow, really undercuts the utility of the whole volume. Aside from the silly little LC page, I haven't reviewed any of the other substantive entries yet to see if they have any significant value in the field, but at this point I'm bracing myself for further disappointment.