Problem Platitudes Ravaged. In this debut book from Rev Dan Suelzle of the Wittenberg Chapel, he takes on infamously misquoted Bible verses and examines both what they actually say and the comfort they seem to give when being misquoted. The point is repeatedly hammered home that while a particular thought may *seem* palliative, more often than not at least some level of pain is needed in order to fully grow and heal, and the misquotes thus harm the person they are intended to help. While not making it a particular point to “go after” any particular thought process or person other than simply explaining the quotes and why the misconstruction of them is incorrect, Suelzle also doesn’t hold any punches and actively calls out by name – a rarity in books, in my experience – at least a few particular practitioners who have built entire careers around at least two of the misquotes he writes about here. Truly an excellent work, particularly for fans of Jonathan Merritt’s 2018 book “Learning to Speak God from Scratch”, as both books take common language apart and reconstruct it in its real form. Fascinating and very much recommended.
This review of Misquoted by Dan Suelzle was originally published on May 19, 2019.