PPC chair says book about 9/11 conspiracy is ‘spurious’
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, November 15, 2006
Two and one-half months after The Layman Online’s story about the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation’s publication of Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11, the PPC board chair has declared that the author’s “conspiracy theory is spurious and based on questionable research.”
But that didn’t stop the presses. The PPC continues to aggressively promote one of its best-selling volumes, however flawed. The PPC staff – not the board – decides what to publish.
Until PPC Chair Kenneth Godshall issued his statement about the book, Davis Perkins, president of PPC, and other executives of the denomination’s publishing arm defended the book against a barrage of criticism. Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11, which was released in July by Westminster John Knox Press, was written by a “progressive” theologian, David Ray Griffin, a retired Methodist seminary professor.
Griffin’s book added to an Internet-borne conspiracy frenzy in which President George W. Bush was blamed for orchestrating the destruction of the World Trade Center and causing the deaths of more than 3,000 people. Griffin contended the collapse of the skyscrapers was caused by internal explosives set in place and exploded by people in the Bush administration.
Westminster John Knox Press has published a number of books that attack Presbyterian beliefs and policy statements. A division of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, WJK has never been reined in by the General Assembly, which must approve board members and the president of the corporation.
Godshall said, “David Ray Griffin is a distinguished theologian who has published a number of books with PPC.” But, he added, “This particular volume is not up to WJK editorial standards and not representative of the PPC publishing program.”
Before the chairman made his disclaimer, Perkins said, “We expect people to take issue with our books from time to time, but what is disappointing is that the most vocal critics of the work to date are dismissing it without having even bothered to read it. What we intended when we published this WJK book was not that people would necessarily agree or disagree with the author’s thesis, but that his well-researched argument would provoke serious discussion and reflection among Christians in this country who care about these issues. We feel this author – and all our authors – deserves this courtesy.”
But much of the criticism of the book cast doubt on Griffin’s “well researched argument” and disputed Perkin’s belief that it would “provoke serious discussion and reflection among Christians in this country who care about these issues.” Instead of discussion, the publication spawned another public backlash against the PCUSA.
It was one of the issues that prompted Ron Scates, pastor of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, to say, during the gathering of Constitutional Presbyterians, “I’m tired of waking up daily and wondering how the Presbyterian Church (USA) has embarrassed the gospel.”
The PPC also said the book was not intended to present a Reformed or Presbyterian perspective on the attack of the World Trade Center. But, with the controversy over the book fueling sales, the PPC quickly placed it on its Presbyterian resources Web site for higher exposure.
In spite of Godshall’s disclaimer, Griffin’s book is still being aggressively promoted. Today, it appears on the “Best Sellers” list (No. 4), just two notches below former General Assembly Moderator Jack Rogers’ Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality, another highly criticized work. Rogers’ view is that the Bible does not condemn homosexual behavior or same-gender marriages.