Review of Lott's William F. Buckley

I am glad to see that Thomas Nelson is filling a major void in contemporary Christian books. For the longest time, most of the popular Christian biographies focused either on sports figures (not that anything is wrong with sports biographies!) or on secular entertainers who converted to Christianity. Those biographies that focused on other parts of the Christian influence such as politics or art were so weighty, thick, and outdated that few Christians would put the effort forth to read them. Thomas Nelson has fixed this problem by offering their “Christian Encounters” series of short, accessible, Christian biographies. Most of these books are fewer than 150 pages and can be read leisurely.

This review focuses on William F. Buckley who was a powerful influence in the realm of politics and media. He was on various TV programs and debates and either wrote or contributed to over 50 books. One of the major positive aspects of this book is the interaction with the personal life of Buckley. This book does cover his wider influence but even contains portions of his letters to and from family members. The author, Jeremy Lott, also interacted well with primary texts including many of Buckley’s books (the final chapter of the book is a well-written annotated bibliography for further study).

If there is a short coming in the book, it the positive political slant taken by the author. At times it was difficult to separate the author’s conclusions from those of Buckley. Otherwise the book was well-written and informative without dragging the reader down in minutiae and historical baggage. Readers may be surprised to find that this is not an overtly Christian biography. The author chose to combine a focus on Buckley’s influence in the culture which was formed by his religious beliefs. Those who are interested in the American political tradition, broader conservatism, or the so-called Reagan revival will greatly enjoy this brief introduction to the life and thought of William F. Buckley.

This book was provided to the reviewer free of charge.

Dr. Stuart Scott's Comparison of Biblical and Secular Counseling

	Depth Psychology	Neo-Freudians	Behaviorism	Rational-Emotive Theory
LEADER	Freud 1890s	Adler (Horney)	Skinner 1900s	Ellis
MAN	-Instinctual animal -Id: drives -Superego: outside influences -Ego: what man thinks about himself	-Socially governed animal	-Conditioned animal -Blank tablet	-Basically good -Potential within
PROBLEM	-Conflict between Id and Superego	-Born weak & small -Feel inferior because of our limitations determined by age 5-6 years	-Environmental failure	-Victim of flawed irrational beliefs about themselves -Rooted in childhood -Man’s belief system is the cause
RESPONSIBILITY	-Not man’s	-Not man’s but society’s	-Not man’s (non-moral)	-Not man’s
VIEW OF MAN’S GUILT	-Result of imposed standards from others	-Mistakes in thinking and valuing -Lack of confidence	-Not important (no evils)	-Crooked thinking: results in neurotic thinking and behaving
TREATMENT	-Actualize potential -Strengthen the Ego -Make the unconscious conscious -Find source in insight & awareness	-Strive for superiority -Control own fate -Emphasize emotional health and importance of birth order	-Restructure environment -Client – determines what they want -Therapists – determines how it will be changed	-Eliminate self-defeating outlook on life -Acquire a rational view of life -Process of re-education -Practice actively changing self-defeating behaviors
RESOLUTION OF MAN’S GUILT	-Cultural societal values and parents to blame	-Change thinking to feel better and behave better	-Change standard according to client’s “needs”	-Reorienting one’s thinking, judging, analyzing, doing, and re-deciding
COUNSELOR	-Expert	-Encourager -Adapt to client’s “needs”	-Technician	-Teacher and educator -Insight emphasized
PROBLEMS	-Unbiblical anthropology -Promotes self-absorption, narcissism -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical anthropology -Victim mentality -Pride	-Unbiblical anthropology -Manipulates through rewards & punishments -Ignores man as spiritual being -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical identification of beliefs -Substitution of therapist’s beliefs system rather than God’s Word for counselee’s belief system.

	Third Force	Family Systems	Biblical
LEADER	Rogers	Ackerman	GOD
MAN	-Basically good -Potential within -Mature like a flower	-Product of flawed relationships in the family	-Created by God to glorify God
PROBLEM	-Environment hinders	-System is faulty; causality circular and multi-directional -Individual is simply fulfilling a function within the system	-Fallen sinner by choice
RESPONSIBILITY	-Not man’s	-Not man’s	-Man’s
VIEW OF MAN’S GUILT	-Not important	-Non-pathological; simply problems in living	-Result of sin -Real
TREATMENT	-Help him realize potential -Solution within -Focus on feeling	-System as a whole (key principle) -Focus is on the function the believer serves and removing the need in order to allow the behavior to be unnecessary -Alter how the various relationships are carried out	-Justification by faith -Progressive sanctification -Spirit and Word -Focus on objective data
RESOLUTION OF MAN’S GUILT	-Take whatever steps necessary to achieve the goal of being comfortable with oneself	-Change family relationships by differention of individual selves; the more “differentiated” the better adjusted -Reconstructive family organization -Change dysfunctional transactional patterns	-Deal with sin -Deal with trials -Deal with response
COUNSELOR	-Mirror	-Mental health expert and cultural healer -Alters how the various relationships are carried out	-Biblical Discipler/Counselor
PROBLEMS	-Unbiblical anthropology -Solution is within rather than in Christ -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical anthropology -Promotes irresponsibility and self-focus -Victim mentality	-NONE that can’t be overcome by God, His Word, and His obedient children