Constructing advertising copy and jacket blurbs: art or science?

Last updated on: October 23, 2017 at 10:31 pm by Dan Peterson

Constructing advertising copy and jacket blurbs: art or science? 2017-10-23T22:31:11-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This has been the logo of Interpreter for more than five years now.

Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture published a review last Friday of a book in which I actually have a chapter. The review was written by Steven T. Densley Jr., and is titled “Should We Apologize for Apologetics?”

At one point, the review reads as follows:

A few positive articles appear in the volume, but these few essays do not entirely salvage what may have otherwise been a very important contribution to the study of Mormon theology. It would have been marvelous to see a book that explored the history of Mormon apologetics, the variety of topics that have been addressed, the way in which critics have responded to apologetic arguments, and more important, the way in which apologetics has affected the lives of ordinary Mormons. Unfortunately, we must still await such a volume.

Here is how that passage was then used by the publisher of the volume in an online advertisement:

“A very important contribution to the study of Mormon theology. . . . marvelous” — Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture

To its credit, as of the time that I’m writing this the publisher of the book (and of the advertisement) has indicated its gratitude for having this matter called to its attention and has promised that, if its leaders determine that Steve Densley’s statement in his review for Interpreter has, in fact, actually been misrepresented, it will make a correction.

***

Something found online, at http://www.thepoachedegg.net/the-poached-egg/2014/12/121-quotes-on-why-we-need-apologetics.html:

The hemorrhaging of youth from our churches won’t stop until we get intentional about solving the problem. On the university campus, secular college professors are very intentional about indoctrinating your kids. In a candid moment, prominent atheist professor Richard Rorty tells you exactly what college faculty like him plan to do with your kids: ‘…we try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own…we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization….So we are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable..’ Make no mistake, there are plenty Richard Rortys out there, waiting for your kids. So, what are you going to do to prepare them for the serious challenges ahead? **—**Brett Kunkle (from Who’s Waiting for Your Kids?)

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