Barclay

[TheEditor]

Greetings,

I have always enjoyed William Barclay's comments. I think one of the things that tipped me to view him in a favorable light was the story that follows: In his spiritual autobiography, William Barclay, tells the tragedy of losing his 21-year-old daughter and her fiance who were drowned in a boating accident. He writes, “God did not stop that accident at sea, but he did still the storm in my own heart so that somehow my wife and I came through that terrible time still on our own two feet.” Barclay also tells of receiving an anonymous letter about his daughter’s death. It said, “I know why God killed your daughter. It was to save her from corruption by your heresies.” Barclay says, “If I had known the writer’s address, I would have written back in pity, not anger, saying, as John Wesley once said, ’Your God is my devil.’”

I came about his comments on the New Testament some years ago. They were online and free. Later, I came to realize that whoever uploaded them to the web violated copyright infringement, as they were pulled. However, they remained in document form on my old computer for years. Recenly I discovered E-sword and I began using it. They have a program called "Tool-Tip" which allows you to use documents and create an integrated data pack to put into E-sword. For fun, I took Barclay's comments on Romans an created an Esword pack in about 30 minutes. I entered it into my Esword folder and, Voila! I now feel a bit conflicted. I wouldn't mind sharing my recent creation with a few friends, but I think this may violate copyright. What to do....

Regards, Brenden.

[Ian]

Hi Brenden,

I don`t know if you know but there was a spirited discussion on Barclay`s position here:

http://www.theos.org/forum/viewtopic.ph ... +convinced

372 posts! No conclusions or winners perhaps. But interesting anyway.

[TheEditor]

Hi Ian,

Yes, I had a hand in that discussion as well. I'm surprised it still isn't going on! lol...


Regards, Brenden.

[Paidion]

Barclay also tells of receiving an anonymous letter about his daughter’s death. It said, “I know why God killed your daughter. It was to save her from corruption by your heresies.”

It's hard to believe that anyone would be that cruel, to send a letter like that to a grieving parent.