[sword-devel] EarlyFathers Genbook

[Eeli Kaikkonen]

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008, Brian J. Dumont wrote:

> We should really be careful here.  These volumes seem to contain both
> orthodox and non-orthodox documents; including a number of heretical
> texts: see in particular volume 8.  I haven't delved into these texts,
> but a number of them are certainly questionable.  Should the document
> have some sort of disclaimer?

I guess "Unorthodox" category was meant mainly for Bible "translations"
of JWs, Mormons etc. It is meaningful for those and also for
commentaries and other works. However, works like Early Church Fathers
complicate this. It's not meant for a casual reader and is valuable for
scholars etc. Those who read it most probably know what it is and how to
use it. But this is not of course guaranteed. Electronic distribution
makes it very easy to read material which people would not have ever
seen in paper age.

If this is one huge module it's not a big problem because casual readers
will avoid it and people can see what it is. It's also easy to add a
notice in the About section. However, if the module is chopped in pieces
it's harder to say whether some module is part of this compilation or a
respectable work on its own. A notice in About section is again good.
But it should be decided on case by case basis by someone who knows the
content.

The "Unorthodox/heretical" category is even more difficult here. I would
say that for the expected readers, mainly scholars or theologians,
seeing the Early Church Fathers in "Heretical" category would look
laughable. I'd say that the category should be reserved for real cult
writings, not for any material which is against the modern mainstream
"orthodox" Christianity. A notice in the conf About section should be
adequate for most cases.


  Yours,
	Eeli Kaikkonen (Mr.), Oulu, Finland
	e-mail: eekaikko at mailx.studentx.oulux.fix (with no x)