Doug Wilson Says The ‘Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus’ Functions ‘in the Same Sentence with Dog S***’ that Paul ‘Might Win Christ’ [original unredacted]
“The word is skubalon, and means in the first place some kind of animal excrement … we simply cannot imagine the lofty sentiment of this wonderful passage (e.g., the ‘excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord’) functioning in the same sentence with dog s***. But there it is—Paul has scraped all self-important, prim and proper, fussy-tidy religion off the bottom of his shoe. Why? That he might win Christ.”1 — Doug Wilson (note: asterisks added; the original quote does not redact the a-word)
Want More Context?
Here are some links to other blogs and podcasts dealing with this and other issues in more depth:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/profanity-worse-think/
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/untameable-tongue
https://rts.edu/resources/talk-edification-the-holy-spirit-and-the-glory-of-god/
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Douglas Wilson, The Serrated Edge: A Biblical Defense of Giving Offense (Canon Press, 2026), 70. Originally published as A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking (Canon Press, 2003). Also quoted in: https://web.archive.org/web/20240927172340/https://dougwils.com/books/to-win-christ.html ↩