It seems contradictory that Sai Baba encouraged a book to be written but also condemned having a 'mind for argumentation.' How can both be true?

This isn't a contradiction but a key spiritual distinction highlighted in Chapter 2. Sai Baba encourages the author to create a collection of stories, saying "My full help is with it." However, He warns against a specific kind of intellectualism, stating, "Where there is a mind for argumentation, there is abundance of ignorance and Maya." The author, who later explains his own naming as 'Hemadpant', admits he was initially "mischievous, talkative, cynical, and critical," and "prone to argumentation." The instruction was to write from a place of faith and surrender, not from a place of ego-driven debate. The goal of the stories is to foster devotion, which is destroyed by what Chapter 2 calls "bad thoughts and false logic."