This is an unusual but helpful book on a neglected but vital subject. It consists of interviews with twenty leading evangelical pastors and seminary teachers on the issue of handling and refuting error in the local church.
Here pastors and church leaders will find practical insight on how to protect God’s people from the fashionable errors of the day. They will be shown when and how to help if false teaching begins to get hold of the lives of those under their care.
Some of the interviews explain and answer, at least in embryo, particular errors. These errors include deviations from the historical doctrines of justification by faith alone, penal substitution, hell and inerrancy.
Other chapters deal in general with protecting God’s people from error, by helping to explain the attraction of false doctrine and by giving fresh commendation to tried and tested remedies. These remedies include listening to the positive exposition of Scripture, focusing on the adoration and service of God, and valuing the Reformed confessions of faith.
This reviewer did not find all the chapters equally helpful. Some seemed over-brief; others too dominated by the American scene. However, I did find it a wholesome read, full of godly concern and wisdom.
I occasionally found the interview format wearing, but the end result is a valuable compendium of wisdom on a practically difficult issue.
All in all, this unusual volume provides wise, godly and eminently pastoral advice that will help church leaders protect the flocks under their care. I commend it warmly to men in church leadership.
