On August 21, 2024, Tom Raabe published an article on the American Spectator website entitled, How a Church Fought Back Against a Liberal Takeover—And Won. In his article, he tells the story of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and its battle with theological liberalism within the denomination. The story reminded me that every generation of church leaders must fight such battles for theological purity. My concern is that we are not adequately preparing new generations of leadership to fight these battles. If we must fight for the purity of the church, we also must understand the theological foundations for such battles.
The most effective way to begin that discussion is to interact with what I believe is one of the best and most thorough treatments of the subject. It is Earnest Pickering’s book Biblical Separation: The Struggle for a Pure Church. While the book has been around since the 1970s, there is a version that was published in 2008 and updated by Myron Houghton.
Ernest Pickering graduated from Bob Jones University and received his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary. He taught on the seminary level for many years and as an effective senior pastor in several ministries. He also served as a seminary President. Every minister of the gospel should not only read the book, he should study it thoroughly. I find that many today have only a cursory understanding of the doctrine. …
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Book Review: Biblical Separation: The Struggle for a Pure Church, by Ernest Pickering