Released in the UK May 2009
Released in the US July 2009
Large trade paperback | 256 Pages
9781845502843 • £8.99 $14.99
BISAC – REL067030
A Foreword by Sinclair B Ferguson. A collection of interviews on handling truth and error in the church. Contributors reflect on this issue in relation to the minister’s own life, pulpit ministry, local church leadership, seminary training, denominations, the impact of the academy, Evangelicalism, contemporary trends, history, creeds and confessions, and doctrines that are currently under attack. There is also personal reflection on these matters, lessons drawn from experience, and practical advice. The interviews are introduced by a primer on heresy and false teaching, and concluded with a chapters on why “Being Against Heresies is not enough” and “What really matters in ministry: directives for church leaders in Acts 20.”
Contributors include: Carl R. Trueman, Tom Schreiner, Michael Horton, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Derek Thomas, R. Scott Clark, Tom Ascol, Guy Waters, Kim Riddlebarger, Ron Gleason, Sean Michael Lucas, Gary L. W. Johnson, Conrad Mbewe, Geoffrey Thomas, Joel Beeke, Robert Peterson, Michael Ovey
Martin Downes
Until recently Martin Downes was Pastor of Christ Church, Deeside, North Wales, Martin blogs at against-heresies.blogspot.com. He has also contributed to Reforming or Conforming: Post-Conservative Evangelicals and the Emerging Church published by Crossway Books.
9781527104730 |
9781845506827 |
9781845501914 |
9781845509620 |
"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...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."
Evangelical Times
Martin Downes' book is very unusual. To be honest I had already seen it and decided its subject was so depressing that I didn't want to read it before reading the 'Exiled Preacher' interview led me to buy it. Martin has written the two introductory and two closing chapters and the rest of the book consists of twenty interviews with evangelical academics and pastors. There are some very sharp insights from some of the contributors but there are common emphases: 'the importance of biblical exposition in the life of the church, the value of well-tested and pastorally well-proven Confessions of the church, the importance of guarding the heart, the privilege of genuine friendships in which men seek to hold one another to a gospel life-style.' Well worth reading - I just read a chapter a day and gave time to thinking about what had been said.
"What a novel way to approach this most vital of subjects! Given that theological reflection is human thought about the Scriptural revelation of a tri-personal God, I have always believed that the personal element has a place in all of our theologizing. The subjective should not-indeed cannot-be removed from theology. And here we see the way that some of the most important theological minds of our day personally grapple with how truth is to be defended. This mesh of subjectivity and Christian apologetics-in which objectivity is so vital-makes for both compelling and profoundly instructive reading."
Michael A. G. Haykin
Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
While Risking the Truth should be read by church leaders, it is nonetheless written in easy-to-grasp style, and is therefore accessible to laymen as well. Because of its rich content and pastoral wisdom, it will encourage many church leaders to maintain the fight against heresy.