There have always been calls for the church to de-emphasise doctrine. Sometimes these calls come from those who wish to promote 'unity' at any cost—enter the ecumenical movement. Sometimes they come from those who feel that the truths of the faith are encumbrances or 'stumbling blocks' to those who just want a simple faith.

This week's episode shows why such calls are so misguided. There can be no true Christian ministry without a setting forth of what B. B. Warfield called 'the great Christian verities'. The great need of the church, in every age, is to treasure, set forth, and 'to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints'. (Jude 3).

Featured resources:

– Michael Haykin, 'A Lesson from a Victorian Preface', Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 457 (October 2001).

– B. B. Warfield, 'The Indispensableness of Systematic Theology to the Preacher', Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 613 (October 2014). This first appeared in Homiletic Review (Feb. 1897) and is featured in Princeton and the Work of the Christian Ministry, vol. 2, pp. 497–504 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2012).

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