Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226707 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

Customer Reviews

Must read for all Baptists: liberals and conservatives alike
After years of seeing liberals spin the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention to their liking, Paul Pressler's book is refreshing.

Pressler is to conservative Southern Baptists what Ronald Reagan is to Republicans. In "A Hill on Which to Die," Pressler gives documentation of rampant liberalism throughout the convention. Pressler did not, as some liberals would have us believe, "Burn down the barn to get rid of a few rats." Liberalism was prevalent, and a conservative takeover was the only way to reclaim the seminaries and colleges.

The book offers countless surprises: how Adrian Rogers did not want the nomination the night before the 1979 convention opened; how and why Pressler watched the 1979 convention from a skybox; how the "Donahue" show helped the conservative movement; how former president W.A. Criswell, himself a conservative, had failed to make changes when he was president; how Pressler tried to make changes before 1979, only to get the cold-shoulder.

Throughout the book, Pressler tells how the conservative movement was misunderstood and misrepresented. The battle was not over the interpretation of Scripture, but rather its integrity and inerrancy. And, surprisingly, it was not very organized. Conservatives did not use countless vans and buses to get messengers to conventions, as liberals charge. Rather, it was mostly a grass-roots effort which began with conservative churches wanting to change the liberal establishment. The conservatives were in the majority throughout the churches, but were not being represented in the presidency and on the committees.

And, as some may claim, it was not a hate-filled movement. The book is filled with examples of Pressler's Christian love for all believers - liberals, moderates and conservatives. However, throughout the battle, Pressler's beliefs and motives were mischaracterized and spun by the opposition, leading to the negative opinions about him that abound today. Occasionally, there were even flat-out lies. Finally, he gets to respond.

Liberals will not want to read this book, but they should.

This should be required reading for all Southern Baptists.

A thorough look at a historical religious turning point
Upon receiving my copy of this book I first turned to the portions where I had personal knowledge of the events. I found those sections to be succinct, accurate portrayals of complex circumstances -- a readable, journalistic summary that caught the flavor as well as the facts. The author has apparently been thorough.

I believe this book will be of greatest interest to (1) those thousands who were personally involved in the situations being discussed, (2) the 16 million Southern Baptists whose denominational apparatus has been reformed by these events, and (3) students of crucial turning points in America's religious history. Finally, though few readers will wade through this book because of this, the book is also an excellent case study on denominational politics and on successful strategies for changing large bureaucracies from within.

Of least interest to the casual reader will be the personal kudos that the author lavishes on those who played key parts in the battles discussed -- if the reader was not directly involved, these sections will probably be of little interest other than to suggest what virtues (e.g., loyalty under persecution) are held in highest esteem by the author.

Required Reading!
This provocative book addresses one of the most significant events in modern church history. Baptists, as Pressler suggests, are not the only group to be ripped asunder by the conflict between traditional Bible believers and modernists; but the clash has been especially painful among a group known heretofore as "the People of the Book." By whatever name they choose (modernists, liberals, moderates), they reflect the infiltration of materialism/naturalism into the church. The difference between them and tradional Bible believers is revealed when they approach a difficult passage of Scripture. The former immediately assume the Bible is in error and try to explain it away. Others of us recognize our finite minds must struggle to comprehend infinite Truth. We rely on the Holy Spirit who wrote the Book to interpret it to our hearts. As Pressler explains, this requires an open minded humility missing in some readers. The liberal's innate arrogance and scepticism produce what Pressler calls a "Dalmatian theology." They only believe the Bible in spots! Judge Pressler readily admits there have been mean spirits and a deplorable lack of love on both sides of the battle. Nonetheless, those of us who hold with saints through the ages that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness" owe a great debt to Judge Pressler and others like him. We and our children have been ridiculed and sometimes persecuted for our faith--even in our churches and Baptist schools (no, ESPECIALLY there!) Liberals call our RESTORATION to traditional Biblical principles a "takeover." But THEY pulled off the "takeover" in the 50's and 60's. Pressler correctly maintains they have the same vote they've always had--which happens to be a minority voice in our denomination. Judge Pressler's genius was to understand how a small, arrogant (sometimes ruthless) group held our denomination hostage through committees, through educational institutions, through editorial boards, and through the willful ignorance of many "sheep" in the pew. He is unappreciated by many who should bless his name, and hated by those whose chicanery he exposed. His book should be required reading for students (and professors) in Baptists universities and seminaries.