http://www.amazon.com/Contending-Our-Al … 158134676X
This is a book about three men from church history who stood up to the mainstream currents of error despite the suffering they knew they had to endure, in the name of truth for the Gospel’s sake. A must read in our time where pastors left and right seem to be abandoning solid doctrinal truth in the name of Christ. Quote from a book review off Amazon: “Contending for Our All is an especially important book for our present day. In the lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen, Piper shows how the need to defend truth has always been paramount in genuine Biblical Christianity. None of these three men enjoyed controversy for its own sake. All three were charitable and gracious with those whom they disagreed (a lesson all sides should learn in our day!). In his section on Athanasius, Piper insightfully applies Athanasius’ battles to the issues of our day: ‘Athanasius would have grieved over sentences like “It is Christ who unites us; it is doctrine that divides.” And sentences like: “We should ask, Whom do you trust?” rather than, “What do you believe?” He would have grieved because he knew this is the very tactic used by the Arian bishops to cover the councils with fog so that the word Christ could mean anything. Those who talk like this–‘Christ unites, doctrine divides’-have simply replaced propositions about Christ with the word Christ. It carries no meaning until one says something about him. They think they have said something profound and fresh, when they call us away from the propositions of doctrine to the word Christ. In fact they have done something very old and worn and deadly..” (pp. 64)