The Core Gospel

by Bill R. Love

Love, Bill R.

319 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

Reviews

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the 'core gospel'? Bill Love looks at pictures of 'Christ and him crucified' from Scripture and judges the preaching of Churches of Christ over the past 200 years by comparison. While one might question some of his methodology (much of the preaching in the NT was primarily evangelistic, while in much of American church history it has been more apologetic or about building on the foundation of the basic principles in helping disciples understand how to live in the the light of the atonement, cf. Heb. 5:12), the results are almost any judgment not pretty: focusing on polemical issues and secondary matters, the nature of the atonement of Christ was assumed by most generations of preachers. Yet Love ends on a positive hope for the future, that today's generation of ministers (most of whom, from my perspective, come from a more 'progressive' wing of Churches of Christ) seems to be preaching the Cross once more. I would guess that a more broad survey of Church of Christ preachers would show that his hope is not so well founded, but as he emphasizes, the trend seems to be moving in a positive direction.

There is a lot to like in this book, but it's hard to classify. Is it theology? Is it a book on preaching? Is it a historical survey? It reads a lot like a dissertation adapted for a more popular audience.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important book in the study of the history of Churches of Christ. Love (writing over twenty years ago now) shows that the preaching in Churches of Christ tended to downplay the centrality and meaning of the cross and the atonement, emphasizing instead the human response to the gospel. Some of his analysis has serious flaws, but the overall trends he describes are well-documented. The book is a noteworthy call for preachers to focus on those things that are of "first importance" (1 Cor. 15:3).