Lest We Forget: A Personal Reflection on the Formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

by Robert King Churchill

1987 HISTORIAN COMMITTEE SOFTCOVER

Genres: Theology, History, Nonfiction, Church History

135 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[W. Charles Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great addition to the collection of anyone who loves church history and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (like me). Rev. Churchill wrote in a very clear and organic way. He tells his story as one who lived it, and not as an outside observer. It is also helpful for understanding the fall of parts of American Presbyterianism, not into liberalism, but into overtly simplified fundamentalism. That fall included a dive into dispensationalism.

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting first-hand account of the earliest days of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. This is a good accompaniment to other histories and provides some background that I haven’t encountered from other sources.

[Zach de Walsingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, brief, and tragic.

[Becca Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because Robert King Churchill is my great grandpa.

[Peter Bringe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Robert K. Churchill describes the events surrounding the liberalization of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the 1920s and 30s. He writes from a very personal perspective as one who was there amid it all. His writing is well done and very readable (I read the book in a day). He brings out in clear terms the issues of the conflict and the lessons we can learn from those events. One thing I appreciated was his short and understandable descriptions of things like dispensationalism, Reformed theology, Van Tillian apologetics/philosophy, liberalism, fundamentalism, etc...

"We listened, in my day, to a sound that filled us with an unholy terror. We heard the devil's laughter inside the hallowed walls of our beloved church, and were not deceived by his mockery. Sometimes with trepidation and sometimes with less-than-perfect courage, we took our stand on the word of God and fought the devil where we stood. We placed the word of God far above and beyond the word of man –– in its rightful position on the highest possible plane." (p. 134)

[Joel]

This one tells the story of the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and was written by the OPC historian.