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Pulpit Crimes: The Criminal Mishandling of God's Word

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This book reminded me a lot of the style that was done in Steve Lawson's book, Made in Our Image. Meaning, James White hits a lot of topics without going into a lot of depth. Which is fine, because that was his intent, just don't think you are going to get a thorough look at each "Pulpit Crime" in this book.

James White hits topics such as expository preaching, worship music, seeker churches, pluralism, homosexuality, mishandling of the ordinances, women "pastors" and others. I really enjoyed White's discussion on those who water down the Gospel to being nothing more than "a" plan instead of "the" plan of salvation. He really makes sure the reader understands the danger of not preaching the absolute truth of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one topic that he covered that I really enjoyed was his chapter on, "Felonious Eisegesis." It went through the dangers of not only the word faith movement, but also those traditions that are held so close to the vest by a lot of us in our denominations or doctrine. He did a great job of allowing the reader to understand that we all have "traditions" that can sometimes guide our exegesis of Scripture. When looking at a sub-heading called, "Tradition Trafficking," you would expect that to be a chapter about the Roman Catholic church, but the entire part of this chapter was devoted to our protestant traditions allowing our interpretation of Scripture. I found this very interesting and he used the story of him and Dave Hunt to show his arguments for his case.

The one thing that I did not like at first, but understood by the end, is that James White does not "name names." He does this so that the book doesn't become "dated" because of the names mentioned. We have seen this happen with MacArthur's "Charismatic Chaos" when in actuality the book is very much for today, but gets little mention because it is "dated because of those mentioned." I mentioned above, Dave Hunt, but James White does not name his name but I am very familiar with his discussions in the past so I was able to pick up the "unmentioned person" that Dr. White was talking about.

Again, very good book as a "fly-by" on a lot of topics. If you would like an in depth book on the exegesis of preaching itself, I would recommend Lawson's "Famine in the Land" instead. But, that was not this books intent and for that I can definitely recommend and probably will read again sometime in the future.

Dr. White has penned an outstanding work with Pulpit Crimes. He plainly discusses many of the issues that plague the western church. Dr. White does so in a loving manner, effectively rebuking those guilty of the crimes with Scripture as we are called to do. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who sees the professing Christian church as a rainbow of beliefs and positions. There is a reason for that, and as Mr. White correctly points out, it is due to a low view of Scripture.

It's a quick read (about 150 pages), and Mr. White's style, as with his other books is one that is entertaining, and pleasing to read. He explains any technical terms he utilizes, which always makes things easier.

A great book of warning for new Christians, and a source of tremendous insight to those who look at the church, either from the inside or out, and wonder what is going on with orthodoxy.

This is the first book of this authors that I have read. I really enjoyed the book. I appreciate the author's candor about the abuses in churches right now. This book shows how different the church is from what God intended it to be according to His word. This would be a good read for all Christians. As a Christian, we should be more interested in pleasing God than in pleasing man. This book makes that point plainly.

In "Pulpit Crimes," James White seeks to expose those things which bring shame to the proclamation of God's Word. In order for something to be a crime, there must be a law in place. And that is what the author seeks to prove in this short but powerful book.

Some of the chapter titles include, "Prostitution," "Felonious Eisegesis," and "Body Count." Though I found the titles to be a bit on the cheesy side, I found the content to be compelling. To anyone reading this book, prepare your traditions to be challenged. What the author focused on as crimes, there were clear biblical commands to define them as such. One of these that I found to be most valuable was the pulpit crimes related to the preaching work.

Few Christians realize that the Bible has some very specific commands in regards to the preaching work. While I was hoping the author could spend some time discussing topical vs. expository, he spent most of the time in dealing with the pulpit crime of not preaching the full council of God's Word. I suppose this might have been a defense for expository preaching, but I think his main point was to point out that too many pastors choose to speak on those topics that they want to speak about, while trying to avoid those "difficult" subjects like doctrine.

One thing I appreciated about this book was that it covered churches from every end of the spectrum. So whether you are a part of a solid Reformed Baptist fellowship or a leftist Episcopal one, the author covered topics from the most liberal to the most conservative in terms of their pulpit crimes. Topics like pluralism were tackled, as well as the women's role in the church. In other words, it seems like there was something in here for everyone!

Overall, this book is worth reading because I don't think our traditions are challenged enough. There is always the potential danger or falling into a man-centered time of worship that is focused more on the show than on God. So its always good to be reminded of what's most important in our time of worship; and that is God!

Pulpit Crimes is a fascinating look into what is wrong not just with the church in general, but with the pulpit in particular. As has often been noted, as the leaders go, so goes the church. And nowhere is leadership as pronounced and influential as in the pulpit. By looking at preaching and pulpit errors, James White insightfully and accurately addresses a wide variety of "pulpit crimes" that plague the church.

The subtitle is "The Criminal Mishandling of God's Word". We've all heard preachers who mishandle the Bible. Many men have taken verses out of context, twisted the meaning, or failed to preach the whole counsel of God. The chapter titles are provocative; some of them are: Pandering to Pluralism, Cowardice Under Fire, Entertainment Without a License, Felonious Eisegesis, Body Count, and Warranty Fraud. Each of them addresses a real issue in the pulpit.

White doesn't name names - which was a bit frustrating to me, because it is a pastor's job to warn the flock of error, and it would be helpful to know just who is guilty of at least the most serious errors. However, it isn't his point to get in a big argument or to stir up trouble, but to rightly address the issues, which he does very well.

This book is for every elder, every church leader, and indeed for all who love the church, the preaching of the Word, and most importantly the Savior of the church. It will increase your discernment and give you an appreciation for the faithful and regular teaching and preaching of Holy Scripture. And it will help you help your friends who may attend churches that violate some of these principles. It is worth your time to read.

A few quotes from the book may whet your appetite:

One of the greatest things the lay person can come to realize is their vital role in the worship of the church. By coming to the gathering of the body prepared, expectant, ready to hear from God and bless others, we add to the worship immeasurably. How often do we rob ourselves of blessings, and those around us as well, because we stumble into God's presence almost by accident rather than approaching Him with purpose and preparation!

More directly to the issue is the reality that the New Testament speaks of church discipline, of putting people out of the fellowship for reasons of immorality, apostasy, and false teaching. It is hard to put someone "out" when you can't define what it means to be "in".

Minister, do you wish to have a clear conscience? Then proclaim the fullness of the message, even when you know men will be offended thereby. Who would you rather offend, sinful men, or the holy God?

There is something unnatural about speaking of eternal judgment, redemption, forgiveness, lordship, and life in the context of light-hearted entertainment and Hawaiian shirt informality.

While scandals used to be the big problem in this area, now the real perversity is shown in the open: unashamed teaching that it is God's will that Christians be rich and possess the things of the world. The "name it and claim it" heresy is one of the greatest pulpit crimes of the modern era, and it is a sure sign of judgment upon our culture.

The pulpit is a sacred place where God meets with His people, instructs them, and gives them guidance as they worshipfully gather to hear His truth. To replace that high and divine purpose with the worldly and the commercial is high treason. ... Yet this is exactly what we see in the largest portion of the church today: entertainment has replaced worship, amusement has replaced the sober contemplation of God and His ways. This is a pulpit crime of immense proportions.

This is an excellent book. I found it a little hard to get started - the reading level seems fairly high and took me a while to adjust. After that the book flowed easily, as Dr. White uncovered one pulpit crime after another.

He doesn't name names in the book so that the book will be relevant to later generations, but I was able to pick out any number of "blab it and grab it" preachers, plus Rick Warren, Benny Hinn, and Harold Camping.

Dr. White tells it like it is and his book will warm the heart of anyone seeing the violence done to the Word of God each week in so many churches. I was gratified to not see these crimes being committed in my church.

After some introductory chapters, he get into the meat of the matter. The chapter titles are provocative:
Prostitution
Pandering to Pluralism
Cowardice under Fire
Entertainment with a License
Felonious Eisegesis
Cross Dressing
Body Count
Identity Theft
Warranty Fraud

As Dr. White rightly points out, if people just stuck to the Bible and what it says, most of these crimes would never happen.

And what can we do as laity? Two things - attend church regularly to come together with other believers, and not put so much on the pastor. If a job can be done by someone else, let that other person do it. Pastors and elders get stretched too thin when they are asked to be all things to the congregation. Congregates need to do their part too.

I only disagreed on a couple of points, such as having to dress up to be properly prepared to come into the presence of God. We don't dress up before coming into God's presence at bedtime prayers, do we? If someone wants to dress up, fine. But I don't feel it is necessary. But on the whole my issues were minor and more a matter of preference than Biblical disagreement.

I would recommend this book to both pastors/elders and laity. Pastors and elders to make sure they are not falling into these traps (and encourage them if they are not), and laity to get a clearer picture of what they should be looking for in a church and what the role of pastor/elder is really about.

I liked this book a lot and may read other books by Dr. White.

James R White THD is a professor at couple seminaries,
one being Columbia Evangelical Seminary. Author of a number of books
and a very well skilled and train debater for the cause of Christ and
his church. James R. White THD has authored many books on controversy like
Roman Catholicism, Mormonism , Jehovah Witnesses, King James Only and others
issues within the Christians Church like Calvinism.

James R White having debated over 50 debates over the few decades and calling
things like they are wither it's a false teaching or a misrepresentation of
God's truth, he will call it and name names.

In this book called PULPIT CRIMES I think Dr. White use Godly wisdom and
good judgement in writing. He makes mention that in the begining of the book
he was not going to name names not because he was scared or anything like that
but because while that crimes have been committed in the past and will
probably will in the future. This book will not be helpful to a future
generation because they would have to understand the context of the preachers
today. So rather then write a timely book ( which this book is) he wrote a
book that is time less.

He talks bout the crimes that the common pastor makes from the pulpit. From
Mega churches to Heretics. He mentions how some people twist the scriptures,
their denial of Sola Scriptura. Since James didn't name names, I will try to
do my best to call out those he use in the book. Joel Osteen was one of them
, Dave Hunt was one of them has well, T. D. Jakes, and I think there was
something about Benny Hinn. His book addressed the issue of Plurality of elders
, women in the pulpit, Mega churhces, Lord's supper and baptism and a lot of
other things as well.. this was such a great book. I think this book would be a
good book about whow not to preach...If James White name this book called
this book a controversy , he could've been known as a controversy author.

Just a great and timly and timelss book.

Good job Dr. White

Having attending Mr Whites services and having read the book(some good points). Mr White should do some self examination before throwing stones. His criminality in disgracing scripture will one day confront him.