Review: THE COLLAPSE OF SEPARATION AMONG FUNDAMENTALIST BAPTISTS by David Cloud

It's taken me a while, but I've finally figured out what makes Cloud and I so different: our ideas on separation. It's certainly a biblical concept, as the New Testament specifically tells us to be different from the world. I believe that means not chasing trends so we can be like everyone else, but with a little Jesus on top. That's become a very bad habit in some churches.

Cloud, however, seems to see separation as a list of things to do; churches have to be like the one into which he was converted or they've "compromised". Any such groups have to be separated from. This is a fairly common view among Fundies, but there are two very serious problems with it. The first is that it not only is it not found in Scripture, but this kind of shunning is antithetical to it. The second is that it leads to an "us four and no more" attitude, in which we assume that only those who agree with us exactly are saved.

This book is essentially a list of "compromises" made by churches Cloud used to consider faithful. I don't recommend it; it seems like it's longer than it is.