The Church is intended to be the vehicle of the Word of God and its calling is to proclaim 'the whole counsel of God' with no omissions and no adjustments: ' . . .the Church is a witness and a guardian of Holy Scripture' (Article 20). Its role is to declare all truth necessary to salvation. The announcement entrusted to the Church as its heavenly treasure and earthly tidings is to be both accurate and urgent, for the destiny of souls depends upon faithful and fearless communication.

This is normative instruction for how Christians are to respond to persecution and evil in general. However, presumably the persecutor/evildoer is an outsider, not a leader or minister of the Church. Therefore, this passage, contrary to the opinion of some, is not applicable to the subject of how to respond to false teachers in the church. Similar arguments apply to other irenic passages that are sometimes taken out of context to weaken justified resistance to false teaching.

Edmund Spenser was once secretarial assistant to the Calvinistic Bishop of Rochester, John Young, and upheld the doctrines of grace and endorsed their great exponent Edmund Grindal in his majestic poesy in such works as The Fairy Queen and the Shepherd's Calendar:

The Fairy Queen, Book 1, Canticle X - Her faithful knight fair Una brings to House of Holiness, where he is taught repentance, and the way to heavenly bliss.

Edward Luce, the American Editor for the Financial Times, penned this article, which chronicles his visit to Lakewood Church, the most significant temple to the prosperity gospel in America. Luce marshals all his prowess and analytical skill to craft this insightful article--a story that explores the friction between the prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen and the historic, orthodox Christian faith.