This is not a book that we’re meant to hand to a skeptic or to a friend who holds to a different faith. Rather, it’s a book we are meant to read to better equip ourselves to have helpful conversations with them. Christians are to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), and this book is meant to help with that important task. In that way it’s an apologetic guide, not an evangelistic tract.

Christians have always had to contend with false teaching and competing faiths. But what surely makes the current age unique is the sheer number and sheer diversity we may encounter in any given place. From my context in ultra-multicultural Toronto, it is not unusual to find myself in a setting where there are adherents of 5 or 10 different religions. I can take a short drive and spot places of worship that represent every type of divergence from the Christian faith. And while it’s true that the gospel counters every departure from orthodoxy, it’s equally true that a bit of knowledge of the different religions, different cults, and different heresies can be helpful in knowing precisely which truths are most fitting. It would be helpful to have a guide that concisely lays out the tenets of different religions and suggests the Christian truths that might be most helpful for their adherents to hear.

This is exactly the purpose of A Field Guide on False Teaching from Ligonier Ministries. This is not a book that we’re meant to hand to a skeptic or to a friend who holds to a different faith. Rather, it’s a book we are meant to read to better equip ourselves to have helpful conversations with them. Christians are to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), and this book is meant to help with that important task. In that way it’s an apologetic guide, not an evangelistic tract.

Its format is simple, but effective. Part one deals with popular pseudo-Christian false teachings: the prosperity gospel, deism, and the twin threats of legalism and antinomianism. For each it introduces the key figures who teach it and the main beliefs that define it. It then suggests why people find this false teaching attractive, compares it to biblical Christianity, and offers recommendations about how to most effectively share the gospel with people who hold to it.

Part two turns to cults—to some of the counterfeit religions that integrate elements of the Christian faith with the aberrant teachings of the cult’s founder or leaders. It focuses on Mormonism, Christian Science, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. It follows much the same format as part one in introducing the key figures and main beliefs, then suggesting why it has become popular, contrasting it to biblical Christianity, and suggesting where to focus in an attempt to help those who have been drawn in by it. Part three looks at false religions and worldviews: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age spirituality, and (together) atheism and secularism.

Put together, A Field Guide on False Teaching is tremendously helpful in both its content and its format. Its content shows a deep understanding of the different faiths and false teachings and, even better, of the biblical truths that can best challenge each one. Its format is effective in its consistency, brevity, and simplicity.

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