the last book I ever read (The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta, excerpt three)

from The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta:

Falwell was not flashy in the pulpit, nor was he especially eloquent. Substantively, his sermons emphasized what he called “the fundamentals of the faith”—the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ, the inerrancy of scripture—and mostly avoided extrabiblical commentary. In keeping with the fundamentalist doctrine of his independent Baptist tradition, Falwell preached “separatism.” The idea that followers of Christ are distinct, set apart, called to a citizenship in heaven that takes precedence over earthly identities. He frowned upon civic activism and expressly denounced political entanglements. In 1965, at the climax of the civil rights movement, Falwell delivered a sermon scolding his colleague, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., for sullying their profession. The goal of the Church, Falwell decreed, is “not reformation but transformation,” a fact that certain clergy would do well to recognize. “As a God-called preacher, I find that there is no time left after I give the proper time and attention to winning people to Christ,” Falwell said. “Preachers are not called to be politicians, but to be soul winners.”