Do we still believe doctrine matters?
The following is an excerpt from "The Pelagian Captivity of the Church," an article originally published in Modern Reformation. Quoting from the introduction to The Bondage of the Will, by J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnson:
With what right may we call ourselves children of the Reformation? Much modern Protestantism would be neither owned nor even recognised by the pioneer Reformers. The Bondage of the Will fairly sets before us what they believed about the salvation of lost mankind. In the light of it, we are forced to ask whether Protestant Christendom has not tragically sold its birthright between Luther's day and our own. Has not Protestantism today become more Erasmian than Lutheran? Do we not too often try to minimise and gloss over doctrinal differences for the sake of inter-party peace? Are we innocent of the doctrinal indifferentism with which Luther charged Erasmus? Do we still believe that doctrine matters?
This topic is also addressed in the teaching series, Willing to Believe. Click here to watch or listen.