The Doctrines That Divide

Lutzer examines various controversies that exist within the broad spectrum of Christianity, presenting the issue and the biblical understanding of the doctrine.

An Excellent Study on Christian Unity and Doctrinal Diversity "This helpful book will encourage Christians to hold their convictions with greater irenicism, humility, awareness, and wisdom." — Gavin Ortlund, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Ojai; author, Finding the Right Hills to Die On As evangelicals, we desire to be biblical—we want our doctrine to be rooted in the Bible, our lives to be guided by the Bible, and our disagreements to be resolved by the Bible. And yet, conflicts within our church communities continue to appear and seemingly multiply with time. Interpretations of the Bible and deeply held convictions often put Christians at odds. Encouraging us toward grace in disagreement and firmness in truth, Rhyne Putman reflects on how Christians can maintain the biblical call for unity despite having genuine disagreements.

"The author uses four basic categories of doctrine to help church leaders consider how and what to prioritize in doctrine and ministry, encouraging humility and grace along the way"--

Meetings between Mormons and Evangelicals break new ground in interfaith dialogue.

This book is a brief, chronological history of when and by whom, non-biblical ideas entered the Church and how those false ideas became official doctrines in what would emerge over the centuries as the Roman Catholic Church. These doctrines crystallized over the gradual abandonment of the exclusive authority of the Bible in the life of the Church by the establishment of doctrines based on human tradition. There is much pressure today by the Roman Catholic Church on Protestant Evangelicals of all persuasions, to set aside doctrinal differences and "evangelize together" so that the world will see a "united" Church. Yet the Bible clearly teaches that the Church of Jesus Christ is to be the pillar and foundation of the truth in the midst of society (1 Timothy 3:15). How can we abandon the truth for the sake of "unity" and think that we can actually accomplish God's will for His Church. Does the truth really matter? Ross Thomas Hindman served the Lord as a missionary in France from 1984 to 2006. In the early years he was involved in helping French Christians establish new churches and then later became the director of the Bethany Bible School in the heart of France. He also helped Brazilian missionaries begin a Bethany Bible School in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. He continues his ministry of teaching in the French-speaking world as well as in the United States while continuing his missionary activities with Bethany International in helping develop mission schools in the least-reached nations. He received the Bachelor of Arts in Bible (Cum Laude) from Asbury College in 1980 and the Master of Divinity in Evangelism and Missions from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky in 1983. Married with three children and six grandchildren, he currently lives with his wife Ellen in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Formation of Christian Doctrine is a high-level academic study of the history of Christian doctrinal development. The book distinguishes at length between the scholarly term “inventio” (making explicit what is implicit in the biblical revelation) and the idea of “invention” (presenting a novelty as Christian teaching that conflicts with the biblical revelation). Specifically, The Formation of Christian Doctrine identifies biblical inerrancy as an inventio but sees the “priesthood of believers” concept as a license to believe “whatever teaching seems right to me.” Sure to be of interest in academic circles, even to those who might disagree with the author, this book will appeal to three major groups: Evangelicals in relation to the twentieth-century development of a detailed doctrine of biblical inerrancy, Baptists in light of both biblical inerrancy and the seventeenth-century development of believer’s baptism, and Roman Catholics because of their respect for tradition and interest in such a challenging conservative Protestant perspective as is found here.