Getting the Gospel Right

Rating:
Summary: What Is The Cost of Unity?
Review: "Getting The Gospel Right" is R.C. Sproul's sequel to the popular book "Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification" and is a thorough treatment of the subject of Christian unity. It is essentially a response to a document that tested the boundaries of unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants: "The Gift of Salvation" (also known as ECT II) which was released subsequently to the original "Evangelicals and Catholics Together." These documents were both written and signed by leading members of Evangelical and Catholic churches as a means to promote unity between the churches. They chose to find common ground and unite on that basis rather than focus on the differences that separated them. Sproul and several other prominent Reformed Christians stood against this document, insisting that it did not form an adequate basis for unity with the Roman Catholic Church.

The book is divided into three sections. The first is entitled Controversy Concerning The Gospel and provides background to the importance of Christian unity in traditional Evangelicalism. The section functions almost as an introductory course to Christian doctrine regarding unity. Among other topics it discusses the distinction between the visible and invisible church, the marks of a true church and Christ's desire for unity.

In the second section Sproul provides the complete text to "The Gift of Salvation" and then provides a thorough examination of each paragraph. His amazing depth of knowledge allows him to delve deeply into the document and point out many problems with it. He shows where the language is ambiguous and goes into lengthy explanation about the differences between the Catholic and Protestant views on soteriology. His conclusion is that the two systems of theology are so far removed that they cannot be brought into harmony. "The Gift of Salvation" does nothing to remove the doctrinal chasm created by the simple word "alone." Until Rome concedes on the "solas" of the Reformation, there can be no unity. Further, unity on such terms as outlined in this document is damaging to the Evangelical churches as it undermines critical theology. There can be no unity without unity in the gospel, which means there certainly cannot be unity at the expense of the gospel. The unity expressed by the signatories of "The Gift of Salvation" is empty since it denies the importance of obvious and insurmountable differences in doctrine.

The final section is an examination of a document drafted by Sproul and other leading theologians entitled "The Gospel of Jesus Christ." They feel this document should provide the basis for unity among Evangelicals. "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" carefully and consistently lays out the foundations of Protestant theology, leaving absolutely no room for ambiguity. As with the previous document, Sproul examines it paragraph by paragraph, explaining the meaning and importance of each of the affirmations and denials. Sproul says that "[the affirmations and denials they list] are the foundation that expresses the mission of the church. For the church to be faithful to the Great Commission, we must get the gospel right. When we do, we will both energize the church's activity and encourage deep and abiding unity among Evangelicals."

This book is as good a treatment of the subject of unity as I have read. While deeply theological, it is also very readable. Sproul has a gift for presenting deep truths in a way that is easy to understand. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning what the Bible says about unity, and further to people interested in an overview of the doctrinal differences between Protestants and Catholics.

Rating:
Summary: A COMPARISON, not an argument
Review: Contrary to what many of this book's reviewers seem to believe, this book is not intended to be a comprehensive argument for the Protestant soteriologial position. Rather, this is Sproul's rejection of the soteriological portions of recent documents signed by prominent representatives of the Roman and Protestant churches in an attempt to bring unity between the two. He argues that despite claims on both sides that an accord on the subjects of justification, sanctification, faith, grace, etc. has been reached, no true unity has been attained - the two sides are still in disagreement over the nature of Christ's saving work.

Further, Sproul argues that this attempt at harmony is damaging to the knowledge and spreading of the true Gospel as communicated in the Bible. He chastises Protestants for not knowing how to precisely and accurately put the Gospel into words and calls them to correct that problem before more damage is done.

Don't let the other reviews fool you - this book is an excellent exposition of the Biblical position of the nature of mankind's salvation through the work of Christ. The series of Affirmations and Denials that constitute a majority of this book are one of the clearest defenses of this position you can find. But for those who are still not convinced or for those who seek to read even further regarding the Biblical and historical errors of the modern Roman position, see Robert L. Reymond's "The Reformation's Conflict with Rome: Why it Must Continue," ISBN 1857926269.

Rating:
Summary: Great Overview of the Gospel
Review: I can sum this up pretty quickly. This book explains the importance of getting the Gospel right, the unity found in the Gospel, and the particulars of the Gospel. It was written in reaction to the Gift of Salvation document between some Catholics and Evangelicals. Sproul is a master of easily explaining rich theological issues. Very compact and straighforward. I used this as a primary source when I gave a lecture on "what is the Gospel." If you like this, I would suggest getting Sproul's "Faith Alone." Also take a look at John MacArthur's "the Gospel According to Jesus."

Rating:
Summary: A call to arms for evangelicals
Review: It should be noted from Art Sippo's review that he is strongly Roman Catholic, so why should we be suprised that he does not come to the same conclusions about the Gospel as evangelicals do? What we should be suprised by is the fact Mr. Sippo could be so blind that he could see right past the cover where it says "The Tie that Binds EVANGELICALS Together". He is right about the fact that this isn't a defense of sola fide. But then again Dr. Sproul makes it quite clear that it isn't intended to be. This is a call for evangelicals to get their acts together. Mr. Sippo's anti-evangelical bias was the sole basis for his reveiw. I suppose my frustration towards Mr. Sippo was mine. Dr. Sproul couldn't make it clearer in the opening pages that this book is for the evangelical community. Mr. Sippo's review is essentially irrelevant for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: Lines up with the view of most evangelicals...
Review: R.C. Sproul is one of the finest preachers in the nation! His books are even better! Agree with nearly everything he says in this delightful, easy-to-read book.

Rating:
Summary: Lines up with the view of most evangelicals...
Review: R.C. Sproul is one of the finest preachers in the nation! His books are even better! Agree with nearly everything he says in this delightful, easy-to-read book.

Rating:
Summary: Calls a spade a spade
Review: Sproul demonstrates that Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Protestantism are simply not in agreement when it comes to the essential issue of how a person is justified before God--and both ways cannot be correct. At one time in church history, both sides recognized this and felt passionately about it. Now, fuzzy theology and "spiritual" experience has tended to blunt the sharp edge of biblical and theological truth.

Readers in either camp should be happy that the issue has been clarified. The quest for unity at the expense of truth--or even truthfulness about the positions in question--is not helpful. Let each side figure out what they believe and try to convince the other--but let us be done with saying that we all believe the same thing when there are clear and critical differences!

If you want help in understanding those differences and in understanding how you can be sure of your eternal destiny through faith in Jesus Christ alone--and not having to wait for some final judgment you have no hope of surviving--read this book and anything else Sproul has written along with the New Testament.

Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone!

Rating:
Summary: Who is to say what is right?
Review: This is a very disappointing book. Sproul correctly identifies the important distinctions between the Traditional Christian position on justification and the innovations of the 16th Century Protestants. What he fails to do is to show why we should believe the Protestants instead of the traditional position held by the Eastern and Western Churches. Sproul treats the opinions of the Protestants as if they were infallibly true and does not allow the possiblity that they could have been wrong. He is so busy stating that the Catholic Church has not changed her position on this matter that he does not honestly tell us why she should. In the light of modern Biblical scholarship, it is no longer possible to maintain that Luther and Calvin were interpreting the Bible correctly in this or other controversial matters. In fact, the Traditional Christian opinion is clearly more faithful to that of St. Paul than the positions taken by the Protestants. Sproul needs to read some recent literature and stop defending the errors of the 16th Century.

Arthur C. Sippo MD