I.
Justification by faith needs to be discussed at great length, in the open, because false teachers have obscured this teaching for many decades. An open discussion is divisive - it divides the sheep from the goats.
II.
Doctrinal discussions keep us sharp about what we believe, and they drive us back to the Scriptures. The Pietists want love to be the basis for unity, but that formula creates doctrinal indifference, unionism, and apostasy. The goal of love at the expense of the truth is the ultimate destroyer. As one historian noted on the phone, the pattern has been clear for centuries - Pietism, Rationalism, Unitarianism.Columbus, Ohio was my post-doc in theology. The clergy kept defending Church Growth and I kept studying Luther and the Book of Concord.
