Are We Together?

Are We Together? examines the theological differences between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, assessing whether modern ecumenical efforts have resolved the doctrinal disputes of the Reformation.

Dr. R.C. Sproul argues that the divisions that sparked the sixteenth-century Reformation remain substantive and unresolved. Drawing on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the decrees of the Council of Trent, and the confessional standards of the Reformation, Sproul compares Roman Catholic and Protestant teaching across six major areas: Scripture, justification, the church, the sacraments, the papacy, and Mary. In each case, he contends that Rome’s official doctrines continue to diverge from the biblical gospel as articulated by the Reformers.

The book responds directly to ecumenical initiatives such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the Manhattan Declaration, which Sproul views as obscuring the doctrinal boundaries that define the gospel itself. Rather than offering a polemical survey, Sproul engages Roman Catholic sources carefully and at length, identifying both areas of agreement and points of irreconcilable difference. The doctrine of justification by faith alone—and specifically the imputation of Christ’s righteousness—stands at the center of his analysis as the issue on which Protestant and Roman Catholic teaching most decisively parts ways.

Key Themes

• The sufficiency of Christ as the unifying issue across Protestant-Catholic doctrinal disputes
• Justification by faith alone and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness
• The authority of Scripture over against the claims of tradition and the Magisterium
• The continuing relevance of the Reformation for the contemporary church

Featured Quotes

“The doctrine of imputation is, for me, the nonnegotiable.”

“The biggest issue in the whole Mariology debate is the sufficiency of Christ.”