I am a very, very BIG fan of doctrine. It is the safeguard of the church against false teachers. Also, the way in which one views and interprets the Bible can have a huge impact on that person’s holistic view of life. As I learn more about Scripture, God changes my thinking about myself and those that I come into contact with. I am very much in support of Christians consulting God’s Word as inspired scripture and building doctrine based on the exegetical meaning of passages. I am also in support of churches adopting doctrine to follow (as long as they don’t approach it with hubris).
That having been said, it’s obvious that there are certain viewpoints of Christianity that are still disputed and have been disputed for a long time. Let’s use Calvinism and Arminianism as examples. I also believe that there are other areas of Christianity that are simply indisuptable to all (Based on a plenary verbal interpretation of the Bible), such as the way to salvation (by grace through repentance of sin and faith in Christ Jesus), and the concept that all men are sinners before a Holy and Just God.
A big problem that I see taking place, and it’s something that I have seen ever since I have been a young person growing up in church (even if I wasn’t aware of what was going on), is that these “absolute unabsolutes” are driving problematic wedges between the unified body of Christ.
Here’s a good example, fresh off of the front page of WordPress.com today, by one of the most-read religious bloggers on the site. You may not have time to read the whole article, so just take a look at the last paragraph if you are short on time: A Short Response to the Arminian Doctrine of Prevenient Grace. The overall conclusion to this post is as follows:
My prayer for the universal church is that we would all come into the unity of the truth as God has revealed it to us … and that God-dishonoring theology, wherever it may come from, would be trampled under foot.
In this case, “God-dishonoring theology” is in direct reference to Arminian theology, which is followed by a group of well-researched, well-respected, Godly men. I know this, because the Bible College that I attended largely taught this doctrine. I am not ridiculous enough to assume that all Calvinists are dishonoring to God, even though I do believe, personally, that the doctrines of Reformed Arminianism are more cohesive with a holistic view of scripture. The “us” in this passage acts as though all rational thinking Christians will come to the same conclusion that the author did. In this case, the “us” is ill-founded. The author should know better. There are God-fearing, wonderful Christians on both sides of the coin.
The question that I am asking is quite simple: Does this difference of interpreting scripture justify mud-slinging, bitterness, and lack of communion among brethren? I consent that it does not, and in fact I wish that it were not so. Someone once said that if you took today’s best theologians from the Calvinist side and put them in a room with today’s best theologians from the Arminian side, neither side would ever give in to the other side’s theological system. The issue would still remain. Scholars and seminaries have been debating it for years. Certainly only one side can be the absolutely correct answer, as all scripture is hermeneutic; HOWEVER, since the issue has not been absolutely resolved at this point, it makes no sense to act like it HAS been and completely dismiss the other course of thinking.
Again, let me say that I am firmly certain of my belief in Free Will doctrine. If others want to believe in the doctine of Calvinism, however, I cannot call them heretics. I personally enjoy studying the differences between the two, and there is nothing wrong with debate over the issue either. If these issues are in the Bible, then they are important to study. Doctrine is important to formulate; however, acting as though one person’s doctrine is the end-all-be-all of all doctrines everywhere demonstrates an immense pride in human knowledge. Remember: Biblical wisdom and understanding is of God, not of man.
There should be healthy debate over the scriptures. I welcome healthy debate here on my blog and whereever else I may post, as long as it is founded on the basic, indisputable doctrines of scripture that all Christians believe in (in other words, as long as we approach the scripture with the same frame of reference: inspired by God). I cannot tolerate blatant heresy, nor should any Bible-believing Christian.
I have said all of that to say this: Instead of blasting one another, name-calling, and mud-slinging over scriptural disputes, we should be working together to resolve such disputes in a rational, good-natured manner. This is one way in which Christians can witness to the immense love of God, by loving each other and working with one another out of respect for one another’s viewpoints on scripture. Most of all, since the basic doctrines are indisputable, as a unified body we should put aside our differences and focus on spreading the good news that Christ has paid the penalty for all men and that God will save men from their sins.
I submit that doctrine is indeed important, but the spreading the gospel to those who have not heard it is much, much more important in the scheme of eternity.
