It was recently pointed out that there were no results for the exact search phrase “how to question church doctrine” on Google. That in itself is mind blowing.

When scriptures say things like test everything (1 John 4:1) and examine the scriptures to see if it is true (Acts 17:11 and 1 Corinthians 14:29) – how are we not teaching our congregations how to do this?

To correct that, I plan to try and write a whole series on this one topic – how to question (church) doctrine. More importantly, how to question your own doctrine.

Why question doctrine?

Asking questions is a sign of maturity and intelligence. Asking questions shows that you are interested. Not to mention that, asking questions stops us from making assumptions that mislead and cause confusion.

At the heart of questioning doctrine, is the idea of putting it to the test. That’s something I have addressed before.

Testable Doctrine – Pure Theory

A lot

Testing Doctrines: Limited atonement

How to question doctrine

There are a number of metrics you can use to question doctrine. I’ve talked about them before.

Metrics for assessing doctrine

Here is the short version:

1. You can check the fruit of the doctrine
2. You can look to see if any scriptures seem to contradict the doctrine
3. You can examine if it is well reasoned and logical

Doctrines do not need you to defend them. If they fall over without a rigorous, active, and complex defense then it was not a very good doctrine to begin with. God’s truth can stand by itself while the ideas of mortals tend to be a bit more flakey.

That is why I intend to examine ways to question church doctrine. Ideas welcome.