Category: How to question doctrine

Theory: Least rejectable doctrine

I have had a thought derived from the concept of agnosis which I am calling the least rejectable doctrine. In this post, I would like to set out a concept for doctrine selection which approaches being both intellectually honest and theologically rigorous.

Background

For every doctrine, you will find people seeking to show it should be rejected and those who work tirelessly to defend it. This leaves us trapped in a spiritual deadlock with neither side willing to concede anything to the other. As a result, we are often fractured more than we are united, left unable or unwilling to embrace change.

How often have we, the church, resisted a fresh move of the Holy Spirit because we cling to the old rather than embrace the now?

It is with that in mind that I began to consider what Romans 12:16 says about unity. Just as Ephesians 4 looks forward to when “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” this approach hopes to bring us towards some semblance of unity.

How is a believer meant to know what is true rather than merely popular?

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How to question church doctrine?

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.