What is doctrine?

[Anonymous]

Brian, that is a great summary. So then, how is this discussed with others, like was mentioned in the Original Post?

1) first work towards common agreement and understanding of doctrine…what it is and what it isn’t. Perhaps use examples of doctrines that change over time.

or

2) focus on getting agreement on the terms or categories, so you avoid debating doctrines when you really need to agree on principles vs doctrines vs practice vs interpretations.

Or

3) adapt speech to use words that mean something to another person, even if those words have different meaning to me (I.e. Doctrine = principles, I agree doctrine doesn’t change, but I really mean principles don’t change but will use their terms so we agree on the underlying message and don’t get caught in semantics)

Or

4) realize some things don’t need to be discussed or agreed upon. I have my beliefs on doctrine, and best keep them to myself because it doesn’t matter if we agree or not.

What is the best way to handle doctrine in conversations with others?

[Anonymous]

Heber13 wrote:

What is the best way to handle doctrine in conversations with others?

To keep talking about it, I guess.

Humans have been trying to nail this down since the invention of language. They’ve painted cave walls, chiseled the “Truth” on stone and clay tablets, written on animal skins and paper. We’ve fought wars over “doctrine,” trying to resolve the question with sword and club.

Hashing out in the virtual world is probably about as effective as anything, and a lot safer than a sword fight to the death 🙂

[Author]

Posts