Janie B. Cheaney’s article “The real idiocracy” in World Magazine is spot on in describing what passes as discourse in politics these days. We don’t discuss ideas we congratulate ourselves on how right we are and we note how sad it is that everyone who disagrees with us is wrong. Anyone who dares to question our ideas we call names and characterize them as lacking in some intellectual or emotional function.
My question is: Is discourse within the Christian community the same in regards to our theology? If someone raises questions about, for example the doctrine of the trinity, do we consider those questions or do we label such a person a heretic and ignore them?
Everyone agrees that we are finite which means we are fallible yet somehow we believe our doctrine is infallible. How can that be? The reality is that our doctrine is fallible. All the different Christian religions and denominations throughout history that have held very different beliefs prove that. What we should have learned from history and human nature is that our search for God’s truth can never end. Instead of ignoring questions about our theology we should engage in a meaningful discourse with other Christians.
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[1] Janie B. Cheaney, “The real idiocracy”, World Magazine, May 28, 2016, p. 24.
