Debating doctrine with charity -- is that possible?

Doctrinal debate is a tricky thing.

We are called to walk in unity with one another, to honor one another as brothers in Christ and to edify the Body. But the very act of asserting doctrinal truth demands that one call another wrong. I cannot hold to one truth without denying another.

Yet, the common response on many blogs to being confronted doctrinally is to yelp like a whipped puppy. "How could you say that about me?" "Are you calling me a heretic?" "How dare you?" Instead of responding with biblical or theological content, the preferred response seems to be to define oneself as a victim.

Of course, the easy answer to this is to "speak the truth in love." The devil is in the details. How can we argue ... er ... discuss doctrine without offending or being offended? How can we disagree in unity? Can that oxymoron even be a reality?

I would offer the following thoughts.

(Please note that these are for discussions among those who hold to historic orthodoxy. We are commanded not to tolerate those who would come among us to undermine the truths of the Gospel. What I am talking about here covers disagreements between Calvinists and non-Calvinists, Continuationists and Cessationists, Baptists and paedo-Baptists, and other doctrine that does not touch the Gospel. I am not advocating ignoring heresy or heretics.) Read more