57: Why Do So Many Christians Disagree on Doctrine?

There are many different Christian denominations around the globe, with a variety of different theological perspectives. In response to a recent episode, Why Are There So Many Denominations?, one of our regular listeners asked about the fact that so many Christians disagree on doctrines. The listener asked, “How can we read the same Bible and claim the Holy Spirit guides our interpretation of the meaning of Scripture and yet believe mutually exclusive doctrines?” This is a great question. In this episode, Kenny gives three reasons: 1) In some cases the people are not really Christians. 2) Humans are all incredibly biased and overly subjective. 3) Mass ignorance is rampant among contemporary Christians. Kenny also outlines why it is important to always keep an open mind when studying theology and keeping quality dialogue open with other believers to guard ourselves against our own arrogance and biases. Then Kenny pivots to explain closed-hand theology versus open-hand theology, with the understanding that there are only a few areas where the Bible is absolutely clear, and in those areas we happen to see a lot of agreement and unity among believers. Kenny then outlines why it is important that we do not allow our doctrinal differences to fracture our friendships and relationships.