Introduction to Doctrine

Question 0027. Few questions expose the fault lines in the modern church as quickly as whether unity can exist without doctrinal agreement. On one side stand those who say doctrine ...

Question 0030 The difference between academic theology and practical doctrine is one of those distinctions that sounds dry until you realise how much harm comes from getting it wrong. I ...

Question 0028. Knowing which doctrines to divide over is one of the most important and most difficult judgements a believer ever has to make. Get it wrong in one direction ...

Question 0029. Sooner or later every believer who takes both truth and relationships seriously has to ask whether a disagreement is worth breaking fellowship over. You find yourself genuinely at ...

Question 0046. The phrase itching ears comes from one of the most honest descriptions of human nature in all of Scripture, and Paul saw it coming with painful accuracy. People ...

Question 00049.It is entirely possible to be doctrinally correct and spiritually dead at the very same time, and the Bible says so without flinching for a moment. A person can ...

Question 0037. It is a fair question, and the answer turns on the apostolic teaching that filled the gap before the New Testament was gathered into one book. The earliest ...

Question 0040. It sounds wonderfully humble to say that you just want to read the Bible without theology, taking the plain words at face value and leaving all the systems ...

Question 0034 When people ask me what resources will help their doctrinal growth, I always start in the same place, because the answer matters more than any book list. The ...

Question 0032 I understand exactly why theology feels dry to so many Christians, because I have felt it myself and I have watched it in others for years. The word ...

Question 0033 If you long for an appetite for doctrine that you do not yet feel, take heart, because that very longing is already a seed of the thing you ...

Question 0031 Sound doctrine works in the soul rather like a spiritual immune system works in the body, and once you see the picture you cannot unsee it. Your body ...

Question 13. Itching ears is one of Paul's most quietly devastating phrases, and it describes a danger that is more alive today than ever. Writing his final letter to Timothy, ...

Question 15. Progressive Christianity is a movement many believers have heard named but few could define clearly, and that vagueness is part of what makes it so difficult to respond ...

Question 16. To detect false teaching is a skill every believer needs, and not only the pastors and scholars among us. Jesus warned that false prophets would come in sheep's ...

Question 17. Why does right belief lead to right behaviour? I am convinced that right belief is the hidden engine behind a holy life, and that most of our failures ...

Question 20. How is studying doctrine an act of love? Many people assume the opposite, that studying doctrine is a cold and bookish thing, the hobby of people who would ...

Question 19. Why are so many Christians still spiritual infants after years of faith? It troubles me, and I suspect it troubles you, that so many believers remain spiritual infants ...

Question 18. What does spiritual maturity look like according to Hebrews 5 and 6? I love this passage because the writer to the Hebrews refuses to let spiritual maturity stay ...

Question 0025. Acts gives us a photograph of the very first Christian community in Jerusalem, taken just after the Day of Pentecost, and the early church devoted itself first of ...

Question 0041. When a church begins to prize experience over doctrine, the change is rarely announced and rarely sudden. No one stands up and says they have decided to value ...

Question 23. Why did Paul always start his letters with doctrine before application rather than practical instruction? Once you notice this pattern of doctrine before application, you cannot unsee it, ...

Question 0039. Some Christians treat the Spirit and study as competitors, as though leaning on the Holy Spirit means I can set aside the effort of learning sound doctrine. The ...

Question 12. False doctrine spreads like gangrene. That is not my phrase but Paul's, and it is one of the most arresting medical images in all his letters. Writing to ...

Question 1137 See my sermon on the Introduction to Bibliology here: The Word of God: Our Growing Guide. Whenever Christians study the doctrines of the faith systematically, they use certain ...

Question 0024. The noble Bereans have become a byword in Christian circles for careful discernment, and rightly so. Whenever someone urges us to check a teaching against the Bible rather ...

Question 10. Early church catechisms are something many evangelicals have either never heard of or quietly suspect of being a Roman Catholic invention, and both reactions miss a rich and ...

Question 9. Doctrinal disagreement is not the end of fellowship, and I want to say that clearly at the outset because so many believers fear that it is. They imagine ...

Question 8. Which doctrines are essential for salvation is a question that deserves great care, because the wrong answer in either direction is dangerous. Make the list too long and ...

Question 7053 When someone comes to faith in Jesus, what should they be taught first? The writer to the Hebrews gives us the answer in chapter 6, verses 1-3, where ...

Question 00048.The claim that doctrine divides but Jesus unites is one of the most quoted slogans in the modern church, and one of the most quietly corrosive things a believer ...

Question 7. Learning to tell primary truths from secondary doctrines is one of the most useful skills a Christian can develop, and the lack of it has wrecked more friendships ...

Question 8000 Angelology is the study of angels, and demonology is the study of demons. Together, they form the branch of theology that examines what Scripture reveals about the spiritual ...

Question 9001 Ecclesiology is the study of the Church. The word comes from the Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklesia), meaning "assembly" or "called-out ones," combined with λόγος (logos), meaning "word" or "study." ...

Question 60000 Apologetics is the defence of the Christian faith. The word comes from the Greek ἀπολογία (apologia), meaning "a reasoned defence" or "a speech in defence." It is the ...

Question 7011 Soteriology. It sounds like a complicated word, and in some ways it is, but really it just refers to the study of salvation. The term comes from the ...

Question 6000 Hamartiology is the theological study of sin. The term comes from the Greek word ἁμαρτία (hamartia), meaning "sin" or "missing the mark," combined with λόγος (logos), meaning "word" ...

Question 4000. The doctrine of the Spirit is the part of Christian teaching that asks who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and what His nearness means for an ...

Question 3000 Christology is one of those theological words that can sound intimidating, but it simply means the study of Jesus. The word comes from the Greek Χριστός (Christos), meaning ...

Question 6. Can I love Jesus without caring about theology is one of the most sincere questions I am asked, and I never want to crush the heart behind it ...

Question 5. Everyone is a theologian, whether they realise it or not, and I do not say that to flatter anybody or to play with words. I say it because ...

Question 4. Why does Paul call right teaching sound doctrine, and what does the word sound actually mean? When he tells Titus to 'teach what accords with sound doctrine' (Titus ...

Question 3. What does it mean that Scripture is breathed out by God? Few verses carry more weight for understanding the Bible than 2 Timothy 3:16, where Paul writes, 'All ...

Question 2. Does doctrine divide the church? You have probably heard it stated as though it were settled fact: doctrine divides, but love unites. The idea is that if we ...

Question 1. If you want to know why doctrine matters, start by noticing how quickly people's eyes glaze over when the word is mentioned. Doctrine sounds dusty and academic, something ...

Question 0. Why do I keep going to the Bible for answers when the world is full of other voices? It is a fair question, and it sits right at ...