One of my favorite educational methods is constructive debate.
Kristin and I took a few classes together in seminary and one of those classes was Adult Education. A major team project was to teach an adult class using any teaching method we wished on an assigned systematic theology study. Our team was assigned the study of Christ, or Christology. I had recently read about the peccability or impeccability of Jesus. All Christians would agree that Jesus did not sin, the question is could he have sinned? We chose (I highly influenced;-)) the constructive debate educational method to teach this.
Some Christians highlight the humanity of Christ and his temptation as evidence of the peccability (could have sinned but did not) of Christ, while other Christians highlight the deity of Christ as evidence of the impeccability (could not have sinned) of Christ. One of the interesting parts of this class is that we did not let the students pick which view to defend. We made them defend an assigned view as a group. I had fun. I am not sure if they did, but I believe they did understand the two views better when they left than when they arrived. Most had never heard of either view before they arrived.
I give this illustration to highlight that it is my personality to love to learn this way.
These posts are one-way communications. You hear my thoughts and although you can leave comments, I do not find this medium to be good for a discussion. Instead of leaving comments, let’s get together over some drinks or food.
In seminary, we learned about most all of the sides of theological viewpoints. But for most viewpoints the professor had determined their favored side and so it was hard for them to present the best argument for the other sides. Likewise, in these posts, you are hearing arguments for my favored side and I will have a hard time presenting the best argument for the other sides. We all say we are trying to present the best arguments for the other sides, but it is hard to be fair. This is true when we read any information from any one source.
This is why I like to find resources that allow proponents of all sides to present their best arguments and respond to the other side’s arguments. This is constructive debate.
I have found the Unbelievable? podcast to be great for this especially for discussions between non-Christians and Christians. It originates from the UK and so helps hearing viewpoints outside of the American evangelical church bubble. There are over 760 episodes dating back to 2007. And yes, I have listened to them “all” from the earliest to the latest.
I have found the (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) series published by Zondervan to be great! Each person writes a presentation of their side (their best arguments), then each person writes a rebuttal to that side. Normally there are 4 sides presented. with 3 rebuttals to each side.
Here are some I have read:
Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond
Five Views on Sanctification
Four Views on the Book of Revelation
Four Views on Hell
Two Views on Women in Ministry
Four Views on Eternal Security
Two Views on Homosexuality
Four Views on the Historical Adam
Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment
Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism
Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology
Four Views on Christian Spirituality
Four Views on Divine Providence
Risk your certainty to discover truth! Go forth and explore strange new worlds!
First Posted May 8, 2021
Comment by Kristin:
Risking certainty to discover truth is scarier than scary, especially when new findings don’t line up with “truth” I was taught or I had caught. Yet, I’m finding that letting go of my certainty has allowed me to search deeper and lean into Jesus more authentically as I journey and often “live in the tension” of not “knowing with certainty.”
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