July 20, 2023 • 12 mins
It is nothing new that Christians disagree about theology and how to interpret Scripture. But why does this happen? If we don’t assess our disagreements, our debates will only devolve. In this episode I review When Doctrine Divides the People of God: An Evangelical Approach to Theological Diversity by Rhyne Putman. It’s published by Crossway in 2020. This book is a helpful guide for thinking through the causes of theological disagreements in the church and helps to chart a course toward understanding and productive relationship. If you’re looking for a resource that will explain the factors that may contribute to these debates and how to move forward, this is a book definitely worth your time.
0:00 Introduction
1:31 Overview
9:09 Pros
10:21 Cons
When Doctrine Divides the People of God by Rhyne Putman
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's obvious people disagree about theology or even
how to interpret scripture, butwhat is less obvious is why we
disagree.
What are those reasons ormechanisms that lead to that
disagreement?
If you've ever been in themiddle of a theological debate,
(00:21):
it can be difficult to assesswhat is causing the dispute, let
alone how to productively moveforward.
Without some form of analysis,the disagreement is just going
to devolve.
That's why I've found this bookhelpful.
The book is when DoctrineDivides the People of God an
(00:44):
evangelical approach totheological diversity by Ryan
Putman.
It's published by Crossway in2020 and is 314 pages.
This book is a helpful guidefor thinking through the causes
of theological disagreements inthe church and it helps to chart
a course toward understandingand having productive
(01:07):
relationships.
If you're looking for aresource that will explain the
factors that may contribute tothese debates and tensions and
how to move forward, this is abook definitely worth your time.
I'm going to give an overviewof the book, along with some
pros and cons.
I see in the book.
(01:27):
I'm JC Schroeder and this isBite Size Seminary.
Putman's emphasis in the book ison theological and scriptural
disagreements.
There is some natural overlapwith other disagreements that we
have, say cultural or political, but that's not the focus in
this book.
That's probably another bookthat we need In this discussion
(01:50):
on disagreement.
He wants to celebrate bothdoctrine and difference.
He limits his scope to fellowevangelicals with common
convictions about thesufficiency, clarity and an
erency of scripture.
Putman describes in theacknowledgement at the end of
(02:10):
the book that the book is forthe wider group of evangelicals,
but it began as something forhis home denomination, the
Southern Baptist Convention.
I'll mention this later but Ithink this comes out in some
ways throughout the book.
The book is divided into twosections Part one why we
disagree about doctrine, andthen part two about what we
(02:31):
should do about doctrinaldisagreement.
The first part, about thereasons for disagreement, is a
bit longer than the secondsection on what to do with that
disagreement.
In this first section he givesfive reasons in five chapters
for the mechanisms fortheological disagreement.
Putman pulls from severaldifferent disciplines, giving
(02:54):
helpful introductions, and thenhighlights how they shape our
disagreements.
He explains these well withmany helpful examples, with an
eye always to applying this tothe area of disagreement.
I think this section is a realgem and real helpful section of
the book.
The first two chapters deal moreso with hermeneutics or the
(03:17):
rules of interpretation.
He shows how our approachcoincides with our view of
scripture, as well as how weemploy, or even fail to employ,
those rules.
If you've ever taken ahermeneutics class before, a lot
of this material would befamiliar to you.
But it can be a helpfulrefresher that our basic
(03:41):
approach to the text can lead tosome of our disagreements.
The difference here could bemore methodological than
anything else, and if we don'tacknowledge this we could be
talking past each other.
He also discusses the role oflogic and reasoning.
In chapter three hedistinguishes between deduction,
(04:03):
induction and abduction, and wemay follow one mode of
reasoning, one of those, whileour partner is following another
.
This again causes for furthermisunderstanding and
disagreement, for whateverreason.
When we start to talk aboutlogic, my brain just kind of
melts.
But Putman, I found, gives ahelpful and easy to read starter
(04:28):
here for us, very, very helpful, even for an income poop like
me.
He also recognizes and explainsthe role our emotions play in
our debates with chapter four.
By this he's not talking about,like me, getting angry with a
person I can't believe you saidthat but the role that my
(04:48):
emotions play in the theologicalchoices I make.
We would like to think, and Iwould like to think that we look
at all the data and we're superrational individuals and then
we come to a firm, cleardecision with that we can hold
with courage and conviction.
But Putman notes that we quotefeel around our world before we
(05:11):
reason about it.
End quote.
This is part of our humanityand it needs to be recognized.
We need to recognize thatreason side, the logic aspect,
which we're easy to recognize,but we also need to recognize
the emotional side thatinfluences our choices.
Both our reason and emotionsneed to be considered, evaluated
(05:36):
and led Along with this.
He has this helpful pastoralnote.
I like this little quote aboutusing our reason and emotions.
Well, he says quote I mustpractice epistemic humility and
emotional maturity.
End quote.
We need both of those things inour lives as we think about
Scripture and as we talk aboutScripture.
(05:58):
The final chapter of the firstsection of the book is all about
our biases, specifically withtradition and even the danger of
self deception.
I found his section onconfirmation bias to be really
good.
This is where we are selectivewith data that only favors our
own position and we discountanything that's contrary.
(06:21):
I think a lot of times, asbelievers we hold to some
arguments that have some seriousflaws to them and we don't want
to admit that we have somelacking in the data or in our
logic or something like that.
So what ends up happening is weconvince ourselves we don't
really have any problems withour position or argument because
(06:44):
I have some data to support mycase.
That's confirmation bias.
So with that, not only do wehave a little bit of data, but I
dismiss everything else.
So Putman helpfully walks thereader through how to analyze
your own beliefs.
It can be easy to spot andaccuse others for having biases,
(07:05):
but we must analyze, admit andcorrect our own.
The second section of the bookdeals with the practical aspects
of what we do now with ourdisagreement.
Putman first discusses how weshould evaluate ourselves and
others as we think about ourbeliefs and if we should retain
(07:26):
them or change them.
Here he's drawing from a fieldcalled the epistemology of
disagreement.
Doesn't that sound cool?
He gives very clear parametersto help answer if we should
retain or change our beliefs.
The next chapter deals withtheological triage, or the
rankings of doctrines based ontheir relative importance to the
(07:51):
gospel and Christian practice.
He talks about how tofaithfully do this, both being
faithful to the Word and beingfaithful to our fellow believer.
This is perhaps the mostlarge-scale practical component
of the book.
Without this sort of triageranking system, we can easily
(08:16):
major on the minors.
He concludes the book with thestory of the theological dispute
between George Whitfield andJohn Wesley over Calvinism and
Arminianism.
He describes their initialclose friendship and fellowship
but then also talks about theireventual split.
This serves as a soberingreminder of the cost of division
(08:42):
.
But the story also speaks ofWesley and Whitfield's
reconciliation and the regretthey had for their actions in
the split.
But he emphasizes how they werebrought back together after
doing more of this theologicaltriage work.
Putman uses the story to showthe destruction of not doing
(09:03):
theological disagreement welland the hope of doing better and
of reconciliation.
Now for some of the prose of thebook.
Overall, this is a good andhelpful book on a topic that
many Christians experience butdon't have much guidance on.
I think the real strength ofthe book is the bringing
(09:25):
together of the severaldifferent disciplines, such as
logic, epistemology,hermeneutics, into one whole
package.
It is clearly written and ithas a pastoral heart.
That's the thing I like aboutPutman in this book and I really
appreciate about him.
There's many things, but hedoesn't just speak in an
academic way or just speak ofacademic things.
(09:48):
His goal is to bring unity inthe church, to have conviction
and to have courage, but alsocompassion and unity among the
church.
That's this real heart and thatcomes through in the book, and
that's a huge pro for this book.
Putman does not lose the endgoal for the immediate task.
He's not just like so nitpickyon this one particular issue
(10:10):
that he loses where this isgoing in the overall discussion.
He grounds the discussion inhelpful examples as well, so you
can see how this might play outin real life.
Now I do have two cons, but theydon't take away from the book's
benefits overall.
The first thing is length.
(10:30):
Putman gives quite a bit ofbreadth, with many examples.
I wonder, though, if the peoplewho would need this book the
most won't have the time to readit all.
Like when you're in atheological debate, you might
want something a bit shorter,but and you can always read
(10:52):
selectively or skim as needed,but I think it is a little bit
long, especially if you're inkind of a crisis mode.
The second thing I'll mentionis a slight nitpick.
The book has a narrowertheological focus.
As I mentioned earlier, putmanis writing to the broader camp
(11:12):
of evangelicals and are in-housedebates.
He mentions his concern for hisown denomination and really the
book comes out of his heart forhis own denomination and I love
that he is trying to address afelt need in his home church.
But I did find myself wanting alittle bit more direction or
(11:35):
discussion with disagreeing withthose that are less like me, so
I think maybe that is just onearea that could have been
broadened a little bit of how doI disagree with people that I
have less shared value with?
Perhaps Overall, this is ahelpful and needed book for the
(11:56):
church today.
If you're trying to understandwhy believers disagree and how
we can positively move forward,this book is definitely worth
your time.
Alright, that's all I've got.
If you're interested in morebook reviews, check out the
playlist on the screen now.
May the Lord bless you andthanks for your time.
It's obvious people disagree about theology or even
how to interpret scripture, butwhat is less obvious is why we
disagree.
What are those reasons ormechanisms that lead to that
disagreement?
If you've ever been in themiddle of a theological debate,
(00:21):
it can be difficult to assesswhat is causing the dispute, let
alone how to productively moveforward.
Without some form of analysis,the disagreement is just going
to devolve.
That's why I've found this bookhelpful.
The book is when DoctrineDivides the People of God an
(00:44):
evangelical approach totheological diversity by Ryan
Putman.
It's published by Crossway in2020 and is 314 pages.
This book is a helpful guidefor thinking through the causes
of theological disagreements inthe church and it helps to chart
a course toward understandingand having productive
(01:07):
relationships.
If you're looking for aresource that will explain the
factors that may contribute tothese debates and tensions and
how to move forward, this is abook definitely worth your time.
I'm going to give an overviewof the book, along with some
pros and cons.
I see in the book.
(01:27):
I'm JC Schroeder and this isBite Size Seminary.
Putman's emphasis in the book ison theological and scriptural
disagreements.
There is some natural overlapwith other disagreements that we
have, say cultural or political, but that's not the focus in
this book.
That's probably another bookthat we need In this discussion
(01:50):
on disagreement.
He wants to celebrate bothdoctrine and difference.
He limits his scope to fellowevangelicals with common
convictions about thesufficiency, clarity and an
erency of scripture.
Putman describes in theacknowledgement at the end of
(02:10):
the book that the book is forthe wider group of evangelicals,
but it began as something forhis home denomination, the
Southern Baptist Convention.
I'll mention this later but Ithink this comes out in some
ways throughout the book.
The book is divided into twosections Part one why we
disagree about doctrine, andthen part two about what we
(02:31):
should do about doctrinaldisagreement.
The first part, about thereasons for disagreement, is a
bit longer than the secondsection on what to do with that
disagreement.
In this first section he givesfive reasons in five chapters
for the mechanisms fortheological disagreement.
Putman pulls from severaldifferent disciplines, giving
(02:54):
helpful introductions, and thenhighlights how they shape our
disagreements.
He explains these well withmany helpful examples, with an
eye always to applying this tothe area of disagreement.
I think this section is a realgem and real helpful section of
the book.
The first two chapters deal moreso with hermeneutics or the
(03:17):
rules of interpretation.
He shows how our approachcoincides with our view of
scripture, as well as how weemploy, or even fail to employ,
those rules.
If you've ever taken ahermeneutics class before, a lot
of this material would befamiliar to you.
But it can be a helpfulrefresher that our basic
(03:41):
approach to the text can lead tosome of our disagreements.
The difference here could bemore methodological than
anything else, and if we don'tacknowledge this we could be
talking past each other.
He also discusses the role oflogic and reasoning.
In chapter three hedistinguishes between deduction,
(04:03):
induction and abduction, and wemay follow one mode of
reasoning, one of those, whileour partner is following another
.
This again causes for furthermisunderstanding and
disagreement, for whateverreason.
When we start to talk aboutlogic, my brain just kind of
melts.
But Putman, I found, gives ahelpful and easy to read starter
(04:28):
here for us, very, very helpful, even for an income poop like
me.
He also recognizes and explainsthe role our emotions play in
our debates with chapter four.
By this he's not talking about,like me, getting angry with a
person I can't believe you saidthat but the role that my
(04:48):
emotions play in the theologicalchoices I make.
We would like to think, and Iwould like to think that we look
at all the data and we're superrational individuals and then
we come to a firm, cleardecision with that we can hold
with courage and conviction.
But Putman notes that we quotefeel around our world before we
(05:11):
reason about it.
End quote.
This is part of our humanityand it needs to be recognized.
We need to recognize thatreason side, the logic aspect,
which we're easy to recognize,but we also need to recognize
the emotional side thatinfluences our choices.
Both our reason and emotionsneed to be considered, evaluated
(05:36):
and led Along with this.
He has this helpful pastoralnote.
I like this little quote aboutusing our reason and emotions.
Well, he says quote I mustpractice epistemic humility and
emotional maturity.
End quote.
We need both of those things inour lives as we think about
Scripture and as we talk aboutScripture.
(05:58):
The final chapter of the firstsection of the book is all about
our biases, specifically withtradition and even the danger of
self deception.
I found his section onconfirmation bias to be really
good.
This is where we are selectivewith data that only favors our
own position and we discountanything that's contrary.
(06:21):
I think a lot of times, asbelievers we hold to some
arguments that have some seriousflaws to them and we don't want
to admit that we have somelacking in the data or in our
logic or something like that.
So what ends up happening is weconvince ourselves we don't
really have any problems withour position or argument because
(06:44):
I have some data to support mycase.
That's confirmation bias.
So with that, not only do wehave a little bit of data, but I
dismiss everything else.
So Putman helpfully walks thereader through how to analyze
your own beliefs.
It can be easy to spot andaccuse others for having biases,
(07:05):
but we must analyze, admit andcorrect our own.
The second section of the bookdeals with the practical aspects
of what we do now with ourdisagreement.
Putman first discusses how weshould evaluate ourselves and
others as we think about ourbeliefs and if we should retain
(07:26):
them or change them.
Here he's drawing from a fieldcalled the epistemology of
disagreement.
Doesn't that sound cool?
He gives very clear parametersto help answer if we should
retain or change our beliefs.
The next chapter deals withtheological triage, or the
rankings of doctrines based ontheir relative importance to the
(07:51):
gospel and Christian practice.
He talks about how tofaithfully do this, both being
faithful to the Word and beingfaithful to our fellow believer.
This is perhaps the mostlarge-scale practical component
of the book.
Without this sort of triageranking system, we can easily
(08:16):
major on the minors.
He concludes the book with thestory of the theological dispute
between George Whitfield andJohn Wesley over Calvinism and
Arminianism.
He describes their initialclose friendship and fellowship
but then also talks about theireventual split.
This serves as a soberingreminder of the cost of division
(08:42):
.
But the story also speaks ofWesley and Whitfield's
reconciliation and the regretthey had for their actions in
the split.
But he emphasizes how they werebrought back together after
doing more of this theologicaltriage work.
Putman uses the story to showthe destruction of not doing
(09:03):
theological disagreement welland the hope of doing better and
of reconciliation.
Now for some of the prose of thebook.
Overall, this is a good andhelpful book on a topic that
many Christians experience butdon't have much guidance on.
I think the real strength ofthe book is the bringing
(09:25):
together of the severaldifferent disciplines, such as
logic, epistemology,hermeneutics, into one whole
package.
It is clearly written and ithas a pastoral heart.
That's the thing I like aboutPutman in this book and I really
appreciate about him.
There's many things, but hedoesn't just speak in an
academic way or just speak ofacademic things.
(09:48):
His goal is to bring unity inthe church, to have conviction
and to have courage, but alsocompassion and unity among the
church.
That's this real heart and thatcomes through in the book, and
that's a huge pro for this book.
Putman does not lose the endgoal for the immediate task.
He's not just like so nitpickyon this one particular issue
(10:10):
that he loses where this isgoing in the overall discussion.
He grounds the discussion inhelpful examples as well, so you
can see how this might play outin real life.
Now I do have two cons, but theydon't take away from the book's
benefits overall.
The first thing is length.
(10:30):
Putman gives quite a bit ofbreadth, with many examples.
I wonder, though, if the peoplewho would need this book the
most won't have the time to readit all.
Like when you're in atheological debate, you might
want something a bit shorter,but and you can always read
(10:52):
selectively or skim as needed,but I think it is a little bit
long, especially if you're inkind of a crisis mode.
The second thing I'll mentionis a slight nitpick.
The book has a narrowertheological focus.
As I mentioned earlier, putmanis writing to the broader camp
(11:12):
of evangelicals and are in-housedebates.
He mentions his concern for hisown denomination and really the
book comes out of his heart forhis own denomination and I love
that he is trying to address afelt need in his home church.
But I did find myself wanting alittle bit more direction or
(11:35):
discussion with disagreeing withthose that are less like me, so
I think maybe that is just onearea that could have been
broadened a little bit of how doI disagree with people that I
have less shared value with?
Perhaps Overall, this is ahelpful and needed book for the
(11:56):
church today.
If you're trying to understandwhy believers disagree and how
we can positively move forward,this book is definitely worth
your time.
Alright, that's all I've got.
If you're interested in morebook reviews, check out the
playlist on the screen now.
May the Lord bless you andthanks for your time.
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