3.3 Statements of Faith

[Alissa Carlton]

I belive that the only way to avoid either of these error is to 1) seek God in these discussions, asking Him for guidence and wisdom 2) be open to other voices and criticism, we are not to live out our faith in an echo chamber, but we should allow space for other opinions 3) remain humble, we will never be 100% right. At any given moment likley 30% of our theology is wrong, but we just won’t know what 30%

[Kevin]

To safeguard against these two errors, I would suggest the following:

First, decide that every conversation flows through love, which looks like being quick to listen, slow to speak, patient, and kind in all of our communications. I would propose that most divisions, be they of the church or personal, do not follow this rule well.

Second, examine Scripture itself to see how fiercely a particular belief is defended; is it only discussed in one obscure verse in a single epistle? Or is it saturated throughout the gospels, and multiple letters from multiple authors?

Finally, examine church history; have there been times when a group of Jesus followers have believed this in the past? If so, what was the end result of that group? Are they still thriving today, or did their history end poorly and teach us not to follow their ways?

[Deleted User]

Pentecostals can guard against falling into either of these two errors I think by having grace for one another. I think that too often, people get caught up into either arguing that there is no real theological truths, or that all things are of the utmost importance in theology. The reality is though, that there are different levels of of statements as discussed in this video. When having a conversation with someone who may have different beliefs then you, it may be helpful to try and figure out if this is a Dogma belief, denominational belief, personal belief, or personal preference. This can help guide the conversation in a way that understands both sides of the argument and can help Pentecostals to not fall too far into theological liberalism or fundamentalism.

[Jaylen]

The short answer is letting the Holy Spirit influence these moments. I believe that the Bible is the ultimate authority; if it says something directly, there is no room for argument. Yet still, the Holy Spirit is a gift to us with purpose. One of those purposes is to open our eyes and help us discern the things of God. In this context, I believe the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in our interpretation of “controversial” parts of scripture. Where things aren’t explicitly taught in the Bible and disagreements cannot be confirmed either right or wrong, the most important thing we need to do in those times is lean into the Holy Spirit to guide us as to what is the wisest, most loving, most upright way to conclude such matters. I believe this is God’s expectation, not a suggestion like “hey you could involve the Spirit, or you could not”. The Spirit was given for a reason, we should not shy away from His guidance.