Theology Debates

[theleftone]

I was thinking it might be good to add a specific forum for debating Christian theology. It would be an open forum for all, but focused on theology rather than arguments for/against the Christian faith. Just a thought.

[harvey1]

I was thinking it might be good to add a specific forum for debating Christian theology. It would be an open forum for all, but focused on theology rather than arguments for/against the Christian faith. Just a thought.

I like that idea. One of the ground rules, in my opinion, is that you need to have scriptural support for your view. Otherwise, it would just become opinion. What do you think?

[McCulloch]

I too like the idea. A forum just for questions about what is or is not valid Christian biblical theology.
We would have to establish some ground rules, such as within that forum, we would not argue about the validity of the Bible but precisely what the Bible teaches about the topics for debate.

[otseng]

Well, since there seems to be interest in this, we can try it out.

What should the new subforum be called? Christian Theology?

Should the existing Christianity subforum be renamed to something else?

[McCulloch]

Christian Theology would be better than Doctrine and Dogma

[McCulloch]

Here are some topics which should perhaps be moved to the Theology Debates forum:

• Is Trinitarianism heretical?
• Is Sola Scriptura scriptural?
• Why does God hate divorce? (Malachi 2:16)
• Christian Violence Is Augustine's Just War valid Christianity?
• Paedobaptism Is the baptism of babies and children biblically justified?
• Is hell eternal or not?
• Are you in Christ? How does one get into Christ, scripturally
• Plan of salvation Is salvation unconditional?
• Women and Authority Does the Bible authorize women to rule over men?
• God Favors Slavery!

[Cathar1950]

I like the idea.
Why not base it on just the Hebrew scriptures(OT). That is what the Christians used as the were writing and inventing the New Testaments.

McCulloch and otseng do have a point. There are many threads about many subjects and it does seem they all branch off in diverse directions.

[theleftone]

Wow. I didn't expect there to be this much interest. Let me respond to some points.

I like that idea. One of the ground rules, in my opinion, is that you need to have scriptural support for your view. Otherwise, it would just become opinion. What do you think?[/url]
This response can be dittoed to McCulloch.

This is too limiting for me. I am looking for something broader. This would be subset of what I was thinking. An issue which would fall outside of this that I think would be good discussion is the idea of inerrancy in the early creeds of the church.

I want something where we can move beyond the "typical" theology discussed and get into a more "academic" area. (I know, bad terminology, but it's the best I could come up with off the top of my head.)

Christian Theology would be better than Doctrine and Dogma

I like Doctrine and Dogma, but think Christian Theology would be a better more recognizable title for people. I think people would more quickly recognize what the sub-forum was about.

Why not base it on just the Hebrew scriptures(OT). That is what the Christians used as the were writing and inventing the New Testaments.

This would be an interesting topic for the forum, but I would not want to base it on the concept.

--- Responses done, more expound below. ---

What I envision is something beyond the average. I mean beyond the average Christian message board. I am not looking for debates on "the heresy of Benny Hinn" or "Once Saved Always Saved." While these can be important topics, they've been done to death by the lay persons.

I want something which will encourage people to dive into the theologies of Barth, the Neibuhrs, Augustine, the earlier creeds, and devise theologies of culture, history, etc.

I know a lot of this rests on the individuals posting the forum, but I don't want to limit it in such a manner that the only things we discuss are Once Saved Always Saved, the timing of the rapture, etc. Ultimately, I would love for those here (Christian and not) to be exposed to more than the typical mundane theological issues.

Okay, I'll still not making sense.

[Cathar1950]

I still like the idea.
If it is just based on the bible then it would be biblical theology.
Christian theology is more like theologies.
We could look at the strength and weakness of theologies.
I believe constructive theology is still taking place, so I am believe all the issues are still not settled. Cultural and Historical settings are interesting in themselves as well as an influence.
I would like to see it narrowed down. It seems the forum is like that anyway. I think there are many threads about everything and sometimes two or three.
It is hard to keep track of the interesting ones.

[otseng]

What I envision is something beyond the average. I mean beyond the average Christian message board. I am not looking for debates on "the heresy of Benny Hinn" or "Once Saved Always Saved." While these can be important topics, they've been done to death by the lay persons.

I like this idea. There are plenty of other forums debating your typical theology topics. But, it'd be good to explore beyond the rehashed theological topics.

The main question for me is what to name the Christianity subforum. If we had a Christianity subforum and a Theology subforum, it would not be clear where to post to by looking at the names.

It seems like the main distinction between them would be one would accept the Bible as an authority and the other would not. But I'm not sure how to phrase that for subforum names.