Should We Tolerate Theological Diversity?
Does God predestinate everything or do humans have free will? Are miracles still happening today? How old is the earth and what process did God use to make humans? Who gets to be baptized and how is it done?
Christians disagree on each of these things. How should we respond?
In general, the church has divided and subdivided according to theology. We have Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. Within the Protestant group, there are specific traditions such as Presbyterian, Baptist, and Pentecostal. Within those traditions are specific denominations and within them, individual congregations.
But even within a local congregation there are differences in theology. While many of the practices might be agreed on, there will be some theological diversity. Should that be tolerated or should we seek uniformity in our Christian fellowship?
I know people who emphase the need to gather with “like-minded Christians.” I agree to a certain extent, in that a congregation needs some amount of common belief. But where do we draw the line?
We should consider whether or not there was any theological diversity in the New Testament church.
What we find in the New Testament is the navigating of significant theological diversity. The biggest split was whether new converts needed to become Jewish and embrace the Torah before following Jesus. Christians today tend to dismiss this as minor but this was a top tier issue. It came down to who was eligible to become a Christian.
What we find is not the rejection of either side but compromise. It was agreed that Gentiles could be become Christians but they were given some rules to help maintain unity. Of course, there were some who disliked the compromise and fought for their side.
It is true that theological diversity does make church messy. If people lack the maturity to deal with differences, conflicts can arise.
It is also important to note that I am not talking about a diversity that has no bounds. There are certain beliefs that are essential to Christian identity. While everyone is welcome to attend church services, some mutual beliefs are required to be a Christian church.
What are those beliefs? That is a blog post for another day.
For now, I will say that theological diversity in general is good. People who disagree with us should not be labelled as either ignorant or unfaithful. We can hold to our own convictions, while respecting the differences of others.
So should we tolerate theological differences? Yes, both within Christianity itself and within our local congregations.
