Do You Understand Those You Disagree With?

C. Michael Patton with another good one here entitled, “In Defense of Arminianism” or “A Watchdog Polemic”. He writes:

My conviction is that you cannot truly oppose something you don’t understand and you cannot understand something until you have defended it. In other words, until you understand why others are convicted of something different than you, it is very difficult to have true convictions that can be taken seriously. Christianity should never be defined by fear. Our doctrinal convictions should be strengthened or weakened according to the clarity of God’s witness concerning the issue. But we can only assess this clarity through true and personal engagement with positions with which we disagree. Public floggings may make us feel better, but they often do little to advance the cause of Christ or the truth they desire to represent.

Read the whole thing.