Christianity Today Book of the Year award of Merit
We generally assume that those sitting around us in church share our beliefs. But when our personal convictions are contested by fellow Christians, everything changes. We feel attacked from behind. When other Christians doubt or deny our convictions, we don't experience it as a mere difference of opinion, but as a violation of an unspoken agreement.
Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer offer a guide to help Christians navigate disagreements with one another. In today's polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How do we discern between core biblical convictions and secondary issues? How do we cultivate better understanding and compassion for those we disagree with? Muehlhoff and Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to avoid the dangers of groupthink and how to negotiate differing biblical convictions to avoid church splits and repair interpersonal ruptures.
Christian unity is possible. Discover how we can navigate differences by speaking in both truth and love.
Table of Content
Introduction: Christian Unity in the Argument Culture
Section I: Biblical Foundations
1. Historical Prelude: Roger Williams
2. Disputable Matters: The Forgotten Middle Ground
3. The Conviction Spectrum
Section II: Communicating Convictions
4. Does Division Have to Be Divisive?
5. Crosscultural Interlude: Of Tattoos and Adultery
6. How Unity Is Threatened
7. Perception Is Reality
8. Fellowship Groups or Echo Chambers?
Section III: Putting It All Together
9. Power and Civility in a Broken Society
10. Healing Joint Pain in the Body of Christ
11. Conviction Mapping
12. Guidelines for Hard Conversations
13. Historical Postlude: Convictions in Nazi Germany
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Name Index
Subject Index
About the author
Richard Langer (Ph D, University of California, Riverside) is professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology and director of the Office for the Integration of Faith and Learning at Biola University.Together with Tim Muehlhoff, he is the coauthor of Winsome Persuasion, which received a 2018 Christianity Today book award in apologetics/evangelism. In addition to teaching and writing, they are codirectors of The Winsome Conviction Project, which seeks to introduce civility and compassion into our discussion of differences.
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