One major difference we have now is we have this new form of communication, this new medium.

It's basically given everybody a voice to voice their disagreements with social media, with blogs, with Twitter, with Facebook, whatever it is, you know.

And sometimes again, we forget that we're talking to other actual human beings.

We engage in something like trench warfare where we sort of blob our ideas, you know, and then hide

without necessarily thinking about how our ideas

or our comments affect other people.

Welcome to the Crossway podcast, a show where we sit down with authors each week for thoughtful

interviews about the Bible, theology, church history, and the Christian life. I'm Matt Tully, and today I'm

talking with Ryan Putman. Ryan is an associate professor of theology and culture at New Orleans Baptist

Theological Seminary. He also serves as pastor of preaching and vision at First Baptist Church

in Kenner, Louisiana. His newest book is when doctrine divides the people of God,

an evangelical approach to theological diversity from Crossway. Today, Ryan and I discuss

how Christians should think about theological diversity and disagreement within the body of Christ.

He highlights the importance of reading and assuming the best about those with

whom we disagree, explains when it's appropriate to call something a gospel issue and when it's not,

and suggests three questions to ask ourselves when evaluating whether or not a specific doctrinal

position is worth fighting for. Let's get started.

Ryan, thank you so much for joining us today on the Crossway podcast. My pleasure.

So I don't want to just jump right into kind of a key question. Do you think that today,

as you look at the, let's say the evangelical church and just Christians around you, Christians

in the pews, Christians

online. Are we more doctrinally divided today than in the past? In certain ways, I think what

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