Dogma is generally not a good thing. However, doctrines are typically important things which can bestow organization, and convey unity, consistency, clarity, and understanding. Belief systems, for instance Christianity, are made up of doctrines.
If as in says in the Bible, God is all knowing, incalculably wiser than humanity, and loves humanity and wants the best for it, then logically those qualities are reflected in the doctrines that God has given humanity to follow. Thus it also serves to reason that as much as humanity (people, nations, et.al.) follows those doctrines, the more it should have a prosperous, good, and fulfilling existence. Also in reverse, logically as much as humanity deviates or departs from those doctrines, the more problems and hardship that it invites upon itself; for people possibly even the spiritual hardship of distancing themselves from God, and possibly even the extreme hardship of eternal separation from God.
Christianity is not about dogma; the Bible says that authentic Christianity is about relationship - the relationship God invites and wants people to have with Him. So, while dogma is not a part of Christianity, doctrines are an important part. This is because in addition to enabling people to have prosperous, good and fulfilling lives, understanding and honoring God given doctrines plays an important part in having a healthy and growing relationship with God. It additionally helps in having a better understanding of God, which in turn also aids in the growth of that relationship.
Therefore, it would seem to be in people's best interest to know, understand and follow the doctrines given it by a wise and loving God, and especially appropriate and important for Christians to know and understand what those doctrines are. But, it seems in many cases that one Christian may know and accept some doctrines, and another Christian may know and accept the same doctrines and maybe recognize a few more, yet a third Christian agrees with some of the doctrines of the first or second Christian but does not know or agree with some others, etc.
This is an important issue, especially since a person's beliefs usually have a large influence on their actions and interaction in everyday life. Thus all three Christians may indeed be Christians, but how they view and how they handle issues and situations that may arise in everyday life may be very different, or maybe even be in opposition to one another.
An additional problem with such a situation is that it gives a mixed message and somewhat contradictory picture to non-Christians of what Christianity is really about. This may lead to negative impressions and attitudes among non-Christians about Christians and/or Christianity itself.
There is also perhaps the most important problem: Let's say that there is a doctrine "X", and that Christian 1 accepts it, but Christian 2 rejects it as a doctrine. Now, both can not be correct. Either God has given doctrine X to mankind, or God has not.
The harm is this: Both Christian 1 and Christian 2 can not both be right, one is right one is wrong, and the unfortunate thing is that since one of the two Christians is wrong, with certainty one of them will be harmed to some degree in their spiritual and/or daily life, since because of their mistake they are not following one of the doctrines that God has given mankind for its benefit. Additionally, that harm might also possibly in some manner extend to other people as well, such as through relationships with family members or friends. Even of more concern, such harm can be magnified proportionally if more doctrines are also under such contention, or may be magnified ten fold or more if instead of Christian 1 and Christian 2, it is Church 1 and Church 2.
The objective of this area of the site is to try to minimize such problems and the possible subsequent harm from them, by identifying what doctrines God has actually given to humanity according to scripture, and to make a recommended standard set of the most central of those doctrines.
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