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Radical Reformation History  /  Lecture 3: Early Church Problems and Constantine  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 4
Dean argues the “center has to be Jesus and the real Jesus,” not a “heresy Jesus,” yet also warns that correcting heresy can become a new “target”; how can a church correct false views of Christ without shifting Christianity into being primarily about winning arguments and policing words?
Another way to ask: How can a church correct wrong ideas about Jesus without turning Christianity into mostly arguing and word-policing instead of following Jesus?

Direct Answer Dean’s approach is to correct serious error about Christ, but constantly return the church to the larger aim: being conformed to Jesus’ image and living what He taught, not making the debate itself the definition of Christianity.

Support from Transcript:

  • Dean says the boundary is “Jesus and the real Jesus, not a fake Jesus, not a heresy Jesus,” and compares wrong-centered worship to Jeroboam: “in the center of their worship, they worshiped a cow.”
  • He affirms correction is necessary: “This does need to be corrected…they do have to be dealt with.”
  • But he warns of a major danger: “we do ourselves a big disfavor if then we move the target to that.”
  • He gives an extreme example: correcting Christology and then “because he’s wrong, you’re cutting his head off,” showing how zeal can become violence or domination.
  • His repeated corrective is practical and Christ-centered: “Now, what did Jesus want us to do? How did Jesus want us to live?”
Discussion Follow-ups What habits help a church keep doctrine-serving-discipleship instead of doctrine-replacing-discipleship?

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