Winsome Conviction Disagreeing Without Dividing the Church by Tim Muehlhoff

Winsome Conviction Disagreeing Without Dividing the Church by Tim Muehlhoff

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 aguide 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.

Richard Langer (PhD, 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. Specializing in the areas of theological integration, moral philosophy, bioethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion, he has also taught at Trinity International University and the University of California. An ordained minister, Langer previously served as senior associate pastor of Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Redlands, California, and as a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ. He also speaks at seminars and conferences around the country and is a board member for Forest Home Ministries. He has served on the boards for Building a Generation, the Southwest District of the Evangelical Free Church of America, and the Internal Review for Research Protocols at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Additionally, he won Biola University's Provost Award for Excellence in Theological Integration in 2008. Langer has contributed articles to publications such as the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Christian Higher Education, the Journal of Psychology and Theology, Philosophia Christi, and the Journal of the Christian Institute for Disabilities. He and his wife Shari have two grown children.