Should Mormons and Christians debate Scripture?

The Bible is the foundation of everything that Christians believe. This is why Christians often direct conversations about doctrine towards the Bible – sometimes even excitedly pressing on points of Biblical disagreement!

When interacting with their Christian neighbors about doctrine, many well-intentioned Latter-day Saints often say things like “we don’t want to Bible bash” or “we don’t want to argue”. 

The spirit of what our LDS friends are saying is well taken — we want to be kind and not quarrelsome with our neighbors, but is it right to avoid even spirited discussions about doctrine and the Bible? Should we argue over Biblical interpretation, or is that dishonoring to God?

First, the Bible commends those who INVESTIGATE what Scripture says

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas were sent away from the city of Thessalonica under the cover of darkness to escape Jews trying to stop their ministry. When they came to Berea, they immediately began preaching the Gospel in the Jewish synagogue. The book of Acts records:

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11).

When the Jewish Bereans heard the Gospel, they used Scripture as the test to determine if what Paul said was true. The Bereans didn’t simply accept Paul at his word, nor did they resign themselves to pray to know if his words were true. They believed that if Paul was genuine, his words would coincide with what the Old Testament had already revealed.

 Investigating truth claims by Scripture is important to do for followers of Jesus—Scripture is inspired by God, and will give us everything we need for our Christian lives.

Second, The Bible commends those who DEFEND TRUTH with Scripture

Speaking of the qualifications for elders in the church, the Apostle Paul writes that elders

“…must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9).

This is the ideal for all Christians — that we would hold firm to the word, instruct people with it, and rebuke those who contradict it. Peter commands Christians to

“always (be) prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15).

It is good for followers of Jesus to have reasons for why we believe what we believe, and to defend those beliefs! As Christians, our beliefs are rooted in what God has revealed in Scripture. Therefore, our reason to believe, our defense of the faith, will be inherently Biblical! And that is a good thing, defending one’s beliefs using Scripture is a Biblically approved practice!

Last, The Bible commends those who REFUTE OTHERS using Scripture 

In the early church, there was a Jew named Apollos who was considered “competent in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24). After slight correction by faithful Christians, Apollos began to

“…powerfully (refute) the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. (Acts 18:28)

He was commended for his work in refuting the Jewish rejection of Jesus the Messiah using Scripture. It was good for him to engage in arguments about what the Bible really taught! Likewise, Paul commands Timothy to

“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

 Scripture commands Christians to rebuke rebellious, deceitful people so that there will be soundness of faith (Titus 1:13), and to “exhort and rebuke with all authority” (Titus 2:15). Jude even appeals to Christians to “contend for the faith”, literally to argue and defend the faith! (Jude 3).

And while we certainly can be spirited about these discussions, a healthy dialogue on conflicting interpretations of Scripture doesn’t need to be contentious!

Followers of Jesus should be quick to defend the truth using Scripture! We shouldn’t shy away from vigorous dialogue, from correcting, and rebuking when necessary! Paul writes

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth”, (2 Timothy 2:24–25).