I just came across a post on Christianity Today's website titled Iowa Churches: We Need to Be Clear on Same-Sex Marriage. Being a pastor in Iowa the article caught my attention. In the piece Richard Van Heukelum, senior pastor of Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Waterloo is quoted as saying, "Years ago we put in our doctrinal statement a strong statement of biblically defined marriage."
By definition doctrine is simply a statement, set of statements or system of teaching that defines what one believes to be true about a certain subject. Christian doctrine then would simply be a statement of what one believes to be true and teaches regarding the "fundamentals" of the Christian faith.
So again I ask the question, does a statement on marriage belong in a doctrinal statement? What is the purpose of having a doctrinal statement or statement of faith? Christians hold all kinds of positions on a variety of subjects. How do we determine what does and what does not belong in such a statement?
Your thoughts?
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