Episode Details

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Gavin Ortlund to have a conversation about why Christians have disagreements and how we can engage in disagreements biblically.

Questions Covered in This Episode:

• If all Christians believe the bible, why do they disagree so often?
• What’s the distinction between significant disagreement that separates and real disagreement that doesn’t require separation?
• How would we disagree well about using justification by faith as an identifying mark as a fundamental part of someone claiming to be a Christian?
• What are the main contributing factors to disagreements among Christians currently?
• How do you respond to people telling others with doctrinal disagreements in Protestantism to come back to the one true church?
• What is the priesthood of all believers?
• How do you coach leaders to handle disagreement in a group setting?
• What are your top three rules of engagement for disgareemnet?

Guest Bio:

Dr. Gavin Ortlund is a pastor, author, speaker, and apologist for the Christian faith. He is a husband to Esther, and a father to Isaiah, Naomi, Elijah, Miriam, and Abigail. He serves as President of Truth Unites, Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville, and Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary.

Gavin has a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology, and an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. He is the author of a number of books including: Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t, What it Means to be Protestant, and the Art of Disagreeing. Gavin is a fellow of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, a fellow of The Center for Baptist Renewal, a fellow of Credo, a member of St. Basil Fellowship of The Center for Pastor Theologians, and a Visiting Scholar at Reasons to Believe. 

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• James 2:24, Ephesians 2:10
• “The Art of Disagreeing” by Gavin Ortlund
• “Finding the Right Hills to Die On” by Gavin Ortlund
• “The Reformed Pastor” by Richard Baxter
• “Biblical Authority after Babel” by Kevin J Vanhoozer
• “Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind” by Tom Holland
• Truth Unites

Follow Us:
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website

Our Sister Podcast:

Tiny Theologians

Support Training the Church and Become a Patron:

patreon.com/trainingthechurch

You can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at

Listen Now