Question as Rhetoric

Often strings of questions are rhetorical tools and tend be too uncharitable in debate. The nature of a question is that it requests and answers.

Usually strings of questions are rhetorical tools meant to trap and not question while providing little the debate oneself. You see questions contain assumptions within.

I am convinced the truth shines in the light. To obscure ones position behind a mound of questions forcing the person you are debating with to only speak and providing nothing to the debate is hiding in the shadows.

You see truth must be based on content. To try to undermine positions without content is uninteresting. You see to prick a position to point out an oddity is of little use.

You see worldviews are filled with many oddities and to point out this or that issue with a theology without positively presenting an appealing worldview oneself is uninteresting and unhelpful.

In theological debates I believe positions should be positively expounded. Too many debates now days tend to be point out errors in that or that without positively placing another system in place.

To point out an error or hole and offer of replacement view is of course interesting. The negative is also answered with a positive articulation. But the purely negative articulation against a theology or worldview is uninteresting.

At times journalism in Christianity suffers from offering negative without positive. Whatever is good and holy is what we should thing of.

Sometimes pastors or theologians will fail and make a careless comment or questionable but not terrible decision and there is much discussion of the issue without clear reason. Why are we focusing on the error of this person? It is often relatively small and yet much discussion happens.

But where is the positive take? You see we often become theological gossipers guilty of more law-breaking than the pastor in his small failure.

To me there is a need for charity. You see many of us in our own work make errors. Carelessness or say ill thought out ideas. And yet as a work tends to be private there is not much to do about our actions.

You see we should be treated as we want to be treated and not expound an unrealistic Hollywood gossip tendency onto high profile pastors and theologians.