If I Had More Time Episode 146 - If Christians Are to Be One, Why Are There So Many Denominations?
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Feb 1, 2026 
Ed Stetzer, dean, church planter, and scholar with global church leadership experience, joins to unpack why Christians differ. He outlines an essentials/convictions/preferences framework. They discuss defining core doctrines, why marriage is treated as essential, baptism practices, and how churches cooperate across traditions while practicing charity on secondary matters.
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Three Tier Framework Explains Denominational Differences
- Denominations differ because Christians sort beliefs into essentials, convictionals, and preference levels.
- Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger use a three-tier framework to explain why churches agree on core doctrines yet differ on baptism, worship, and secondary practices.
Clearly Define And Defend Essential Doctrines
- Hold tightly to essentials like the deity of Christ, resurrection, authority of Scripture, and exclusivity of Christ.
- Make clear doctrinal statements and position papers so church members know which issues are nonnegotiable, as Mariners does with statements on marriage and inerrancy.
Cultural Change Forces Essentials Into the Open
- Some issues now debated (e.g., same-sex marriage) were historically assumed and thus sit in the essentials bucket for many evangelicals.
- Ed Stetzer argues cultural shifts forced denominations to explicitly restate positions once implicit assumptions eroded.