A reason Christians become so confident in their worldview is that they spend most of their time debating each other—only to forget that the premises of their perspective don’t move the needle for the rest of the world.
This may explain why there are so many denominations. But it certainly helps explain why many believers fall away from faith when they are exposed to secular philosophy, wisdom from other religions, and—of course—science.
A good example is found when Christians use verses from the bible to prove the bible is God’s revelation of truth; that we are sinners; that god demands perfection; that the wages of sin is death.
I remember devouring hours of recorded debates between theologians. Catholics vs Protestants. Calvinists vs Arminians. Reformed vs everyone. Inside the conservative circle of faith, there is an endless desire to make the circle tighter and more exclusive. Sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia… There are so many opportunities to refine your status as a Christian.
In liberal circles its a bit of the opposite. It’s a broader perspective on context and a gradual loosening of the grip of what the “essentials of the faith” are. It’s very much the same fights, but more mental gymnastics are required to remain inside the Christian circle.
The context of all of this refinement is the Christian worldview. No matter which side you fall on, these debates are all within the perspective that the Christian faith is true and ultimately explains everything important in life.
It’s an insular world—and within that world, convincing cases can be made. You can see the fingerprints of god everywhere because it is a worldview that has the answers before the questions are even asked.
If something good happens, we praise god’s faithfulness. If something bad happens, we seek to understand gods plan. The Bible is selectively quoted so that we understand god is always good. We pray to know his will and convince ourselves that all outcomes are part of that will.
Many Christians don’t question this line of thinking—not because they are fools, but because in all matters (either pragmatic life issues or heady theological issues), the case for Christ has already been accepted as an irrefutable fact. So they have moved way, way past the concept of possibly being wrong about god.
It creates a faith of hubris, rather than humility. It turns belief into dogma. It creates communities that value exclusion, rather than inclusion.
