Because the churches of Christ are people of “Book. Chapter and Verse” their members are committed to “Speaking where the Bible speaks and being silent where the Bible is silent” and “Calling Bible things by Bible names and doing Bible things in Bible ways.”
The main implication of these three foundational slogans is that the only authority for a Christian’s beliefs and conduct is the Bible properly handled, i.e, correctly interpreted and applied (2 Timothy 2:15) by the individual Christian. Each and every Christian is responsible to be convinced or persuaded of the truth or correctness of his beliefs and conduct because the Bible tells him so.
Although he may learn from other brethren’s sermons, lessons and conduct as well as those of non-believers communicated through any media, the individual Christian himself must proof all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), especially by searching the scriptures (Acts 17:11) to determine whether what he believes or others assert is scriptural and thus true. There are no earthly headquarters nor established creeds, catechisms nor councils of eminent persons to do the interpreting and thinking for us. Of course, we must know who our teachers are but individual ones of us must be assured of the truth by the standard of Divinely-inspired scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
The confrontation between the apostles Paul and Peter related in Galatians 2:11-21 remind us that even inspired men of God may be wrong in belief and conduct measured by scripture, and should be corrected instead of blindly followed or imitated. An almost-similar prejudice of the prophet Jonah towards the ruler and people of Nineveh in Assyria makes a similar case of human inconsistency that should make us wary of putting God’s messenger ahead of His message!
Scriptures may be used “deceitfully” instead of to promote truth (2 Corinthians 4:2). For this reason, and specifically to put doctrinal assertions to the test, churches of Christ used to subject disputes and issues,- even those among ourselves,- to open discussion and debate, imitating the apostles and other brethren of the churches’ first century (Acts 15:1-31). When the purpose of all parties entering the crucible of discussion and debate is to come to a knowledge of the truth based on the evidence of scripture properly handled, the many sides advocated, together with their refutation, are invaluable as sources of learning towards truth-finding. The churches of Christ have published very many debates,- covering a wide range of religious and moral topics,- conducted according to established rules and protocols of forensic communication, preserved for posterity. A fine online collection of these debates,- in their entirety,- can be accessed from brother Ron Gilbert’s website https://icotb.org/ under "Debates" via “Gospel Books”.
There is much to be gained by reading published doctrinal debates in entirety. Firstly, we see how God’s word can be used both correctly as well as wrongly, or even not at all as the authoritative basis for beliefs. Secondly, we become aware of two or more, sometimes mutually-contradictory views or perspectives of a certain issue or teaching. More important, we can discern the weak, or weakest, link in a line of argument,- the chief point upon which the whole perspective revolves.
People of the Book will not be unnerved by the challenge of “testing the spirits” against the standard of God’s revelation by His Son and the Holy Spirit and the apostles (1 John 4:1-6). While we cannot have fellowship with those whose doctrines do not agree with the Bible’s (2 John 9-11; Romans 16:17-19), we should keep communication lines open so that we can check ourselves and others as regards our beliefs and theirs (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Only then can we even hope to know the truth which sets us free,- God’s truth contained in scripture (John 8:32; 17:17).
John 8:32 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”