For background, I am a Roman Catholic and many of my friends are Protestants at Grove City. One common topic of discussion through my years at college concerned issues pertaining to theology. I know, such a typical Grover experience.
Catholic beliefs pinned up against Protestant beliefs. Debates sometimes carried on for hours. Each side trying fervently to back up their beliefs with evidence. However, something I discovered in the last year was that argumentation and debate is a horrible tactic for trying to get points across, especially when concerning theology. And trying to spew as much supporting evidence was unhelpful as well. Often times, it just goes right over the other person’s head.
What does seem to work well is using the sales tactic of asking questions. Questions are a very helpful tool to lead someone down a path of self-discovery. This occurred to me last semester while talking to my friend about Catholicism. He was an ex Catholic, turned Anglican. Rather than argue and debate him, I asked him questions. The two of us had many “sit downs” in the last year, where a large part of our discussions was focused on me asking him questions. These were good questions that challenged him- made him think and reconsider. I asked questions that would naturally require him to give an answer which supported Catholicism. I am very grateful for having used this tactic. My friend has been on a path of consideration and has been very interested in learning more. He has sought out knowledge on the Catholic faith more on his own, and it appears he is coming back to the church.
BoweryJE22
I never thought about how sales can be applied to theology. You points about asking questions are really good and useful!