Let’s define sound doctrine
Before we begin discussing how to study the Bible I would like to first review a few basic ideas. Two things that you need to understand are what the word ‘doctrine’ means, and what it means to have a ‘sound doctrine’. It is important to understand these terms because they are fundamental to what we are discussing and we will use these terms often.
A doctrine is an unproved belief regarding some subject. A doctrine is sound if its associated belief turns out to be true. That is, a sound doctrine is a true statement (or set of statements) about the subject of the doctrine.
A belief that the earth is round is no longer a doctrine because it can be proved that the earth is round. To be called a doctrine a belief needs to be unproved. However, once upon a time it could not be proved that the earth was round. During that time you could have a doctrine about the shape of the earth. Those who held to the doctrine that the earth was flat had an unsound doctrine because their belief would turn out to not be a true statement. On the other hand, those who held to the doctrine that the earth was round had a sound doctrine because their belief would turn out to be a true statement.
The reason why the concept of ‘doctrine’ is important is because most statements about God cannot be proven. For example, the Bible says that God knows all things (1 Jn 3:20). Such a statement cannot be proven true or false simply because we cannot put God in a laboratory and test His knowledge. Thus, most, if not all, statements regarding God are doctrinal in nature. That is, they are unproved beliefs. If I believe that God knows all things I believe it not because I can prove it but because I believe 1 Jn 3:20 in the Bible.
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