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The FAQ says:

Questions that do not arise from a Biblical text are generally off-topic, even if they are about ... Christian doctrine ...

Just to clarify - are questions about Christian doctrine on topic if they do arise from a Biblical text?

In other words, can I ask about the doctrinal implications of a passage of Scripture?

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can I ask about the doctrinal implications of a passage of Scripture?

Simply put, the answer is "yes", as Jon indicated in his comment. However I'd caution against coming to the site with a doctrine in mind and trying to find a convenient text to use as a springboard - these 'disguised' doctrine-based questions are usually easy to spot and are not a good fit.

Ideally, the question itself would clearly come from the mentioned text and in that case, application and doctrinal implications of the text are on-topic and perfectly acceptable.

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    +1, but I am worried that the doctrine then back-influences the hermeneutics, which makes the scholarship difficult. It's already difficult enough to figure out what people 2000, 3000 years ago meant exactly without having the pressure of making it match with a doctrine active today. Removing this pressure makes hermeneutics much more accurate.
    – Ron Maimon
    Commented Apr 17, 2012 at 19:21
  • @Ron I agree except that I don't think you can avoid the problem - everyone has a framework even if they don't call it "doctrine". Nevertheless I think the problem of perspective doesn't negate the benefit of coming together to look at these texts.
    – Jack Douglas Mod
    Commented Apr 20, 2012 at 13:28