What Does The Bible Say About Arguing Over Scripture

The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Everyone

No where in the bible does it say to debate or argue with a believer over their doctrine if it does not line up with the word of God. The bible does say in Titus 3:10-11 ” A man that is a heretick after the first and second admonition reject Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” In other words, after trying a couple of times to correct themif they do not receive what your sayingreject them and leave. How did the Apostle Paul handle Hymenaeus and Alexander who were teaching and preaching heresies?

1 Timothy 1:19-20 Holding faith, and a good conscience which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Notice Paul did not debate or argue with them until he convinced them of their error, but followed the process of Titus 3:10-11 and gave them over unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme God. Do you guys see this?

Im going to leave this forum with thisplease watch this in its entirety :

Notice Paul did not debate or argue with them until he convinced them of their error, but followed the process of Titus 3:10-11 and gave them over unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme God. Do you guys see this?

Looks pretty hopeful to me! Too bad you dont see that learning not to blaspheme God is a hopeful goal, not a hopeless final result.

God bless,

Sonia

Love ya anyway

It Is Full Of Contradictions And Discrepancies

Its not very hard to convince someone that the Bible is full of contradictionsthat is, if they dont know the Bible very well. All you have to do is cite Proverbs, where the author tells us not to answer or is it, answer a fool according to his folly . Or maybe point out that Matthew places the Sermon on the Mount, on a mountain , while Luke says Jesus spoke on a level place . Is Abijah a good king or a bad one ? Were humans created last or first ? Of course, these are just samples from countless others that people like to bring up.

A little digging, however, will show that proverbs arent written to give us universally valid principles , but rather they are true only when applied at the right situation. Depending on the fool you are talking to, you have to determine which proverb is relevant to the situation.

The Gospels are not meant to be simply factual reports, but bring out the theological significance of real events for their intended contemporary audience. So Matthew places Jesus sermon on a mountain in order to bring out a connection all his original Jewish Christian readers would recognize immediately. Namely, Jesus speaking on a mountain about the law would remind them how God gave Moses the law on Mount Sinai : Luke, written primarily for Hellenistic Christians, would not pick up on that connection so readily.

National And Ethnic Groups In The Bible

Arabs In the Bible this term refers to peoples who were nomads in the Arabian deserts.

It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations Arabs will not pitch their tents there, shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there .

Cretans and Arabsin our own languages we hear them speaking about Gods deeds of power .

Egyptians This ethnic group inhabited the nation of Egypt and is mentioned often in Genesis and Exodus, but also appears in other parts of the Bible. It was the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites for over 400 years.

I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord .

Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them .

Greeks Often mentioned in Pauls writings, the Greeks were those who were from the nation of Greece. Many Greeks became followers of Jesus due to Pauls ministry.

And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women .

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom but we preach Christ crucified .

Israelites Also known as Jews, the Israelites were Gods chosen people in the Old Testament. Jesus was Jewish, interacted often with Jewish leaders, and was the Messiah Jewish people had long-awaited.

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We Must Defend The Faith

10. 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

11. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

12. 2 Timothy 4:2 Be ready to spread the word whether or not the time is right. Point out errors, warn people, and encourage them. Be very patient when you teach.

How Should We Respond

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands .

Revelation gives us a glimpse into how God will wrap up history and usher humankind into eternity. What a glorious picture painted in Revelation of people from every nation in heaven, worshiping God, standing together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

God loves every nation, every person, and it is made abundantly clear in Scripture that racism is not compatible with Christianity. As Jesus spoke against racism, so should we. As God loves all peoples, so should we.

Pamela Palmer is a writer, chaplain, and the founder of upheldlife.com, the platform on which she produces weekly devotionals and faith resource articles to inspire keeping faith at the center of it all. She lives and thrives on Jesus, coffee, and music. She is in pastoral ministry and gets to share in the emotional and spiritual lives of many people, being a small piece of each journey. Pamela married the perfect man for her and they have two beautiful kiddos. She has been published on herviewfromhome.com and you can follow her at upheldlife.com, or on .com/upheldlife.

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People Are Also Reading

Someone says, These men mightve been prophets, but they were not Jesus. Ah, amen. However, Jesus was the best debater of all.

In Matthew 21:23 the Pharisees asked Jesus, What gives you the authority to teach your doctrines?

Jesus responded, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. . Answering a question with a question is a prime debate tactic.

Throughout Jesus 3-year ministry we see the religious elite attempt to catch him in contradiction. Jesus never said, We should not be debating debating is bad! No, Jesus answered his opponents and always championed His positions. Jesus was so skilled in debating that his opponents eventually gave up: And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions .

Now someone might say, Paul said debating was a sin in Romans 1:29. The word debate in Romans 1:29 is translated from the Greek word eris, and every other time is translated as strife, variance or contentions. If you believe that Romans 1:29 teaches that all debate was sinful then why was Paul confounding the Jews in Acts 9:22, reasoning with the Jews out of the Scriptures in Acts 17:2, or disputing with the Jews in Acts 17:17?

Did Paul not practice what he preached?

The writer lives in Martinsville.

Jesus Shows How Arguing The Bible With People Is Pointless

Im not accusing you of thinking Scripture isnt authoritative. Rather, you are pointing out the problem that occurs when there is no authoritative interpretation of Scripture. Someone comes to you and says, I think it means this. You reply, I think it means this.

Fruitlessness ensues. The authoritative text has no authoritative interpreter. So all people can do is argue.

But, as Ive tried to show: Jesus argued from Scripture quite a bit and so did His apostles. The exchange in the desert wasnt meant to say, Scriptural arguments go nowhere and have no clear winners. Rather, I propose that Jesus was the clear winner because He presented better points.

When I read this I thought to myself, I bet this fella gets a lot of people saying your work is lacking a real acknowledgement of these scriptures. Then you quote some back to him. Then the argument goes nowhere. So I read this post as a pre-emptive opt out of these exchanges in the future and trying to find a Biblical justification for doing so.

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Christians Should Not Complain And Argue In Order To Be Joyful In Every Circumstance

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Finally, the last reason Paul gives for not complaining and arguing is in order for us to have joy. Paul says even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith. The drink offering was the final part of an offering . A person would offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord and then pour some wine on top of the offering as a sweet smelling savor to the Lord. It was the final act of the offering. Paul here was referring to both his and the Philippians suffering for the Lord as a sacrifice , and he may be alluding to the possibility of his future death as the drink offering. He essentially says, Even if this is my final offering to the Lord as I face potential death, I rejoice with you and you should rejoice as well. He commands them to not complain and argue so that they can have joy in their mutual offering to the Lord.

This is the reality: complaining and arguing not only affects others negatively, but it also affects us. It ruins our own joy. Most Christians are up and down in their spiritual life based on the events that happen. Therefore, their joy is not constant. One cannot have joy if he is constantly complaining and arguing. Paul says that even if the worst thing happens, his potential death, the Philippians should still rejoice.

What Does The Bible Say About Arguing Scripture

When someone is trying to demonstrate a truth in the Bible, or support their theological opinion, it is important to argue from Scripture, using the text to support the claim. To give a very simple example, if someone wants to demonstrate that theft is wrong, someone can point to verses from both the Old and New Testament which demonstrate that taking something from someone else is a sin: Exodus 20:15, Leviticus 19:11, , and Matthew 19:18 for example.

There are many times when using Bible verses to explain a Biblical position or what Christians believe is appropriate. The Word of God is sacred though, and should not be used as a weapon to beat people with, or to misrepresent. Just because someone can argue with Scripture, or about it, does not mean they should.

After Christs ascension, many people turned to the truth. Some began to take the message of the Messiah, and use it to their advantage, sometimes even taking passages from the Old Testament to change Jesus message. The Apostles, including Peter and Paul, condemned this use of Scripture But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some . If an argument from or about Scripture weakens the faith of a believer in Jesus, including His death and resurrection, the Bible condemns it.

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Never Argue With A Fool Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell The Difference

Dear Quote Investigator: Conflict on social media is now endemic, but it is not really new. Acrimonious exchanges between participants during the primeval days of online forums were known as flame wars.

Famed humorist Mark Twain has received credit for a germane cautionary remark:

Never argue with a fool onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.

Unfortunately, no one has presented a good citation for Twain. Would you please examine this saying?

Quote Investigator:QI has been unable to find substantive evidence crediting this remark to Mark Twain. It does not appear on the Twain Quotes website edited by Barbara Schmidt, Website: TwainQuotes.com, Editor: Barbara Schmidt, Description: Mark Twain quotations, articles, and related resources. link nor does it appear in the large compilation Mark Twain at Your Fingertips edited by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger. 1948, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Cloud, Inc., Beechhurst Press, Inc., New York.

The Bible contains a thematically related passage in Proverbs 26:4 and 26:5: Website: BibleHub, Proverbs 26:4 and 26:5, Translation: New American Standard Bible. link

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,Or you will also be like him.Answer a fool as his folly deserves,That he not be wise in his own eyes.

Below are selected citations in chronological order.

Dont argue with a fool, or listeners will say there are two of you.

Arguing with a fool shows that there are two.

References

What Does This Mean

Scripture warns us that a fool, in his denial of truth, ultimately believes in his heart that there is no God . This is not the type of person you want to spend too much time trying to impart wisdom to when it becomes clear that this person persistently ridicules your guidance.

However, in situations where the fool is publicly denying the existence of God or stirring up conflict with others, the Bible says that the fool deserves to be corrected for his folly through rebuke and instruction .

In fact, remaining silent when a fool is blaspheming God or leading others to sin may make you guilty of partaking in his sin .

Its important to note here that a foolish person can always reverse course and choose to open his heart to Scripture and wise counsel from others .

But change doesnt happen overnight, and it certainly doesnt stick if the person who needs to change isnt committed to doing so.

In the end, use your judgment to discern whether the person youre speaking to is making baseless but trivial statements or maliciously provoking people with blasphemy and lies. The first situation merits walking away from .

However, the second situation requires you to lean on your faith in confronting the fool so that your silence doesnt tacitly lend him credibility .

For further reading:

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Arguing Over The Bible Whats The Point If Any

We are told that we must be ready to defend what we believe. But does that mean we argue over it? The other questions is are we arguing over primary issues or non-essentials? Also are you arguing to say that you won?

Patheos states this in a blog post: In Matthew 4:1-11, Satan temps, tests, argues, debates, whatever you want to call it, with Jesus to try and use Gods own words against the Son.

I also like this quote on Patheos.

The grand ending in vs. 11 is Matthew saying the devil left. The devil leaving does not mean Jesus won the argument, because all they did was quote verses at each other. Neither does it mean that Jesus quotes were so convincing that Satan began believing in the Way of Jesus, and thus, no longer led a rebellion throughout human history against God.

However, defending our faith can be done without arguments. That comes the hard part when you believe it says one thing and the other person another.

Proverbs 15:1 tells that harsh words, this can be argumentative words, can bring anger!

Confrontations on beliefs can get intense! Thats why if it is starting to turn into an argument, usually anger is involved. At that point it might be best to back away and part ways from that discussion and perhaps resume at a later time when all parties can be civil and/or both parties can thoroughly study more.

Lets look at 2 Timothy 2:23-26, we are told that we must not be quarrelsome. Basically telling us not to be argumentative.