Among the Polemicists?

I’m surprised that my two latest blogposts propelled me into the realm of polemics, criticising the views of other Christians. I feel uneasy with that. I don’t enjoy conflict, and shy away from it, whenever I can. I also don’t like it when people criticise me; this made me decide not to respond to negative comments on social media.

I do think, however, that we must confront error when we see it. And not only concerning issues of obvious error. There needs to be robust debate within the church about the application of truth. We must not be afraid of respectful discussion and dialogue. The only problem is that if we are ready to dish it out, we ought also to be able to take it as well: myself included.

Often Christians stress the need for unity (Col. 3.14). And certainly the unedifying sight of believers attacking each other has done much to turn people away from the faith. As a result, however, a shallow approach to doctrine and ethics has arisen, which refuses to acknowledge genuine differences, and the serious consequences that flow from these. It’s a kind of Rodney King style of theology: “Can we all just get along?”

Regarding theology, throughout church history, we see vibrant debates: whether about the precise definition of the Trinity during the Patristic era, or about justification by faith in the Reformation. Sometimes, these overflowed into violence and persecution. And that led to a reaction against sectarianism, and the easy-going latitudinarianism of establishment Christianity. Unity, however, rests on a common experience of Christ (Ro. 6.5; Phil. 2.10), and on a consistent theological agreement (1 Co. 1.10).

Scripture itself includes condemnations of false teaching. Emphasising only the unity passages ignores these divisive texts: e.g. Paul (2 Ti. 4.3-4; Tit. 1.10-16) and Peter (2 Pe. 3.14-18; 2 Pe. 2.1-22). Liberal scholars do relegate these to the status of pseudepigrapha: that is writings spuriously attributed to the claimed authors. But that is largely because they can’t believe such teachings come from early on, but reflect the development of a spurious ‘early Catholicism’.

Jesus himself also warns against false teachers (Matt. 7.15; 24.24); and even the Letters of John, frequently seen as only about ‘love’, also attack those who peddle doctrinal errors. And it is not just about supposedly ‘abstract’ doctrine. Paul was not afraid to speak, in public, against Peter’s compromise with legalistic leaders. who excluded gentiles for racial and religious reasons (Gal. 2.11). This shows that righteous division may occur on political grounds as well.

Not everything can be excused as a ‘matter of indifference’ – ana diaphora (Ro. 14.1-23). And, following the example of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany, as the South African Church discovered, with respect to Apartheid, some things, become a status confessionis – so important that we have to take a stand, even at the risk of division from an apostate church. And this means courting dangerous polarisation between professing Christians. But unity paradoxically arises from such division.