The Apostle Paul urged his spiritual son Timothy to stay away from arguing for the sake of arguing, urging him to “turn away” from those involved in “useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth” (1 Tim. 6:3-6).

In 1720 Matthew Pfaff, “one of the good and thoughtful men of those days,” according to G.H. Pember, expressed the same thought when he said:

If the apostles should return to earth and be called to professors chairs, they would evince a woeful ignorance concerning the things that are the subjects of strife among the theologians.
— As quoted by G.H. Pember, Volume 4, The Great Prophecies of the Centuries Concerning the Church, page 575

In other words, quite often, theological disputes focus on things that are simply not a part of the Christian faith.

This is not to say we should not contend with those who are undermining the faith of the believers (cf. Acts 15:1-2). But, our focus needs to be on what we have been taught by the apostles. As for disputing over other things, if it did not matter to them, it should not matter to us, either.

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— 11 February 2023 —