by Roger Nicole
We are called upon by the Lord to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3). That does not necessarily involve being contentious; but it does involve avoiding compromise, standing forth for what we believe, standing forth for the truth of God—without welching at any particular moment. Thus, we are bound to meet, at various points and various levels, people with whom we disagree. We disagree in some areas of Christian doctrine. We disagree as to some details of church administration. We disagree as to the way in which certain tasks of the church should be pursued. And, in fact, if we are careful to observe the principles that I would like to expound for you, I would suggest that they may be valuable also in disagreements that are not in the religious field. They also would apply to disagreements in politics, difficulties with people in your job, friction within the family, and contentions between husband and wife or parents and children. Who does not encounter people from time to time who are not in complete agreement? Therefore, it is good to seek to discover certain basic principles whereby we may relate to those who differ from us.
It seems strange that one should desire to speak at all about Polemic Theology since we are now in an age when folks are more interested in ecumenism and irenics than in polemics. Furthermore, Polemic Theology appears to have been often rather ineffective. Christians have no managed in many cases to win over their opponents. They have shown themselves to be ornery; they have bypassed some fairly important prescriptions of Scripture; and, in the end, they have not convinced very many people. Sometimes they have not even managed to convince themselves! Under those circumstances, one perhaps might desire to bypass a subject like this altogether.
In order to approach this subject, there are three major questions that we must ask; and I would like to emphasize very strongly that, in my judgment, we need to ask them precisely in the right (2) What can I learn from the person who differs from me? (3) How can I cope with the person who differs from me?
Many people overlook the first two questions and jump right away to: “How can I cope with this? How can I bash this person right down into the ground in order to annihilate objections and differences?” Obviously, if we jump to the third question from the start, it is not likely that we will be very successful in winning over dissenters. So I suggest, first of all, that we need to face squarely in the matter of our duties. We have obligations to people who differ from us. This does not involve agreeing with them. We have an obligation to the truth that has a priority over agreement with any particular person; if someone is not in the truth, we have no right to agree. We have no right even to minimize the importance of the difference; and therefore we do not owe consent, and we do not owe indifference. But what we owe that person who differs from us, whoever that might be, is what we owe every human being: we owe them to love them. And we owe them to deal with them as we ourselves would like to be dealt with or treated (Matt. 7:12).
How then do we desire to be treated? Well, the first thing is that we want people to know what we are saying or meaning. There is, therefore, an obligation, if we are going to voice differences, to make a serious effort to know the person with whom we differ. If that person has published books or articles, then we have an obligation to be acquainted with those writings. It is not appropriate for us to voice sharp differences if we have neglected to read what is available. The person who differs from us should have evidence that we read carefully what has been written and that we have attempted to understand its meaning. In the case of an oral exchange, where we don’t have the writing, we owe the person who differs from us to listen carefully to what he or she says. Rather than preparing ourselves to pounce on that person the moment he or she stops talking, we should concentrate on apprehending precisely what the other person holds forth.
In this respect, I say that Dr. Cornelius Van Til has given us a splendid example. As you may know, he expressed very strong objections to the theology of Karl Barth. They were so strong that Barth claimed that Van Til simply did not understand him. It has been my privilege to be at Dr. Van Til’s office and to see with my own eyes the bulky tomes of Barth’s Kirchliche Dogmatik. (Incidentally, these volumes were the original German text, not an English translation.) As I leafed through these, I bear witness that I did not see one page that was not constellated with underlining, double-underling, marginal annotations, exclamation points, and question marks galore. So here is someone who certainly did not say, “I know Karl Barth well; I understand his stance; I don’t need to read any more of this; I can move on with what I have.” Each of the volumes, including the latest ones that were then in existence, gave evidence of very, very careful scrutiny. So when we intend to take issue with somebody, we need to do the job that is necessary to know that person so that we do not voice our criticism in the absence of knowledge, but proceed from the vantage point of real acquaintance.
Even that is not enough. Beyond what a person says or writes, we must attempt to understand what a person means. Now it is true that some people do not express themselves exactly, the way it should be done. But if somebody fails to express himself or herself accurately, there is no great point in pressing the very language that is used. We ought to try to understand what meaning they intend their language to convey. In some cases we may provide an opportunity for an opponent to speak more accurately.
I have experienced this in my own home. I have noticed that my wife sometimes says things like this: “You never empty the wastebasket.” Now as a matter of fact, on January 12, 1984, I did empty the wastebasket. Therefore, the word never is inappropriate! This tends to weaken the force of my wife’s reproach. Well, I’ve learned that I don’t get anywhere by pressing the point. Such a reaction would not provide dividends of joy and peace in my home. I’ve learned, therefore, to interpret that when my wife says “never” she means “rarely” or “not as often as should be.” When she says “always,” she means “frequently” or “more often than should be.” Instead of quibbling as to the words never and always, I would do well to pay attention to what she finds objectionable. And indeed, I should be emptying the wastebasket. That is a regular part of my role in the home. Therefore, if I fail to do this, even only once, there is good reason to complain. Nothing is gained by quibbling about how often this happens. I ought to recognize this and be more diligent with it.
Similarly, in dealing with those who differ, we ought not to quibble about language just so we can pounce on our opponent because he or she has not used accurate wording. It is more effective to seek to apprehend what is meant, and then to relate ourselves to the person’s meaning. If we don’t do that, of course, there is no encounter at all, because this person speaks at one level and we take the language at another level; and so the two do not meet, and the result is bound to be frustrating. So if we really want to meet, we might as well try to figure out the meaning rather than to quibble on wording.
Moreover, I would suggest that we owe to people who differ from us to seek to understand their aims (see Philippians 2:3-4). What do they want? What makes them tick? Against what are they recoiling? What are the experiences, perhaps tragic ones, that have steeled them into a particular stance? What are the things that they fear and the things for which they yearn? Is there not something that I fear as well or yearn for in the same way? Is there not a possibility here to find a point of contact at the very start, rather than to move on with an entirely defensive or hostile mood?
As an example, it may be observed that in the fourth century, Arius was especially leery of modalism, a serious error in the conception of the Trinity whereby the Godhead was seen to manifest Himself in three successive forms or modes, as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit rather than to exist eternally as three who have interpersonal relations with each other. From Arius’s vantage point, the orthodox doctrine of the full deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit did of necessity imply a modalistic view. It did not help that one of his very vocal opponents, Marcellus of Ancyra, did, in fact, border dangerously on modalism. Arguments designed to show the biblical and logical strengths of the doctrine of the Son’s full deity, or vice versa, the weakness of Arius’s subordinationism, would likely not be effective unless the instinctive fear of an implied modalism were addressed and shown to be without solid foundation. With all due respect to the soundness, courage, and perseverance of those like Athanasius and Hilary, who consistently resisted Arianism, one may yet wonder if a more effective method of dealing with this error might not have been to allay the fear that orthodoxy inevitably would lead to modalism.
In the controversy between Calvinism and Arminianism, the fact that many Arminians (possibly almost all of them) affirm the complete sovereignty of God inevitably implies a rejection of free will, power of decision, and even responsibility on the part of created rational beings, angelic or human. The Arminians’ attachment to those features naturally leads them to oppose Calvinism as they understand it. It is imperative for the Calvinist Controversialist to affirm and to prove that he or she does not, in fact, deny or reject these modalities of the actions and decisions of moral agents, but that he or she undertakes to retain them—even though their logical relation to divine sovereignty remains shrouded in a mystery that transcends finite, human logic.
Similarly, the Calvinist should not glibly conclude that evangelical Arminians are abandoning the notion of divine sovereignty when they assert the freedom of the human will. It is plainly obvious that Arminians pray for the conversion of unbelievers, and that they desire to recognize the Lordship of God. The Arminian will do well to emphasize this in discussion with Calvinists, so as to provide a clearer perception of the actual stance of both parties. It is remarkable that committed Calvinists can sing without reservation many of the hymns of Charles and John Wesley, and, vice versa, that most Arminians do not feel they need to object to those of Isaac Watts or Augustus Toplady.
In summary, I would say we owe our opponents to deal with them in such a way that they may sense that we have a real interest in them as persons, that we are not simply trying to win an argument or show how smart we are, but that we are deeply interested in them—and are eager to learn from them as well as to help them.
One method I have found helpful in making sure I have dealt fairly with a position I could not espouse was to assume that a person endorsing such a view was present in my audience (or was reading what I had written). My aim then was to represent the view faithfully and fully without mingling the criticism with factual statements; in fact, so faithfully and fully that an adherent to that position might comment, “This man certainly does understand our view!” It would be a special boon if one could say, “I never heard it stated better!” This then could earn me the right to criticize. But before I proceed to do this, it is only proper that I should have demonstrated that I have a correct understanding of the position I desire to evaluate.
In the last section, we discussed the answer to the question, “What do I owe the person who differs from me?” It is very important throughout that one should remain keenly aware of such obligation, for otherwise any discussion is doomed to remain unproductive. The truth that I believe I have grasped must be presented in a spirit of love and winsomeness. To do otherwise is to dispute truth itself, for it is more naturally allied to love than to hostility or sarcasm (Eph. 4:15). Hostility and sarcasm reflect a certain insecurity that is not warranted when one is really under the sway of truth. It may well be that God’s servant may be moved to righteous indignation in the presence of those “who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:18). This explains the outbursts of the Old Testament prophets, of our Lord in His denunciation of the Pharisees, and of the apostles in dealing with various heresies and hypocrisies in the early church. These severe judgments were ordinarily aimed at warning members of the flock rather than winning over people who had distanced themselves from the truth of God to a point which left no room for hope of recovery. (See Ps. 139:19-22; Isa. 5:8-25; Dan. 5:26-30; Matt. 12:30-32; Acts 7:51-53; Gal. 5:12; and Rev. 22:15.) When we deal with those whom we desire to influence for the good, it is imperative that we remain outgoing and gracious.