‘FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL’
William T. Denham
MANY TIMES the Church of Christ have engaged itself in
debates as you may have read several news stories featured in this magazine
(PASUGO). However, other religions
criticize these debates as unchristian and against the teaching of the
Bible. They cite biblical verses to
support their criticisms, as stated below:
“ For I fear , lest , when I come , I shall not find you such as I would , and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults …” (II Cor. 12:20, KJV)
“Being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of
envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity, whisperers….” (Rom. 1:29, Ibid.)
In addition, they say that debating about religious
themes violates Christ’s admonition to “love thy
neighbor as thyself” (Mk. 12:31, Ibid.), for
arguing with one’s neighbor, especially in public, as they believe, is not a
manifestation of love, but rather of hate.
Not All Debate
These people have a very shallow understanding of
love. Why should
they ever think that arguing manifests hate and not love when, in fact, the
debates we engage in intent to love the very people we are debating with, and
others who would benefit from them?
But then, before we move on our discussion of this matter let us know
first the meaning of the word “debate”:
“debate, n. a contention in
words: argument.” (Webster’s English Dictionary, p. 143)
It is clear that debate involves no physical violence. It is a purely verbal exercise. Let us see whether the Bible prohibits such
kind of debate:
“Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another.” (Prov. 25:9, KJV)
This seems to be a dilemma – the books of I Corinthians
and Romans put debate in the same class as strife, deceit, and murder, while
the book of Proverbs commands us to debate our cause with our neighbor. Does the Bible contradict itself? Of course not. There is a kind of debate or controversy
which is not right for the Lord’s servants:
“Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you
know that they breed quarrels. And the
Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher,
forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent
and come to know the truth.” (II Tim. 2:23-25, RSV)
Paul taught Timothy, a young Church of Christ minister,
not to involve himself in stupid and senseless controversies; however, he
recognized the fact that Timothy had opponents who should be corrected. Naturally, if one is going to argue or debate
about something senseless or stupid, one might as well not argue – this would
be a waste of time. However, if the
subject is important and relevant, there is nothing wrong with debates. In like manner, the Church of Christ is not
debating about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin or about the pros
and cons of curled hair, but rather on valuable, pivotal religious issues such
as salvation, the nature of Christ, and the true Church. Is it not important to find out and to
disprove through debate the Protestants’ claim that faith is enough to receive
salvation? Is it not vital to know
whether Christ is God or man? Is it not
imperative to be sure that one is a member of the true Church established by
Christ?
Proper Debate Is Scriptural
Remember, according to the dictionary, debate is a
contention in words or an argument.
Keeping this in mind, we cannot but accept the fact that Apostle Paul
was a debater:
“Now when they had passed
through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a
synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in,
as was his custom, and for three weeks he
argued with them from the
scriptures ….” (Acts 17:1-2, Ibid.)
There are three salient points we should notice about
this passage: first, Paul argued –
therefore he debated; second, being a
Christian argued or debated with the Jews who belonged to a religion different
from his own; lastly, the argument or
debate centered on the Scriptures or the Bible.
Before people start criticizing the Church of Christ for
engaging in debates, they should criticize Apostle Paul. It was not only in Thessalonica that Paul
argued:
“After this he left Athens
and went to Corinth… And he argued in
the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. (Acts
18:1, 4, ibid.)
Christ’s Debate
Debate is not unchristian. It is not against Christ, as Christ Himself
debated or argued. The entire eight
chapters of John is an argumentative discussion between Jesus and the Jews who
opposed Him. Consider their exchange:
JESUS: “I am the light
of the world …” (v. 12)
JEWS: “You are bearing
witness to yourself; your testimony is not true.” (v. 13)
JESUS: “I bear witness
to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me.” (v. 18)
JEWS: “Where is your
Father?” (v. 19)
JESUS: “You know neither
me nor may Father, if know me, you would know my Father also.” (v. 19)
JEWS: “Abraham is our
father.” (v. 39)
JESUS: “If you were
Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me
… this is not what Abraham did.” (v. 39-40)
JEWS: “We have one
Father, even God.” (v. 41)
JESUS: “If God were your
Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God… you are of
your father the devil …” (v. 42, 44)
JEWS: “Are we not right
in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (v. 48)
JESUS: “I have not a
demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.” (v. 49 – all verses
in RSV)
Christ didn’t run away when the Jews attacked His
teachings. He answered them with words
no one could deny. On another occasion,
Mark the evangelist said: “… after that
no one dared ask him any question.” (Mk. 12:31, Ibid.) He was not of the
same spirit as
the people in our time who, as soon as someone opens up a Bible to
show them that their belief is false, immediately pack up their books and walk
out the door, pompously declaring: “I don’t want
to argue!”
There is a reason why Christ did not run away from an
argument, and that Apostle Paul did not shrink from standing up for his
beliefs:
“The latter do it
out of love, knowing that I am put here for
the defense of the gospel …” (Phil. 1:16, Ibid.)
It was Paul’s obligation to defend the Gospel. If someone were to say that the Gospel, which
is truth (Col. 1:5), was not truth, he had a duty and a responsibility to
defend it.
Until The Ends Of The Earth
It is also not surprising that God’s Last Messenger, Brother Felix Manalo,
as well as the present-day ministers of the Church of Christ, took exactly the
same position that our Lord Jesus Christ and Apostle Paul had:
“
“
“
“Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.” (Is. 41:9-12, KJV)
God’s predictive will about His Messenger could not but
be fulfilled. The mouths of those who
mocked the doctrines of God were stopped.
They were ashamed. They were
confounded. Now, even if we seek them,
we cannot find them. The reason for
this, however, was not the Messenger’s own ability: he lacked wealth, earthly
power, and human wisdom. He triumphed
because of God’s promises: “I will
strengthen thee … I will help thee … I will uphold thee with the right hand of
my righteousness.”
The Purpose
There was only one purpose behind the argumentation of Apostle
Paul, the debate Christ had with the Jews, and the Las Messenger’s contention
with those who opposed him. It was not
done out of hatred. Its purpose was not
to harm or attack anyone.
According to Paul’s letter to Timothy, the purpose of
correcting opponents is for them to repent and come to know the truth (II Tim. 2:23-25). The truth referred to is the words of God,
which sanctify or make man holy (Jn. 17:17) Paul’s purpose in bringing the truth into
view through debate was to bring people unto sanctification.
Christ was trying to convince the Jews to know and love
Him and the Father (Jn. 8:19, 42). To
know and love God and Christ is by following their commandments (I Jn. 2:3,
5:3; Jn. 14:21). If the Jews had done
this, they would have abided in the love of God and Christ:
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” (Jn. 15:10, Ibid.)
Brother Felix Manalo was upheld by the right
hand of God’s righteousness, which is the Gospel, and the power of God for
salvation:
“
“ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written , The just shall live by faith …” (Rom. 1:16-17, Ibid.)
The only aim of Church of Christ ministers in preaching
and defending the Gospel is to bring people unto sanctification, unto the love
of God, and, most importantly, unto salvation. As we want to sanctified, to abide in God’s
love, and to be saved, we also desire these things for other people. This shows the true love the Church of Christ
has for others.*
Copied from PASUGO GOD’S MESSAGE/MAY-JUNE 1983/PAGES 15-17/VOLUME
35/NUMBER 3
