Argument and Controversy
If there is one thing that Christians have done a great deal of over the centuries since Jesus walked the earth, it is disagree about many things.
It is human to disagree, and it is human to always want to be right about everything - fallen human that is.
However, dispute and disagreement is not always wrong. There are both godly and ungodly ways to be at variance with each other. Many of the major differences down the years have been the result of the Holy Spirit revealing a new or better way something should be done, or a new purpose he wants to bring about. Other disputes have been the result of sinful attitudes, particularly amongst church leaders who really should know better.
It's a pity we can't learn from scholars, academics, and scientists, who have made debate into an artform that actually can result in real progress in a particular discipline - if it is done good naturedly that is. I'm sure we learned this approach from the Hebrews, for whom the answer to an argument is never as enjoyable as the argument itself.
In this website we plan to progressively outline the areas of difference across the body of Christ, both historic and present day. We will also look at the ways in which they have been resolved, or, if not resolved, lived with in tension.
We will also examine the many ways in which things have and can go wrong, and what can be done about them. In this we include the various heresies propagated in the church, and the cults and other unhealthy religious groups that sometimes spin off from bad teaching.
A Work in Progress
The church's penchant for argument is such that this website will never be finished. There are so many past topics to examine, and new debates arising all the time, that what we will do is as follows:
When we discover a topic worth including we will add it to the indices (or, if you are feeling argumentative - indexes). Once we have at least one article about that term the index entry will become a live link. So, at worst this site will be a useful list of words, and at best an encyclopedia of dispute. Realistically it will fall between these two points.
Not Necessarily a Neutral Source
While attempts will be made to be fair to all sides of a topic, we can only use material as it becomes available to us. Also, we make no apology for also stating our own position, as we see it from our reading of the Bible and from our own experience of God's grace in our lives.
The Indexes
In the left margin we have:
- Master Index: A summary of all of the other indexes.
- Theology Index: The branches of theology within which many of the debates are found.
- Philosophy Index: The branches of philosophy within which many of the debates are found.
- Religion Index: The religions of the world and how they relate to the true purposes of God.
- '-ism' Index: When the suffix '-ism' is added to a word, it is very often (but not always) used to denote a negative response to what the word refers to. Looking out for such words can help us discover problem areas. Note: not all of the words in this list, even though they end with '-ism' have negative connotations.
- '-ist' Index: This suffix often denotes a practitioner of one of the areas in the '-ism' list.
- '-ology' Index: Many of the fields of enquiry within which arguments arise.
In the right margin we have:
- Controversy Index: The major arguments that have affected the church through history, and debates which arise today out of different understandings of the Gospel, the nature of creation, God's purposes, and different ways of responding to life.
- Heresy Index: The major heresies which have had to be countered by the church through history, and which are still found at the root of the understanding of many of today's cults.
- Movement Index: Many of the movements and church denominations come into being as the result of a difference over points of theology or practice, or an attempt to correct a perceived wrong.
- Cult Index: The groups that come into being through believing a lie instead of the truth, and because of strong leaders wanting to be in control of other people.
- History Index: The historical setting for many of the disputes.
- People Index: It takes at least two to have an argument. These are the major players.
- Occult Index: The kingdom of darkness loves an argument, and will use it for their own purposes whenever possible.
