Is stubbornness a Christian moral virtue?

I think in the Christian life there are black, whites and greys. It’s not an “American” thing, it’s a human nature thing.

It’s good to be stubborn on vital faith matters like Jesus is the son of God, Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is God, Jesus died on the cross, Jesus resurrected, Jesus will come back, no other god should be worshipped. It doesn’t matter how much anyone would try to debunk or contradict, this is a vital Christian doctrine and one should die on that hill, as many have already.

There are black, whites and greys on other topics, like human death. Murder is always wrong, but death penalty is justice (one may ask does it make the judge or executioner a murderer?). This is an example of a grey. People dying from insufficient medical resources or affordability is not neglect or murder, this is also grey.

It’s not good to be stubborn on matters of personal preference or things that are very open to interpretation, like “how the church hierarchy is supposed to be?”. These non-vital matters have broken the church into denominations for centuries.

Or the great schism of 1054, “Does God the Father send the Holy Spirit or does the Son send the Holy Spirit?”. There is not right answer as there are explicit verses to both claims, but this debate broke the church into two denominations (catholic & orthodox). It certainly isn’t a virtue in these examples.

I’m definitely not a church history expert, but learning about it may help put things into context by seeing cause and effect of different events and may open debate on wether it was good or bad, if there is any right answer to that.

Stubbornness can be good, it can be bad, it can be grey and matter of personal opinion and preference. I think these things requires wisdom as Solomon asked God.

If I weren't stubborn and unwilling to part from God, then I would have fallen into the secular cult of today's society.

I don't think being stubborn is bad if it's Christ led.

linux.poet said:

Given the amount of times that Israelites are rebuked for being “stiff-necked”, I tend to think that it’s a liability. My “stubbornness” was something my adult companions tended to rebuke me for as child.

Over and over, I’ve been told that being open to new ideas and giving careful consideration to them before rejecting them is a good idea. That way I have a logical or Scriptural basis for what I reject that I can defend in the court of public opinion. In addition, I have also been conditioned to just ignore any hard disagreements where the person will not change and just walk away rather than continuing to get frustrated and angry. I work around and accommodate the disagreement or just act in accordance with my viewpoint to heap negative consequences on them (this only works IRL).

But: is this type of morality Biblical/Scriptural? Or is it just secular programming from the American state that works for adults’ convenience to insert knowledge into kids’ heads and keep them under control?

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Some verses to consider:

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. -Proverbs 9:9

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Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
That you may be wise in your latter days. - Proverbs 19:20

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Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. - Proverbs 12:1

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7

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So stubbornness is essentially saying you don't want to listen, don't want to consider and you want no other discussion on the matter because you want to keep what you already believe and dig your heels in. Think of it this way, there is only one truth, so even if you hear people out and what they say is wrong, then what they said isn't truth and you can let it go but if you're wrong, then you will be the wiser for accepting the correction. Stubborn people are afraid of being wrong. It's a defensive mechanism because if their beliefs are wrong, their world will crumble so they'd rather not even listen. It's literally as if you're putting your hands over your ears and go "I'm not listening!" Because you aren't even considering what they're saying, you're just automatically dismissing it as false. Who is the main proponent of fear? Satan... so.... all in all I would not say it's a moral virtue, I would say the opposite.

Depends on what you are being stubborn about and why.

linux.poet said:

Over and over, I’ve been told that being open to new ideas and giving careful consideration to them before rejecting them is a good idea.

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"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

I think this includes how we test if we even start to give certain things attention. Stay where our attention needs to be.

linux.poet said:

I work around and accommodate the disagreement

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Often, I just be quiet. They can see I have not agreed with them.

linux.poet said:

or just act in accordance with my viewpoint to heap negative consequences on them (this only works IRL).

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Now, I don't get what you mean by heaping negative stuff on someone because you don't agree with them.

There's the virtue of steadfastness, but there is vice to either side of it, stubbornness when in excess and fickleness when in deficiency.

Michie said:

Depends on what you are being stubborn about and why.

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Amen