I come from a background of experiancing Scottish sectarian hatred because of my parents being a mixed catholic/protestant marriage. I have grown up being intolerant of such things, even when they came from brothers in Christ.
I note where the belief in the infallibility and authority of scripture is stated. Great. Commendable.
Are you familiar with what the New Testament says about sectarian debate? Lots of sectarian debate is found in the Bible, especially in the NT, and some of it is viewed favorably, some of it is viewed adversely. For example, the sectarianism of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes is an essential context for understand much that occurs in the gospels and how the gospel spread after the ascension. In his letters to Corinth Paul eschewed the early factions that developed with people associating themselves with Jesus, Cephas, or Apollos. Paul expressed gratitude that he hadn't been involved very much in the impetus for those divisions but he stated it was good that divisions existed because divisions are a means of determining who is approved of by God. Still later, in his letter to the Galations Paul expressed blunt disdain for disputes, division, factions, etc. He called them "
works of flesh." And to put the icing on the top of your experience, Paul was also alternatively flexible and tolerant and inflexible and intolerant, sometimes being quite blunt and harsh.
{indent]I will add this: we are not Jesus and we are not Paul. Most of us are sheep, not shepherds. Nor are we all apostles, teachers, preachers, prophets, or hold any other position of authority over another so we should not presume Jesus example (such as his behavior chasing out the money changers) or Paul's example is applicable to us, especially since the NT lays out some very specific standards for handling peer-to-peer disagreement.[/indent]
Lastly, I suspect any current disdain for disagreement that is couched in your upbringing is more emotional than rational and as such the personal anecdotal childhood experience should not be used as a measure among adults in an internet discussion forum. I can wholeheartedly agree love is the standard by which all discourse can and should be measured -
love as defined by scripture, not love as defined through the lens of a child who may have seen his/her parents argue.
So my question is this:
In light of the limits of anecdotal experience AND the veracious authority of scripture, can you now possess or begin developing a tolerance for sectarian debate that may not be hatred or contempt but seemingly so as evidenced by the vigor with which each side asserts and defends their position?
I suspect this is going to be important for this op because I am opposed to much of Dispensationalism and can form a potent scripture-filled, fact-filled case against that model, its hermeneutic, and the effects it has on Christian living but my doing so is going to provike Dispensationalists and some of them are likely to post with rancor.
And you say you're intolerant of that.
This then visits your problem upon you.
And I am bringing this to your attention because if what I have described does happen then this is a wonderful opportunity for you to both grow in toleration and redeem the influence of your childhood experience.
Can you become tolerant of sectarian debate?
