How to Disagree without being Disagreeable

photo by: o5com

Over the years, I have had at least as many disagreements with other Christians as I have had with non-Christians, and it is disappointing to look back and see how often those disagreements have become disagreeable.  I've been cursed, ridiculed, smeared and dismissed in far more Christian forums than in non-Christian forums.  In fact, I was recently banned from two apologetics associations because my personal view of the Scriptural teaching on a particular issue was more conservative than they were willing to contemplate. 

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In contrast to all of this, however, there are still those times when I find myself actually enjoying my disagreements with fellow believers.  One of those times occurred last week, and I was so impressed with the friendliness of the discussion that I wanted to share it with the rest of you as an example of how Christians ought to disagree with each other. 

In this particular discussion, I decided to challenge a friend on his position regarding the Greek texts of the New Testament.  My friend advocates the use of the critical text and the modern translations derived therefrom while I maintain that the Textus Receptus is the correct text and the King James Version the best English translation of that text.  Neither of us are experts in textual criticism, but we both have had training in the original languages, and we have both studied the issue enough to be more than just casually acquainted with the various arguments.

The reason that I am sharing this discussion here is not to convince anyone to accept my view of the issue, though I certainly think that you should.  My primary goal is to show Christians that it is possible for two mature believers to disagree on an important issue without each condemning the other to hell.  I hope that you will take the time to read the debate linked below and consider whether it would have proceeded as amiably if you had been one of the participants.

Which Greek Text?
A Friendly Discussion on the History of the Bible