Program / Course 22: Christian Ethics / Lesson 3.5
What you will learn
- Distinguish different levels of Christian teaching: essentials, firm teaching, matters of debate and personal opinion.
- Identify the main sources of disagreement among Christians on moral questions.
- Apply a set of rules for stating an opposing view fairly.
- Explain how Christians have thought about unity and charity amid disagreement.
The big idea
Christians disagree about serious moral matters, and the disagreements come from differences in how they read Scripture, the weight they give to tradition and reason, the facts they accept, and the goods they most want to protect. Fair discussion begins by stating an opponent’s view in terms that its holders would accept, naming the reasons, and being honest about which claims are church teaching, which are scholarly consensus, which are open debates and which are personal opinion. Charity does not require agreement. It requires accuracy and respect.
Key terms
- Dogma
- A truth that a church holds as essential and binding on all its members, often stated in a creed or council.
- Doctrine
- A church’s settled teaching on a question. Some doctrines are more central than others.
- Adiaphora
- A Greek term for things indifferent, matters on which Scripture allows freedom and on which Christians may differ without breaking fellowship.
- Steelmanning
- Stating an opposing view in its strongest form. The opposite of a straw man, which is a weak version that is easy to defeat.
- Magisterium
- In Catholic teaching, the teaching authority of the church, exercised by the pope and bishops.
- Conscience
- The judgment by which a person applies moral knowledge to action. Traditions hold that conscience must be formed and cannot be simply ignored.
- Schism
- A division in the church, the breaking of communion. The Great Schism of 1054 divided East and West.
Background
Disagreement among Christians is old. Paul describes quarrels in Corinth and Rome over food, holy days and leaders (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Romans 14). The church councils of the early centuries settled central questions about God and Christ, but they left many moral and practical matters unsettled. Later, the divisions of 1054 and of the Reformation produced separate churches with distinct teachings. Today the three great streams, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, hold differing positions on many moral questions, and Protestantism itself includes hundreds of denominations.
This course has met disagreements on natural law, divorce, sexuality, war and other matters, and will meet more. This lesson steps back to ask how to think about disagreement itself. It does not claim that all views are equally true. It asks how a person can hold convictions firmly and still describe others accurately, learn from them and recognize what is at stake.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Levels of teaching
A useful first step is to sort claims. Some are essentials on which all the major traditions agree, such as the Trinity and the incarnation as stated in the Nicene Creed. Some are firm teachings of a particular church, such as the Catholic teaching on contraception or the Orthodox teaching on the number of sacraments. Some are matters on which scholars disagree, such as the interpretation of a particular text. Some are practical judgments on which Christians differ, such as how to apply just war principles to a current conflict. And some are personal opinions.
Mistakes arise when the levels are confused. Someone may treat a personal opinion as church teaching, or treat a contested interpretation as settled consensus. A common saying, associated with Rupert Meldenius and often repeated, is, in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. The difficulty is deciding what counts as essential, and Christians differ about that too.
Step 2: Sources of disagreement
Christians disagree for several reasons. First, authority: how much weight to give Scripture, tradition, the teaching office of the church, reason and experience. A Catholic and a Baptist may read the same verse and differ because they differ about who decides its meaning. Second, interpretation: texts can be read in more than one way, and the history of exegesis shows reasonable people disagreeing. Third, facts: disagreements about economics, medicine, history or psychology change how principles apply. Fourth, goods in tension: for example, the protection of life and the protection of liberty, or loyalty and honesty. Fifth, experience and place: those who have suffered certain things often see what others miss.
Sin also affects the matter. Pride, fear, tribal loyalty and desire for gain can distort judgment on all sides. The traditions warn each person to examine personal motives and not only those of others. This self-examination does not settle who is right, but it keeps disagreement honest.
Step 3: Stating a view fairly
A set of practical rules is widely used. State the view so that its holders would recognize it as accurate. Use their own terms, not insults or loaded labels. Give the reasons they actually give, including the strongest ones. Distinguish the official position of a church from the beliefs of individual members, who may differ. Do not attribute to a whole group the worst statements of a few. Name what the view is trying to protect. Say what is uncertain.
Philosophers describe a method known as Rapoport’s rules, after the game theorist Anatol Rapoport: first restate the other’s position so well that they say you put it better than they did, then list points of agreement, then state what you have learned, and only then offer criticism. Though not from a Christian source, it fits Christian teaching on truthfulness and love of neighbor (Ephesians 4:15, speaking the truth in love).
Step 4: Charity, unity and the limits of compromise
Paul says that those who eat and those who abstain should not despise or judge each other, because each is accountable to God (Romans 14). He also commands the church to withdraw from certain sins (1 Corinthians 5) and condemns another gospel (Galatians 1:8). The traditions have used these texts to distinguish between disputable matters and matters on which the church cannot yield.
Christians have also learned from history to be cautious. Persecution of dissenters, wars of religion and the use of Scripture to defend slavery were all done by sincere believers. At the same time, there are times when the church must speak firmly, as the Confessing Church in Germany did at Barmen in 1934. Humility and courage are both needed. Where Christians cannot agree, they can still pray together, cooperate in works of mercy and treat each other as members of one body (1 Corinthians 12), a path the ecumenical movement has tried to follow since the twentieth century.
- At what level is this claim: essential doctrine, firm church teaching, scholarly debate, practical judgment or personal opinion?
- What is the source of the disagreement: authority, interpretation, facts, competing goods or experience?
- Can the opposing view be stated so that its holders would agree it is accurate?
- What good does each side want to protect?
- What would count as evidence that could change a mind?
- Is there a way to cooperate where the disagreement remains?
Examples
Different levels in one conversation
Two Christians discuss whether Christians may fight in wars. One says that the church has always taught that war is sometimes just. The other says that the earliest Christians refused military service. Both are right about some part of history, and the disagreement is about what the history means. Sorting the claims by level helps them see that. (A constructed example.)
A straw man and a steel man
A critic of the historic Christian view on a contested question says that its holders hate those who disagree. A fair writer states that its holders say they teach out of love and obedience to God and describes their arguments from Scripture and tradition. The first is a straw man, the second a fair statement, whatever the writer concludes. (A constructed example.)
Romans 14 in practice
A congregation includes members who think it wrong to drink alcohol and members who think it permissible. The pastor, drawing on Romans 14, asks each side to avoid despising the other, and to avoid causing a weaker brother to stumble. The church also holds that some matters, such as idolatry, are not open to such liberty. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic teaching holds that the Holy Spirit guides the church through its teaching office, so that disagreements on faith and morals can be settled authoritatively, and that Catholics owe religious assent to such teaching. It also teaches that conscience must be followed and formed. The church distinguishes between dogma, doctrine and matters of free discussion, and it seeks dialogue with other Christians, as the Second Vatican Council’s decree on ecumenism states.
Orthodox
Orthodox tradition holds that the truth is kept by the whole church through the councils and the consensus of the Fathers, received by the faithful. Disagreement on matters decided by the councils is treated as error, and Orthodox writers are often wary of change. They also hold that matters not defined are open to the church’s discernment, and that pastoral judgment, economy, may vary.
Protestant
Protestant churches hold that Scripture is the final authority and that believers may examine teaching by it, which has allowed for both reform and division. Many distinguish essentials from non-essentials, as in the saying attributed to Rupert Meldenius. Differences exist about how much latitude to allow. Ecumenical Protestants emphasize shared witness, while confessional Protestants emphasize doctrinal clarity.
Secular and scholarly
Philosophers and social scientists study disagreement. Some argue that disagreement among informed people should lead to humility about one’s own view, and others that one may hold firm convictions while recognizing one’s fallibility. Research on polarization suggests that people tend to misjudge the views of opponents and become more extreme in groups. These findings support the practice of stating views fairly.
Why it matters
Much of the harm done by moral disagreement comes from misdescription. People attack views that no one holds and miss the reasons that move those who do hold them. A student who has the habit of sorting levels, naming sources of disagreement and stating positions fairly can read the rest of this course, and the news, with better judgment. The habit also fits the Christian command to bear false witness against no one.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Stating another view fairly means agreeing with it.
Correction: Accurate description is not agreement. It is a form of honesty and respect and a condition of any real argument.
Misunderstanding: If Christians disagree, none can be right.
Correction: Disagreement shows that people differ, not that no one is right. The traditions hold that truth can be known and that the argument is worth having.
Misunderstanding: Charity means avoiding all firm statements.
Correction: Paul speaks firmly on some matters and gently on others. Charity includes speaking the truth, with care for the person.
Misunderstanding: All disagreements are about the same level of importance.
Correction: Traditions sort teachings by weight. Some differences are matters of liberty, others have divided churches. Treating them as equal obscures both.
Knowledge check
What levels of teaching does this lesson distinguish?
Essentials on which the traditions broadly agree, firm teachings of a particular church, matters of scholarly or theological debate, practical judgments on which Christians differ, and personal opinions. Confusing levels, such as treating a personal opinion as church teaching, leads to unfair argument.
Name three sources of moral disagreement among Christians.
Examples are different views of authority, such as Scripture and tradition, different interpretations of the same text, different beliefs about facts, goods in tension such as life and liberty, and different experiences. Any three of these, or similar ones, are acceptable.
What are some rules for stating a view fairly?
State it so that its holders would recognize it, use their terms, give their best reasons, distinguish official teaching from individual opinion, avoid attributing the worst statements of a few to all, and name the good they seek to protect. Rapoport’s rules add listing points of agreement before criticism.
How does Romans 14 bear on disagreement?
Paul tells Christians who differ about food and holy days not to despise or judge each other, since each answers to God, and to avoid causing a weaker believer to stumble. It supports liberty on disputable matters, though Paul elsewhere insists on firmness about matters he considers essential.
Think it through
- Think of a moral view that is hard to accept. Can it be stated so that its holders would approve the description?
- Which of the sources of disagreement is most at work in your own tradition’s divisions?
- What matters do you think are essentials, and what matters are open? How do you decide?
- What would it cost to change your mind on a major question?
Independent assignment
A fair statement
In your notebook, write 400 to 600 words. Choose one moral question on which Christians disagree. State two opposing positions in terms their holders would accept, giving the strongest reasons for each. Label the level of each claim and identify the main source of the disagreement. End with one practical suggestion for how people on the two sides could work together. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fallacies Read for the straw man and other errors in argument.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) Read selectively to see how Christian doctrine developed amid disagreement.
- Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) Read for the Catholic account of the church and its teaching authority.
- Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches Read selectively to see how Protestant confessions state essentials.
- Romans 14:1 Receive him that is weak in the faith.
- Ephesians 4:15 Speaking the truth in love.
- 1 Corinthians 1:10 That there be no divisions among you.