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Discussing Theological Differences

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Cor. 1:10)
My son and I were in a discussion over an apparent difference when he said something like this: “When talking across a theological divide, it is difficult to communicate when we hear what is said with our own definitions while the person who is speaking is using his definitions.”

We both realized the truth of this. What is the solution?

In normal serious communication, the burden is on the communicator. If he wants to be understood, he will try to speak with the definitions of his hearers. That is true for all nations except America. Americans expect everyone to speak and hear in English. If we really want others to understand our message, we must either learn their language or get an interpreter. If I were an interpreter, I would seek for words that are identical, or very close, to the meaning of the words being translated.

Not so in theological dialogue. Each person wants to use the word with his own definition and wants to hear with his own definition. This is not only a cause of misunderstanding, it is a cause of willful misunderstanding.

However, if I were willing to use the hearer’s definition of my word grace in order to be understood, it would not be the word grace. If I used grace, he would hear it with his own definition and therefore would think I was saying something that I was not saying.

In order to use the word grace, I must come up with a common definition or use a word that means what I am saying.

Sometimes the same word can have very different meanings in the same language. When Lucy was in the wardrobe, C.S. Lewis wrote, “It was almost quite dark.” That did not make sense to me. In American English, quite means almost. To me he was saying “almost almost.” In British English, quite means completely.

In theological dialogue, neither side wants to give up the word grace, because it is the single biblical word that provides the righteousness that comes from God (and every other need we have which we cannot provide ourselves). When the word is used this way in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, people are justified.

It is a common definition. People are saved by this common definition of the word. If we talked with each other with this common definition, there would be “unity in mind and thought.”

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