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SubscribeYou have not converted a man because you have silenced him.
- John Morley
Tabula Plena
A PLACE TO PUT WHAT WON’T FIT IN MY HEAD
You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.
- John Morley
Hey Rich, good to see you here and thanks for the comment. I think I know what verse you're talking about, but would you mind posting it (I can't seem to find it right now)? I definitely agree that we are Biblically mandated to speak God's truth in such a way that all opposition to God's authority would shut their mouths, but I don't think that's what the force of this quote is. I think Morely is talking more about how argumentation in general is and should be carried out, saying that just because you have managed to overwhelm someone with a barrage of words, or even a really good argument, doesn't mean that you have won his heart. And I agree with this. I think it's true for discussions with anyone, Christian or non-Christian. I think we can tend to assume that making someone either stop talking or look foolish talking is equivalent to "winning" an argument. But I think that the Bible teaches us to win hearts and not just arguments (both among Christians and unbelievers), and doing this takes more than rhetorical prowess.
But it's still a Biblically mandated thing to do.
You know, Joel. When you asked this, I started wondering where that verse was. I definitely had Eph. 5:11 in mind, but I think 1 Peter 2:15 was the verse I was thinking of, though I remembered it somewhat differently. Obviously, conversion is one of the primary aims of argument. However, it was not Jesus' primary aim in his rhetoric against the Saducees and Pharisees. It is not the goal for Titus and his elders (Tit. 1:11). Also, though argumentation is not the means discussed in 1 Pet. 2:15, the primary goal of a holy life with regard to the unconverted is not conversion, but rather to shut their mouths. A sermon I heard on Eph. 5:11 (from my pastor when I lived in Blacksburg, VA) was particularly influential to me (the link is here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=122... It may be stated that Ps. 63:11, Acts 13:10, Rom. 3:19, etc. all refer primarily or specifically to an eschatological event, but if so, this only proves the point that one of the primary desires that we who love God and want him to be glorified is that the mouths of the wicked should be stopped, whether or not these same wicked are redeemed.
I agree that winning hearts is an aim. Speaking the truth in love may not, however, convert the one with whom we argue (though it may be an instrument in God's hand for them or someone listening in or hearing about it second-hand). Nonetheless, it's not the primary goal in argumentation (Paul even refuses to use argumentation as a means of conversion in some cases, 1 Cor. 1-2). Prov. 26:5 and the traditional verse about being ready to give a reason… both confirm alternate purposes in argumentation.