Assuming others might know something I don’t, and being open to learning from them, makes perfect sense; I don’t know everything about anything, so I can potentially learn something from everyone I meet.
But there are certain people with whom I should avoid engaging in prolonged or repeated discussions, those who fail to think in a certain way. Paul refers to perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and exhorts us to withdraw from such folk. (1Ti 6:3-5)
Evidently, there’s a certain kind of attitude in debate that’s perverted, unhealthy, irrational, twisting and corrupting the purpose of debate. When a person isn’t thinking clearly, having lied to themselves so often that they’ve seared their own conscience (1Ti 4:2), there isn’t any way to reach them with facts and evidence, so we must have some other purpose in engaging them in conversation, or we’ll be be frustrated and irritated. (Pr 29:9)
There’s a difference between being ignorant, and being self-deceived. I tend to make the mistake of thinking that if people just have enough evidence then they’ll change their minds. The longer I live, the more I think this is a rarity. Most people aren’t open to learning and changing their minds about anything; they’re just in the debate to exalt themselves by putting others in the wrong, but this isn’t the purpose of debate.
Healthy debate can only occur among those who are seeking truth, and it’s extremely beneficial, iron sharpening iron. Outside that unique context, we need to set expectations reasonably, and persist only to improve our own understanding, enhancing our ability to give an answer to those who ask sincerely (1Pe 3:15), not expecting to help those who aren’t.
I think one way to try to determine what sort of person we’re debating is to look carefully at their reasoning, their ability and willingness to respond to evidence. Those who simply ignore evidence and contradict claims aren’t reasoning or thinking at all. Most people haven’t yet learned how to think properly; it’s a skill which must be developed and honed.
Tim,
Peverse disputings per Romans 1:29-32, just the first part of the exhortation: Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
The word [debate] is here aligned with those who practice homosexuality or sodomy. So, this type of [debate] is not healthy for a Christian.
stephen