Tag Archive: arguments

Anger

I write this post to myself. I was once a very angry man. But I believed I now had anger under control. More recently, I’m not so sure. Manipulative people and manipulative institutions both deliberately goad the anger of those they want to control–anger is a great motivator. The media, celebrities, politicians, organizations and advertisers do the same thing. Other people, though, habitually but unconsciously manipulate by continually rehearsing their angry reveries for others to hear, wishing either to bring their hearers into their angry world or to intimidate by fear of what they might do in anger. And I am weak to all of these ploys. So I present the following study, which consists only of quotations from Scripture about human anger, its causes and antidote.

The Divisive, Argumentative Teachers in Chapter 6 of First Timothy

1 Timothy 6 also warns about people who create arguments in order to exploit them for financial gain and to build their own authority. This warning is presented in the context of teaching about respect for human authority and authority in the Church.

The “Heretick” in Titus 3

Titus 3:10 instructs whenever a divisive person approaches ME and tries to start an argument, I am to warn them twice about their behavior and then excuse myself. Thereafter I should ignore them, until they repent of their argumentativeness. It is a simple instruction by which I can avoid being influenced by divisiveness. It is not an instruction to the Church or the State to burn heretics.

The Underlying Cause of Division

The underlying cause of all of the divisions in the Church is “sin:” our determination to ignore God and the needs of others to have our own way. This leads to greed, anger, envy, jealousy, gossip, slander, strife, unforgiveness, bitterness and even war–all of which perpetuate division.