There is something going on in Christian forums and comment threads these days that I understand but don’t want to believe.

Having spent the better part of a year hanging out at one forum in particular - Theologica - and the blog closely connected with it – Parchment & Pen – I keep witnessing this something with regularity. And while I understand what drives and sustains it, I just don’t want to believe it to be true.

Forums thrive on discussions and exchange of information on whatever subject is in view at the moment. These subjects range from doctrinal positions to understanding particular verses or passages to defending one’s theological tradition. And what keeps happening is this:

People are more interested in stating their own opinions, observations, and beliefs than discovering what might be the truth – or at least closer to the truth – about an issue.

Whether in a forum or a comment thread, people go back and forth espousing what they think things mean or what they believe a passage to say or what they understand as the truth. Not only do such people not do research for themselves, they also are uninterested in listening to someone else who either does do research or is a more knowledgeable person in the field.

At Theologica, for example, Marv is quite knowledgeable of and proficient with New Testament Greek. When others make unsubstantiated or just plain wrong claims about what a passage is or isn’t saying, Marv is usually there to help any and all understand things better. I always look forward to his comments.

But not everyone wants to hear him or consider what he says. There are some – thankfully – who do listen and consider what he says. But many, many others act as though it’s just Marv’s opinion and therefore can be ignored. Or they consider their own grasp of the language – usually via Vine’s or Strong’s – to be equal to his or even superior. So they don’t listen.

There are some Reformed people afoot at Theologica, too, who are quite knowledgeable about the Reformed tradition and its doctrines. But their understanding of their own belief system is often ignored because a critic has his or her own understanding of what Calvinism is really about and what Calvinists really believe.

In a word, what seems to be lacking is humility. By humility I do not mean some smarmy self-deprecation meant to demonstrate just how humble they truly are. I mean knowing who they are and who they are not, what they know and what they don’t know.

Teachability is symptomatic of humility. When someone is willing to listen to someone else who knows more or understands more, and will go so far as to reconsider their own position, humility is present.

But I don’t find that much.

And I don’t want to believe that people want to maintain and puff up their own ignorance because, well, it’s their ignorance and not something that someone else told them. It’s as though they would rather be wrong and original than right and indebted to someone else.

This kind of thinking is a death knell for growth and maturity. It pretty much guarantees that people will remain at their present level of understanding – or ignorance – as long as they refuse to listen or allow that they might not know as much as they think.

It does not bode well for them individually or for the church in general. God help us all.



Namárië.