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Judgment vs JudgmentalismAs a philosopher, I appreciate the value of defining terms, so I will start out by stating what I mean by judgment, judgmentalism, and judgmentalist (defining terms is particularly important here since I am coining two terms; ‘judgmentalism’ and ‘judgmentalist’). In this blog entry, when I refer to judge, judging, or judgment I mean a conclusion regarding a particular subject. Judgmentalism is the habitual act or lifestyle of making uncritical ‘snap’ judgments regarding issues regardless of whether those judgments are accurate or not. Judgmentalism also tends to go farther than a mere judgment on a particular issue to a judgment regarding a person or group as a whole. This is done regardless of any possible merits elsewhere within such a group or individual. A judgmentalist is someone who is practicing judgmentalism. Now everyone throughout life is required to make judgments, both minor and significant. Questions such as: Is this a good place to eat? Do I need to put gas in my car? What is the best college to attend (either for self or for children)? Should I get married and is he or she the one? For most people though, even minor judgments do not come up very often. This is different, however, with apologists. Judgments are required on a frequent basis when doing apologetics. Judgments can range from ‘is this a valid argument?’ or ‘does this supporting evidence stack up?’ to ‘is the doctrine of this person or group representative of Orthodox Christianity?’ One of the ‘occupational hazards’ of being an apologist is the temptation to move from making judgments to judgmentalism. This is especially the case with evangelical Christianity. There are certain issues which have moved in the Church from being important periphery issues to becoming a type of unofficial doctrine. Take prayer in public schools for example. A significant number of evangelicals believe that banning prayer from public schools is wrong. Not only that, but it seems that many either believe or act as if believing such a ban on prayer is wrong is necessary for Christian Orthodoxy. There are a great many issues for which this seems to be the case. For instance issues such as gays in the military, stem cell research, cloning, theistic evolution, age of the earth, support of a particular political party, and euthanasia. Many Christians who have a solid basic Orthodoxy may disagree with the rest of evangelical Christianity on one or more of these issues. Judgmentalism occurs when an individual fails to consider the possible merits of an actual argument. This is when the judgmentalist ceases to critically examine arguments and makes a snap judgment. This snap judgment can be based on the sort of unofficial canon mentioned above or an emotional reaction. This happens in apologetics even though apologists make an effort to be fair in evaluating every idea. I have experienced this on a few occasions where an apologetic ‘doctrine’ has been pushed on me as truth without explanation. The implication was that if I didn’t adhere to a particular idea then there would be questions about my orthodoxy. I have even fallen into this on at least one occasion that I can recall. I think that this is such a particularly pernicious among apologists because not only do we need to make judgments on a regular basis, but we need to be comfortable and confident making them. This attracts a particular type of individual who has these attributes. Then as one studies and has victories in the realm of apologetics, one becomes ever more confident. If we are not careful, this confidence can become arrogance as we start to feel that we are experts and authorities in the realm of apologetics. Now, it is my sincere hope that when prominent apologists around the country start to think about Gretchen’s reversal regarding the ‘local churches’ that they do not fall into judgmentalism. It is important for the apologetics community as a whole to stay true to our roots and engage in fair evaluation. There is no need to treat Gretchen’s previously published material as somehow being doctrinal or part of a litmus for true Christian faith. It is time for other apologists to follow her lead and re-evaluate the ‘Local Church.’ If others agree, then great. If not, then so be it. The point is to give Gretchen’s new evaluation and new data a fair hearing before making a judgment. To do any less would be to fall into judgmentalism. By Bruce Paolozzi at Mar 11 2007 - 12:41pm | Bruce Paolozzi's blog | login or register to post comments
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Jimmy Choo popularJimmy Choo popular trend,many ladies love this brand very much.Jimmy Choo Shoes are promotion now.You will find the bestJimmy Choos here,so cheap,hurry up. Let's expand our horizons!Thank you, Bruce, for your thoughtful observations. When local church leaders first approached Hank & me a few years ago about revisiting this issue, my first reaction was, I am embarrassed to say, far more "judgmental" than "judging." I thought to myself, "I've been there, done that. It was good enough in the 1970s, why do it again?" Thank the Lord that He provoked my spirit & enabled me to keep my mouth shut until I could remember Paul's words in 1 Corinthians -- "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." I don't think Paul exempted us from that attitude toward cultists. Hank, Elliot Miller, & I re-examined the materials available to Bob, Walter Martin, & me in the 1970s. But even more importantly, we carefully examined a host of other material that was not available to us at the time, especially much material that was composed specifically in response to criticism & in explanation of some of the ambiguous, special-vocabulary, other-cultured material from Nee & Lee. Equally important was our direct & extensive dialog with the leadership. An added bonus was the social interaction that accompanied our meetings & served to help both sides see each other as real people, not just attackers or targets. The result of that new study was our confident conclusion that the core theology of the local churches (including Nee & Lee) is well within essential orthodoxy. For those of my colleagues who are so concerned that I have lost my apologetic accuracy, I strongly urge you to actually take the additional steps of further research & direct dialog. Until you are willing to do so, continuing to repeat conclusions based on the limited foundations of the past carries as much weight as my initial -- & unbiblical -- reaction. I welcome judging -- as you have carefully defined it. I pray that we would all avoid judgmentalism & abandon the role of judgmentalists. Blessings in Christ, |
What is the Mars Hill Club?The Mars Hill Club is a group of Christians who meet to discuss various issues that pertain to the Christian faith. While the meetings are run and moderated by Christians, everyone of any faith or persuasion is invited to come and join in the discussions. No questions are refused or ignored. Answers In ActionRecent blog posts
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