Minding Your Ps and Qs

         Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. (II Timothy 2:14)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (I Peter 3:15)

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (II Peter 3:15)

This is amusing, because Peter was known for foot-in-mouth disease and for his emotional outbursts, and Paul, while capable of emotional outbursts, was known for his high-brow argumentation. Yet in today’s verse, Paul warned Timothy not to quarrel about words (which might be said to be integral to argumentation), and in I and II Peter 3:15, Peter wrote of giving rational arguments and that Paul’s doing so leads to brain strain.  They appear to have traded bodies for a moment or two.

What were the words being quarreled about? Inquiring minds want to know! I’m not asking for gossip. I consider words important and believe they should be defined and discussed carefully. In fact, it seems useful to me to look at the word logomachein, which is the transliterated Greek term translated “quarreling about words” in the verse above. According to the Strong’s Concordance, it refers to disputing with or about words in such a way that the issue is like a fire that has been lost behind the cloud of word-smoke. Another way to describe it is that the form of logic has become more the issue than the truth of what is claimed. They’re minding all their Ps and Qs (formal logic terms) but they may no longer be able to tell you what claim was made. They’re so invested in showing how well they can argue and/or how good a job they can do of making the opponent look like a fool or an idiot, that the meaning and matter of the question does not matter.  Being correct doesn’t matter. Winning does.

Some might prefer that Paul’s admonition simply be a command not to argue at all, but Paul couldn’t have done much of what he did without being allowed and able to argue. More importantly, Scripture is full of people arguing, sometimes even about specific words (e.g. “Who is my neighbor?”). Jesus argued. So the issue is with learning to argue in a way that has substance and which can produce an outcome that has value beyond raising your hands in victory.