In light of my recent post on dealing with controversy, I thought this article from Tim Keller was worth sharing.
Polemic
a: an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another
b: the art or practice of disputation or controversy —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction
An Excerpt:
Archibald Alexander, the first faculty member at Princeton Theological Seminary, was given the title “professor of didactic and polemic theology.” That seems a bit startling to us, because the term polemical in our day has an almost purely negative connotation. However, in the original plan of Princeton seminary, polemical theology was seen as a discipline separate from the positive exposition of systematic theology.
Alexander taught this as a distinct course that distinguished orthodoxy from all opposing views. If you look at the list of the subjects he covers, it is striking how much effort was given to help students discern and refute theological error. It is also striking that Alexander included in his course a lecture on “the evils of theological controversy.” In other words, he was concerned about two opposite errors—either refraining from polemics altogether or conducting it in an ungodly manner.
Read the rest of Gospel Polemics: Part 1 at The Gospel Coalition
