It was not unnatural that strongly marked varieties of character and opinion should appear in the living Apostolic Church, for the proverb many men, many minds had its application there as elsewhere.<\/p>\n
1. Party-spirit (, ), which was stimulated by the free institutions of the Hellenic city-States, soon invaded the equally democratic Christian communities. The result was a species of religious warfare which no doubt afforded a certain evidence of the vitality of the primitive faith; but the last thing which St. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas desired was that they should be constituted leaders of rival sects and acclaimed by eager partisans. In his First Letter to the Corinthian church St. Paul gravely rebukes a divisive, quarrelsome spirit, and endeavours to divert the strong currents of religious life into better channels (1Co 1:10-13).<\/p>\n
2. But St. Paul himself was compelled, like Jeremiah (Jer 15:10), to be a man of strife. Against Jews and Judaizers he had to fight the battle of spiritual freedom. His gospel inevitably created antagonisms wherever he preached it. Fightings () without as well as fears within were his appointed lot (2Co 7:5). In things indifferent he was the most yielding of men (1Co 9:19-22), but on matters of principle he would not give place to any one for an hour (Gal 2:5). He withstood even St. Peter to the face (Gal 2:11). And, when he had largely succeeded in exorcizing the legal spirit from the Church, he was obliged, in his old age, to sharpen his weapons once more, and begin an entirely new battle with an incipient Gnosticism (see Colossians).<\/p>\n
3. Whilst St. Paul was a keen controversialist, he never wrote a letter that did not contain the word peace. He pleaded with his fellow-workers (e.g. Euodia and Syntyche, Php 4:2; cf. Rom 12:16; Rom 15:5, 2Co 13:11) to be of one mind; and he urged the Christians of Rome to be at peace, if possible, with all men (Rom 12:18). His dispute with Barnabas is described as a , a sharp contention (Act 15:39). Human frailty mingled in both these apostles with what was very noble and honourable. Their quarrel was one of which only good men were capable. It was essentially a conflict of ideals, a strife between justice on the one hand and generosity on the other. , (Chrysostom, Hom. in Acta Apost. xxxiv.).<\/p>\n
4. The infection of the sub-Apostolic Church by the subtleties of the full-blown Gnostic system led to a widespread, barren warfare of words (, 1Ti 6:4), far removed from the realities of the Christian conflict with sin. This condition of things is reflected in the Pastoral Letters, which charge all believers that they strive not about words, to no profit (2Ti 2:14). Empty discussions merely engendered strifes (, 2Ti 2:23), and the bond-servant of Christ must not strive ( , 2Ti 2:24).<\/p>\n
5. There is, however, an altogether different kind of strife, which at once commends itself to the Christian heart and conscience. St. Paul indicates its nature by two words of the arena- and , with their compounds. To strive for the incorruptible crown (1Co 9:25); to labour and strive as a servant of God, cheered by a sense of His own mighty working in us (Col 1:29); to invite others to strive with us in their prayers (Rom 15:30); and, again, to strive for Christs sake in the spirit of a soldier or an athlete, and to do it lawfully (2Ti 2:5); to strive, in spiritual fellowship with others, for the faith of the gospel (Php 1:27)-all this seems to the Apostle to be of the very essence of the Christian life. In that life, as the writer to the Hebrews indicates (Heb 12:4), men may at last have to resist unto blood, striving against (antagonizing) sin.<\/p>\n
James Strahan.<\/p>\n
In the early Church it was considered a privilege to make oblations to the Church, and a sort of lesser excommunication to be debarred from doing so. The officers would not receive the offerings of persons that were at enmity or variance with their brethren, neither at the altar nor into the treasury. This custom was grounded upon the rule of our Lord (Mat 5:23). Further, all open enmity and quarrelling, strife, envy, and contention, were punished with excommunication, as tendencies towards, and lower degrees of, murder. See Bingham, Christ. Antiq. bk. 16, ch. 10, 17.<\/p>\n
General references<\/p>\n
Gen 13:8<\/span>; Gen 45:24<\/span>; Deu 1:12<\/span>; Psa 31:20<\/span>; Psa 55:9<\/span>; Psa 80:6<\/span>; Pro 3:30<\/span>; Pro 6:12-14<\/span>; Pro 6:16-19<\/span>; Pro 10:12<\/span>; Pro 13:10<\/span>; Pro 15:18<\/span>; Pro 16:28<\/span>; Pro 17:1<\/span>; Pro 17:14<\/span>; Pro 17:19<\/span>; Pro 18:6<\/span>; Pro 18:19<\/span>; Pro 19:13<\/span>; Pro 20:3<\/span>; Pro 21:19<\/span>; Pro 22:10<\/span>; Pro 23:29-30<\/span>; Pro 25:8<\/span>; Pro 25:24<\/span>; Pro 26:17<\/span>; Pro 26:20-21<\/span>; Pro 27:15<\/span>; Pro 28:25<\/span>; Pro 29:22<\/span>; Pro 30:33<\/span>; Isa 41:11-12<\/span>; Isa 58:4<\/span>; Hab 1:3<\/span>; Mat 5:25<\/span>; Mat 5:39-41<\/span>; Mat 10:34-36<\/span>; Mat 12:25<\/span>; Mat 18:15-17<\/span>; Mar 3:24-25<\/span>; Luk 11:17<\/span>; Luk 12:51-53<\/span>; Luk 12:58-59<\/span>; Rom 2:8<\/span>; Rom 12:18<\/span>; Rom 13:13<\/span>; Rom 14:1<\/span>; Rom 14:19<\/span>; Rom 14:21<\/span>; Rom 16:17-18<\/span>; 1Co 1:10-13<\/span>; 1Co 3:1<\/span>; 1Co 3:3-4<\/span>; 1Co 4:6-7<\/span>; 1Co 6:1-7<\/span>; 1Co 11:16-19<\/span>; 2Co 12:20<\/span>; Gal 5:10<\/span>; Gal 5:15<\/span>; Gal 5:19-21<\/span>; Phi 1:15-16<\/span>; Phi 2:3<\/span>; Phi 2:14-15<\/span>; 1Ti 1:5-7<\/span>; 1Ti 2:8<\/span>; 1Ti 3:2-3<\/span>; 1Ti 6:3-5<\/span>; 1Ti 6:20-21<\/span>; 2Ti 2:14<\/span>; 2Ti 2:23-25<\/span>; Tit 3:1-3<\/span>; Tit 3:9<\/span>; Jas 3:14-16<\/span>; Jas 4:1-2<\/span> Anger<\/span>; Envy<\/span>; Jealousy<\/span>; Malice<\/span> <\/p>\n \n Instances of:<\/p>\n \n – <\/strong>Between Abraham and Lot’s herdmen<\/p>\n Gen 13:6-7<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Abimelech’s strife<\/p>\n Gen 21:25<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Isaac’s and those of Gerar<\/p>\n Gen 26:20-22<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Laban and Jacob<\/p>\n Gen 31:36<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Israelites’ strife<\/p>\n Deu 1:12<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Jephthah and his brethren<\/p>\n Jdg 11:2<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Ephraimites’ strife<\/p>\n Jdg 12:1-6<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Israel and Judah, about David<\/p>\n 2Sa 19:41-43<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between disciples, over who might be greatest<\/p>\n Mar 9:34<\/span>; Luk 22:24<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Jews, concerning Jesus<\/p>\n Joh 10:19<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Christians at Antioch, about circumcision<\/p>\n Act 15:2<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Paul and Barnabas, about Mark<\/p>\n Act 15:38-39<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Pharisees and Sadducees, concerning the resurrection<\/p>\n Act 23:7-10<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n – <\/strong>Between Corinthians<\/p>\n 1Co 1:11-12<\/span>; 1Co 6:6<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n “strife, contention,” is the expression of “enmity,” Rom 1:29<\/span>, RV, “strife” (AV, “debate”); Rom 13:13<\/span>; 1Co 1:11<\/span>, “contentions” (RV and AV); 1Co 3:3<\/span>; 2Co 12:20<\/span>, RV, “strife” (AV, “debates”); Gal 5:20<\/span>, RV, “strife” (AV, “variance”); Phi 1:15<\/span>; 1Ti 6:4<\/span>; Tit 3:9<\/span>, RV, “strifes” (AV, “contentions”). See CONTENTION, A, No. 1. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n see FACTION. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n “strifes,” Heb 6:16<\/span>, AV: see DISPUTE, A, No. 4. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n “strifes,” 2Ti 2:23<\/span>, see FIGHTING, A. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n “strife,” Luk 22:24<\/span>, AV: see CONTENTION, A, No. 3. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n “strife of words,” 1Ti 6:4<\/span>, see DISPUTE, A, No. 2. <\/p>\n Strife It was not unnatural that strongly marked varieties of character and opinion should appear in the living Apostolic Church, for the proverb many men, many minds had its application there as elsewhere. 1. Party-spirit (, ), which was stimulated by the free institutions of the Hellenic city-States, soon invaded the equally democratic Christian communities. … Continue reading “Strife”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encyclopedic-dictionary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/dictionaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Strife<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"