The Dialectic and Romans 1: 28-29

In Jesus Christ there are no shades of grey, no double mindedness,
only absolutes. The dialectic
mind, on the other hand, operates on shades of grey and doublemindedness.

"But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven,
neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be
yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation." James 5: 12

But the dialectic mind does not believe in the absolute truth of the Word of God. It wants to argue
against that absolute truth, and tries to compromise it in some way - by a dialogue with those who are presenting the truth.

The dialectic mind starts from a position that there are no
absolute truths or absolute morals. It is a double minded mind, and
accepts yea and nay about doctrines taught in the scripture. Those who
use dialectic
arguments against the facts of scripture are always looking for
loopholes, shades
of grey, contradictions and verses where the meanings and implications
are not spelled out in great detail to hit at with their rejection of
the absolute.

Those who operate with the dialectic - which is now almost everyone in our culture -
try to justify themselves before men (Luke 16: 1).

The dialectic as an argument, a way of changing the absolute truth
that one's opponent holds to, historically has come out of a system of
thought which teaches that there is no God.. It comes out of Hegel
and Marx. But before Hegel and Marx it came out of the second beast of
Revelation 13: 11, who has two horns like a lamb but speaks as a
dragon, and from the dragon himself whose use of the dialectic was on
Eve in Genesis 3 to fix her obedience to the absolute authority of God over her.

Dialectic thinking goes along with the loss of spiritual discernment in the churches. The dialectic
mind is built upon the mind of natural man. When the churches lose sound doctrine more and more of their members remain in the state of the natural man. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' I Corinthians 2: 14

And in this process of leavening, those in the churches have a love of their man made theologies and have a relationship of affection with the theologies and with their churches, but they fail to develop a love of the truth.
As Paul says in II Timothy 3: 8 they resist the truth. They resist the truth in large part because it contradicts what they have been taught in the churches.

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Faith is the basis for coming to the knowledge of the truth, and for having a love of the truth.
We begin to come to the knowledge of the truth and to have a love of the truth by having faith that the Word of God is truth, and that Jesus Christ is, among other things, The Truth (John 14: 6).

Romans 1: 28-29, Debate As Expression of A Reprobate Mind
Bernard Pyron

http://studybible.info/Geneva/Romans

Geneva Bible Romans 1: 28-29:

"For as they regarded not to acknowledge God, euen so God deliuered them vp vnto a reprobate minde, to doe those things which are not conuenient, 29 Being full of all vnrighteousnesse, fornication, wickednes, couetousnes, maliciousnes, full of enuie, of murther, of debate, of deceit, taking all things in the euill part, whisperers, "

Tyndale Bible Romans 1: 28-29:

http://alleluya.com/WTNT/romans_1.html

The Tyndale Bible for Romans 1: 28-29 in modern English spelling says:
"And as it seemed not good unto them to be aknown of God, even so God delivered them up unto a leawde mind, that they should do those things which were not comely, being full of all unrighteous doing, of fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, evil conditioned whisperers.."

King James Version for Romans 1: 28-29:
28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,"

But for Romans 1: 28-29 the New International Version says "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips.."

The Greek word eris, Strong's number 2054, is translated in the NIV as strife, not as debate. Strong's number 2054 is said to mean "a quarrel, by implicating wrangling - contention, debate, strife, variance." Note that the first definitions of eris are "a quarrel, by implicating wrangling."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate

"Debate is contention in argument; dispute, controversy; discussion.."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/debating

"Middle English debaten, from Old French debatre : de-, de- + battre, to beat; see batter."

In other places of the New Testament, Paul teaches that believers should not be contentious, supporting the doctrine of the Tyndale, Geneva and King James versions saying that debate is an expression of the reporbate mind. Except that one in Christ may be called to defend the truth against false doctrines, as in Acts 15: 1-2. There Paul and Barnabas made "no small dissension and disputation with them," the Pharisees who had joined the Jerusalem Christian community but taught that Christians must be circumcised and keep the law (ceremonial) of Moses. Luke uses the Greek words stasis and suzetesis, rather than eris.

Paul in I Corinthians 1: 10-11 says "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you." Contentious is from eris.

I Corinthians 11: 16 says "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."

II Corinthians 12: 20 says "For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:"

Here the Greek word eris is translated as debates and eritheia is translated as strifes. Again, a debate can be strife or contention by words.

Paul uses a different Greek word in II Timothy 2: 23, mache, "But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes."

And in I Timothy 6: 3-4 he uses an interesting Greek word, logomachia, "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings."

This is a significant text, because what Paul is saying is that those who get off into doctrines that were not taught by Christ and the Apostles tend to get into logomachia, or strifes of words." Lets see what Strong's says about logomachia.

Logomachia is number 3055 in Strong's and is said to mean "disputations, strife of words." One might translate logomachia as "word fights."