You have facts, i have facts, what do we do? Do we continue to argue and argue? Why can't we put those facts side by side, and discuss objectively?
We can gain a lot through meaningful discussion, while arguments will leave us foolish and empty. You cannot force your opinion on others, you just have to accept the fact that, you do not everything on the face of the earth. 1 corithian 13:9 " for we know in part, and we prophesy in part". The truth is that when you begin to have this feeling that you know more than everybody, it is a sign that you still have a lot to learn. A man of knowledge will keep calm and humble. Empty barrels make the loudest noise. Those who are excessively loud are suffering from one form of disorder or another. Show me a man that is generally argumentative, and i will show you a man that is deficient of knowledge and intelligent.
Lastly, discussion is an expresion of knowledge, argument is a manifestation of ignorance. God bless you. God2man

[color=#990000][/color] i agree with you totally. I dont know if it is just because we are africans or just the frustration in the country, we dont seem to be able to have a decent and intelligent discourse without without abuses and name calling.

What we fail to realise is that at its best, human revelation is just another opinion of the truth.
You see, we are all made in Gods image. if all the world's population each have a complete revelation of God, what each of us have is 1\6billion of the total knowledge of God. So no one is totally right.

We should learn to tolerate others opinions even if we dont agree with them. as i said in another post; the essence of a discourse is to find out what is right and not to establish that you are right.

@God2man

1 .It is a sign of emptiness within. If you know truth , you will be confident ,you don't have to harass or attack others. It's a sign of frustration knowing you can't prove anything .

2 Timothy 2:24-25
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

It's also a sign of lacking Gods spirit . The truth can only be communicated in love. one doubt if such people know Jesus Christ . But when discussion goes beyond civic thing into display of evil vices, I insults etc. God is not there.

If you know the holy spirit . He organizes your words and thoughts.

Jude 1:18-21
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

@ God2man and joagbaje,

I have followed both of you closely and carefully on this forum. Personally, I don't just read people's response but I also follow their maturity. Many people will attack and attempt to derail a good thread without any meaningful contribution,you say am wrong but you cannot suggest a better solution. Also,it is amazing the way so called Christians will throw insult and abusive words at each other and I begin to wonder the kind of Christians some churches are producing, to the point that they curse and threatens with evil words.

I think am going too far. Anyway, God bless you God2man and joagbaje. We may disagree on some issues but our maturity and presentations matter a lot. This is what this forum is all about, to learn more.

So, people should not have debates in oder to avoid arguments? Seun might as well close this forum and open religious temples for each religion, then. Can you tell us all here how to have an "objective" theological discussions in here when each person has his/her own deep-seated believes, convictions and perceived "facts", as you put it? How do you do that without ending up with arguments?

God2man:

You have facts, i have facts, what do we do? Do we continue to argue and argue? Why can't we put those facts side by side, and discuss objectively?
We can gain a lot through meaningful discussion, while arguments will leave us foolish and empty. You cannot force your opinion on others, you just have to accept the fact that, you do not everything on the face of the earth. 1 corithian 13:9 " for we know in part, and we prophesy in part". The truth is that when you begin to have this feeling that you know more than everybody, it is a sign that you still have a lot to learn. A man of knowledge will keep calm and humble. Empty barrels make the loudest noise. Those who are excessively loud are suffering from one form of disorder or another.  Show me a man that is generally argumentative, and i will show you a man that is deficient of knowledge and intelligent.
Lastly, discussion is an expresion of knowledge, argument is a manifestation of ignorance. God bless you. God2man
 

That is a big weakness we have because we are too emotionally attached to our point of views in which we have invested so much of ourselves and we all feel threatened or under attack whenever those deeply held viewpoints are put under serious question or skepticism. We invest way too much emotions and sense of identity in theories propound by others that WE don't even know to be factual. We hear, we believe and we've bought a view. No individual attempt to scrutinize what we've bought from others. Monkey see, monkey accepts, monkey do.

yemi solar:

[color=#990000][/color] i agree with you totally. I dont know if it is just because we are africans or just the frustration in the country, we dont seem to be able to have a decent and intelligent discourse without without abuses and name calling.   

I agree totally.

yemi solar:

What we fail to realise is that at its best, human revelation is just another opinion of the truth.
You see, we are all made in Gods image. if all the world's population  each have a complete revelation of God, what each of us have is 1\6billion of the total knowledge of God. So no one is totally right.   

Agreed. Unfortunately, for evangelically programmed religious folks, that is not an option. Their theological views must be the only truth because they feel that it comes straight from the only authority which is their God. And the "scientifically" reprogrammed but still running on religious programme atheists are not that far behind them with their views based on outdated scientific data. The irony of that is that the OP is a person of such conviction. A religious person(christian).

yemi solar:

We should learn to tolerate others opinions even if we dont agree with them. as i said in another post; the essence of a discourse is to find out what is right and not to establish that you are right.