Yet in his theology, too, this was the goal, and it was especially in the course of theological disputation that he was compelled to examine and defend, but also to refine and develop, his view both of grace and of the means of grace.Typically I feel, that writing and disputing any idea, or theology, is only seen as functioning within a discipline as solely examining and defending what both parties believe. However, Dr. Pelikan's other point needs to be heard as well; a healthy debate should refine and develop all the sides of the debate. This can be seen in Augustine's writings, as Dr. Pelikan shows in his book.
J. Gresham Machen gave a series of addresses on June 17, 1932 on different aspects of Christian Scholarship in London. All three addresses are republished in J. Gresham Machen Selected Shorter Writings. In Dr. Machen's lecture titled, "Christian Scholarship and the Defense of the Faith", Machen presents a case that until the Lord returns the church is to be militant between both Advents in order to survive. The whole lecture is worth reading along with Dr. Darryl G. Hart's lectures on Machen's life. Hear particularly the last lecture (Assessing Machen) from 33:00-40:10 in the audio to hear Dr. Hart read this quote and further develop this point. On pages 148-149 Dr. Machen says:
... But men tell us that instead of engaging in controversy about doctrine, we ought to seek the power of the living Holy Spirit. A few years ago we had in America, as I suppose you had here, a celebration of the anniversary of Pentecost. At that time, our Presbyterian church was engaged in a conflict, the gist of which concerned the question of the truth of the Bible. Was the church going to insist, or was it not going to insist, that its ministers should believe that the Bible is true? At that time of decision, and almost, it seemed, as though to evade the issue, many sermons were preached on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Do you think that those sermons, if they really were preached in that way, were approved by him with whom the dealt? I fear not, my friends. A man can hardly receive the power of the Holy Spirit if he seeks to evade the question whether the blessed book that the Spirit has given us is true or false.
Again, men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we con preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice, we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book almost from beginning to end. Some years ago I was in a company of teachers of the Bible in the colleges and other educational institutions of America. One of the most eminent theological professors in the country made an address. In it he admitted that there are unfortunate controversies about doctrine in the epistles of Paul; but, said he in effect, the real essence of Paul's teaching is found in the hymn to Christian love in the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and we can avoid controversy today if we only devote the chief attention to that inspiring hymn. In reply, I am bound to say that the example was singularly ill-chosen. That hymn to Christian love is in the midst of a great polemic passage; it would never have been written if Paul had been opposed to controversy with error in the church. It was because his soul was stirred within him by a wrong use of the spiritual gifts that he was able to write that glorious hymn. So it is always in the church. Every really great Christian utterance, it may almost be said, is born in controversy. It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the really great heights in the celebration of truth. ...Another great example that can be read a bit earlier in Dr. Machen's life is his last address to Princeton Theological Seminary students before he left that school in 1929 to start Westminster Theological Seminary in the fall of that very same year. That address is titled "The Good Fight of Faith."
Dr. Machen's point is that we need to recognize that true peace within the visible church always involves battle, because we are still saints in need of a Savior. Doctrinal conflicts between Brothers and Sisters help the entire church grow and they help the wolves stay out of the church, because of our union with Christ. All other unions will fall apart as long as they based on something other than Christ.
