In medieval England the crossbow dart, or bolt, used to kill or wound the enemy soldier was called a "quarrel". When, in the course of warfare, these deadly darts were exchanged back and forth across the battlefield with mortal intent, the enemy soldiers could be said to be "quarreling".

Quarreling, then as now, had no better goal than to destroy the opponent. The objective was not to educate, inform, edify, or otherwise assist the opposition to achieve a better understanding of righteousness. Destruction and ruination were the willful and purposeful end points.

This is why the New Testament use of the word "quarrel" in James 4:2 is the Greek word "to wage warfare", as in "to engage in combat by sword or arrow". It is the same word as used in Hebrews 11:34, Revelation 12:7, 17:14, 19:19.

Likewise, in 2Timothy 2:23 the word "quarrels" is from the root word "to fight". This word is also used in Acts 7:26 concerning the incident where Moses attempted to stop two Israelites from injuring each other during a fight (quarrel). Fighting (quarreling) is the activity where two people are attempting with purpose and will to injure one another, not for the good of the other, but for his ruination.

Therefore, when the Scriptures state, "But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels" (2Timothy 2:23), the quarrels that such "ignorant speculations" about God or His Word causes are warfare designed to injure the believer, not to edify.

How can the believer be inured with words? Those words that cause the hearer to replace good doctrine from the Bible with silly speculations about God, or foolish philosophies of life that are not explicitly commanded within God’s Word are injurious "quarrels". Those things that usurp God’s Word and cause the Christian to believe man’s precepts over God’s commands are the most serious ways in which God’s disciples can be inured. The goal of verbal quarreling is not the edification, the building up, of the Christian toward godliness and holiness, but the tearing down of the opponent in an attempt to ruin their faith.

"I will not discuss my beliefs with you, nor will I permit you to talk to me about my beliefs, because we disagree and therefore, it would just be quarreling which is forbidden by 2Timothy 2:24." This would be the perfect mechanism to avoid ever having your doctrine corrected by another believer or to avoid ever being rebuked for your unsound teaching, that is, it would be perfect if 2Timothy 2:24 actually did mean disagreements were quarrels.

Such a faulty interpretation of Scripture makes anyone a superman, removed beyond legitimate rebuke or confrontation. A person could continue on in their errors removed from all challenges, and even able to level charges of "quarreler" at any sincere Christian who attempts to invoke Matthew 18. In this way, the sinner becomes invincible and unapproachable. May God prevent us from abusing His Word in this unholy manner.

2Timothy 2:14-26 is often cited by those who wish to avoid discussions about difficult passages of Scripture, or more to the point, erroneous opinions they endorse concerning spiritual matters. They simply wish to label as "wrangling" or "quarrels" all rebukes, debates, Matthew 18 confrontations, or meaningful discussions which take issue with their unsound doctrine.

Oddly, when they invoke 2Timothy 2 they fail to notice some important instructions and critical definitions regarding who is truly the quarreler.

To summarize 2Timothy 2:14-18, "wrangling about words":

• refers to fighting to impose on others extra-biblical doctrines and precepts of men
• these extra-biblical doctrines (words) are useless and lead to the ruin of the hearers
• they are worldly and empty chatter
• these extra-biblical doctrines spread rapidly and destructively like gangrene
• and are espoused by men who have gone astray from the truth of God’s Word

Caution must be exercised by anyone accusing another brother or sister of "wrangling about words". You may be falsely accusing your sibling in Christ of spreading worldly doctrines, imposing on others the precepts of men, causing the faith of other Christians to be ruined, and of having strayed from the truth of God’s Word. These are serious charges and should not be used just to avoid legitimate discussions about the Scriptures.

Similarly, 2 Timothy 2:22-26 provides additional insight.

To summarize 2Timothy 2:22-26, regarding "quarrelers":

• quarrels are really about "foolish and ignorant speculations" about things the Bible does not discuss or make definitive conclusions
• quarrels are "refused" by actively correcting the false doctrines from God’s Word
• after being corrected from the pages of God’s Word, the one who quarrels in favor of ignorant and foolish speculations may be granted repentance by God
• those who repent of embracing foolish and ignorant speculations are said to have "come to their senses" and to have "escaped the snare of the devil" who held them "captive" to do his will.

After studying 2 Timothy 2:14-26 it should become clear that the quarreler is the one who having embraced foolish and ignorant extra-biblical precepts of men is arguing with those of the faith trying to convince them to leave the truth to follow the lie, to the ruin of the those who believe their lie. These men are not in their right senses and are doing the will of the devil.

It is the obligation of all righteous Christians to refute and rebuke these quarrelers, correcting their doctrines with the Word of God. Challenge them to leave their lies and come to their senses, leaving behind their unbiblical arguments and to escape the snare of the devil.

And to those who would cast upon another believer the title "quarreler" just to avoid being corrected by that believer, be fearful of leveling false accusations against your brother. Remember, the context of 2 Timothy 2:14-26 is found also in 2 Timothy 3:1-17; in the last days disobedient men (quarrelers) will come who are lovers of self and pleasure, who always seek to learn but are unable to find the truth, and who progress from bad to worse. Lean not on manmade precepts and books but instead immerse yourself in Scripture, which is inspired and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be equipped for every good work.

One simple means of identifying whether something is a "foolish and ignorant speculation" that leads to quarrels (injurious warfare) is to ascertain whether the speculative doctrine is associated with a master/teacher who founded the philosophy. In such cases the name of the master/teacher is almost inseparable from the name of the "new doctrine". This is because the "new" teaching does not originate from a Bible passage, but from the mind of the teaching’s founder.

When pressed for a biblical proof text regarding the speculative (and therefore foolish and ignorant) teaching of the master/teacher a disciple rarely quotes Bible verses that do actually show the philosophy to be true. More often, the disciple of "foolish and ignorant" speculative doctrines will state, "Read this man’s book, it explains the teaching better than I ever could." Appeals to the founder’s writings over appeals to correctly applied scripture should be a warning siren for all Christians. Contrast that approach to the study of legitimate doctrine, such as the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, where the only appeal a teacher can make is to the Scriptures in order to confirm the legitimacy of the teaching.

Edification, the building up and strengthening of each other’s faith, is the keystone of corporate worship according to 1 Corinthians 14. It is also the keystone of the reasons for spiritual gifts having been given to the church (see Ephesians 4:11-15).

Can we have disagreements and still attain to edification? Biblically the answer is, "yes". Indeed, edification comes in part because, as Proverbs 27:17 states, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." In other words, as two men wrestle together over the meaning of Bible passages, they learn from each other, even though this sharpening process can be painful.

Just as "quarreling" means to conduct combative warfare with the goal of destroying the opponent, edification carries the meaning of carefully adding to the other person for their benefit. Edification can take the form of a rebuke, a refute, an encouragement, an exhortation, an instruction, or a well chosen Bible verse. Even in rebuking someone, causing them sorrow to the point of repenting and casting off sin, edification is still a "building up" process in terms of adding to that person’s righteousness; again, for the benefit of the hearer.

Quarreling is focused on the ruination of the opponent. And it is that very definition which helps us to understand that quarreling is not the same thing as refuting, as in refuting poor doctrine (Titus 1:9). For the act of refuting poor doctrine is driven by the motivation of edifying the hearer and the church body.

In the same way, quarreling is not the same word as "debating"--as in the elders and apostles gathered in Jerusalem and debated whether the Law of Moses was valid for the Gentiles (Acts 15:2,7). Debating is a healthy way to bring together thought provoking evaluations of the Scripture in order to identify the truth and unify the church body.

Quarreling is not the same as "silencing"--as in silencing rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, and Judaizers (Titus 1:11). Silencing men who rebel against sound doctrine is a kindness both to the men (in the hope that they will repent) and is an edification to the entire body of Christ.

All these things: rebuking sinners, witnessing to the unsaved, refuting poor theology, debating issues of whether to obey certain laws, and silencing those who deceive true believers are all legitimate activities endorsed by God’s word. Quarreling (literally "fighting and warfare with words") is wrong because the focus is on ruining the opponent with the weapon of impure doctrine, causing injury by means of unbiblical precepts, and is not focused on edification.

Fighting and warfare with words are ways of stating that at least one participant has stopped trying to legitimately persuade the other of a truth for the good of the other (if that was ever their intent at all) and that he is seeking his own good at the expense of the injury of the other (such as a stronger place of leadership within the church, to have a building named after him, or perhaps just to have his own preference satisfied in determining the carpet color of the sanctuary). In warfare, there is no regard for helping the other person escape sin, become stronger in the faith, or drawing them closer to yourself and others. The entire point of warfare and quarrels is to divide and injure.

Many years ago a popular Christian seminar speaker inflicted upon the modern church an unfortunate doctrinal error called "not giving an evil report". Sadly, this seminar speaker found the expression "evil report" in the scriptures and made an unfounded leap of logic that in his mind equated "evil report" with "finding doctrinal errors". Convinced that finding fault in any way with any Christian was "giving an evil report", this speaker persuaded an entire generation of Christians that pointing out errors of doctrine or exposing sinful behavior was itself sinful. The aftermath of this poor instruction continues on in the church today where those who would expose sin and error are wrongly labeled "quarrelers".

Paul was not hog-tied by such misunderstandings of God’s Word. Paul freely rebuked many men in person, by letter, in public, and even during church services. Paul rebuked entire nationalities. Paul rebuked individuals. Paul rebuked the doctrine and conduct of church congregations. Paul was not shy about challenging the religious beliefs of a city in its own public square.

In all this disagreeing, debating, and arguing, Paul was not a quarreler. How is that possible? How could Paul not be labeled a quarreler when in every letter he wrote (except Philemon) he challenged and corrected the doctrines of the churches, at one point even calling a church "foolish" and "bewitched"?

Paul was not a quarreler because he was using the Word of God accurately. Oh yes, Paul rebuked doctrinal errors in public. And most certainly he named names in public and in writing. But in all of this, his arguments were always based on the Word, not on manmade precepts. In all of this he never set up human creeds over God’s scriptures. Paul did not argue against the truth, he argued for the truth for the benefit and edification of the hearers.

Paul calls us to be imitators of him as he imitated Christ. Christ did indeed debate with the Pharisees and scribes, even insulting them. Was Christ a quarreler? No, because He delivered the life saving truth, even at the expense of insulting men and offending their feelings.

When the truth is delivered with love, that is, with the intent to edify, restore, and save the hearers, then the one who delivers that truth is no quarreler, nor is he delivering an evil report. Once this reality is understood the church can finally begin once again implementing Romans 15:14, "And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another."

Let us imitate Paul and Christ. Let the church admonish one another, correcting each other in love. Rebuking as needed to restore one another to pure doctrine and righteous conduct. Stop wrongly accusing the brethren of "quarreling", a word reserved for those who are the servants of Satan having strayed from the truth of Scripture and are teaching foolish extra-biblical speculations, ignorant of the Scriptures.

Insisting that Christians adhere to the precepts of men and to unsound doctrine that is based not on concrete Scripture passages but is founded on speculations is the essence of "quarreling". Quarreling ruins the hearers because it tears down their faith. Edification builds up the body of Christ. Let us reprove, rebuke, and correct the quarrelers so that they may come to their senses and return to the truth, for their benefit and for the good of the body of Christ.