Semănătorul (The Sower)
October 2022, Volume 3, Number 1
Adiaphora: A Christian response to a culture of tolerance, censorship, and ostracism
Ovidiu Hanc
ABSTRACT
The society in which we live is marked by various social upheavals despite the
fact that one of the fundamental values is tolerance. The phenomenon of cancel culture, hate culture, censorship, and ostracism, is propagated by all modern means of communication and is apparently very difficult to combat or eradicate. The problem of differences of opinion and dogmatic and practical dissent can also be found in the first century church. The Apostle Paul stresses the need for doctrinal unity in fundamental beliefs, but in secondary matters he writes to the church in Rome to seek mutual acceptance and avoid mutual judgment. The problem of dissension in small things is called adiaphora and has to do with those matters in the area which are neither forbidden nor commanded.
The present paper seeks to examine the aspect of Christian acceptance in relation to secular tolerance and to highlight the paradigm that Paul proposes in seeking a solution to the alienation that can arise in a community due to differences of opinion. The Pauline paradigm is one worth considering as a social model in the context where conflicts of opinion arise.
KEY WORDS: Adiaphora, cancel culture, Christian acceptance, tolerance, disagreement.
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