But I'll just bet that you are as THANKFUL as I that we DO have so many words to study and ponder over!
I'm sitting here, sniffing the aroma wafting up from the kitchen; with my left calf getting cooked by my under desk heater, while my back is not getting nearly enough heat to be comfortable.
Oh well, the thermostat will kick in to the morning program soon and the whole house will warm to greet family, friends and guests as we celebrate; once again; our Nation and it's many blessings.
May you and yours have a rewarding experience as well. (But what shall we do about the football games?? ;^)
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Trails to you (click here), Els!
And a good nap after the turkey dinner. I remember my Mom saying to Dad, myself, and the boys as we pushed back, "All you guys want to do now is go and lay down while I have to clean up!"
Those were the days - - -
Wrong. I am not arguing except in the debative sense. 2 Timothy 2:14 says ". . . that they strive not about words TO NO PROFIT, but to the subverting of the hearers."
This kind of confrontation is profitable to me and to the hearers who can be averted from the slippery slide you seem to be on, grabbing for straws to justify your position on salvation:
"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Heb 2:1 AV).
This verse was the theme of one Pastors' Appreciation Banquet which I attended as a Gideon, and it provoked me to memorize it, and with it, its immediate context:
"For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompence of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Heb. 2:2-4 AV; my bolding for emphasis and strike-through of translator-added words).
Then, because of the "therefore" of 2:1, I thought it important to memorize the "wherefore" of Chapter 1, which was the reason for Chapter 2 to be "there for"." That led to memorizing the rest of Chapter 2; and finally, the rest of the whole book of Hebrews, word for word (including the translators' added words) over a period of nine years, which has served me well ever since.
Rejecting your thesis that the Paul counseled Timothy not to debate AT ALL about the Scripture, the words, and the doctrine therefrom; let me offer Paul's more substantive and true command to Timothy:
"If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister
of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine,
whereunto thou hast attained.
. . .
These things command and teach.
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Neglect not the gift that is in thee(preaching?), which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save* thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim. 4:6, 11-16 AV; * = effecting the ongoing process of salvation, my bolding for emphasis).
If it turns out to be wrangling, no; but if someone is learning and benefits from it, yes. I don't want to let you duck out by offering such excuses for avoiding profitable engagement. But to me, eating turkey and dressing is an acceptable reason.
Regarding football, I'm not interested in spectating, especially now of what seems to be a concussive brain-damaging sport. Speculating on "what if" is more fun.