***Do you agree with this, Colofornian? Or are we called to treat such heresies the same way that Jesus Himself did, calling such false teachers ‘vipers’, ‘wolves in sheeps clothing’, and ‘sons of their father the devil”??? Jesus responded to heresy in His day with vehemence, rather than just pretending it’s a small thing. So should we. [Kevmo]
Well, I am not the authority here...but I think the Gospels can help us out here.
There were times when Jesus was afflicting the religiously comfortable with -- as you mentioned -- "vehemence." (Matthew 23 and John 8 are two prime examples)
At other times, the exchanges between Jesus & the Pharisees was more Q&A -- with Jesus' Questions oft' going unanswered...and still others when the discussions were brief and mild by comparison to the fireworks of the others.
So the answer is "all of the above." Jesus Queried. He discussed & dialogued. And He "blitzed."
At times He might have appeared to give the Pharisees a "platform" for their faulty legalistic interpretations; yet we can better identify legalism in the 21st century because of it.
And, He did call them a generation of vipers, to their face! Rebuke of the minions can be in order.