We all have our opinions. We think our opinion is the best or we would not have it. We have also heard the cries of the old restoration preachers when they say, “Where the scriptures speak, we speak; and where the scriptures are silent, we are silent.” What do we do when the scriptures are silent? Are we left to do as we please? Is it a case where every man does what is right in his own eyes?
The problem rears its ugly head when brethren begin to claim authority to speak where the New Testament is silent and impose their opinions upon other brethren. When this happens, problems arise on whose opinion is to be used. H. Leo Boles states that when a man’s opinion, where the scripture is silent, is imposed on other Christians then that “opinion” was made equal to the word of God. He goes on to say there should be a clear distinction between faith and opinion. Faith is a firm conviction resting upon clear and satisfactory testimony. “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). We are told specifically how faith comes: “So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Where God has not spoken, there can be no faith, for “faith cometh by hearing the word of God,” and Christians, when they are loyal to God, “walk by faith, not by sight” (II Cor. 5:7.) Opinion is an expression based on human judgment, without clear and satisfactory testimony. The word “opinion” signifies “what one thinks,” and in matters of religion it means what men think concerning matters on which the Bible is silent. The distinction between “faith” and “opinion” should be kept clear, for “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).
“Areas of silence,” “liberty of opinion,” and “the realm of expediency” are phrases used by leaders in some of the brotherhood today and have been put on the same level with the teachings of the New Testament. It is just another erroneous way of saying that the opinions of men may guide the people of God, and that some of the people of God should submit to the opinions of men. There is unity with God’s people so long as they respect the slogan, “Where the scriptures speak, we speak; and where the scriptures are silent, we are silent.” However, when brethren begin to claim authority to speak where the New Testament is silent and impose their opinions upon others, division and separation are the inevitable result.
For the elders, Tony Williams