Ephesians 4:25

Ad hominem (Latin for “to the man”)

• What is it?

  • Attacking an opponent’s character or his motives for believing something instead of disproving his argument.

  • Ad hominem arguments fail because they avoid the issue.

  • Daniel 2:47 – Nebuchadnezzar was not a good person, but here he made a true statement.

• Spiritual importance

  • If one advocates some point, but also has a character problem, that reflects poorly on their character but does not necessarily mean their point was invalid. This is certainly not to say that character doesn’t matter – it does. Romans 2:1-3, 17-24; I Timothy 4:12, 16; Matthew 23:2-3

  • It’s easy to resort to ad hominem attacks. If we don’t know how to answer some else’s line of reasoning, we may get emotional and strike back at the other person themselves, which is irrelevant and immature. Acts 6:8-14

    • Let’s be good thinkers and choose to slow down and be rational instead of calling names or making other such attacks.

  • In past decades, when brethren were debating the issue of whether orphan homes ought to be supported by individuals or by church treasuries (James 1:27), many personal attacks were launched.

    • “If an orphan was left on your doorstep, you’d let him starve!”

  • One could listen to those kinds of accusations all day and still not know what the Bible said about the issue.

  • “Christianity isn’t true. You just believe in Christianity because you were brought up in a Christian home.” This avoids the question of whether or not Christianity is true.

  • “Those people are just saying that because they’re religious.”

  • “Why should we believe Solomon when he tells us to be satisfied with ‘the wife of your youth’ (Proverbs 5:18)? He wasn’t.”

  • Attacks against Jesus:

    • Matthew 11:18-19

    • Mark 6:3

    • Compare John 1:46 – but at least Nathanael was willing to investigate.