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Will the Theologians Please Sit Down  /  Chapter 12: What Happened When the Theologians Wrangled  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 1
Bishop Hosius urged the bishops to “drop the whole matter”; what does that counsel assume about God’s ability to preserve His people without theological coercion, and what kind of humility about “solving divine questions” does Bercot seem to think the bishops lacked?
Another way to ask: When Bishop Hosius said to “drop the whole matter,” what does that suggest about trusting God to protect His people without forcing agreement? What kind of humility about not being able to “solve” God’s mysteries does Bercot think the bishops were missing?

Direct Answer Based on Bercot’s teaching, Hosius’ counsel assumes God can guard His church without the church using state power or coercion to force theological agreement. Bercot implies the bishops lacked the humility to admit their limits—thinking they could “solve divine questions” while failing to see obvious earthly dangers.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot calls Hosius’ admonition “the last voice of the early Christians,” urging them “to drop the whole matter.”
  • He says the “wisdom of that advice becomes clear” once we see the destructive results of continuing the dispute.
  • The bishops were “so absorbed with the Arian issue” that “they allowed all sorts of serious corruptions to enter the church.”
  • They “imagined they had the insight to solve divine questions, yet they couldn’t even manage earthly ones.”
  • They missed “the impossibility of uniting the kingdom of God with the kingdoms of this world.”
Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like to trust God to preserve His people without using political tools? Where is the line between patient teaching and coercive control?

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