--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not his business to argue men into…" description: "\"It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that cannot be done; but it is his business to demonstrate the intellectual adequacy of the biblica..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/j-i-packer-1856_adequacy_it-is-not-his-business-to-argue-men-into_977531.jpg" --- # It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that… ![“It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that cannot be done; but it is his business to demonstrate the intellectual adequacy of the biblical faith and the comparative inadequacy of its rivals, and to show the invalidity of the criticisms that are brought against it. This he seeks to…” quote by J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/j-i-packer-1856_adequacy_it-is-not-his-business-to-argue-men-into_977531.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/j-i-packer-1856_adequacy_it-is-not-his-business-to-argue-men-into_977531.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/j-i-packer-1856_adequacy_it-is-not-his-business-to-argue-men-into_977531.jpg) > “It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that cannot be done; but it is his business to demonstrate the intellectual adequacy of the biblical faith and the comparative inadequacy of its rivals, and to show the invalidity of the criticisms that are brought against it. This he seeks to do, not from any motive of intellectual self-justification, but for the glory of God and His gospel.” [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that one should not try to coerce belief, but rather demonstrate the rational strength of the Christian faith and expose weaknesses in other worldviews, motivated by worship of God. **In simple terms:** Show faith’s reason, not force; Key Takeaway Demonstrate faith’s logic, not coercion. Themes faith reason apologetics humility Mood thoughtful respectful Type apologetic educational When to use this quote - debates - public speaking - teaching - interfaith dialogues Key Concepts theology comparative religion intellectual honesty Questions to Reflect On - How can reason support faith without dismissing emotion? - What limits do intellectual arguments have in conversion? A Different Perspective Critics may claim rational arguments cannot capture personal belief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biblical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biblical/) [Biblical faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biblical-faith/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Glory of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory-of-god/) [Inadequacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inadequacy/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Rivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivals/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-justification/) ## Related quotes > [“Once we are reconciled and justified we can rejoice even when people slander us and wound us deeply. We can glory in it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-2/once-we-are-reconciled-and-justified-we-can-rejoice-even-when-people/) [R.C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-2/) > [To mend our own relationship with God, regaining God's favor after having once lost it, is beyond the power of any one of us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/to-mend-our-own-relationship-with-god-regaining-god-s-favor-after/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [“We have it backward. Faith is not business, and there is no such thing as quarterly growth of the inward life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-maye/we-have-it-backward-faith-is-not-business-and-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Ricky Maye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-maye/) > [I would suggest that faith is everyone's business. 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It is the story of men and women who come to the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-sayers/at-its-heart-biblical-faith-is-a-creed-of-the-antihero-it-is-the/) [Mark Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-sayers/) > [Our walk by faith, if it is true biblical faith, will get us in trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/our-walk-by-faith-if-it-is-true-biblical-faith-will-get-us-in-trouble/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [ “The Reformation biblical faith in God\[50\] had radically desacralized \[entgöttert\] the world. Thus the ground was prepared in which rational and empirical science could… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-reformation-biblical-faith-in-god-50-had-radically-desacralized/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) ## More by J. I. Packer > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/what-matters-supremely-therefore-is-not-in-the-last-analysis-the-fact/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/for-what-higher-more-exalted-and-more-compelling-goal-can-there-be/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Fanciful spiritualizing, so far from yielding God's meaning, actually obscured it. 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Packer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) ## More Adequacy quotes > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Adequacy is sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-osborne/adequacy-is-sufficient/) [Adam Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-osborne/) > [To try to be happy is to try to build a machine with no other specification than that it shall run noiselessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/to-try-to-be-happy-is-to-try-to-build-a-machine-with-no-other/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [If we respect students abilities to define their own experiences, to generate their own hypotheses, and to discover new ways of categorizing the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/if-we-respect-students-abilities-to-define-their-own-experiences-to/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [My whole academic career was totally out of Jewish anxiety, and issues surrounding achievement and adequacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/my-whole-academic-career-was-totally-out-of-jewish-anxiety-and-issues/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kaufmann/the-refusal-to-belong-to-any-school-of-thought-the-repudiation-of-the/) [Walter Kaufmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kaufmann/) > [The glory does not lie in our inadequacy, but lies in the adequacy of Christ discovered in our weakness and in our insufficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-begg/the-glory-does-not-lie-in-our-inadequacy-but-lies-in-the-adequacy-of/) [Alistair Begg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-begg/) > [To the best of my knowledge, every acute inpatient ward offers some inpatient group therapy experience. Indeed, the evidence supporting the efficacy of group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/to-the-best-of-my-knowledge-every-acute-inpatient-ward-offers-some/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Mere adequacy is never adequate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lanchester/mere-adequacy-is-never-adequate/) [John Lanchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lanchester/) > [Way back in the day, when I first started and had delusions of adequacy as a cartoonist, I would listen to music. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/way-back-in-the-day-when-i-first-started-and-had-delusions-of/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [He had delusions of adequacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kerr/he-had-delusions-of-adequacy/) [Walter Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kerr/) > [Adequacy is the enemy of excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/adequacy-is-the-enemy-of-excellence/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Henceforth the adequacy of any military establishment will be tested by its ability to preserve the peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/henceforth-the-adequacy-of-any-military-establishment-will-be-tested/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Everyone wants rather to be pleasing to women and that desire is not altogether, though it is very largely, a manifestation of vanity. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/everyone-wants-rather-to-be-pleasing-to-women-and-that-desire-is-not/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [Adequacy is sufficient. All else is superfluous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-osborne/adequacy-is-sufficient-all-else-is-superfluous/) [Adam Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-osborne/) Browse all 48 Adequacy quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that cannot be done; but it is his business to demonstrate the intellectual adequacy of the biblical faith and the comparative inadequacy of its rivals, and to show the invalidity of the criticisms that are brought against it. This he seeks to do, not from any motive of intellectual self-justification, but for the glory of God and His gospel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. I. 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