Adiaphoron (; plural: adiaphora; from the
Greek (pl. ), meaning "not different or differentiable") is the negation of ''diaphora'', "difference".
In
Cynicism, adiaphora represents indifference to the s of life. In
Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE.
History
Pyrrho of ...
, it indicates things that cannot be logically differentiated. Unlike in
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...
, the term has no specific connection to morality.
In Stoicism, it indicates actions that
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...
neither mandates nor forbids. In the context of Stoicism adiaphora is usually translated as "indifference".
In
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, adiaphora are matters not regarded as essential to
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people ofte ...
, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in the church. What is specifically considered adiaphora depends on the specific
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
in view.
Cynicism
The Cynics cultivate adiaphora, by which they meant indifference to the vicissitudes of life, through
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
practices which help one become free from influences – such as wealth, fame, and power – that have no value in nature. Examples include
Diogenes
Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea ...
' practice of living in a tub and walking barefoot in winter.
Aristotle
Aristotle uses "adiaphora" to mean "undifferentiated by a logical /
differentia
In scholastic logic, differentia is one of the predicables. It is that part of a definition which is predicable in a given genus only of the definiendum; or the corresponding " metaphysical part" of the object.
Origin
Plato implicitly emplo ...
."
Pyrrhonism
Pyrrho
Pyrrho of Elis (; grc, Πύρρων ὁ Ἠλεῖος, Pyrrhо̄n ho Ēleios; ), born in Elis, Greece, was a Greek philosopher of Classical antiquity, credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism.
Life
...
claimed that all ''pragmata'' (matters, affairs, questions, topics) are ''adiaphora'' (not differentiable, not clearly definable, negating Aristotle's use of "diaphora"), ''astathmēta'' (unstable, unbalanced, unmeasurable), and ''anepikrita'' (unjudgeable, undecidable). Therefore, neither our senses nor our beliefs and theories are able to identify truth or falsehood.
Philologist
Christopher Beckwith has demonstrated that Pyrrho's use of ''adiaphora'' reflects his effort to translate the Buddhist
three marks of existence into Greek, and that ''adiaphora'' reflects Pyrrho's understanding of the Buddhist concept of ''
anatta''. Likewise he suggests that ''astathmēta'' and ''anepikrita'' may be compared to
''dukkha'' and
''anicca'' respectively.
Stoicism
The
Stoics
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...
distinguish all the objects of human pursuit into three classes: good, bad, and adiaphora (indifferent).
Virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is morality, moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is Value (ethics), valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that sh ...
,
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledg ...
,
justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
,
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
* Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...
, and the like, are denominated
good; their opposites were bad. Besides these there are many other objects of pursuit such as
wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
,
fame, etc. of themselves neither good nor bad. These are thought therefore in
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
to occupy neutral territory, and are denominated "adiaphora". This distinction amounts practically to an exclusion of the adiaphora from the field of
morals.
Christianity
Lutheranism
The issue of what constituted ''adiaphora'' became a major dispute during the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
. In 1548, two years after the death of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
, the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...
tried to unite Catholics and Protestants in his realm with a law called the
Augsburg Interim. This law was rejected by
Philipp Melanchthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lut ...
, because it did not ensure
justification by faith as a fundamental doctrine. Later he was persuaded to accept a compromise known as the
Leipzig Interim, deciding that doctrinal differences not related to justification by faith were ''adiaphora'' or matters not essential for salvation. Melanchthon's compromise was vehemently opposed by
Matthias Flacius and his followers in Magdeburg, who went to the opposite extreme by claiming that ''adiaphora'' cease to be such in a case of scandal and confession. By 1576 both extremes were rejected by the majority of
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
led by
Martin Chemnitz and the formulators of the
Formula of Concord.
In 1577, the Formula of Concord was crafted to settle the question of the nature of genuine ''adiaphora'', which it defined as church rites that are "neither commanded nor forbidden in the Word of God".
However, the Concord added believers should not yield even in matters of ''adiaphora'' when these are being forced upon them by the "enemies of God's Word".
The Lutheran
Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
states that the true unity of the Church is enough to allow for agreement, concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. It also posits that merely human traditions, namely extrabiblical rites or ceremonies, need not be the same across all congregations.
Puritanism
The
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" o ...
, a confession of faith written by the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
s, which after the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...
was rejected by the
Anglicans, distinguishes between elements or acts of
worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogni ...
(worship proper) and the circumstances of worship. The elements of worship must be limited to what has positive warrant in Scripture, a doctrine known as the
regulative principle of worship. In this framework, the elements of worship have included praise (the words and manner of music), prayer, preaching and teaching from the Bible, the taking of vows, and the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, while the circumstances of worship have included the building and its necessary furniture and the time of day for worship.
The circumstances of worship are considered adiaphora, although they must be done for edification and to promote peace and order (compare ; ). According to the Westminster Confession 20.2, the conscience is left free in general belief and behavior within the realm of whatever is not "contrary to the Word". However, specifically concerning worship and religious faith, the conscience is free from whatever is "besides" Scripture; that is, it is free to worship and believe only according to whatever has positive warrant in Scripture.
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
s who have subscribed to the Westminster Confession, for instance, sometimes considered the questions of
musical instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
and of the singing of
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
s (as opposed to
exclusive psalmody
Exclusive psalmody is the practice of singing only the biblical Psalms in congregational singing as worship. Today it is practised by several Protestant, especially Reformed denominations. Hymns besides the Psalms have been composed by Christians ...
) not drawn directly from the Bible as related to the elements of worship, not optional circumstances, and for this reason they rejected musical instruments and hymns because they believed they were neither commanded by scripture nor deduced by good and necessary consequence from it.
[.] Adherence to such a position is rare among modern Presbyterians, however.
The Puritan position on worship is thus in line with the common saying regarding adiaphora: "
In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity".
Latitudinarianism in Anglicanism
Latitudinarianism was initially a pejorative term applied to a group of 17th-century English theologians who believed in conforming to official
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
practices but who felt that matters of
doctrine
Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief syste ...
,
liturgical practice, and