Word for the day: Adiaphora

Every so often when I'm reading about Lutheran hymnody, I come across a word that means "matters indifferent" in the sense of things you don't have to believe to be an orthodox Christian (with a lower-case "o"). It's called adiaphora, and it's a useful concept, fuzzy enough around the edges for me to want to be cautious using it but incisive enough to help me sift out the things that really do matter. So I make a note of how it's spelled, and vow to learn it. Then the word slips away from me, and I'm reduced to saying things like, "oh, you know, that word that starts with 'a' that Luther used, and it means stuff that doesn't matter." At that point, I start to notice people are looking at me strangely and waiting for an opportunity to change the subject.

So tonight when I came across the word again, I vowed this time to post a definition to the blog ... so I won't lose it again (that's on the theory so far my computers always stand out above the clutter on my desks). Here is Wikipedia's definition:

Adiaphoron, pl. -a (Greek language αδιάφορα "indifferent things"; German "Mitteldinge" "middle matters") was a concept used in Stoic philosophy. It latter came to refer to matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in church.

See how useful it is?

Nelson's and Fevold's history of the Norwegian Evangelical Synod, speaks of "the adiaphora, such as the theater, dancing, and card-playing," and again of "condemnation of such things as dancing, novels, and plays" (1:29, 1:31). A very useful concept for Norwegian pietists who could rail against whatever temptations were available in small-town Minnesota while continuing to split theological hairs about sotierology.

Works Cited
"Adiaphora." Wikipedia. 29 May 2007. 11 June 2007. .

Nelson, E. Clifford, and Eugene L. Fevold. The Lutheran Church Among Norwegian-Americans: A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 2 vols. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1960.