Note that Jesus
didn’t just condemn angry disagreement, but the “spirit of contention,”
saying it “is not of me.” Spirit here seems to imply a disposition to be
disagreeable—something that is more habitual. We call such people
“contentious.”
President Dallin H.
Oaks defined the essence of what is meant by a spirit of contention: “It is
necessary to emphasize that the kind of contention discussed in this chapter is
synonymous with wrath, strife, angry disputes, and quarrelling. This is the
meaning expressed in the adjective contentious. Holding different views or
conversing about points of disagreement does not constitute this kind of
contention. Neither does an argument or a debate, if (a big if) it can be done
with a peaceful spirit and method. In short, the kind of contention here
consists of disagreement plus a wrathful spirit or a quarrelsome method” (The
Lord’s Way, 138). (Gerald N. Lund, Why Isn't God Answering Me? [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018], 64-65)
