“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren”
(Proverbs 6.16-19)
“The seventh abomination is one who sows discord among brethren. In this form of speech, we may reasonably assume that the seventh added evil is the one that is most abominable of all in the sight of God.
“…But would any man deliberately try to cause division and strife among those who had been at peace, with no object in view beyond the accomplishment of such evil? It would be contemptible work even from the world’s standard, and no man likes to excite contempt. But why go naked to such work when there are so many garments ready to hand? A man who feels bitter can so easily find a covering by which even he himself can be deceived. Even the best of human beings are faulty both in knowledge and conduct, and so it follows that an enemy can easily find a pretext for his attack. He can effectually cover almost any kind of diabolism under a cloak of righteous zeal.
“…Fleshly controversy nearly always accentuates the differences which called it forth. The most evil time is when a man of strong personality becomes disaffected and bitter just at the critical moment when a genuine difference of opinion has arisen. The difference supplies him at once with cloak and weapon. He can easily deceive both himself and others. He hardens some in their original error and provokes others to increased opposition. He would claim and perhaps come to believe that his motives were pure and his actions commendable when all the time he is industriously sowing the seventh abomination.
“…The sower of discord often does far more harm than appears on the surface. Every student of human nature knows how the opinions and feelings of the average man may be molded by suggestion either for good or for evil. A good word in season may not only turn away wrath, but may change the entire trend of thought. A sower of discord, on the other hand, may so exacerbate feeling and, through feeling, so poison judgment, that foolish ideas may be pushed to the point of conflict and division, though in the calm of 20 years later no one on earth would tolerate them.
“In ecclesial life there have been many differences of judgment which have called for calm and sober thought. Often the result of brotherly discussion has been agreement, perhaps with better understanding on all sides. It needs no unusual power of observation to perceive that at least some members have been wise, fully conscious of danger and trying by forethought to guide the ecclesia aright. It needs no prophet to realize that, at such a time, a sower of discord might have produced a heavy crop of poison, if evil work had synchronized with evil moment.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One