Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), in Charity and Its Fruits, taught
against the sin of censoriousness and
connected it with gossip.
If
to think evil be so much to be condemned, surely they are still more to be
condemned who not only allow themselves in thinking, but also in speaking evil
of others, and backbiting them with their tongues. Their evil-speaking that is
against neighbours behind their backs does very much consist in censuring them,
or in the expression of uncharitable thoughts and judgments of their persona
and behaviour.1
1Jonathan
Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits: Christian Love As Manifested in the Heart
and Life (Carlisle: Banner of Truth Trust, 2005), 216-217. Edwards’
teaching on judgmentalism is expanded and applied in Ken Sande, “Judging
Others: The Danger of Playing God,” Journal of Biblical Counseling 21,
no. 1 (Fall 2002): 12-22. See also the very helpful book by Dave Swavely, Who
Are You to Judge: The Dangers of Judging and Legalism (Phillipsburg: P
& R Press, 2005).
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