Definition and Context:
Tolerance, in a biblical sense, refers to the capacity to endure or permit differences in opinions, behaviors, and beliefs, particularly those that diverge from one's own. It involves patience, forbearance, and a willingness to allow others the freedom to hold differing views. In the Christian context, tolerance is often balanced with the call to uphold truth and righteousness as revealed in Scripture.

Biblical Foundations:
The Bible provides numerous examples and teachings that relate to the concept of tolerance. While the term "tolerance" itself may not be explicitly used, the principles underlying it are evident throughout Scripture.

1. Love and Forbearance:
The Apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of love and patience in relationships. In Ephesians 4:2 , he writes, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." This verse highlights the need for humility and patience, which are essential components of tolerance.

2. Unity in Diversity:
The early church faced challenges of diversity, particularly between Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul addresses this in Romans 14:1 , "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions." Here, Paul encourages believers to accept one another despite differences in personal convictions, especially in disputable matters.

3. Jesus' Example:
Jesus Christ exemplified tolerance in His interactions with various individuals, including those marginalized by society. In John 4, Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman, breaking cultural and social barriers. His approach demonstrates a willingness to engage with and show compassion to those who were different.

4. Truth and Tolerance:
While the Bible advocates for tolerance, it also calls for discernment and adherence to truth. In 2 Timothy 4:2-3 , Paul instructs Timothy, "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine." This passage underscores the need to balance tolerance with a commitment to biblical truth.

5. Limits of Tolerance:
The Bible also sets boundaries for tolerance, particularly when it comes to sin and false teachings. In Revelation 2:20 , Jesus rebukes the church in Thyatira for tolerating false teachings: "But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols." This indicates that tolerance should not extend to practices or teachings that contradict core biblical truths.

Practical Application:
Christians are called to practice tolerance by showing love, patience, and understanding towards others, while also standing firm in their faith. This involves engaging with others respectfully, listening to differing viewpoints, and seeking common ground without compromising biblical principles. Tolerance, when rooted in love and truth, can foster unity and peace within the body of Christ and the broader community.2 Thessalonians 3:6
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
Topicalbible.org

Acts 10:34-35
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Topicalbible.org

Hebrews 12:1
Why seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Topicalbible.org

1 Corinthians 14:34
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted to them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also said the law.
Topicalbible.org

Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be on them.
Topicalbible.org

1. (n.) The capacity of enduring; forbearance of the differences of others.

2. (n.) The endurance of the presence or actions of objectionable persons, or of the expression of offensive opinions; toleration.

3. (n.) The power possessed or acquired by some persons of bearing doses of medicine which in ordinary cases would prove injurious or fatal.

463. anoche -- a delaying, forbearance
... judgment . Word Origin from anecho Definition a delaying, forbearance NASB
Word Usage forbearance (1), tolerance (1). forbearance. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/463.htm - 7k

430. anecho -- to hold up, bear with
... Word Origin from ana and echo Definition to hold up, bear with NASB Word Usage bear
(3), bearing (2), endure (3), put (4), showing tolerance (1), tolerate (2). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/430.htm - 7k

Tolerance. March 16.
... Tolerance. March 16. If we really love God and long to do good and work
for God, if we really love our neighbours and wish to help ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/daily thoughts /tolerance march 16.htm

To Her Spiritual Children in Siena
... The second repeats her familiar warning against a critical temper, and her favourite
plea for that generous tolerance which puts the highest possible ...
/.../benincasa/letters of catherine benincasa/to her spiritual children in.htm

The Lonely Defender of the Bible
... But a paper on "Polemics and Tolerance" which he read at another convention
two years later kept his listeners wide awake. "Our ...
/.../aaberg/hymns and hymnwriters of denmark/chapter twelve the lonely defender.htm

A Summary of Israel's Faithlessness and God's Patience
... the land; namely, that they were to enter into no entangling alliances with the
remnant of the inhabitants, and especially to have no tolerance for their ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/a summary of israels faithlessness.htm

Christianity
... faith in the supernatural and miraculous; the churches which have swung the doors
wide open on the hinges of worldly wisdom and easy tolerance; the churches ...
/.../haldeman/christ christianity and the bible/christianity.htm

A Good Man's Faults
... Liberality is exaggerated into prodigality; firmness, into obstinacy; mercy, into
weakness; gravity, into severity; tolerance, into feeble conviction; humility ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/a good mans faults.htm

St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters
... poor mortals. And perhaps the very frequency of her plea for tolerance
and forbearance suggests a conscious weakness. Like most ...
/.../benincasa/letters of catherine benincasa/st catherine of siena as.htm

The Symbols of the Republic.
... an unjust prejudice or a spiteful calumny, but it shames the source more than the
object, and soon dies away in the atmosphere of tolerance and investigation. ...
/.../chapin/humanity in the city/discourse iv the symbols of.htm

Christian Cemeteries.
... The responsibility for the persecutions which took place in the first century must
be attributed to them, not to the Romans, whose tolerance in religious ...
/.../lanciani/pagan and christian rome/chapter vii christian cemeteries.htm

Connecticut at the Close of the Revolution
... His tolerance, however, was more for the old Calvinistic principles in the New Divinity,
and not for its advanced features, for which he had little regard. ...
/.../chapter xii connecticut at the.htm

Tolerance (2 Occurrences)
... ordinary cases would prove injurious or fatal. Multi-Version Concordance
Tolerance (2 Occurrences). Romans 2:4 Or do you despise ...
/t/tolerance.htm - 7k

Charity (29 Occurrences)
... Ultimate Ideal 9. Almsgiving 10. Tolerance In the King James Version in 26
places from 1 Corinthians 8:1 onward. The same Greek word ...
/c/charity.htm - 23k

Purity (16 Occurrences)
... Pioneers the world over and through time, for very self-preservation's
sake, could show little favor or tolerance to lawlessness. ...
/p/purity.htm - 30k

Tolerable (6 Occurrences)

/t/tolerable.htm - 8k

Tolerate (8 Occurrences)

/t/tolerate.htm - 9k

Narrow-minded (1 Occurrence)
... Narrowly, Narrow-minded. Narrowness . Noah Webster's Dictionary (a.) Lacking
tolerance; petty -- opposed to open minded; mean. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/n/narrow-minded.htm - 6k

Joppa (14 Occurrences)
... At Joppa, in the house of Simon the tanner, "by the sea-side," Peter resided "many
days," and here, "on the house-top," he had his "vision of tolerance" (Acts 9 ...
/j/joppa.htm - 17k

Luke (4 Occurrences)
... man;" "the Gospel of womanhood;" "the Gospel of the outcast, of the Samaritan, the
publican, the harlot, and the prodigal;" "the Gospel of tolerance." The main ...
/l/luke.htm - 55k

Allowance (11 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) Approval; approbation. 2. (n.) The act of allowing, granting, conceding,
or admitting; authorization; permission; sanction; tolerance. ...
/a/allowance.htm - 12k

Apocalyptic
... of the hands of the Ptolemies into that of the house of Seleucus, this feeling was
intensified, as the Syrian house regarded with less tolerance the religion ...
/a/apocalyptic.htm - 42k

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