With regard to your request, rarely, if ever, do I quote Scripture verses/passages in these discussions. If a discussant is knowledgeable of the Scripture, there seems no need to quote. If the discussant is not knowledgeable of Scripture, my quote is not likely to be useful or effective due to contextual matters - and disinterest.
It may even be counterproductive and cause a person to turn you off.
Story to that point: Recently I was on a plane seated beside a nice lady who I came to realize had a particular political point of view and was pretty closed-minded to any other. She was full of questions about me -- where I lived, where I was going, what I did... all the usual, but every question had 2 or 3 follow-ups. In my answers I mentioned the book I had recently written. Not wanting to push it on her, I resorted to answering her questions rather than showing her a copy. I finally took out a copy of my book, which has a deer on the cover. She didn't react to that, but opened the book and her eyes fell on the chapter:verse of a Bible quotation. She didn't read anything else, but turned to me and said, "Are you an evangelical?" I waited to answer, hoping for a clue about what she thought an evangelical is. She gave me a clue alright. Her next words were "I don't like evangelicals."
So, it's a fact that when some people see chapter:verse, they automatically dismiss not just what the person is saying, but the person saying it. That's one reason these discussions get nowhere.
I'm not in this or any discussion to convince anyone of anything. That's not my responsibility; it's the Holy Spirit's. But if I can say something that provides him the opportunity to work, that's all I care to do. If he does not work, I'm OK with that.
Steve.
