The concept of "variance" surfaces within a broader discussion contrasting biblical unity with division, appearing specifically as a translation choice tied to the Greek word eris. This term, a feminine noun appearing nine times in the New Testament, is rendered by King James translators variously as "strive" (four times), "debate" (two times), "contention" (two times), and "variance" (once). Its first New Testament occurrence is in Romans 1:29, where the King James translators chose to render it as "debate" rather than "variance." Eris, translated as "quarreling" in I Corinthians 1:11 (or "contention" in the King James Version), describes the discord reported among the Corinthian church members through Chloe's people. Paul's appeal immediately preceding this reference calls believers to agree, to avoid divisions (schisma), and to be united in the same mind and judgment. Quarreling, then, represents a manifestation of the unity-dissolving friction or competition that stands in direct opposition to the harmony God intends for His body of believers. This linguistic note about eris and its rendering as "variance" fits within a larger examination of how carnality produces division within the church. Paul's use of related terms—schisma (division) and hairesis (faction or heresy)—demonstrates that such discord is not merely social friction but evidence of human nature actively at work among God's people. Schisms and quarreling emerge precisely where believers fail to fully submit to God's way of life, where they withhold from Him His rightful place as Sovereign Ruler over their conduct. The presence of variance, contention, or strife within a congregation therefore serves as a diagnostic marker, reflecting a corresponding deficiency in repentance among its members. This exploration of division-related vocabulary, including the term rendered "variance," ultimately supports the overarching theme of unity as foundational to Christian identity. Just as Christ prayed for believers to become perfectly one, and just as Paul repeatedly employed the image of one body with many members to illustrate the church's essential oneness, the vocabulary of division—including variance, quarreling, schism, and faction—stands as the antithesis of this divine unity. Such division is characterized as connoting randomness, chaos, disorder, and confusion, standing in stark contrast to the order, harmony, and integrity that unity represents. God and Satan are personified as representing these opposite states respectively, though a further nuance is acknowledged: a form of division exists that, while still connected to human carnality, is nevertheless inspired and executed by God Himself as an expression of His judgment—a matter reserved for further explanation.

Discord—rendered elsewhere as strife, contention, or variance—stands among the seven things the Lord calls an abomination, as recorded in Proverbs 6:16-19. Sowing discord among brethren is never purposeful in a good way; it only destroys, and it is invariably tied to pride. This principle unfolds through a historical parallel drawn from Benjamin Netanyahu's book, A Place Among Nations, comparing the 1938 dismemberment of Czechoslovakia to the discord sown against Israel by promoting Palestinian self-determination. Hitler could not conquer Czechoslovakia militarily, so he manufactured propaganda claiming the Sudeten Germans deserved self-determination, though they had full civil rights and prosperity under Czech democracy. This discord, backed by fabricated stories of oppression, persuaded Britain and France to abandon their treaty obligations, leading Czechoslovakia to surrender its mountain defenses and, within months, its entire sovereignty. The same tactic—promoting self-determination and claims of unfair treatment—is now used against Israel regarding the West Bank, and is visible more broadly in movements such as gay rights advocacy, Hispanic language demands, and French Canadian separatism, all appealing to the human desire for free choice without outside influence. This same ploy of self-determination and feeling unfairly treated is identified as Satan's tool for sowing discord within the church, particularly among those who have recently departed, promising liberty while, according to II Peter 2:18-19, delivering only bondage to corruption. Proverbs 26:20-21 confirms that without a talebearer, strife ceases, showing that contentious individuals kindle strife rooted in pride and a struggle for superiority. Scripture demonstrates God's severe reaction to such discord through Miriam and Aaron's rebellion against Moses in Numbers 12, where their complaint—rooted in pride and dissatisfaction with authority—provoked God's anger and resulted in Miriam's leprosy. James warns against grumbling lest one be condemned, and Paul in I Corinthians 10:10 notes that the destroyer can destroy those who complain. Groups that entice others by calling themselves a "refuge for the abused" or a "no hassle" church are engaging in the same self-determination ploy, which Jude 16 describes as grumblers and complainers who flatter people to gain advantage. Lamentations 3:37-39 clarifies that murmuring implies disbelief that God treats us fairly, when in truth suffering often reflects the consequences of sin. The consistent thread—from Czechoslovakia, to modern Israel, to secular movements, to departures from the church—is that discord is sown through claims of unfair treatment and desire for self-rule, always producing division rather than unity. Philippians 2:12-15 concludes this teaching by calling believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, doing all things without complaining or disputing, so as to remain blameless and shine as lights amid a crooked and perverse generation.

Variance appears within Paul's catalogue of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-22, where it is identified as meaning contentions or fightings. This term is grouped with other works of the flesh—adultery, idolatry, hatred, envy, wrath, strife (selfish ambition), and seditions (dissensions)—which directly promote division among people, while the remaining works of the flesh contribute to division indirectly. Notably, none of the works of the flesh promote peace or unity; rather, God has structured these behaviors as evidence of humanity's tendency toward separation rather than togetherness. This concept of variance and contention is placed within a larger framework tracing division back to its origin. Beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin entered through Satan's promotion of division from God and from each other, and this division has spread through all of humanity, descended from that same original blood, marching implacably toward death. Variance, as a work of the flesh, is thus one manifestation of this ancient pattern of separation that began with two people and has multiplied throughout human history, evident in warfare, prejudice, intolerance, lust, jealousy, and greed across every generation. The broader message connects this destructive tendency toward variance and contention to the redemptive purpose of Jesus Christ, whose final recorded prayer in John 17 was specifically that His followers might be one with the Father and with each other. Christ's entire ministry—His entry into the world, His perfect life, and His death—was aimed at reversing this pattern of variance, confusion, quarreling, fighting, and wrath that stems from the works of the flesh. The historical example of the Corinthian church demonstrates how variance and contention manifested in the early church through people aligning themselves with popular figures, becoming puffed up with vanity over doctrinal emphases, and quarreling to the point of taking one another to court. Paul's appeal that believers "speak the same thing" and avoid divisions directly addresses this spirit of contention. The solution to variance, as presented, is not communal or institutional but individual: each person must be motivated from within to align himself with God, since the church's unity depends on each member's personal unity with God first. Ephesians 2:14-18 identifies Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as the unifying agents capable of overcoming enmity and creating "one new man" out of what was previously divided. Ultimately, overcoming variance requires presenting oneself as a living sacrifice, being transformed rather than conformed to the world, and recognizing that serving both God and self simultaneously produces the very confusion and division that variance represents.