Call me a heretic if you want, but I no longer believe in heretics. I do not think heretics exist. I do not believe there is such a thing as heresy.
No, I am not trying to be cute like when people say “God doesn’t believe in Atheists.” I’m being serious. I’ve been mulling this over for a while, and while I may have missed something in my research, I cannot find any reason to justify the Christian belief in heresy.
Let me tell you why.
The exegetical evidence
The word heresy comes from the Greek word airesis. Do you see that? The word “heresy” is not a translation of a Greek word, but a transliteration, just like baptism (baptizo) and evangelism (euangelizo). Translators will often transliterate a Greek word when they are not fully sure how to translate it. They just take the Greek letters and change them into English letters, and call it good.
But it’s not so good for English readers who don’t know what’s going on behind the text. In the case of airesis, the translators knew what it meant, and most of the time, in most translations, it appears as “sect,” “division,” or “faction.” Like where? Most prominently in Acts, for example.
Christianity was one of the first airesis. In the book of Acts, Luke writes about the “sect (airesis) of the Sadducees” (5:17), the “sect (airesis) of the Pharisees” (15:5), and the “sect (airesis) of the Nazarenes” (24:5). What was the “sect of the Nazarenes”? The followers of Jesus. Christians (cf. Acts 24:14; 26:5; 28:22).
Yes, that’s right. The Christians were “heretics.” They were a sect within Judaism. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing. It just means they were a group that had some different beliefs and practices than other groups within the same big tent of Judaism.
Outside of Acts, there are only three more uses of the word. The first two, 1 Corinthians 11:19 and Galatians 5:20 both indicate that “divisions” and “factions” within Christianity will happen, but are not desirable or helpful. We are to be unified in the Spirit.
I’m sure people have different perspectives on these verses, but a quick perusal of the various translations show that there is a wide diversity of opinion on how to translate these words of Paul. The best and most contextually consistent translations indicate that Paul is talking about how genuine Christians can become divided, and we must protect ourselves from this.
So denominations are probably not God’s ideal pattern…
The final passage is the closest we come to a designation of “heresy” as someone condemned by God to eternal damnation in the Bible. It is 2 Peter 2:1. In this verse, Peter equates false prophets and false teachers with the destructive heresies they bring, and says that the end of these teachers will be destruction.
In the context, it seems best to understand the “destructive heresies” as “destructive divisions” that false teachers and false prophets create in a fellowship of believers. The havoc they wreak on a Christian body of believers will be returned on their own body. Therefore, the “heresies” are not their false teachings, but the divisions the teachings cause. The distinction is small, but it is there.
So in light of all this, we see that a heretic is not a who, but a what. A heretic is a division, a faction, a sect, a different group.
Where did heresy come from?
So ultimately, where did heresy and the charge of “YOU HERETIC!” come from? It came from early church leaders who wanted to exert their power, authority, and control over other people.
A church leader would have a good following of people in a particular town or city, and some other teacher would arrive in town, and begin to teach Scripture in a different way or with a different emphasis. Confusion would rise in the students, with the end result being that both teachers condemn the other teacher and all of his followers to the everlasting pit of fiery doom. Why? To maintain his own power, control, and authority.
Eventually, people started killing each other, small wars broke out, and finally, government officials had to step in, take sides, and in order to maintain peace, declare one faction the “winner.” And that, in super-simplified fashion, is how we have developed “heresy” and “orthodoxy.”
So does this mean it’s a theological free-for-all? Is everything okay? Can you believe anything you want? Not exactly. Beliefs still matter.
The practical ramifications
This last passage we looked at above (2 Peter 2:1) clearly indicates that there are false teachers and false prophets. While we do not have any exegetical basis for calling them “heretics,” we nevertheless can see their teachings as dangerous for Christian unity without condemning them to hell (They might end up there, but it’s not our job to send them).
So how can we disagree with others, but remain unified? By remembering four things.
1. We must teach the Bible as accurately as we know how. The Bible is still our guide for Christian belief and practice. It is our authority. It is not a doctrinal statement, but it is a history of what God has done and what those who have gone before us have believed and practiced. It can help us as we try to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus today.
2. False teachers will come – and they may be us. We must recognize that if someone comes into our group who teaches differently than we do, one of us is a false teacher – and it might not be the other guy. None of us are 100% correct in our doctrine. Every single one of us holds to false teachings and false ideas.
So maybe, just maybe, the person who sees things a bit differently than us, is sent not by Satan, but by God. It might be worth considering their ideas.
However, the simple act of even considering the ideas of others will often result in division among a group of believers. At some point, a group probably needs to put their foot down and say, “This is what we believe. This is what we will die for. We will not consider anything contrary to this.”
But we do not condemn the other person as a heretic, to burn forever in the lake of fire. No, we treat them with firm respect and love. Why? Because of the third thing to remember.
3. Jesus is the center of our galaxy. No, Jesus is not at the physical center of the galaxy. When many people think of “church” and the relationship of all people to Jesus, they think of some sort of a club, where some people are “in” and some people are “out.” There is some sort of imaginary line that is drawn, and everybody on one side of the line is “good with God,” and everybody on the other side needs to “get right with God.”
But when I imagine all people everywhere and our relation to Christ, I think of a galaxy. There are no boundaries. There is no perimeter. There is just the center, Jesus, and everything else swirls around him. We measure ourselves, not by who is in and who is out, but by proximity to Jesus. None of us are in the center, therefore, none of us have arrived. We are all, hopefully, drawing closer to his gravitational pull each and every day.
Viewing people this way keeps us from creating clubs of our own imagination, and allows us to view all people with dignity and respect. We are not trying to determine if the other person is “saved” or “unsaved,” a “heretic” or “orthodox.” Instead, we look for ways that we can draw that other person closer to Jesus, and how we ourselves can be drawn closer to Jesus through the other person.
In this way, we begin to view our beliefs differently.
4. Beliefs are truths we hold firmly with an open hand.
Beliefs are no longer litmus tests to help us judge people. Beliefs are ideas or convictions that help draw us and others closer to Jesus. Beliefs guide the way we live, the way we think, and the way we act. So we hold our beliefs firmly.
But we also hold beliefs with an open hand. Since we also want to be drawn closer to Jesus, we recognize that we do not yet have all the truth, and anyone — absolutely anyone, even our worst enemy — can be used by Jesus to draw us closer to Him.
So how do we hold our beliefs firmly with an open hand. Imagine it is like carrying a paper plate full of food in a brisk wind. When the winds of doctrine try to blow our beliefs to the ground, we turn our open hand into them, using their ideas to force our beliefs more firmly against the hand.
In this way, the genuine but gentle consideration of other ideas either shows us where we were wrong, or reinforce what we already believe.
Conclusion
There is so much more I want to say on this, but it will have to wait. This post is already way too long.
The bottom line is that the charge of heresy is a charge that people use to strike fear into the hearts of their followers. Therefore, is it not done to defend the truth, for truth must be spoken in love, and there is no fear in love.
I do not believe in heretics. But if you want to disagree, that’s okay. I’m turning my hand into the wind. Let me hear what you think.
Jeremy,
Thank you for writing this. It has always bugged me that we use the term “heretic” towards other believers who disagree with us. this is especially bothersome when the disagreement is over things that are not even core beliefs. My favorite part of the post is “that if someone comes into our group who teaches differently than we do, one of us is a false teacher – and it might not be the other guy”. Remembering that we can and often do get it wrong ourselves is the first step in maintaining unity.
God bless you for being willing to risk the charge of heresy to share truth in love.
FedEx,
President,
Men of Praise Motorcycle Ministry
Thanks. Yes, it has always bugged me, even though a while back I did my fair share of heretic branding. I’ve been doing some thinking and reading on all of this, and hope it continues to fit with Scripture as I read and study more.
Sweet. I was out for a run today thinking about the term “heretic” and it occurred to me that I obviously don’t share the same definition with those that throw it around with a scornful tone of judgment. Jesus was considered a heretic by the Jews…God’s people. Anyway, I’m running and I get the idea to do some shirts that say, “I’m proud to be YOUR heretic”. Then the urge passed, but now your writing about it and it makes me want to do it again. We’ll see…
People that are in a relationship/partnership (new or long term) with Jesus will always be drawn together for the right reasons. Whether we agree with the reasons or their mission statements or their dogma is quite irrelevant. There is, after all, much work to be done. Much service that needs to take place. Many needs that must be addressed.
God is sovereign. To suggest that God could not potentially change the rules midstream is to infer that even the Almighty has limitations and restrictions the must be obeyed. One on one relationship drawing us into a worldview anchored by love, compassion, tolerance, and humility. What happens in the afterlife is complete speculation and who cares. Maybe you rot in the ground and become wormfood…what’s the difference. The point is that our individual faith is akin to a house. Some walls are load bearing walls. If they are removed the structure collapses. I happen to think that a great deal of what we think are our load bearing walls are nothing more than room dividers that structurally aren’t significant in the least. I’ve got one…if you’re a prick don’t try telling me you’re serving the same Jesus that I am because I will probably lay hands on you in a manner that will not bring healing.
I hope I get to meet Gandhi in the afterlife along with Nietzsche, Plato, Henry VIII, and Cher. Let’s be very very careful about what we decide to label as our load bearing walls. Let’s be very very careful what we decide to draw lines in the sand about. Let’s be very very careful to listen to the hearts of others and value their perspectives even if we know they are a half bubble off. Let’s err on the side of tolerance and come up with some better shirt logos.
“Hi, my name’s Bonar and I’m a heretic.”
Thanks Jeremy for sharing this study.
You’re welcome!
I agree with your post.
Further, I would say that heresy is the flip side of orthodoxy. Therefore, if we dispense with the label heretic (and we should), then we should also drop use of the term orthodox. This this requires that we stop dividing people into churched and unchurched, saved and unsaved, Christian and Non-Christian. Is this desirable for even possible? Yes.
The kingdom of God has come and rules us all. (The degree of our obedience to it determining the degree to which we benefit from it.) When Jesus says it matters how we treat of the least of His brethren, He’s referring to the least of humanity – not the least of some subset of humanity.
To believe in labels like heretic and orthodox means we have – by whatever means – divided humanity into the washed and unwashed. The Pharisees would appreciate such a distinction, but Jesus would not.
Mike,
I didn’t carry the logic forward like that, but I think you may be right be right about dispensing with the “orthodox” label also. I will think more about it.
I definitely agree with what you said about the Kingdom of God ruling all. Thanks!
What is Heresy?
Heresy can be defined as any departure from Christian orthodoxy which is a teaching, doctrine or practice that goes beyond the apostles teachings — the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).Biblical heresy is often a denial of the core beliefs held in the Church that are founded on the Bible. In this sense it applies to groups which reject basic Christian doctrines and separate themselves from the historic church.
It can be defined as the over-emphasis of a neglected truth or a truth elevated to an extreme were it can no longer be recognized as biblical. Heresy can also originate from a new revelation or prophesy, which is often the most dangerous source of all. A divisive teaching or practice from inside the Church can be more destructive to genuine faith than one from the outside. The epistle of Jude warns of this.
Its been said the Truth can defend itself. This statement is not only non-biblical, it is disastrous. Look at the cults that have grown right here in front of us. Imagine if nothing was said about many of them. Most of these teachers came out from the Christian church (1 Jn.2:19). We are not on a trivial pursuit. This has become a war inside the walls of the Church which should be protecting us. But instead, exposing error and searching the Scripture is being widely denounced today and those brave enough to do so are accused of being unloving and unkind and labeled “heresy hunters.”
Steve, yes, that is a definition of heresy. But out of curiosity, where did you get that definition? It was not from the Bible.
Could it be then, that your understanding of heresy is actually “a truth elevated to an extreme where it can no longer be recognized as biblical”?
I am not opposed to defending the truth. I am all about truth. It is the first word of this website (Truth in Love…). What I am opposed to is how we defend truth. That’s what this post really was about.
The above article was taken from.. http://www.letusreason.org/Pent38.htm
It is wrong to say that heresy and heretics don`t exist, because the Bible clearly talks about heresy, heresies, heretics, false teachers, false teachings etc. And from the standpoint that this whole article bases itself on that premise, it is in error.
Steve, I dealt with the biblical references to heresy, heresies, and heretics. If you want to disagree with the exegetical evidence, fine, but at least give me reasons why you disagree with my findings.
Steve, your definition reveals the problem. At one point you define heresy as departure from the apostles’ teaching and at another you define it as departure from historic church teaching. This discrepancy was revealed most dramatically when Martin Luther was considered a heretic by the institutional church of his day…but only because he clung to what he saw the institutional church as rejecting: that is, the apostles’ teaching.
Thus one person’s heresy is another person’s orthodoxy, and vice versa.
“Thus one person’s heresy is another person’s orthodoxy, and vice versa.” Good point.
Kind of like rummage sales or dumpster diving: one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
Awesome post. It’s pretty ridiculous how quick some are to label a person or group a heretic over some of the most petty things. Obviously, there are some solid doctrines to stand on, but I’ve seen the heresy label thrown at far too little things, especially with far too little Biblical support.
@ Steve-You said, “But instead, exposing error and searching the Scripture is being widely denounced today and those brave enough to do so are accused of being unloving and unkind and labeled ‘heresy hunters.'”
I have to disagree..I don’t think anyone is faulted for searching the Scriptures in relation to something they feel is unBiblical. I think they are accused of being unloving and unkind because they are unloving and unkind. I’ve seen many people within the church disagree with another person’s/group’s doctrine and dismiss them by saying that they don’t agree. Fair enough. It’s when the name calling and condemning to hell starts that people get irritated with the “orthodox” and one might receive the label, heresy hunter.
Jesse,
Yes, the heretic label gets thrown around too frequently. Thanks for the input!
point 3 reminds me of something I wrote some years ago. I pictured the different denominations as on the rim of a wheel, with Jesus as the hub: as we get closer to Jesus, we get closer to one another.
Hmm. Very nice image of Jesus and the church. And so true. I love it!
Thanks, Jeremy. I prefer your image of the galaxy – that includes both the ‘saved’ and ‘unsaved’, without defining just who they are. I too hate the ‘who’s in, who’s out’ way of thinking. One thing that first attracted me to Jesus was that the group of Christians I knew (the Christian Union at uni) had some bond of love, and I felt included even though I knew I wasn’t fully one of them (difficult to put into words – I didn’t ‘belong’ but still felt included).
I see my ministry as encouraging everyone to get closer to Jesus, whether they know him yet or not.