HERESY

                                        

Heresy, originally defined, was a religious doctrine contrary to dogma established by the Church, or which implied denial of revealed truth. That is, heterodoxy. A heretic would be one who dissents from established Church dogma or deliberately and obstinately disavows a revealed truth. That is, a deviationist. Principles of avoiding heresy and condemning it are indeed scriptural. 

But it also came to mean departure from a dominant doctrine, practice, or theory in any field.  That is, innovation. A heretic came to mean anyone who dissents from an accepted doctrine, opinion, or theory of any kind, or who opposes generally accepted beliefs.  That is, a nonconformist. In other words, don't you dare defy popular opinion.  

For lauders of popular opinion to be logically consistent, they should allow ant colonies to take over picnic baskets since ants have the popular vote.  If they need surgery, a hundred random people off the street should pool their brainpower to work on them instead of a surgeon with a medical degree. Slavery was considered good by popular consensus.  Heretics were those who operated the Underground Railroad to free them.  So, mere popular opinion is excrement. 

Yet the early Church successfully applied the original definition, denouncing heretical distortions of Christian theology such as Adoptionism, Anomoeanism, Apollinarianism, Arianism, Basilideanism, Binitarianism, Collyridianism, Docetism, Donatism, Eutychianism, Gnosticism, Iconoclasm, Marcionism, Miaphysitism, Modalism, Monarchianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Montanism, Nestorianism, Novatianism, Patripassianism, Paulicianism, Pelagianism, Priscillianism, Psilanthropism, Sabellianism, Sethianism, Subordinationism, Tritheism, and Valentinianism.  They also denounced non-Christian beliefs such as pantheism, polytheism, and reincarnation.  And spelled out exactly the proper relationships between men and women and their acceptable gender roles.  To deviate from them was to be heretical. All this and more helped rebuff serious errors. 

What of later declarations of labeling other things heresy?  Before, church leaders could solidly claim that they represented the body of Christ and one True Church since there was none other. But after the Church split, each group's credibility was irreparably damaged.  Because now, every church could also be a schism. The more groups there are, the more statistically likely that they deviate than their chance of being the original.  Plus, the Church already had nine hundred years to analyze and declare everything to be either kosher or heresy.  And since there is nothing new under the sun, everything should have been deduced already. 

The consequence of newer declarations of heresy without recourse to early Church documentation: Some Catholics consider the Orthodox church heretical, while some Orthodox see the Catholic church as heretical. And between the two most prominent groups in the southern United States: Baptists and Churches of Christ, some on both sides claim that the other teaches a perverted gospel. And shockingly, some Bible believers such as "Brother Clinton" from the Wordprophet YouTube channel not only claim that all Trinitarians are heretics, but that none of us can be saved! 

Newer declarations of heresy concerning matters never discussed in early Church literature: In 1633 the Roman Inquisition prosecuted and imprisoned astronomer Galileo as a heretic due to his heliocentrism, based on their interpretation of Joshua 10:12-14.  Of course, heliocentrism has been proven right and they, proven dead wrong.  Now there was always some leeway and wiggle room for theological differences.  For example, believers either held to the idea of creatio ex nihilo, creatio ex deo/creatio ex ipse (synonyms) or creatio ex materia.  We of these other persuasions object to ex nihilo since it violates the dictum Ex nihilo nihil fit.  That is, nothing comes from nothing.  

However, the overly simplistic ex nihilo idea ballooned so much that it squashed the other positions out of recognition, even being held by non-Christian religionists. Revisit my third paragraph.  From some of these creatio ex nihilo adherents a recent declaration of heresy has been launched against me and others who hold a belief I like to call Monopantheism or Monotheism Plus.  Most accusers are ignorant of what we truly believe.  To help explain, I made an analogy having God as a universal Library and every individual creation a book checked out from it.  

This is NOT anywhere near pantheism, having everything an equal part of God, nor Mormonism, where the saved eventually become gods to rule their own planet, while eternally separated from the Creator.  Instead, library books, while being parts of the library, have zero power and zero authority, while the library owner has complete power and authority, the books being completely dependent on it, and which will either be disposed of or necessarily return. On the Internet, see the article The Promise of Trinitarian PanENtheism by Christopher Layton, and the website www.ctmu.net. You need not accept my trajectory.  However, one who incorrectly labels another person a heretic or group heretical is a schismatic. 

If we discover that our church holds some heretical beliefs, should we abandon it? No, unless the heresy strikes at the very core of Christianity, such as denying Christ's resurrection, sinless nature, or virgin birth, denying the Trinity, and suchlike.  That is because all major church groups would be considered somewhat heretical according to early Church delineations.  Instead, I would try to help my local congregation seek betterment.  However, some groups are apostate.  Apostasy is wholesale abandonment of Jesus' faith via wide-ranging heresy such as Unitarian Universalist churches, or complete abandonment of Christ via *absolute* heresy, such as The Satanic Temple.  Those we must avoid.                                                                                                                                                                Recommended reading: Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up by David. W. Bercot, Scroll Publishing Co. (found on Amazon.com)