The word "heresy" comes from
the Greek hairesis which means "choosing," or "faction." At first,
the term heresy did not carry the negative meaning it does now. But,
as the early church grew in its scope and influence throughout the
Mediterranean area, various teachers proposed controversial ideas
about Christ, God, salvation, and other biblical themes. It became
necessary for the church to determine what was and was not true
according to the Bible. For example, Arius of Alexandar (320 AD)
taught that Jesus was a creation. Was this true? Was this important?
Other errors arose. The Docetists taught that Jesus wasn't human.
The Modalists denied the Trinity. The Gnostics denied the
incarnation of Christ. Out of necessity, the church was forced to
deal with these heresies by proclaiming orthodoxy. And in so doing,
condemnation upon these heresies and the heretics became a reality.
Unfortunately, some of those who attempted to defend and
establish the truth did so by killing those who disagreed with them.
What would prompt such hostile actions against those who merely had
"differences of opinion" on biblical subjects? The answer may not
ever be fully known, but I offer this explanation.
Culturally, when Christianity arose, it arose in the midst of a
hostile environment. Judaism and the Roman Empire both warred
against its people and its teaching. Persecutions arose and
Christians were killed for their faith. In the Diaspora (dispersion)
of the late first century, Christians were scattered throughout the
Mediterranean area due to the persecutions in Israel. The Roman
Empire with its theology of many gods was not friendly to
Christianity's monotheism. Therefore, Christians were further
persecuted.
Theologically, the Bible teaches condemnation upon false
doctrines and false teachers.
Gal. 1:8-9
says, "But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach
to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let
him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if
any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you
received, let him be accursed" (NASB). See also 11
Cor. 16:22;
2 Cor. 11:1315;
1 Tim.
1:18-20;
Titus
3:10. Why is this taught in the Bible? The reason is simple.
Christians are saved by faith in the work of Jesus on the cross.
But faith in itself is not enough. Faith is not a substance you can
put in a jar. It is belief in something. Faith is only as good as
who it is placed in. If you put your faith in a false God, you are
lost because a false god cannot save anyone. This is why God says in
Exodus 20:3,
"You shall have no other gods before Me." Faith is not what
saves, but faith in the true God is what saves.
I suspect that it is a combination of the cultural and
theological contexts that resulted in Christians seeking to "do away
with" the heretics. Heresy has the ability to damn because they
have the ability to confuse the gospel sufficiently to make it
powerless. For this reason, I suspect that to many ancient
Christians, heresy became one of the most serious of offenses.
Essential verses
nonessential
It becomes necessary to define
those doctrines which separate Christian from non-Christian. It
would make no sense to persecute anyone over a doctrine that is not
essential to the faith. Such nonessentials, in my opinion, would
include baptism of infants, pre or post-trib rapture, worship on
Saturday or Sunday, musical instruments in the church, the
charismatic gifts, worship styles, dress codes, etc. These kinds of
subjects do not affect one's salvation. Unfortunately, the
disagreements that arise around these subjects result in
denominational fragmentation.
Essentials of the faith would include who God is, who Jesus is,
salvation by grace, and Jesus' resurrection. From these subjects we
have derived doctrines known as the Trinity and the hypostatic union
(Jesus' two natures: God and man). The Bible tells us that these
doctrines concerning God, Christ, salvation, and resurrection are
essential to the faith. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance
that Christians know their faith and know how to defend it against
the doctrines that compromise the essentials.
The list of heresies in this
section represents serious assaults upon the character of God, of
Christ, and salvation itself. The church through the centuries as
defined, let me correct myself, has recognized what the truth is
concerning the essentials of the faith.
