2 The original Greek word was hairesis, and in ancient biblical times, could be used to refer to philosophical schools or “sects” of the Greek world. Merriam-Webster defines heresy as “adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma or to generally accepted beliefs or standards. The Dictionary of Christianity in America defines orthodoxy as “beliefs judged to be essential to Christian truth.” The word comes from two Greek words, orthos and doxa, which literally mean “right opinion.” Over time, orthodoxy has come to refer to “established beliefs or doctrines.” 1 You can start from the top or skip to the topics that interest you.īefore diving into the specifics of how to spot heresy and whether Christians should study it or not, let’s first define a few terms, starting with “orthodoxy.” There’s so much theological “noise” that we must train our spiritual “ears” to know when someone’s teaching is not biblically sound.īelow we’ll unpack the topic of heresy-what it is, if it’s in the Bible, what some of the main heretical movements were in Church history, and more. Sometimes their teaching was so close to Christianity that it was hard to tell the difference.Īs twenty-first-century believers in a world full of uncertainty, it’s as important as ever to know how to spot an error in teaching. The history of the Christian Church is riddled with teachers whose work looked and sounded like orthodox Christianity-but wasn’t. Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email LinkedIn
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |