Written by Nathan Amerson (Theology Instructor at NHCC)

An anecdote is told of a man attempting to throw himself from a bridge. A passerby stops and shouts at the young man, “No! Don’t jump! You have so much to live for!” When the young man hesitates, the kindly stranger says, “I believe in Jesus and He has a plan for your life.” The young man replies, “Me too. Thank you. What denomination are you?” The stranger replies “Baptist.” “Me too,” states the young man. “Triennial Convention of 1845?” “Of course,” replies the stranger. The young man then says, “Well you must certainly support women in pastoral ministry then?” “Never! You heretic!” replies the stranger and pushes the young man off the bridge.

This depiction, while intended to make a point with dark humor, denotes much of our society today. The term “heretic” is applied on social media and other venues far more often than the situation warrants, when in fact the differences between the two parties involved are likely to be of much less consequence than the heat of the conversation would imply. The question we would ask today is what is heresy and when should one break fellowship with another believer over a difference of doctrinal belief perceived to represent heresy.

Heresy in the early church was a point of contention that required 400 years and many church councils to iron out. The questions of what is orthodoxy and what is heterodox to the teaching of the Scriptures defined these early centuries of the church. In many cases these were not simple theoretical debates, the losers were anathematized or even lost their lives. And the importance for the church was at the surface, where believers were being tortured and jailed for their beliefs. What to die for became a key focal point of the early church councils. Irenaus wrote at the end of the second century to demonstrate the faults of beliefs of a number of false teachers of his day, and to establish orthodox belief for followers of the true church. This process continued with Athanasius, Augustine, and others who strove to establish orthodoxy for the early church. Later orthodoxy was firmly established by the teaching of Thomas Aquinas who for nearly 500 years with the starting point for all discussion of belief for the Catholic Church.

The Reformation represented a time of great turmoil within the church during which period many were convicted of heresy by the church and killed. This includes Jan Huss, burned at the stake in 1415. John Wycliff who died of natural causes was later exhumed and burned as a heretic. Martin Luther, heretofore devoted brother of the church, was excommunicated for his beliefs. The list goes on and this period of church history is rife with the sin of treasured misinterpretations which resulted in accusations of heresy flung at those who no longer held those beliefs. Certainly, here I speak as a Protestant and recipient of the history of Protestantism. These statements are not intended to disenfranchise my Catholic brothers but rather to point out that accusations of heresy are serious and must be confined to the most serious of theological disagreements. To be sure Protestants are much to blame as well, as best evidenced by John
Calvin’s condemnation of the Spaniard Michael Servetus to a tortuous death for what is
essentially mild disagreement with Calvin’s writings.

Today we must be wary of the words we use, and not least to be concerned about is accusations of heresy. That so many have died in the history of the church over these accusations causes them to be very significant indeed, in many cases today’s accusations are greatly overstated disagreements on relatively minor points. As believers in the modern age, we must recognize that some beliefs are and must be held with the tightest grip, lest we lose what it is to be Christian. These beliefs which must be in the first circle of the hierarchy of doctrine include belief in the existence of the God of the Bible, Jesus as His son, the nature of the Trinity, the

Incarnation, the Atonement, the Authority of the scriptures, and the eventual return of Christ. If we fail to hold on to these we are no longer called Christians. However, the next tier of beliefs are the ones which we should hold with a looser hand, yet are the ones most often squabbled over to the extent of losing fellowship. Each person will define this list somewhat differently, but it may include such issues as inerrancy, the symbolism of the communion meal, the nature of the sacraments, free will versus strong election, the Immaculate Conception, baptizing children, the nature of angels and demons, etc. These are serious issues of the faith and each person will naturally have strong beliefs around these topics. However, even these are not salvific and the believer must be able to concede some ground to another on these issues. Further out then should be lightly held beliefs such as women in ministry, church government and its structure, tithing, speaking in tongues, the salvation of the Jews, eschatological discussion, etc. These simply should not be a reason to break fellowship as they can be held with flexibility while granting grace to the other.

In short, we must be very cautious when applying terms such as heretic. These accusations are very serious and incur their own penalty when misapplied. Daniel Treier concludes his article on “Heresy” with these words:
In the twentieth century, many (until recently, more often clergy than laity) questioned whether truth can be discerned with sufficient clarity to justify contemporary reference to ‘heresy’. Because Christianity’s historic truth claims rest on authoritative Scriptures that speak of the reality of God’s redemptive acts in history, especially Jesus Christ, revealed truth is an inherent Christian doctrine. Consequently, despite contemporary disparagement of the concept, heresy represents the very real danger of departure from the truth.¹

Even there, though, note the salvific nature of the discussion. Those issues that deal with Christian salvation must be closely held, and those that do not must also be held with a lighter grip, extending maximum love and grace to others. This is the way of Christ and must be the way of the Christ follower today.

1. Daniel Treier. “Heresy”. In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker 2017), 378. ↩︎