A Matter of Opinion

But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.  2 Peter 2:1  NASB

Heresies – “Don’t call me a heretic until I am one.”  That’s usually my approach to slanderous claims about what I believe and teach.  Of course, that doesn’t prevent the calumny, but it does point out that heresy is essentially a matter of opinion.  That is to say, the label “heresy” depends on opposition to orthodoxy.  A heretic is someone who doesn’t agree with the orthodox position.  And what is orthodoxy?  Well, that depends.  In the religious world, orthodoxy is determined by the standard authoritative body of beliefs enforced by the religious group.  So, orthodoxy from one religious group isn’t necessarily the same for another religious group.  Speaking in tongues isn’t a necessary sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit for Episcopalians.  As far as some branches of the Pentecostal movement are concerned, Episcopalians (and all the other non-conformist Christians) are technically heretics.  Of course, since Luther all Protestants are Catholic heretics.  All Jews are Christian heretics.  And on and on it goes.  Heresy is a function of a prior orthodoxy.

What’s even more interesting is the etymology of the word.  Hairetikos (Greek) originally meant “fitted or able to take or choose something.”  It had no negative religious connotations.  Only later did it become “schismatic” or “follower of false doctrine.”  Why?  Because the real foundation of hairetikos is the essential human right to disagree.  A heretic is really someone who has a different opinion.  That’s all.  That’s it.  Until there is an orthodoxy, there cannot be a “false” doctrine, and “false” doctrines only arise when those who disagree are branded as unacceptable dissenters.  Nothing could be more obvious today in the world of pandemic censorship.

For Peter, heretics are those who deny the salvation found in the Messiah.  In particular, Peter is concerned about those who 1) claim Yeshua is not the Messiah, 2) deny he was human, or 3) reject the “orthodoxy” of Jewish Messianic practices.  If we extrapolate based on what we know about the earliest followers of Yeshua, we could conclude that heretics are those who deny the authority of Moses’ teaching, replace Israel with a new idea of the elect, divide the practicing body of believers by introducing syncretism, and/or alter the essential oneness of the true God.  If this is the case, then virtually all Christian doctrine is heretical.

The heretic might just be the most important member of your assembly.  Copernicus was a heretic.  Columbus, Einstein, and Newton before him, heretics.  Wilberforce—a heretic.  Leeuwenhoek, Gödel, Bach, Kepler . . . the list includes virtually all those who significantly altered our worldview.  And let’s nor forget Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea.  Heretics are valuable.  They think outside the box.  They push us outside the box.  They refuse to be conformed to the popular, safe system.  We might not like it, but without them we would all live in perfect conformity in the hunter/gatherer societies of the pre-historical world.  So, now you can call me a heretic.  It’s an honor.

Topical Index: heretic, hairetikos, opinion, orthodoxy, 2 Peter 2:1

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