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Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical
Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.
Heresy!
Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical
Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.
This post has moved here.
Two Kinds of Leaders
Frank, love this article. I’ve been disturbed by recents events where well-known Christian leaders or preachers quickly denounce other “popular” Christian leaders as “heretics” when they have different scriptural interpretation or ideas (Rob Bell comes to mind).
It seems that, by biblical definition, biblicsl heresy can only happen within a “genuine” church, correct?
In your reply above, you state that the Protestant Reformation doesn’t qualify as “genuine.” Does the Catholic Church? Does any church founded on Protestant Reformation ideas qualify as “genuine”?
I’m just unclear (1) which churches qualify, (2) what is criteria (other than any organization “built on Christ”? Most churches would certainly claim that as their foundation), and (3) who determines which church qualifies (& then can fall into “true heresy”)?
Thanks for your dedication to unity. You always inspire me towards unity, even when my flesh desires otherwise!
God’s blessings to you!
Gaynor
The point I was making in my comment to someone’s question about the Reformation is that the Reformers of their time were trying to reform the existing RCC which they felt was built on a fallible system. Some of them believed the RCC of their time was a false religion using Christian language. The Reformers were thrust out of the RCC and thus began their own churches. That specific situation is not heresy according to the New Testament. We give examples in the article of what heresy looks like. There were heresies in the church in Corinth, for example. The point of the article isn’t about what churches are genuine and not genuine. I have no interest in that question. Glad you liked the article.
Great article about a topic dear to my heart by two of my favorite people, who I am sure have never been accused of heresy. 🙂
The common use of the word always makes me think of Inigo saying “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Thanks Frank. I read the entire article. Thank goodness for watchdogs over the Body of Christ who can discern genuine seeking and teachableness as opposed to divisiveness. My friend was losing a lot of sheep on his property to predators. Bought a sheepdog. The dog is 24/7 with the sheep. Never leaves them. With them all night. God Bless
very good explanation of the biblical meaning ,but according to this definition,the protentastismo be a heresy?
By “Protenstismo,” do you mean the Protestant Reformation? If so, your comment is not correct. In the article, we are speaking about *genuine* churches. Not organizations that aren’t built on Jesus Christ. Here are the two endnotes at the end of the article. Keep in mind that the Protestant Reformation was an attempt to change the Roman Catholic Church from within the system, but the leaders of the RCC booted the Reformers out and called them heretics. Here are the notes that clarify two of the points just in case some didn’t see them.
Notes
*For example, those who were creating division in the church in Corinth over their favorite apostle in 1 Corinthians 1 (“I’m of Peter,” “I’m of Apollos,” “I’m of Paul,” etc.) were acting heretically with something that was good and approved by God (viz. apostles). While Paul doesn’t use the word “heresy” or “heretical” to describe these specific divisions, he does use the term schismata in 1 Corinthians 1:10, which carries the same essential meaning.
**Keep in mind that we aren’t saying that simply leaving a church (especially if it’s truly a sect or is teaching false doctrine) isn’t acting divisely. Nor is it divisive for a church to excommunicate someone based on unrepentant continued sin after many attempts have been made to urge them to repent (see Matt. 18). We aren’t speaking about such situations.