Talk:Heresy

From Theopedia

It has been my understanding that heresy is a teaching that goes against an "essential" gospel doctrine, while heterodoxy is unorthodox doctrine on a wider level. Larryjf

If you want to add this idea in there to help be more clear feel free to do so. JordanBarrett 18:13, 23 November 2005 (EST)

Better Use of this Category

Russell:

Thanks for your contributions to the Heresy article, which are very helpful. I had thought that heresies had to come from within the church (see my comments to that effect in The Da Vinci Code) but you point out biblical cases where the heretics are Sadducees and Pharisees, people who were not followers of Jesus. So I would really value some explicit leadership on where we draw the line about what is a modern-day heresy - move things in and out of the category if you like.

As I argue in the Da Vinci article, I think that book is not a heresy, but I left it in the category because that's where it started out. On the other hand, I thought Quantum Theology is a heresy because it comes from an RC priest, with support from some religious institutions. What do you think?

A final note: from my (Evangelical Anglican) perspective, da Vinci and Quantum Theology are much more critical issues than Monophysitism and Donatism. We are not in an intellectual battle here - souls are being lost.

Mrd 19:26, 2 November 2006 (UTC) Mike

Mike - my main goal in refining this article was to make a more clear distinction between issues that we need to wrestle over and issues that we need to separate over. We can wrestle over whether the best way to understand the framework of Scripture is through the lens of "covenants" (2 Corinthians 3:6) or through the lens of "stewardships/administrations/dispensations" (Ephesians 3:2). But when it comes to someone preaching another Gospel, the Bible makes it clear we must part ways. (I believe Theopedia's statement of faith needs to make more specific affirmations and denials in order to draw some distinct lines in this regard. But that's a whole other topic.) I would argue that a perspective or approach that makes no pretense of trying to recognize the God of the Bible, the authority of the Bible, or the message of the Bible would not best fit the category heresy (e.g. Islam). I also wouldn't label The Da Vinci Code heresy, because it is not doctrinal teaching, but a fictional work. However, there are very definitely heresies contained within the book, and thus I am not opposed to leaving it in the category. - R HokieRNB 19:48, 2 November 2006 (UTC)