What Really is Heresy?
Lately, I have noticed that many are using the word heresy to describe a variety of doctrinal positions. For instance, I recently saw someone state that the “Baptist Bride” position as heresy, while another stated that “requiring repentance at salvation” is heresy, and still another stated that the “prosperity Gospel is a damning heresy that paves the road to hell.” Yet the Catholic church seems to teach that the only people who actually go directly to hell are those who are “heretics.” So I began to wonder what actually is “heresy” and what is not?
So let’s start this discussion with a definition. Simple right? Well, not really as simple as it sounds. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines heresy as “adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma.” However, one Christian definition is that heresy is simply “a departure from the truth.” While the so-called KJV 1611 Dictionary defines heresy as “fundamental error in religion, or an error of opinion respecting some fundamental doctrine of religion.” Simply stated, the definition of heresy is obviously not universally the same.
So let’s start the study where every study should begin on biblical issues - the Word of God! There are nine times in the Bible where the word heresy and its various forms are found. To start with, I found it interesting that the word heresy is actually a transliteration of the Greek word, “hairesis,” rather than a translation into English. Thus, our English word “heresy” does not define the meaning but is simply a new word-based upon what the Greek language says is heresy.
Of the nine times in the New Testament, five were translated “sect,” one was translated “heresy," and the remaining three is the plural form “heresies.” So what is heresy in the Bible?
- Heresy happens sometimes among Christians. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:17-19 mentions that divisions and heresies among the church members of Corinth appeared to be almost common, and, actually seem to be what demonstrates the difference between certain mature and immature believers. Later in this passage, 1 Corinthians 11:21-34, Paul goes on to state that the Lord’s Supper being eaten unworthily and improperly is an example of these divisions and heresies. This would clearly indicate that saved church members can commit “heresies.”
- Heresy is a work of the flesh according to Galatians 5:19-21. The list in this passage includes terrible sins such as adultery, idolatry, witchcraft, murders, and heresies. Here Paul makes it clear that “heresies” are one of the fleshly works that are hindering people from being saved. Thus “heresies” can be committed by unsaved people.
- Heresy can be intentionally committed by professing Christians who seek to lead others away from certain truths. in 2 Peter 2:1-3, the Apostle writes that false prophets bring in “damnable heresies,” even to the point of “denying the Lord that bought them.” Clearly, these prophets were bought, thus they were saved yet able to commit heresies. Therefore “heresies” can be committed by Christian leaders.
- Heresy can also be a “sect” rather than a simple doctrine. For example, the Sadducees in Acts 5:17 were called a sect (“hairesis”) and so were the Pharisees in Acts 15:5. Paul was accused of “heresy” by being a member of the “sect” of the Nazarenes in Acts 24:5. But one of the most telling usages of the word is found in Acts 28:22, where Paul himself, in the retelling of his arrest and the accusations against him, states that the Christian belief structure is seen as a “sect” (hairesis = heresy).
When one looks at the various usages of the word “heresy” in the Scripture, it can be concluded that “heresy” is less about a damnable error and more about a diversity of views. It could be damning if the view is rejecting Jesus as God or refusing to accept that salvation is by grace through faith alone, but it also could be a division seen from another interpretation of Scripture. Yes, “heresy” seems to be always seen as negative in nature, but only damnable some of the time.
