The word “heresy” should not be carelessly used to label and dismiss any view with which we strongly disagree. It has a very specific and serious meaning. Neither Calvinism nor Arminianism, for example, are heresy, even though they represent significant disagreements on important doctrinal matters.
Denying the Core
First, heresy is a belief that denies the core of the Christian faith and thus leads to the destruction of those who knowingly hold it. Peter warned, “There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1). Peter wasn’t concerned with someone teaching a different belief about the age of the earth or the nature of the millenium; he was concerned with a denial of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). A heresy is “a belief deviating from established doctrine in major areas like the Trinity, Christology, and soteriology” (LBD)—areas that have serious implications for salvation.
To come back to the opening example, Wesleyans would argue that Calvinism can have negative practical and pastoral consequences, but Calvinism is clearly not a heresy by definition. On the other hand, some Calvinists have accused Arminians of being heretics for embracing the heresy of Pelagianism, but this is based on a myth (see “A Wesleyan Affirmation of the Second Council of Orange“).
A heresy strikes at the heart of the Christian faith and leads to the destruction of those who persist in holding it.
The opening lines of the Athanasian Creed warn about the implications for salvation of neglecting the most central doctrine of the Christian faith, the Trinity: “Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.” Oneness doctrine or oneness Pentecostalism is a heresy, for example, because it confuses the three persons—it denies the distinct personhood of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
A Self-Willed Choice
Second, heresy is a self-willed choice—a knowing, willful departure from core Christian doctrine. Notice the word “keep” in the Athanasian Creed above: “Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.” You cannot keep or hold on to what you haven’t received. The Athanasian Creed isn’t talking about those who hold false beliefs in ignorance; he’s talking about those who have been taught the orthodox faith, then willingly and knowingly depart from it.
In fact, the word “heresy” (hairesis) originally meant “choice.” W. B. Pope explains that “heresy is the self-willed choice of some particular error and consequent departure from the Christian Confession. Every church which renounces the fundamental doctrines of Christianity is out of the unity of Christendom” (272).
Note that 2 Peter 2:1 condemns “false teachers” who “secretly” bring in heresies. Their heresy is deliberate and malicious. This should cause us to be equally careful with our use of the term “false teachers.” A “false teacher” is not just someone who teaches something that is false. If we’re honest, most good-willed pastors occasionally say things that are false (e.g., they inadvertently misinterpret a verse). But they are not knowingly and deliberately teaching a false doctrine or promoting a belief that strikes at the heart of orthodoxy.
Stubborn Adherence
Third, a heresy implies stubborn, persistent adherence to a major false teaching, despite the Church’s consensual witness. The Church has never condemned someone as a “heretic” overnight. Heretics were warned, disproved by Scripture, and given ample opportunity to renounce their heresies.
The most famous “heretic” or “false teacher” in the ancient Church was Arius. He claimed that Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God; therefore, Jesus was believed to be of a similar substance (homo-i-ousios) with the Father, but not of one and the same substance (homo-ousios) and thus fully divine. The Church held an ecumencial council to address this heresy, and the Nicene Creed rejected Arianism by affirming that the Son is “begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.” The Arian heresy is still alive and well in groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The word “heresy” should not be carelessly used to label and dismiss any view with which we strongly disagree.
Groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Oneness Pentecostals are heretical. Their teachings are, objectively speaking, heresy. Individuals within these groups should not be embraced as brothers and sisters in Christ. However, these individuals may not even know the catholic faith, let alone be stubbornly promoting a heresy. Thus, I would also be slow to condemn an individual in these groups as “a heretic.”
Charity At Stake
Finally, Christian charity as at stake in how we use the word “heresy” and related words like “heretic” and “false teacher.” Heresy is something that willingly strikes at the heart of the Christian faith and leads to the destruction of those who persist in holding it. Heretics knowingly depart from the Church’s consensual understanding of cardinal doctrines. Unless someone is responsible for “obstinate advocacy and propagation of error directly attacking the foundations of the faith” (Oden 315), accusing them of heresy is a serious violation of the law of love and what Wesley called “catholic spirit.”
Christians of various traditions should seek to understand and learn from one another (see “Your Tradition and the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church”). Unlike heretics, who are outside the “one holy catholic and apostolic Church” (Nicene Creed), we are members of “one body” (Eph. 4:4) along with “all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2).
