A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
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| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
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Tuesday, September 09, 2003 Heretics and HeresiesThat was the discussion in my Church on Mission class at seminary today. We got into our groups (they've put us in groups) and discussion three questions:
In the discussion it was quickly suggested by some of my teammates that terms like "Open Theism" and "Health and Wealth Gospel" were readily identifiable as heresies. They stuck to them and then began listing a whole host of firmly Christian parts of the Church, even so far as mentioning Catholics, and saying they were all heretics or close to heresy. This was echoed throughout the class by various groups listing some Christian groups as possible heretics, groups that have been a part of the Church for hundreds of years. I quickly came to the conclusion, which I previously voiced to my group, that heresy is not just something that we disagree with theologically. Heresy is not something that we thrust upon a group of people who, while differing in regards to their doctrine, still affirm orthodoxy. There are some real heretics out there today. One of the profs for the class, made a bold statement and said "one of the heresies of our contemporary church is that we have no heretics." Something definitely worth mulling over and contemplating. There are certainly heretics among us Christians today, bold ones at that. Oneness Pentecostals are certainly among this group. The Jehovahs Witnesses, while clearly rooted out by much of Christianity, are modern day Arians. The list goes on. Yet though we might have a lack of heretics in identification, is this a bad thing or a good thing? One fo the texts for this class is Jenkin's book The Next Christendom. In the second chapter he speaks clearly about some of the heretical movements of the early church and their advancement of the Gospel to parts of the world that would have otherwise been neglected by the Western church. These supposed heretics and outcasts advanced the cause of Christ enduring the scourge of persecution and death to proclaim His message. Does that mean those converted under their ministries are any less Christians? Perhaps we can again see that God's grace is greater than we suspect in many ways. I'm not endorsing some sort of inclusivism or universalism, rather I am suggesting that maybe the main thing isn't as delimited as we Christians try to make in respect to the whole of the body. posted by Preachin Jesus | 4:39 PM | |
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