On the Meaning of the Word "Heresy"

 

     The words "heresy" and " heretic" in the New Testament are badly misunderstood by most today. Most believe they have to do with false teaching and false teachers. There's a new thing going around saying they have to do with "choosing" and making a choice. But neither of these things is really correct where the Greek terms used in the NT are concerned.

      The word "hairesis" in Greek literally means "faction." And the word "hairetikos" literally means "factionalist." The words have to do with creating factions within what is supposed to be a unified body. These are the words used, for example, if you wanted to describe a political party and its members, or separate sects or even denominations of a religion. These words have to do with schisms and schismatics among a population.

      So, both Republicans and Democrats are heretics according to the actual meaning of these words. Both Liberals and Conservatives are heretics. Both the hard core Catholic and the die hard Baptist are heretics. Anyone who seeks to cause or maintain divisions are, by definition, heretics. And where Paul was concerned, anyone who sought to cause or maintain divisions within the Body of Christ is a heretic regardless of what theology he or she professes to hold. Anyone who puts their theological opinions above the love which Christ commanded which holds the body together is a heretic, regardless of how correct those opinions are.

      And according to Paul, heresy was a product of the flesh, not the Spirit of Christ. The need to be right is a product of the flesh, whereas the love for one another, putting each other's needs above our own is a product of the Spirit of Christ.