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Heresy: What does this mean? (Part 2)
By Sarah Arnold There are a number of categories for heresies. Major heresies are those which change the essence of Christian doctrine substantially enough to effect salvation; minor heresies are deviations from understood Christian doctrine without necessarily corrupting the faith enough to effect salvation on their own (although they are still mostly false teaching—some heresies listed here have been condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, but are not considered heretical outside of the RCC, like Heliocentrism). For the purposes of my own research and subsequent posts, I’ve categorized heresies in the following manner. Major: Antitrinitarian (heresies that deny the Trinity in form or substance) Arian (heresies that deny the divinity…
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Judge Not: What Does This Mean?
By Sarah Arnold Before the heresy posts continue, a slight, but related, segue, is necessary, because any of us who do point out heresies have heard the following… probably a lot. “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” “No one can judge me but God.” “Who are you to judge me?” Liberal Christians of all denominational stripes like to throw those words at us. Even non-Christians like to start lobbing the “judge not” bomb as often as they can. These same people often tell us to “coexist” and preach a gospel of false tolerance. This goes farther than not just causing division (something else we are often accused…
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Heresy- What Does This Mean Part 1
By Sarah Arnold I was looking for a picture to use with this post and stumbled across this one—and it seems to be a perfect description of heresy. The Church isn’t made for “progress,” so it seems only logical to define the opposite of sound doctrine—heresy—as progressive. The church is made for sound doctrine, and sound doctrine alone, teachings that are unchanging in a world of fluidity and cultural sensitivity. We wouldn’t want to offend anyone, and let’s face it–sound doctrine offends our sin nature. We don’t seem to hear the word heresy much anymore because it’s considered a “divisive” word. Often those of us in Confessional Lutheran circles who do…
