We’re at a natural break in the narrative of Acts, so I thought I would touch on some issues that have absorbed this blog for months now.  In a sense, this momentary lapse from following the Biblical narrative is necessary to explain future events within Acts.

Throughout the history of the Christian church, the church has struggled with those who would redefine the gospel and promote their own beliefs in the place of orthodoxy. The church has deemed these people heretics. Unfortunately, the title of heretic has been flung at Biblical believers at times, so that the term requires re-examination to understand what it means. Ultimately, it comes down to a definition of the gospel, which prepares us for Acts 15, when the early church first undertook the task of making a definitive statement concerning the gospel.

It would be wonderful if God and the church had created some all-encompassing statement of faith during Jesus’ lifetime and had Him say, yes, this is the gospel. No such statement exists and that, in and of itself, proof that Christianity is the truth. Canned religions start out with statements of faith at the outset. The early church came to know God sort of like one gets to know their spouse – a little at a time. They dealt with issues as they came up. And, thus, what was heresy and what was orthodoxy was given to the early church, but dealt with in succeeding generations as outsiders and those from inside who had confused ideas challenged the basic beliefs of the church.

Dr. Harold O.J. Brown wrote an excellent book in 1984 titled “Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present.” This comprehensive book that traces the various heresies found in the church from the 1^st Century to the present.  Dr. Brown defined heresies as “those beliefs that are so at odds with orthodox Christian theology that they are a direct threat to the basic beliefs necessary for adequately understanding God’s plan for personal salvation.” They are more than differences of opinion. The heretic must have some claim on calling himself “Christian”, some real original relationship to orthodoxy. A non-believer cannot be a heretic. In a sense, some of what we call “heresies” are not truly heretical, but another religion entirely.

All the theological concepts subject to heretical interpretation are found in the Bible. These are primarily those surrounding the Trinity and the nature of Jesus, although other subjects have become the basis for some heresies. The earliest Christians generally understood these concepts in the natural course of their faith. However, when heretical beliefs started developing, there grew a need to formally refute them; thus, over time, these basic Christian beliefs were systematized in understandable ways.

It took several centuries for the early theologians to develop the ideas and vocabulary needed to present orthodox beliefs on the Trinity and the nature of Jesus. When this was done the results were the various major creeds (Apostles, Nicene [AD 325/381], Athanasian, Chalcedonian [AD 451]) created for popular use. Even this is not enough. For though some will generally agree with the particular postulations, the intellectual need to further explain these basics in the extreme leads to heretical thought. This led to the subsequent (to AD 451) one thousand five hundred fifty years of repeating heresies. Most, if not all, modern heresies are revivals of or share assumptions with heresies of the first 450 years of Christianity.

In Dr. Brown’s book, he explained this history in a logical, chronological narrative. He showed that in the early persecutions, some heretics were genuine martyrs. More importantly, he explained the ramifications of any particular heresy, not just dwelling on why it is wrong Biblically, but thoroughly discussing the logical implications, conclusions and even actions to which this variant belief brings the heretic.  

The story progresses to the political successes of the church when it achieves official state recognition and eventually becomes an official state religion. He recounts with sadness the change of the church of the martyred saints into a government organization persecuting, or when not yet official, having the government persecute, its “enemies.” These enemies were not always heretics, but often political rivals with minor differences of theological opinion. Even some of this difference of opinion was really the result of linguistic misinterpretation (willful or incidental depending on the goals of the personages) between Latin and Greek speakers. When the opponents actually were heretical there were instances when the persecutions strengthened opposition to orthodoxy much in the same way early persecutions strengthened the church. It was some of this attitude and prejudice that left varieties of North African and Middle Eastern Christians vulnerable to the wholesale conversions to Islam in the 7th and 8th Centuries.

This is one reason why apologetics is so important to modern Christianity. We live in a day and age when the Internet makes it very easy to spread heresies and Biblical ignorance makes the average Christian vulnerable to claims that are partially based upon the Bible, but not fully founded there. Without a firm understanding of Biblical truth and modern writers who can put ancient theological terms into understandable modern language, we face a situation in North America and Europe that is very similar to 7^th and 8^th Century North America and Middle East. We must guard against this and the first defense is an understanding of the meaning of the gospel.