Book Comment: Documents of the Christian Church.

 

In his book, Documents of the Christian Church, editor Henry Bettensen presents hundreds of the most important documents of Christianity from the earliest days up until the modern era. The latest, an Amendation to the Constitution of the World Council of Churches, is from 1961, in the second edition of the book.

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. This one is not an easy read, but, if you have a more scholarly bent, it can be used to track the development of Christian ideas and doctrines such as ecumenism or the Trinity.

Some of the subjects, in no particular order, include: references to Christianity in classical writers, creeds, church councils, anti-heretical documents, writings of the Church Fathers, the Church in the Middle Ages, Anglican documents, Vatican Council documents, the World Council of Churches, scholasticism, doctrinal disputes, church-state relations, controversies, monasticism, the Reformation, and the Dissenters. This is not an exhaustive list.

Information you will need to search for this book: Bettensen, Henry, ed., Documents of the Christian Church, 2^nd ed., (New York: Oxford University Press, 1975 paperbound reprint.)

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Saints on the Loose! Tools: "Search This Blog" and "Translate This Blog".

        On this blog, Saints on the Loose!, there are two useful tools: "Search This Blog" and "Translate This Blog".

        The "Search This Blog" drop-down tool provides the reader with access to over 1700 subject listings from Christian doctrinal issues, social and cultural issues, sports, health, movies, food, books, television programs, history, Christian heresies, apologetics, and many other subjects.

        The "Translate This Blog" drop-down tool allows the the reader to select a language other than English in which they may read the blog post. This tool uses the Google Translate function and, as of January 2025, can translate 249 languages. A detailed but not excessively technical discussion about Google Translate can be found on Wikipedia.

        Use of these two tools in tandem can greatly increase the usefulness of this blog to you.

        The Google Translate tool provides what is probably a very literal, but readable translation.  Idiomatic meaning and some subtleties unique to particular languages may be lost. The following two example translations are of a portion of this post, in Traditional Chinese and in Spanish..

在這個部落格 Saints Loose! 中，有兩個有用的工具：「搜尋此部落格」和「翻譯此部落格」。

        「搜尋此部落格」下拉工具為讀者提供了數千個主題列表，包括基督教教義問題、社會和文化問題、體育、健康、電影、食品、書籍、電視節目、歷史、基督教異端、護教學，以及許多其他主題。

        La herramienta desplegable "Buscar en este blog" proporciona al lector acceso a miles de listas de temas, desde cuestiones doctrinales cristianas, cuestiones sociales y culturales, deportes, salud, películas, comida, libros, programas de televisión, historia, herejías cristianas, apologética, y muchos otros temas.

Christian Heresies: Arianism

Heresy in Christian usage is when a person or church denies or distorts scriptural doctrines which are essential for a proper understanding of Christianity. Heresy is not just acceptance of odd ideas or even aberrant beliefs. Heresy involves changing the nature of the Christian message. We can argue among ourselves about some things, but we can NEVER accept heresy into the church if we wish to remain authentically Christian. 

We have to be careful about throwing around the “heresy label” and to do so, we have to be sure what is the authentically Christian message. A good discussion of this is here. There are a few doctrines on which there can be absolutely no compromise. They are false and it is important to know that they are false.

All of the classical heresies presented a different gospel from orthodox Christianity and should be rejected because they are inconsistent with revealed scripture. What may surprise many is that most, or even all, of the classical heresies are still in evidence in the modern world among professed Christians.

One of the most dangerous and powerful of the classical Christian heresies and one which is very evident today in the teachings of many “progressive” Christians is Arianism. This doctrine for a while threatened to gain ascendancy in the Roman Catholic Church but was condemned by the First Council of Nicaea in 324 and again at the First Council of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) in 381. Protestants would say Arianism was rightly condemned because it is at total variance with scripture and changes the essential nature of the gospel. It is a totally different gospel. (2 Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:6-9)

Arius (born about 250 in Libya - died 336 in Constantinople) was a priest in Alexandria (al-Iskaderiyah), Egypt. He taught that Jesus was not pre-existent but was the first created being.  Arius held to a monotheism which insisted that the godhead was unitary and could not be shared. The doctrine of the Trinity was rejected and Jesus, while still worthy of worship, was not God.

The teachings of Arius were rejected in 325 at the Council of Nicea (Iznik, Turkey) but were accepted in 357 at the Council of Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia). The issue went  back and forth, sometimes violently. Constans, the Emperor of the West, was Nicene, while Constantius, the Emperor of the East, was an Arian. Emperor Valens (364-378) persecuted non-Arians in the East but under the teachings of the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus) the Nicene definition began to gain ascendancy. Emperors Gratian (367-383) and Theodosiuis (379-395) were both Nicene and finally in 381, the Council  of Constantinople denounced Arianism. The doctrine survived into the seventh century among several Germanic tribes such as the Vandals under Genseric.

Variations of Arianism survive among the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, the Unitarians, the Church of God (7th day) Salem Conference, and in some Branhamite sects (followers of the Pentecostal leader William M. Branham, 1909-1965). 

Postmodern Progressive Christianity can be viewed as a modified form of Arianism. Man is the true measure of all things and Jesus's humanity is stressed to the near exclusion of his divinity. He is viewed as a brilliant moral teacher and a beautiful example of humanity at its highest. He was a human so full of God that He became "divine." He shows us the divinity within ourselves. This is just one baby step away from the neo-Hinduism of the modern New Age movement. It is certainly not orthodox Christianity.

Was Bill O'Reilly Divinely Inspired to Write Killing Jesus?

The Fox News Channel political commentator Bill O’Reilly was a high school history teacher before he embarked on his television career. He has written numerous books such as Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, The Last Days of Hitler, and Killing Patton.   He is a Roman Catholic believer and has said that he thinks he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his excellent Killing Jesus. This set off a firestorm of criticism with some people saying that they think he is insane or blasphemous. I think he is probably correct that he was inspired.

I know the implications of what I am saying. I also think that this blog is inspired by God. Of course, it is not inspired on the same authoritative level as Scripture. That idea is the core heresy which led to modern Mormonism. The canon of scripture and doctrinal interpretation is closed. 

The Bible clearly states that each of the Saints (us, not a special class of extra-holy people) is divinely inspired. We  have the Mind of Christ. We have a direct link to the Holy Spirit who indwells, leads, instructs, and counsels individual believers.

Of course He leads us. Of course He inspires us. If He does not, then the problem is with us. We are not listening.

If you do not feel the Holy Spirit moving in your life, now is the time, today. If you are a Christian, ask Him, then listen.

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Book Comment: Judaism for Everyone and Why the Jews Rejected Jesus

Two books this time: Judaism for Everyone (2002) and Why the Jews Rejected Jesus (2005). These two books are two sides of the same coin and discuss some of the same issues.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of eleven books with titles like Kosher Sex, The Rabbi and the Psychic, and The Jewish Guide to Adultery, wrote Judaism for Everyone as an apologetic work  (but, he emphatically points out, not as an evangelistic effort). The secondary title of the book is Renewing Your Life Through the Vibrant Lessons of the Jewish Faith.

David Klinghoffer says that he wrote Why the Jews Rejected Jesus as an explanation to his well-meaning Christian friends who cannot understand why he would reject the free gift of salvation offered by the Gospel.

For both authors the idea reduces down to one point: they do not believe that Jesus fulfilled the requirements for being declared the Messiah. Christians, of course, see the same things, but come to an entirely different interpretation *.

The Jews list these reasons for rejecting Jesus:

1.     Jesus never fought the Romans. * Chrisians say that Rome clearly saw Jesus as a threat.

2.     Jesus did not establish a physical political messianic kingdom.  * Christians say that Jesus established His kingdom in the hearts of His followers, an idea which Jews utterly reject.

3.     A new Temple was not built in Jerusalem.  * Christians say that Jesus Himself is the new Temple and its priest.

4.     The world did not recognize God as Lord.  * Christians say that at the Second Coming every head will bow and every knee will bend in acknowledgement of God.

5.      A New Covenant based on restored commitment to observance of the Law was not given to the Jews. * Christians say that the New Covenant based on Faith in the Saving Grace of Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.

6.     There was no ingathering of the Jewish exiles.  * Some Christians see the fulfillment of this requirement in the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

The Jews saw the claims of Jesus and His Christian followers to be blasphemous.  Klinghoffer points out that to the Jews, blasphemy is abusing God’s name for a forbidden purpose. Boteach clarifies what the Jews see as that forbidden purpose: He declares that the idea that God can be Human is the ultimate heresy. *Christians, of course, insist that Jesus was fully divine and fully human.

I urge you to read both of these books. Christianity and Judaism have major differences between them.  A Christian, for example, cannot echo Rabbi Boteach in saying, “Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is far more important than waiting for the right motivation.”

Even with the differences, there is agreement on the vast majority of our two worldviews and an understanding of Jewish history, symbolism, and theology is absolutely essential for a proper understanding of Christianity. Jesus was an orthodox Jew.

Also, since God does not change, all of His promises to Israel still stand. He is not finished with the Jews.  The Bible tells us that in the end days “all Israel shall be saved.”

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Christian Heresies: In a book titled The Word's Way

I frequent used bookshops and one of my favorites is the enormous warehouse-sized 2^nd and Charles, the used book outlet for Books-a-Million.  I find many excellent older Christian books there in their religion section.  This is a secular national bookstore chain and they sell books.  Since the chain has no religious orientation or affiliation they do not screen the books they sell.  As they said in Latin, “Caveat emptor!”  (“Let the buyer beware!”)

I, for one, do not think there should be official censorship except for pornographic books and books which explicitly advocate pedophilia, and political or sexual violence (yes, books such as this exist).  Sometimes, you can learn things from people with whom you totally disagree.

In the bookstores, there are “Christian” books which cause me to raise a skeptical eyebrow.  Some of the books advocate ideas like the heretical Prosperity Gospel, reincarnation, social justice as the meaning of the Gospel, viewing a religious group’s founder as a near deity, and even Marxist interpretations of Christian theology.

The Word’s Way, by Victor Paul Wierwille, published in 1971 by the American Christian Press, is one book which orthodox Christians should anathematize. ἀνάθεμα is a Greek word meaning “cursed” or “rejected.” A book which is anathematized can be read and understood but should never be the basis for any formulation about doctrinal matters.

You will not get far into The Word’s Way before you will see why this book is to be rejected.  On pages 26 and 28, this appears,

“God is eternal whereas Jesus was born. …How was Jesus with God in the beginning?  In the same way that the written Word was with Him – in God’s foreknowledge.  God knew that Jesus Christ would be born and that He would redeem man.”

This is classical Araianism.  Arius (ca 250 -336) was a Christian bishop in Alexandria, Egypt who denied the deity of Jesus.  He declared that Jesus was a created being (”born”) and not of the same nature and substance as the father.  Arius was excommunicated by his fellow bishops but had many followers and the doctrine he advocated was widely accepted by many for many years.  The controversy was one of the factors which led to the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity.  Roman Catholic Church councils rejected the doctrine of Arianism in 325, 360, and 431. In other Councils, they rejected other heterodox ideas about the nature of the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.   Protestants do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity because of the bishop’s councils but we do agree with their decisions about the nature of the Trinity.  We believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in Scripture. 

Mainstream vs Traditional

Recently, I have spoken several times about Christians who hold to the traditional faith being thought of as outside the “mainstream.”  We are often portrayed as “odd,” “eccentric,” “wrong-headed,” “extreme,” “bigoted,” or “fringe.”  Most often the insults are subtly delivered.

Religious denominations are spoken of by the “mainstream media” as “mainstream” (meaning progressive or liberal) or “outside the mainstream.”  This places those who are “outside the mainstream” into the same general category as the numerous obscure or strange sects and cults. It is an insult and I believe that it is a form of persecution which seeks to force us to “evolve.”  This is another insult which assumes that we are “cavemen” or “neanderthals.”

Persecution is not always of the “throw them to the lions” sort.  It also exists in the sideways snicker, in the assumption that traditional Christians are “simple” or intellectually inferior, or that we are socially backward, or that we are totally outdated dinosaurs not relevant to the modern world.

AND SADLY … this patronizing and insulting (I say heretical) thought often comes from the “mainstream’ churches and from movements such as the Emerging Church.  Listen to what the Bible clearly says.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3.  Jude was Jesus’s brother.

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”  Romans 12:2

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”  Galatians 1:8.  The word which the translators have rendered as “accursed” is, in the Greek, ἀνάθεμα (anathema), from ἀνά (ana), meaning "on", and τίθημι (tithēmi), meaning "I put."  Originally this referred to a gift to God or to the pagan gods.  Echoes of the  Hebrew word "herem" (חרם) referred to something forbidden or off-limits, because it was dedicated for religious use and not useable in the common world. (Numbers 18:14; Leviticus 27:28-29); and hence the idea of “exterminating” or “dead” was connected with the word.  Various translations of the words anathema and herem have included "cursed," "disliked," "loathed," "banned," "excommunicated," "excluded," "denounced," "vehemently rejected," "off limits," and "devoted to evil."

Deuteronomy 7:26 calls a pagan idol a herem. Here it is: “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.”

Book Comment: Edgar Cayce on Jesus and His Church

Edgar Cayce, a photographer by trade, and born in 1877 in Kentucky (USA), is known as the Sleeping Prophet.  He is represented today by the Association for Research and Enlightenment. 

In a trance state, Cayce gave thousands of “life readings” (over 14,000 documents) for individuals over a forty-three year career.  He claimed to be a Christian, read the entire Bible annually, and served as a Campbellite (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ) Sunday School teacher.  Those who knew him personally said that he was a gentle, kind, and humble man. Then, why is he considered to have been a heretic by the vast majority of Christendom?  Reading Edgar Cayce on Jesus and His Church (1970) will give you a good idea.

 

The book, by devotee Anne Read, is supposed to give us a “much truer and more complete understanding of the life of Jesus than the Bible alone.”  To the spiritually and intellectually awake Christian, this statement is a giant flashing red flag.

The vast majority of the Cayce “life readings” concern health, massage therapy,  and the treatment of disease states.  Cayce, though possessing only a seventh-grade education, is considered by many to have been one of the fathers of modern holistic medicine.

In other readings, starting around 1922, Cayce began to stray significantly from orthodox Christian doctrine.  His trance declarations began to include references to past lives, reincarnation, astrology, Atlantis, Akashic records, the Universal Mind, spiritual beings, prophecies of the future, and unorthodox declarations about the nature of God and Jesus.       

At first, Cayce himself was concerned about the turn his readings had taken, but soon, he became convinced he was imparting the truth to his followers.  Edgar Cayce said that he never actually heard his own readings because he was asleep when he gave them.  He read transcripts of the readings when he woke up.  His initial misgivings about the contents of the readings is obvious from what he said to Arthur Lammers when he awoke from one trance state and read what he had said.  

“But what you’ve been telling me today, and what the readings have been saying, is foreign to all I’ve believed and been taught, and all I’ve taught others, all of my life.  It ever the Devil was going to play a trick on me, this would be it.” Quoted in Thomas Sugrue, Stranger in the Earth, 1971, p. 210.

The worst deviation from Christianity in the Cayce teachings concerns who Jesus was.  This is the main point of Cayce’s heresy.  He taught that Jesus was a man, a created soul, a spirit child of God, who became the Christ.  He further taught that we are also the spirit children of God, the same as Jesus, and that salvation and enlightenment comes when we realize our true nature and return to God.  This is the New Age doctrine of the divinity of man mixed in with the ancient heresies of Adoptionism and Arianism.  Both heresies deny the full deity of Jesus.

One Christian response to Cayce is stated by William J. Petersen in his book, Those Curious New Cults, p. 46.

“For a good portion of his life, Cayce was a commercial photographer.  He understood very well the mechanics of his trade.  A blank film is inserted, the shutter is snapped,  and then the film is developed in the dark.  The nature of a photograph, whether it is a formal family picture or pornography, depends not on the film but on the photographer who uses the cameras.  During his trances, Cayce’s mind was like a blank film that would be developed in the dark.  I believe that Cayce allowed his camera to get into the wrong hands.”

Petersen is hinting at what many people believe: the person who was speaking during Cayce’s trance states was not Edgar Cayce, but someone else, something else.  Speaking in traces is a standard event for mediumship and spiritism/spiritualism.  The New Age teachings of Ascended Masters and spirit guides speaking through human channellers comes immediately to mind.  The messages given by these spirit guides invariably are at odds with orthodox Christianity.

 What I am about to say will sound very controversial to some Christians, especially those who have accepted the anti-supernaturalism of the modernist world view (there it is again).  Unless one accepts that the spirit guides are who they say they are, they must be someone else.  The obvious answer is that they are Satan himself, or more likely his demons.

The Bible is quite emphatic that Satan and his demons exist.  In fact, Jesus said so.  Either Jesus was ignorant, mistaken, or correct.  I would go with Jesus.

A detailed Christian Response

http://www.watchman.org/profiles/edgar-cayce/

More on Edgar Cayce tomorrow.

Wanting to Be a Millionaire

"It is absolutely okay for a Christian to want to be a millionaire, because as Christians we know that no matter how much we have, we own nothing.  We are simply managers of the resources God has given us.  If we can manage God's Money, whether $100 or $1 million, we are okay."  Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is a Christian financial expert who advocates living debt-free on a strictly cash basis.  His advice is biblically based and does not seem to be associated with the heretical Prosperity Gospel.  His basic message is work hard, don't spend more than you have, and don't borrow money on credit.

The Connection of the Bible Codes to Kabbalistic Thought, Part 2

It is important to us as Christians to understand the Jewish origins of our faith since Jesus and his followers were observant Jews and were, at first, recognized as such by other Jews.

One stream of Judaism is the ultra-orthodox, many of whom believe that God dictated the Torah letter by letter. This is one basis of the thought which has fostered the study of the Bible Codes phenomenon.

One Jewish school of thought, considered heretical by some Jews, developed from a mixture of mysticism and ultra-orthodoxy to become what is known as Kabbalism.  “Kaballah” in Hebrew means “receiving,” and is concerned with secret doctrines, hidden meanings, and commentaries about the relationship between an unchanging God and the ever-changing world.  The early Jewish mystics developed in the first and second centuries at the same time that the Gnostic sects were developing among the Christian community.

Kabbalism remains strong among modern Hasidic Jews.

The emphasis of the Bible Code researchers on the Torah reflects, at least in part, kabbalistic thought about the true nature of the Torah.  The Rambam (Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon, b. 1135, Spain – d. 1204, Egypt) declared that “… the entire Torah is the names of the Holy One.”

The Zohar Yitro 87a declares, “We have already taught; The Torah in its entirety is the Holy Name, for there is no word in the Torah which is not included in the Holy Name.”  So, according to the Kabbalists, the Torah is God’s Name.

Kabbalism teaches that God created the universe by the manipulation of the letters of the Torah. In other words, He created the universe by the use of His Name.

The most that a Christian can say on this is what the Bible says. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1: 1-3.

As to the name of God, He has answered the question:

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  Exodus 3:13-14.

Christian Heresies: King James Onlyism

You may have noticed that when I quote from the Bible, I use the King James Version (KJV).  This has practical, cultural, and personal reasons.  It is the version of the Bible with which I grew up and with which I am entirely comfortable, but it is not the only version I use.  I also consult the New International Version and the Greek New Testament.  I have said here before that I would also like to consult the Hebrew Bible, but the Hebrew language is an impenetrable mystery to me.

The main reason that I quote here from the King James Version is that it is in the public domain so there are no copyright issues.  Some of the newer translations are actually sometimes easier to understand for English-speakers.

Followers of the King James Only Movement would declare that I am a heretic or that, because I use any translation other than the 1611 Authorized Version KJV, including any other modern languages, that I am not saved.  Their interpretation is at the very least, incorrect, and at the worst, heretical.  Heretical because it is, or borders on being, a form of idolatry.  Some actually believe that the KJV takes precedence over the Greek and Hebrew originals.  They worship a particular version of the book and miss what the book actually is.  They have allowed themselves to become distracted by side issues, taking their eyes off their true purpose: furthering the Kingdom of God.

The Bible is a collection of poems, letters, histories, instructions, laws, proverbs, songs, and other literature.  Left alone it will sit on a shelf.  Just a book.  In the hands of a believer, the divinely inspired book comes alive; one of the tools used by the Holy Spirit to instruct, comfort, teach, correct, and convict.  Some call it the Word of God, but the Bible itself tells us in John 1:1 that Jesus is the Word.  The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to glorify Jesus.

http://www.raptureready.com/rr-kjvo.html  

a spirited refutation of King James Onlyism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Only_movement 

has a number of pro and con links at the end of the article

Dating the End of the World Has Christological Implications

The recent controversy caused by the declaration that the end of the world would occur on 21 May 2011  caused me to think how what the bible clearly says about the timing of the end could be ignored.  I think I know, and it turns on a misunderstanding of who Jesus was..

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3

This passage addressed what was apparently one of the first, possibly the first, heretical interpretations of Christ to be introduced into the Christian community.  The heresy is that of Docetism, from dokein, a Greek verb meaning "to seem."  Though the heresy arose very early within the Church, the actual word "docetism" was first used in 1846. 

The Docetists insisted that since Jesus was God Almighty He could not have felt pain, He probably did not have an actual Human body, and He had no human limitations; therefore, He only seemed to be human.  An understanding similar to this is at the heart of the recent attempt to set a date for the Second Coming.  The “Son” ^@ in Matthew 24:36 is declared not to be Jesus, but the Devil.  Jesus must have known the date because He was God.

To insist that Jesus did know the day of the end of the world when He said He did not comes dangerously close to saying He was not really human, a sort of quasi-Docetism.  Jesus limited Himself, He “emptied” (ἐκένωσεν) Himself (Philippians 2:7) and became fully human.  We should believe that Jesus meant what He said.

Jesus is coming again, but He also is already here.  Those who love the Lord will be ready whenever He physically returns, if it is in the year 3411, next October 21, or two minutes from now.

^@(“Son” is not in the KJV translation but it is in the original Greek text.)

Christian Heresies: Pneumatomachianism

The Pneumatomachi (aka Macedonians) were a fourth and fifth century sect which flourished primarily in what is now Turkey.  Led by Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople (d.  about 364), they denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.  They said the Holy Spirit was a creature, merely a ministering angel.  They would say only, "We believe in the Holy Ghost."  Macedonius tortured, forced baptisms, and excommunicated those who would not agree to his doctrine.  Macedonius was deposed by Emperor Constantius (Constantius II, son of Constantine I) for disinterring the body of Constantine.

The teaching of Macedonius was condemned as a Trinitarian heresy by the First Council of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey).

Christian Heresies: Nestorianism

Nestorius (b. ca 386 - d. ca 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) from 428 until 431, when he was condemned and removed from office for teaching that Christ exists as two persons, the human man Jesus and the Son of God, the Logos.  This was in opposition to the orthodox doctrine that Jesus is one person who is fully human and fully divine.  Nestorianism was condemned by the Council of Ephesus (Efes, Turkey) in 431.

The first known Christians in China (635) were converted by Alopen, a Persian.  Nestorian Christians are known to have been present in China until the 14th Century.

Christian Heresies: Eutychianism

Eutyches (ca. 380-ca. 456) was the Archimandrite of Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey).  He was an ardent anti-Nestorian and declared that Jesus had only a divine nature and not a human one.  His views were also condemned.  This is one of the many Trinitarian heresies.

Definitions: Exegesis and Eisegesis

All of the numerous approaches involved in biblical interpretation actually reduce down to two; exegesis and eisegesis.  These are not actually hard concepts to understand when you look into the etymology of the words involved.  Etymology is just a fancy word for the study of word origins.  The origin of the word "etymology" is from Greek, meaning "true word."

The word "eisogesis," from the Greek "to lead into," means to carry a preconceived meaning into the biblical text and then looking for proofs.  I think that many systematic theologies make this error, forcing their conclusions into the text rather than letting the text speak for itself.   Examples are Marxist, feminist, capitalist, extreme Calvinist, extreme Arminian, historical, New Age, social justice, liberation, and many cultic theologies.  These suspect theologies tend to ignore any biblical texts which don't fall into line with the point they are trying to make.  Often Bible verses are quoted entirely out of context and sometimes only a portion of the verse is quoted.  In modern terms, think "cut and paste."

"Exegesis" (from Greek words meaning "to lead out;" reading theology out from the biblical text; letting the text speak for itself) while praying for illumination by the Holy Spirit is the preferred method.  Any doctrinal statement in this method of interpretation must be consistent with the totality of scripture and should take into account the original intention of the text rather than our modern concerns.

Christian Heresies: Apollinarianism

Apollinaris of Laodicea (aka: Apollinaris the Younger, d. 390) was the Bishop of Laodicea (in modern Syria) and an ardent anti-Arian.  In his attacks on Arius' teachings he went completely in the other direction, stressing the divinity of Jesus to the exclusion of His humanity.  He taught that Jesus did not have a human soul but was instead a body inhabited by the pre-existent Logos (Greek = "Word"); in effect, this rendered Jesus neither fully human nor fully divine.  The teachings of Apollinaris were condemned by the Council of Constantinople in 381.   Some say that Apollinarianism survives as Monophysitism.

Christian Heresies: Docetism

Docetism was a Gnostic Christian heresy which flourished ca 70 AD/CE.  The name of the heresy comes from the Greek word δοκέω, which means "I seem."  The doctrine taught that Jesus was wholly God and not Human at all.  His humanity, physical body, and crucifixion were all illusions because God can not suffer. 

Heresies

The word "heresy" has a broader origin than its modern, more restrictive, usage.  The word is derived from the Greek word "αἵρεσις, from the verb, αἵρεω" and, in English, means "to choose."


In the Bible, the word is used in two ways.


1. For a sect or faction which in some way may or may not depart from orthodox doctrine.  In this sense it was used in reference to the Sadducees (Acts 5:17), the Pharisees (Acts 26:5), and the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5).


2. A doctrine or group considered to be definitely outside of correct doctrine.  The Jews considered Christianity to be a heresy.  In the third quotation below, Peter uses the word in the modern sense.

“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy (αἵρεσιν), so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:” Acts 24:14

“But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect (αἱρέσεως), we know that every where it is spoken against.”  Acts 28:22

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies (αἱρέσεις), even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”  2 Peter 2:1 


A new feature on this blog will define heresies which have been identified over the years within the Christian community.  Not all may seem like heresies to the reader and some may not actually be heterodox.  Many are very subtle but vary enough from orthodox doctrine to be at least "troubling."

Some are very reluctant to label anyone as a heretic.  Others have no problem at all.  How aberrant must a doctrine be before it can no longer be called Christian?  Can a person holding an aberrant belief be saved?  What about beliefs once held to be aberrant but now accepted as orthodox?

Some doctrinal points, such as the deity of Christ, are non-negotiable for Christians.  Others, we may have to wait until we can ask Jesus face-to-face.

Christian Heresies: Johannites

The Johannites were a Gnostic sect which said that John the Baptist, instead of Jesus Christ, was the saviour of mankind.  They are survived in the modern day by the Mandaeans, a dualistic sect scattered from Iraq by the 2003 Iraq war.  Before the war they numbered about 70,000 in Iraq, now about 5000 remain.  The rest are primarily now in Jordan and Syria.