Perspectives Perspectives Heretic!
by Don K. Preston
I
must confess that the topic of this article is troubling. It has challenged me for years, and I suggest that as much as we would like to have an easy answer to the issue of “heresy” there is in fact no easy answer. The word that serves as the title of this article is one that has historically struck fear in the hearts of believers. To be a heretic was to be anathema, condemned. The Online Miriam Webster Dictionary gives the following definition of heretic: religion: a person who differs in opinion from established religious dogma especially: a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who refuses to acknowledge or accept a revealed truth.
his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is neither ordained nor commanded by God. This is, properly speaking, to exalt himself above all that is called God. . . . The Pope, however, prohibits this faith, saying that to be saved a person must obey him” (Smalcald Articles, II, IV, 10-12). Found at https://wels.net/about-wels/what-webelieve/doctrinal-statements/antichrist/). Thus, when the Pope declared that Luther was a heretic, Luther then labeled the Pope as the real heretic. Later, the Reformed Movement followed suit, and in the Westminster Confession of Faith, it is affirmed that the Pope is the Man of Sin: (VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and Of course, it is to be noted that early councils declared some son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against well known teachers to be heretics, men such as Arius and Christ and all that is called God. (Confession XXV:6) Pelagius. Nonetheless, it is enlightening that, as the familiar (https://reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/index. story goes, Martin Luther stood trial for being a heretic, html?body=/documents/wcf_with_proofs/ch_XXV.html ). during which Emperor Charles V, said of Luther: “For it is Thus, one “orthodoxy” built on tradition, history, and certain that a single brother is in error if he stands against Papal authority (and an actual rejection of the authority of the opinion of the whole of Christendom, as otherwise Scripture) became the standard by which all who differed Christendom would have erred for were labeled as heretics. Later, another a thousand years or more.” (Cited in “orthodoxy” arose (Reformation The sad history of ChrisBeyond Creation Science, Timothy Martin theology), and this “new” orthodoxy had tianity is that believers and Jeffrey Vaughan, www.truthinliving. (has) no qualms about labeling all who org). are all too willing to label differ as heretics. Still later, in America, Charles was clearly condemning Luther what is known as the Restoration one another as heretics based on church history and tradition. Movement (a.k.a. the Campbell-Stone and withdraw from each And in fact, according to Luther, Eck Movement) came along and rejected the informed Luther that he was acting like other. orthodoxy of the Reformed Movement a heretic: (and that of Rome), seeking to establish “Martin,” said he, “there is no one of the heresies which the true “orthodoxy.” Today, this movement has spawned— have torn the bosom of the church, which has not derived per some sources—over 50 different schisms / divisions, each its origin from the various interpretation of the Scripture.” claiming to be the “true church,” and often labeling others are [Martin Luther. “Life of Luther (Luther by Martin Luther).”] heretics and false teachers. The sad history of Christianity is that believers are all too And so, in one of the most famous “heretic” trials in all of willing to label one another as heretics and withdraw from Christian history, the very basis of the condemnation of each other. It seems that far too often we seek for ways to Luther was that he appealed to Scripture, and rejected the withdraw instead of finding ways to embrace and accept. authority of the Pope, of tradition, and history. And thus, we have the proliferation of Christian churches, all What is so fascinating is to then take note that when the claiming to be orthodox—really, truly orthodox—and those Reformation Movement came along, the Roman Catholic who differ are “out of step.” To say that many, if not most, of Church and the Pope were declared “heretical” by the these divisions have been and are unnecessary would seem to reformers. This of course, sprang from Luther, who had be an understatement. earlier declared that the Pope was the Antichrist: Now, we would like for all believers to “speak the same “This teaching [of the supremacy of the pope] shows thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you forcefully that the Pope is the very Antichrist, who has be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ, judgment” (1 Cor 10:10f), and that is how Paul said we should because he will not permit Christians to be saved without live! So, what is the solution? How do we achieve what Paul
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FULFILLED MAGAZINE • WINTER 2019
