Faith Glossary a place to learn the terms and jargon of the Christian faith
Heresy
Are you familiar with the term heresy?Heresy and the accompanying slur heretic are not mentioned very often these days.Our failure to label heresy doesn’t mean that there are no heresies in modern America, but it does mean that we do not always recognize them.Heresy is a false teaching.Heresy is the opposite of Orthodoxy, a term that is often derided as a bad thing.Orthodoxy means “straight teaching.” Similar to how orthodontics involves “straight teeth.”In terms of the Christian life then, orthodoxy is the correct teaching or understanding of the faith.Heresy is the corrupted viewpoint or an incorrect understanding of the faith.To take an example from current times, polygamous marriage is practiced by the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (those folks out in San Angelo).Polygamy is a heresy to the regular Mormon Church which has rejected polygamy as a tenet of their orthodox faith.Get the difference?Mormons also reject the notion of Trinity.That is a heresy to the rest of the Christian world, including Presbyterians.
Pelagianism
Pelagianism is the most popular heresy of the Christian faith in America.It is names after Pelagius, a British monk, who argued with Augustine over the means of grace.As you can guess, Pelagius lost the debate given that he has a heresy named after him.He might have lost the battle but in modern America he is winning the war. Pelagianism holds that people can achieve salvation on their own merits; through hard work and the practice of their free will a person can become sinless and thereby earn a place in God’s kingdom.Since it essentially marries the gospel and self-help on the part of the sinner I like to call it “Dr. Philagianism.” Pelagianism was rightly denounced in the church as a heresy.Ah, but semi-pelagianism, the belief that a partnership of God’s grace and people’s action together effect salvation lives on in a variety of forms.In fact anywhere the implication that God must be met half-way or that people can be “good enough” on their own to enter the kingdom of God the teachings of semi-pelagianism are taking root.In America, where we pull “ourselves up by the bootstraps” we love this particular heresy.Ours is a self-help culture so relying entirely on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sometimes difficult for us.That by the way is the orthodox viewpoint on salvation: It comes only through the work of Jesus Christ and his atoning death.Our sins were crucified with him on the cross and because of that act of love on his part and through his resurrection whereby he conquered sin and death we are able to be called Children of God if we have faith in him. That faith is also a gift from God manifested by the Holy Spirit. So, when you are thinking through questions about salvation remember this: Salvation is the result of Christ’s death for our sins. We cannot be good enough on our own or even in part to earn our salvation.That is why it is called grace because it is a gift that we do not deserve.Any belief that includes some measure of work on our parts to achieve salvation is a heresy albeit a popular one.Do yourself a favor and trust in Christ alone for your salvation. You will be glad you did.
Arianism
This is one of the older heresies of the church. Arius was a preacher in Alexandria and his viewpoints on the person of Jesus Christ (meaning who he though Jesus was) precipitated both the Nicene Creed and ultimately the fully devloped idea of Trinity. Arius believed that Jesus was a creature. He was higher than you or I but was not the same as God. Without getting into the technical language, Arius believed that Jesus was not divine but a highly exalted creature of the Father (or first person in the Trinity). The church, through much discussion, hurt feelings, prayer, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit rejected Arianism. The Church believed that Jesus was coeternal with the Father; that Jesus Christ was truly divine. Their language was "light from light; true god from god; begotten not made." In short, the heresy of Arianism is the idea that Jesus Christ has a moment in time where he is created and is not in fact also God.
