Can I be a Heretic in the Truth?
2008 August 11
“A man may be an heretic in the truth, and if he believes things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without knowing other reason, though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds becomes his heresy.”
John Milton
Do you agree with this? I’m not sure I do.
I could not find any definition for heresy that would validate Milton’s assertation.
If this is true, I would estimate that every church member is a heretic in at least one area of theology. I agree that we should know why we believe what we believe, but I am not willing to say we are heretics to not do so.
This is not the true definition of heresy. If I believe something my pastor has said and it is truth, then it is still truth! How profound this is!
Daddy
By definition, heresy is not disagreement with Truth, but with what our culture believes is truth. Heretics believe themselves to be aligned with God or Truth, but are heretics in relation to the orthodox belief system that they find themselves in.
http://blog.amoslanka.com/2008/08/18/defining-heresy/
Cameron,
That is too deep a thought for my shallow mind.
T.A.
Amoslanka, thanks for stopping by. There is indeed a very subjective element to the title “heretic.” One man’s heretic is another’s martyr. Yesterday’s dissenter is today’s saint.
I would loosely describe heresy as teaching or holding doctrines that are contrary to the standard of truth commonly accepted by your faith. Since each group will believe that their orthodoxy is truth, most will probably disagree with your assessment that orthodoxy is a “consensus of human opinion and tradition.”
Thanks again for the visit and discussion.
I have thought on this for a couple weeks now, and have concluded that while his comment sounds astute (and I have met people who have held to the truth for no other reason than someone else told them it was the truth), it is not an accurate understanding of heresy. Truth is truth regardless of whether we believe it to be true for the right reasons or with the right intentions.
BTW, “Orthofundy” is my WordPress name.
-Chad Fletcher
Chad, it’s the “right intention” part that concerns me the most. Only by constant evaluation can we even begin to understand our personal intentions, motivations, and reasons (and then I’m not sure it can be done accurately), so we would all be in danger of being heretics.
I’ve really tried to give this quote every benefit of the doubt, but can’t come to any interpretation of it that I find agreeable.
Thanks for visiting and commenting. Your thoughts are welcome any time.