E
elijah23
Guest
What is a heretic? Do you have to be in a position of authority to be a heretic, or can anyone be one?
Strengthening families through biblical principles.
Focus on the Family addresses the use of biblical principles in parenting and marriage to strengthen the family.
Read daily articles from Focus on the Family in the Marriage and Parenting Resources forum.
elijah23 said:What is a heretic? Do you have to be in a position of authority to be a heretic, or can anyone be one?
Originally a heretic was any person who disagreed with the authority of the Pope, and the doctrine established by the Catholic Church. There doctrines consisted of such things as: The authority of the Pope, Sunday Sabbath, Trinitarianism, Hell, saints, images, and so on.elijah23 said:What is a heretic? Do you have to be in a position of authority to be a heretic, or can anyone be one?
mdo757 said:Originally a heretic was any person who disagreed with the authority of the Pope, and the doctrine established by the Catholic Church. There doctrines consisted of such things as: The authority of the Pope, Sunday Sabbath, Trinitarianism, Hell, saints, images, and so on.
elijah23 said:What is a heretic? Do you have to be in a position of authority to be a heretic, or can anyone be one?
While I certainly would not endorse war over such things, I will state that what often seen like trivial theological details profoundly inform the way we live and act in the world. Effectively, this is as true for the atheist / agnostic as it is for the "religious". If you wish, I can give examples.Physicist said:On a more serious note, a great number of wars have been fought over what now seems like trivial matters of dogma. Does anyone today want to burn books that say the Jesus is like but not identical to YHWH? Yet, at one time you could be threatened with capital punishment for being on the wrong side of this issue.
I agree that heresy in the eye of the beholder. If you are here long enough, you will no doubt discern that the term "heresy" is used by some as one would pick up and use a club to "help your opponent see the truth". In short, when one's argument is not very strong, one compensates with demonizing rhetoric - such as use of the inflaming appelation of "heretic".Physicist said:I really think that questions of who is a heretic is more a question of which tribe you belong to than esoteric theological matters.