It started with Pelagius. At least, that’s how it started at our church last Fall when on a Sunday morning I overheard one congregant saying to another, “God will throw you the life preserver, but you need to grab it.”
Perhaps I should have stepped in right then and there, but I was on my way to chat with someone who I knew was hurting.
Heresies are not killed, only recast in a modern light.
As I walked by, I thought of R.C. Sproul’s message The Pelagian Captivity of the Church[1] (the title playing off of Luther’s famous little book, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church[2]). This got me thinking that perhaps our church might benefit from a night class that introduced and talked about some of the heresies that have plagued the church (past and present).
After running the idea by some staff, elders, and members, I decided to teach a night class called “Light in the Darkness: Understanding Ancient Heresies Today”. We met on Thursday nights for four weeks and I covered five heresies a night.
The format was simple: define the heresy, outline the history of how the heresy arose and how the Church refuted and ultimately condemned it, and finally where the heresy can still be found today. It was a great time of teaching and discussion, and it benefitted and challenged our church.
Here are some of the things I learned along the way.
Be Cautious
I started the class with a caution. The goal of the class was not to create judgmental and critical Christians. While it is important to challenge false or sloppy teaching, I didn’t want people to come away from the class feeling like we were on some sort of theological witch hunt.
I knew this was a risk for two reasons. First, I knew that as I tried to point out where ancient heresies live in the modern church, I would necessarily have to “name names”. I didn’t relish this.
Seeing the lies and the way God has provided for the protection of the faith in the past, helps us to face modern challenges with confidence and faith.
Yet, I knew that it was important to help my people understand where these lies persist in the wider church.
Second, I know that there are some in our church (and all churches) that love a good witch hunt! I cautioned my people with the words of Tim Keller from his book Counterfeit Gods:
“Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God himself and his grace. It is a subtle but deadly mistake. The sign that you have slipped into this form of self-justification is that you become what the book of Proverbs calls a ‘scoffer.’ Scoffers always show contempt and disdain for opponents rather than graciousness. This is a sign that they do not see themselves as sinners saved by grace. Instead, their trust in the rightness of their views makes them feel superior.”[3]
Be Encouraged
One of the great benefits of taking time to consider the ancient heresies that have long dogged the church is that we come to see that there truly is nothing new under the sun.
In the last year, several churches in our region have succumbed to the sirens’ song of liberalism and some in our church have been anxious about the seemingly irresistible drift away from orthodoxy.
Our study of heresies helped our people to see that the challenges to Christian orthodoxy in the modern Canadian church are not new; we’ve seen this before.
Seeing the lies and the way God has provided for the protection of the faith in the past, helps us to face modern challenges with confidence and faith.
Appropriately, our study of heresies had us spending a lot of time in Scripture. After all, we must study the truth of God if we are to expose the lies of heresy.
Taking time to study ancient heresies helped our church to know God better and to trust him more.
Be Wiser
As a kid, I watched countless hours of cartoons where a particular black and white cat was always trying to find a way to reach a certain yellow bird (with an abnormally large head).
I never realized how repetitive the show was. The cat’s motives never changed, but he did show up in a different disguise each time.
This is what heresy does – it reappears (if it ever really disappeared) in different disguises in different generations.
Heresies are not killed, only recast in a modern light.
Teaching our people about heresies can help them to become more adept at spotting today’s shadow versions of these ancient lies.
Be Softer
Contrary to creating cynical Christians, teaching on heresies can actually help foster humility. Those who have been labelled heretics have usually been well-meaning members of the clergy or in Christian academia. Heresy is not something that generally comes into the church from outside (though it can/has) but often comes from inside.
Throughout our study, I tried to emphasize that while the difference between truth and lies is infinite, the lines between orthodoxy and heresy can be subtle. Nuances of theological language and thought can appear almost semantic at times, and for this reason, we should approach the study of heresies with humility.
We are all possessors of imperfect theology and prone to wander and leave the God we love. Thus, an honest study of heresies should not make us boastful and fill us with disdain for those who stand opposed to God’s truth.
Rather, we ought to fall on our knees in humble adoration of the God who has poured out his grace and mercy upon us and keeps us faithful to His Word.
So it is that through the study of Pelagianism, Monophysitism, and a host of other heresies, our church leaned deeply into the Word and came away worshipping God all the more.
We were able to marvel at God’s love for his Name and Church and learn to trust him more in the midst of present challenges to the truth.
[1] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/willing-to-believe/the-pelagian-captivity-of-the-church
[2] https://www.amazon.ca/Babylonian-Captivity-Church-Martin-Luther/dp/152035567X
[3] Timothy Keller, 2016. Counterfeit Gods. Penguin Books, 132.
