The Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1971

THE WORD OF HERESY In II Peter 2: l spec ific warning is given to true Christians concerning ;po tate who will craftily introduce into the church and among its people "de tructive heresies. ' The word "her– e ie ' ' i the Greek l1aireseis, and a consideration of its nature, back– ground, and use is of prime inter est and major significance. In the early Greek writings the noun J1airesis de– noted "a taking of something, a cap– ture or conquering, a taking fo r one– self' ' - hence , later on, "a choosing, choice, the thing chosen - so, a plan or purpose, cour e of action." Thucy– d ide described the capture of a cer– tain city with the words hei /1airesis teis poleos. The verb l1aireo, from v.. hich the noun l1airesis is derived v.. as u ed to mean: "to take a thing in hand, to take for oneself take in preference, to choose.. , Herodotus used the verb to de cribe the election of an official to office by vote, an(I in Xenophon it i u ed to designate the preference of one cour e of action over another. The idea of cl1 oic·e i reflected in the Septuagint Version, in several passages such as Judges 5: 8, "They cl1o{je (/1eiretisan) new god ", and II Samt1el 15 : 15 has /1airetai for " hall ,lppoint." Choice has already been n1ade of the one who will be appoint– ed hefore the appointment is n1ade. Le\ iticu 22: 18 has l1airesit1 to tran - 1 ate "f ree-\~.'ill offerings.' ' Here again ~'le idea of choice is present becau e one must select what he intends to render as a free-will offering. In the later Patri st ic Writings . the thought of · choice. to choose' ' is carried on by John Ch r, sostom, Hermas, Justin Martyr. and Eti~ebiuc;. But the noun /1airesis is given the connotation of ··\.\.ay of thought , system of thinking, of tho e who profess such a system, a body of people holding false doctrine" - a nd then, "heresy, false teaching 14 JUNE-JULY, 1971 which purports to be Chri tian." Such background and usage ar e ignificant when we come to the Holy Spirit's u e of the \\. ord in the ew Testa– ment. Thi i the word which occur s in Matt. 12: 18, wher e the Lord Himself quotes f rom the Old Testament pro– phecy in Isa. 42: 1-4, and says: " Be– hold my servant, whom I have chosen ( l1eiretsia) . . . " The Apostle P aul in his well-known declaration in Phil. 1: 22, states: "But if I live in the fle h, this i the fruit of my labor, yet what I hall cl1 oose (l1aireiso11zai) I know not." The great pronounce– ment in II Thes . 2: 13 tell u : "God hath from the beginning cl1osen yot1 ( 2 aor. /1eilato) to salvation. . . ,, In Heb. 11: 25 Mo e is de cribed a "by faith choosi ng (/1elor11enos, 2 aor. 111 icl. part. f ro,11 /1ai , eo) rather to uffer affiiction with the people of God. . ." The noun /1aires1s appear in Act 5: 17, "The sect ( l1airesis) of the Sadducee ,, - de ignating the Saddticee a a body of men eparated from other and fo llowing their own tdea , hence the rendering u ect' ', i.e. a party which has cho en to pursue a certain cour e of thought a nd ac– ti on. The noun form is used in the ame way of the Phari ee in Act 15: 5, "the sect ( l1aireseos) of the Phari ees' '; and of Chri tians in Act 24: 5, usect ( l1aireseos) of the Nazar– ene "; and in Acts 28: 22, again of hristians, " this sect" ( teis J1aireseos taL1teis). In I Cor. 11:19, Paul u es the \vord, "For there mus t even be divi sion ( l1aireseis) among you" - to point out the di visions in tl1c church which were di rupting tl1e con– gregation. Here aga in l1owever the idea of cl1oice per i t , for these here ie ( division ) denote something that people elect or choo e for them- elve , thus peculiar doctr ines or opinions. Galatian 5: 20 Ii ts /1eresies (l1aireseis) a one of the works of the flesl1, i .c. the choices of peculiar opinion and doctrines by the human mentality. They are the results of the thinking and desire of the natural mind. With this background and with the e u e of the word fresh in mind, let us come back to II Peter 2: 1, and ascertain precisely what is meant by the "heresies" in this important pas– sage. At least three things can be de– termined as to the nature and charac– ter of "pernicious heresies" from the word itself and its uses. 1. H eresy ( hairesis) is a view or' course of action which is self– chosen in preference over other views or plans of action: A heresy is not an opinion thrust upon an individual and which he is forced to adopt against his own judgment and contrary to his own will. It does not repre– sent a decision which a man is forced to make under duress, under threat. or is it a philoso– phy of life one may use as a plaything, with which to satisfy some religious fancy or mental whim - then, its usefulness done, to be thrown away like an old toy. A heresy is a view of . something which is deliberately self-chosen over other views be– cau e the ubject prefers that view to all the others. The point is not that there are not other views and opinion from which to choo e, or that the individual i not able to choo e from the e other per ua ion . The point is that the ubject has con idered a number of views or doctrines, and ha cho en one in par– ticular over the other be– cau e he prefer it to the re t and becau e he ha decided to adopt it a his pattern or course of life. The fact that it i wrong, that it is a n evil sy tern of thought a nd a perilous plan of action doe not deter him in the lea t. He chooses it because he de ires to do o. - 2. HereS)' ( l1airesis) is a self- c/1osen 1 1 ie1-v or doc trine apart fro,11 tl1e teacl1ing of Tlze Hol) 1 Scriptures: When Peter speaks in II Pet. 2: 1, of fal e teachers (pseL1dodidaskaloi) who intro– duce and propagate destructive here ie (haireseis) he i peak– ing of men who have chosen to teach fal ehood for truth , who teach doctrine which they an– nounce a true but which actuall:,' pervert the way of truth. Their teach ing i the counterfeit doc– trine of teacher who have separ- THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST