Modern Manifestation of Heresy within Christianity

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aspen

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture:

1. Fatalism - ‘Christ is coming anyway so the welfare of this world doesn’t matter’

2. Purity before People - Protestant version, ‘people’s membership in the tribe of Christianity depends on strict cognitive agreement with literalism’. Catholic version, ‘people’s salvation is based on perfection of performance’ Promoting doctine without concern for the welfare of the people you are handing out tracts to, is another example.

3. Moral Dualism - mistaking the sum of the law, which is to love, as a call to label creation good and evil - Adam and Eve(ism)

4. Consequentialism - ends justify the means philosophy ‘humilition, righteous indignation, bullying, berating language, disrespect, hatred, dismissing behavior, and distainful attitudes are valid tools to be used at will if there is a chance a person will be saved’

5. Clericalism - righteous indignation is viewed as ‘standing up for what’s right!’ Church leaders are choosen for convinction over compassion. This is not just a game for clergy - it is rife across the internet amongst armchair theologians.

6. Zero sum game - Christianity is reduced to a game of numbers; winners are determined by how much everyone else has lost. This philosophy is evident in house - emergent church vs. fundamentalism; across religions - Christians vs. Muslims; and on the political stage - Christian rights vs. secularism.

7. Anti-intellectualism - based in fear; anti-intellectualism manifests as rejection of all knowledge which contadicts a person’s intution related to Christianity. Jesus spoke against this in Luke 14:26.

8. Radical Individualism: rejection of community / church / authority. It is often insidious because people who practice radical individualism often claim they belong to an invisible community and mistake their intution for God.

9. Christian Zionism - we can and should speed up the coming of Christ and the destruction of this world. Go ahead and elect a tyrant - it all leads to Christ!

10. Love is equated with Weakness - ‘loving others gets you crucified - we need to defend the gospel!’. Snowflakes are weak and irresponsible - true Christians are warriors for Jesus who have God’s priorities at heart, which is to be the last pure, perfect person standing.

Looking for the Devil behind every bush is a distaction from looking within ourselves and our community - indeed, it is underestimating the cunning nature of evil. Christians love to judge people they consider liberal for ‘not believing in a devil’; perhaps we are looking beyond the obvious places.

Prophets held their own communities’ feet to the fire, btw - we need to focus reform on ourselves, not the world.

Additions to the list are welcome. I tried not to add the usual suspects like darbyism and OSAS because they are up for debate and have their own threads.
 

ScottA

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The same human characteristics resulted in Israel killing the prophets sent to them by God.
 
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Windmillcharge

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture

To me heresy = a false gospel rather than an off center emphersis.
Most of your listarn't teach something that is false just concentrating on a minor issues, if that totaly obscures the gospel then it is heresy.

I'll add one heresy you missed:-
The prosperity gospel.
 
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aspen

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To me heresy = a false gospel rather than an off center emphersis.
Most of your listarn't teach something that is false just concentrating on a minor issues, if that totaly obscures the gospel then it is heresy.

I'll add one heresy you missed:-
The prosperity gospel.

Thanks for the addition - I agree.

I disagree with you that my list is made up of marginal or side issues - if the gospel is Love, every one of the heresies listed have the potential to derail and disrupt our commission
 
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aspen

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False Pride is another heresy

Rooted in an over correction of piety in the Middle Ages, perhaps? False Pride can take the form of focusing on our wretchedness and utter depravity rather than the transformation we are experiencing due to our sanctification in Christ. Nothing nulifies joyful transformation like being interrogated by a well meaning, fear based brother or sister who displaces the work being done in partnership with Christ.
 
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junobet

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture:

1. Fatalism - ‘Christ is coming anyway so the welfare of this world doesn’t matter’

2. Purity before People - Protestant version, ‘people’s membership in the tribe of Christianity depends on strict cognitive agreement with literalism’. Catholic version, ‘people’s salvation is based on perfection of performance’ Promoting doctine without concern for the welfare of the people you are handing out tracts to, is another example.

3. Moral Dualism - mistaking the sum of the law, which is to love, as a call to label creation good and evil - Adam and Eve(ism)

4. Consequentialism - ends justify the means philosophy ‘humilition, righteous indignation, bullying, berating language, disrespect, hatred, dismissing behavior, and distainful attitudes are valid tools to be used at will if there is a chance a person will be saved’

5. Clericalism - righteous indignation is viewed as ‘standing up for what’s right!’ Church leaders are choosen for convinction over compassion. This is not just a game for clergy - it is rife across the internet amongst armchair theologians.

6. Zero sum game - Christianity is reduced to a game of numbers; winners are determined by how much everyone else has lost. This philosophy is evident in house - emergent church vs. fundamentalism; across religions - Christians vs. Muslims; and on the political stage - Christian rights vs. secularism.

7. Anti-intellectualism - based in fear; anti-intellectualism manifests as rejection of all knowledge which contadicts a person’s intution related to Christianity. Jesus spoke against this in Luke 14:26.

8. Radical Individualism: rejection of community / church / authority. It is often insidious because people who practice radical individualism often claim they belong to an invisible community and mistake their intution for God.

9. Christian Zionism - we can and should speed up the coming of Christ and the destruction of this world. Go ahead and elect a tyrant - it all leads to Christ!

10. Love is equated with Weakness - ‘loving others gets you crucified - we need to defend the gospel!’. Snowflakes are weak and irresponsible - true Christians are warriors for Jesus who have God’s priorities at heart, which is to be the last pure, perfect person standing.

Looking for the Devil behind every bush is a distaction from looking within ourselves and our community - indeed, it is underestimating the cunning nature of evil. Christians love to judge people they consider liberal for ‘not believing in a devil’; perhaps we are looking beyond the obvious places.

Prophets held their own communities’ feet to the fire, btw - we need to focus reform on ourselves, not the world.

Additions to the list are welcome. I tried not to add the usual suspects like darbyism and OSAS because they are up for debate and have their own threads.
With some introspection I must admit that in my darker moments I may have fallen for some of these heresies here and there.

You may already have addressed it between the lines, but there’s another one I’m sometimes prone to, too: self-righteousness.
 

aspen

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With some introspection I must admit that in my darker moments I may have fallen for some of these heresies here and there.

You may already have addressed it between the lines, but there’s another one I’m sometimes prone to, too: self-righteousness.

Yep. I am right there with you.

These are insidious; so ingrained, they seem like part of being a Christian! The false self will go to any length to get attention.

I think acknowledging and rooting them out helps to refocus us
 
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aspen

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Nostalga

Attempts to reclaim the past is a trap, subject to idealism, depression and legalism. The gospel is alive and needs to be taken out of the museum and applied to God and neighbor.

Superstition

Attempts to control the future. Leads to anxiety and self-centeredness.
 
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Stranger

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture:

1. Fatalism - ‘Christ is coming anyway so the welfare of this world doesn’t matter’

2. Purity before People - Protestant version, ‘people’s membership in the tribe of Christianity depends on strict cognitive agreement with literalism’. Catholic version, ‘people’s salvation is based on perfection of performance’ Promoting doctine without concern for the welfare of the people you are handing out tracts to, is another example.

3. Moral Dualism - mistaking the sum of the law, which is to love, as a call to label creation good and evil - Adam and Eve(ism)

4. Consequentialism - ends justify the means philosophy ‘humilition, righteous indignation, bullying, berating language, disrespect, hatred, dismissing behavior, and distainful attitudes are valid tools to be used at will if there is a chance a person will be saved’

5. Clericalism - righteous indignation is viewed as ‘standing up for what’s right!’ Church leaders are choosen for convinction over compassion. This is not just a game for clergy - it is rife across the internet amongst armchair theologians.

6. Zero sum game - Christianity is reduced to a game of numbers; winners are determined by how much everyone else has lost. This philosophy is evident in house - emergent church vs. fundamentalism; across religions - Christians vs. Muslims; and on the political stage - Christian rights vs. secularism.

7. Anti-intellectualism - based in fear; anti-intellectualism manifests as rejection of all knowledge which contadicts a person’s intution related to Christianity. Jesus spoke against this in Luke 14:26.

8. Radical Individualism: rejection of community / church / authority. It is often insidious because people who practice radical individualism often claim they belong to an invisible community and mistake their intution for God.

9. Christian Zionism - we can and should speed up the coming of Christ and the destruction of this world. Go ahead and elect a tyrant - it all leads to Christ!

10. Love is equated with Weakness - ‘loving others gets you crucified - we need to defend the gospel!’. Snowflakes are weak and irresponsible - true Christians are warriors for Jesus who have God’s priorities at heart, which is to be the last pure, perfect person standing.

Looking for the Devil behind every bush is a distaction from looking within ourselves and our community - indeed, it is underestimating the cunning nature of evil. Christians love to judge people they consider liberal for ‘not believing in a devil’; perhaps we are looking beyond the obvious places.

Prophets held their own communities’ feet to the fire, btw - we need to focus reform on ourselves, not the world.

Additions to the list are welcome. I tried not to add the usual suspects like darbyism and OSAS because they are up for debate and have their own threads.

Your list ain't worth the paper it is printed on. It is simply your list. I could make a list of heresy. So could anyone else. Big deal. Before you give 'your' list of heresy, you should define what heresy is according to the Church. Not according to 'you'.

Stranger
 
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aspen

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Now that I have Stranger’s blessing......this thread is off and rolling!
 
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junobet

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Nostalga

Attempts to reclaim the past is a trap, subject to idealism, depression and legalism. The gospel is alive and needs to be taken out of the museum and applied to God and neighbor.

Superstition

Attempts to control the future. Leads to anxiety and self-centeredness.
Yes, the human memory’s tendency to paint the past in pink is both a blessing and a curse.

There’s also the opposite heresy: forgetting one’s roots and history, blindly accepting human traditions as gospel without ever asking when, how and why they came up.
 
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Rollo Tamasi

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture:

1. Fatalism - ‘Christ is coming anyway so the welfare of this world doesn’t matter’

2. Purity before People - Protestant version, ‘people’s membership in the tribe of Christianity depends on strict cognitive agreement with literalism’. Catholic version, ‘people’s salvation is based on perfection of performance’ Promoting doctine without concern for the welfare of the people you are handing out tracts to, is another example.

3. Moral Dualism - mistaking the sum of the law, which is to love, as a call to label creation good and evil - Adam and Eve(ism)

4. Consequentialism - ends justify the means philosophy ‘humilition, righteous indignation, bullying, berating language, disrespect, hatred, dismissing behavior, and distainful attitudes are valid tools to be used at will if there is a chance a person will be saved’

5. Clericalism - righteous indignation is viewed as ‘standing up for what’s right!’ Church leaders are choosen for convinction over compassion. This is not just a game for clergy - it is rife across the internet amongst armchair theologians.

6. Zero sum game - Christianity is reduced to a game of numbers; winners are determined by how much everyone else has lost. This philosophy is evident in house - emergent church vs. fundamentalism; across religions - Christians vs. Muslims; and on the political stage - Christian rights vs. secularism.

7. Anti-intellectualism - based in fear; anti-intellectualism manifests as rejection of all knowledge which contadicts a person’s intution related to Christianity. Jesus spoke against this in Luke 14:26.

8. Radical Individualism: rejection of community / church / authority. It is often insidious because people who practice radical individualism often claim they belong to an invisible community and mistake their intution for God.

9. Christian Zionism - we can and should speed up the coming of Christ and the destruction of this world. Go ahead and elect a tyrant - it all leads to Christ!

10. Love is equated with Weakness - ‘loving others gets you crucified - we need to defend the gospel!’. Snowflakes are weak and irresponsible - true Christians are warriors for Jesus who have God’s priorities at heart, which is to be the last pure, perfect person standing.

Looking for the Devil behind every bush is a distaction from looking within ourselves and our community - indeed, it is underestimating the cunning nature of evil. Christians love to judge people they consider liberal for ‘not believing in a devil’; perhaps we are looking beyond the obvious places.

Prophets held their own communities’ feet to the fire, btw - we need to focus reform on ourselves, not the world.

Additions to the list are welcome. I tried not to add the usual suspects like darbyism and OSAS because they are up for debate and have their own threads.

That's quite a list.
A lot to think about.
8. Radical individualism
I see a lot of this online especially
Dominionism, bring about the end times quickly and be the church that greets Jesus
Tradition; so many churches have their own traditions and they are placed high on the list of holiness
I find this especially true with people who go to church their whole lives and just go along with what the leadership says, never in all their days really studying and learning the word of God. Blind sheep by choice.
 
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junobet

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Heresy has always been with us; this is my partial list, which has infiltrated Christian practices and culture:

1. Fatalism - ‘Christ is coming anyway so the welfare of this world doesn’t matter’

2. Purity before People - Protestant version, ‘people’s membership in the tribe of Christianity depends on strict cognitive agreement with literalism’. Catholic version, ‘people’s salvation is based on perfection of performance’ Promoting doctine without concern for the welfare of the people you are handing out tracts to, is another example.

3. Moral Dualism - mistaking the sum of the law, which is to love, as a call to label creation good and evil - Adam and Eve(ism)

4. Consequentialism - ends justify the means philosophy ‘humilition, righteous indignation, bullying, berating language, disrespect, hatred, dismissing behavior, and distainful attitudes are valid tools to be used at will if there is a chance a person will be saved’

5. Clericalism - righteous indignation is viewed as ‘standing up for what’s right!’ Church leaders are choosen for convinction over compassion. This is not just a game for clergy - it is rife across the internet amongst armchair theologians.

6. Zero sum game - Christianity is reduced to a game of numbers; winners are determined by how much everyone else has lost. This philosophy is evident in house - emergent church vs. fundamentalism; across religions - Christians vs. Muslims; and on the political stage - Christian rights vs. secularism.

7. Anti-intellectualism - based in fear; anti-intellectualism manifests as rejection of all knowledge which contadicts a person’s intution related to Christianity. Jesus spoke against this in Luke 14:26.

8. Radical Individualism: rejection of community / church / authority. It is often insidious because people who practice radical individualism often claim they belong to an invisible community and mistake their intution for God.

9. Christian Zionism - we can and should speed up the coming of Christ and the destruction of this world. Go ahead and elect a tyrant - it all leads to Christ!

10. Love is equated with Weakness - ‘loving others gets you crucified - we need to defend the gospel!’. Snowflakes are weak and irresponsible - true Christians are warriors for Jesus who have God’s priorities at heart, which is to be the last pure, perfect person standing.

Looking for the Devil behind every bush is a distaction from looking within ourselves and our community - indeed, it is underestimating the cunning nature of evil. Christians love to judge people they consider liberal for ‘not believing in a devil’; perhaps we are looking beyond the obvious places.

Prophets held their own communities’ feet to the fire, btw - we need to focus reform on ourselves, not the world.

Additions to the list are welcome. I tried not to add the usual suspects like darbyism and OSAS because they are up for debate and have their own threads.
I forgot to ask: Did you accidentally get the quote wrong in point 7 or is it just me who fails to see the connection between Luke 14:26 and anti-intellectualism?
 
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aspen

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I forgot to ask: Did you accidentally get the quote wrong in point 7 or is it just me who fails to see the connection between Luke 14:26 and anti-intellectualism?

When Jesus tells us we must hate our father and mother in order to follow Him, I believe He is encouraging us to challenge the safe traditions we have blindly accepted - this was especially challenging to the Jewish people He was addressing, but is also a message we need today. Like Rollo mentioned, ‘people who go to church all their lives’ may be leading an unexamined life and need to investigate their motives and acquire knowledge about their beliefs. If they do not, they risk ‘Jesus said it, therefore I believe it’ faith, which I believe is anti-intellectual
 
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Helen

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@aspen I think the greatest of all heresy of all "in church" is the many time I hear:- " That was a wonderfully anointed worship service"
or " What a wonderfully anointed word preached."
And I am standing there saying to myself..." I think there is more anointing in my rice pudding than there ever was in this church service.!!" o_O

The thing is , bless their hearts...so many now have no idea what it is to be in a meeting when the Holy Ghost falls and takes over the meeting.

That is my pet peeve of heresy in the church.
 

amadeus

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@aspen I think the greatest of all heresy of all "in church" is the many time I hear:- " That was a wonderfully anointed worship service"
or " What a wonderfully anointed word preached."
And I am standing there saying to myself..." I think there is more anointing in my rice pudding than there ever was in this church service.!!" o_O

The thing is , bless their hearts...so many now have no idea what it is to be in a meeting when the Holy Ghost falls and takes over the meeting.

That is my pet peeve of heresy in the church.
Send me some of the pudding. Rice pudding is one of my favorites.

But seriously while I try not to use the word heresy with regard to about anyone, the situation you mention is altogether too common and might make to exception to my normal rule. It's like the preacher preaching a favorable message at the funeral of someone about whom no one can think of a single good thing that he ever did in his life... no not even one.
 
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Helen

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@amadeus Well said...and agree with your 'picture' of the funeral...in fact the word 'funeral' totally fits the bill here!!

I so often place myself as the little boy in the story by Hans Christian Anderson:-
The Emperors New Cloths ... About two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, ignorant or incompetent ..... while in reality, they make no clothes at all!! But they deceive everyone into believing that the new clothes are invisible to them that are stupid.
When the emperor finally parades before his subjects in his new "clothes", no one dares to say that they do not see any suit of clothes on him for fear that they will be thought stupid.
Finally, a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all...he is totally naked!"


That is my picture of the modern church..everyone not wanting to look different of stupid just smile and agree on how wonderful it all is.

Few will cry out that it is totally NAKED with no anointed covering at all!
 

junobet

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When Jesus tells us we must hate our father and mother in order to follow Him, I believe He is encouraging us to challenge the safe traditions we have blindly accepted - this was especially challenging to the Jewish people He was addressing, but is also a message we need today. Like Rollo mentioned, ‘people who go to church all their lives’ may be leading an unexamined life and need to investigate their motives and acquire knowledge about their beliefs. If they do not, they risk ‘Jesus said it, therefore I believe it’ faith, which I believe is anti-intellectual
Mmh, I guess you could see it that way, it’s rather a stretch though, isn’t it? I saw Luke 24:16 more literally: People actually did leave their families and possessions behind in order to follow Jesus. To begin with they were mostly (probably) rather uneducated fishermen and the like.
Then again I happen to come from a background of a church and family that value and encourage a sound education and critical thinking. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t see the connection you saw.

Whenever I encounter the anti-intellectualism that’s rampant within some other parts of Christianity, I’m still baffled and scared. I’ll give these anti-intellectualists that the Bible itself more often than not values faith over human reason. But what’s meant is real living faith, not the ‘head in the sand’-attitude and ugly gut-instincts that seem to dominate much of modern-day fundamentalism.
 

aspen

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Mmh, I guess you could see it that way, it’s rather a stretch though, isn’t it? I saw Luke 24:16 more literally: People actually did leave their families and possessions behind in order to follow Jesus. To begin with they were mostly (probably) rather uneducated fishermen and the like.
Then again I happen to come from a background of a church and family that value and encourage a sound education and critical thinking. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t see the connection you saw.

Whenever I encounter the anti-intellectualism that’s rampant within some other parts of Christianity, I’m still baffled and scared. I’ll give these anti-intellectualists that the Bible itself more often than not values faith over human reason. But what’s meant is real living faith, not the ‘head in the sand’-attitude and ugly gut-instincts that seem to dominate much of modern-day fundamentalism.

I feel the same way about anti-intellectualism - scary.

As far as the verse goes, i think Jesus was challenging the beliefs of the Jewish people specifically because at the time, there was a pervasive view that being God’s Choosen People was all that mattered. I think we see a similar view today with OSAS.
 

junobet

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I feel the same way about anti-intellectualism - scary.

As far as the verse goes, i think Jesus was challenging the beliefs of the Jewish people specifically because at the time, there was a pervasive view that being God’s Choosen People was all that mattered. I think we see a similar view today with OSAS.
I’m not so sure whether Jesus had a problem with the Jews deeming themselves chosen. The story of Christ’s ‘conversion’ (Matthew 15:21-28) would speak against that. But He surely had a problem with the complacency and haughtiness that may be the unfortunate result (or cause) of feeling chosen while others aren’t.