Lots of interesting discussion this week drawing on feedback from listeners.1 We talk a bit about heresy, something I have written on quite a lot, because you can’t really do church history without encountering the concept of heresy, not to mention all the accusations, counter-accusations, excommunications and, tragically, executions.
The word first crops up in the second century AD, notably in the work of Irenaeus of Lyon who wrote a whole book called Against Heresies. The word comes from the Greek word for choice, and Irenaus lists a compendium of various alternative beliefs, from Gnostic mystical hoo-hah to ascetic Judaistic Christianity.
What’s notable about the issue of heresy and heretics in Christian history is that virtually all major figures have been accused of it.2 So in A Nearly Infallible History of Christianity I define heresy as ‘Any theological speculation which is not the official theological speculation’.
Which is not to say that all heresy is OK. Some of it is wrong-headed, damaging and clearly incompatible with the life and words of Jesus, which is what Christianity is really all about.
But most heresies deal with things which are just mysteries. And Christian history is full of people getting very angry at other believers because they are not mystified in the correct way.