Heresy and Its Remedy

Last week we said that a heresy is a man-made teaching that has been substituted for an essential revealed truth.

All heresies arise from the attitude that insists that if we cannot understand something, it cannot be true. This attitude itself comes from a lack of proper intellectual humility when confronted by God and His revelation. Another way to say this is that heresy is often the result of exalting our fallible human intellect above the revealed Word of God. The very heart of heresy is exaggerated pride in the human mind. Thus, we need to remember to be humble in our approach to God and His Word.

Not all people who believe heretical teachings are guilty of excessive pride (or lack of proper humility, which is the same thing). Nor is it proper to identify any person who teaches heresy as a heretic. Sometimes people are merely confused about what they believe and so they do not articulate it clearly. Such people are open to correction and admit when they have made a mistake. They are not heretics. In general, people whom history has identified as heretics were not open to correction and (in their view) never made mistakes. So, the difference between a heretic and someone who is merely confused is again one of excessive pride. Thus, the remedy to heresy is not more information, but more humility. With humility comes correctable and teachable hearts. Since humility is a gift of God, we must ask Him to keep us humble.

Admittedly, there are many truths in the Bible that are difficult to understand (that is why God needed to reveal them; if we could naturally understand them there would be no need for revelation). The Trinity is no exception. To understand it we must rely upon God's witness to Himself in the Bible. When we do this we come to the conclusion that the Bible teaches God is three persons. Thus we understand that the Bible teaches the Trinity despite our inability to fully comprehend it.

-Chuck-