Is Heresy a Bad Word?

Some discussion generated on the comments section made me wonder if the word "heresy" has a negative connotation which makes it sound like hate speech in some quarters. I know that a few years ago when we debated such things in our local diocses there were some people who took great offense at the implication that they were teaching heresy. Obviously, the word is a negative assessment on what someone believes. I think, however, that the underlying issue goes deeper. There seems to be, among a large segement of the population, a vaguely held belief that the designation of "truth" and "falsehood" are not actually relevant. Of course, as I have made clear, the same segment of the population are not disinclined to define other groups' declarations as "hate speech."

The Greek origins of the word refers to the act of choosing.  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heresy I do not know the exact history of the usage, but quite clearly at some point the connotation of choice became the denotation of choosing another way than the accepted, acceptable and orthodox way. Orthodoxy, of course, implies two questions. First of all, is there such a thing? Is there a "the right way to think and understand"? Secondly, what is "the" defined, right way to think?

There are endless 'orthodoxies" in every avenue of life. Baseball fans are used to hearing about "an unorthodox delivery" in reference to someone who throws a baseball in an unusual manner. Likewise, politicians who adopt a position outside of their Party's official stance can be called unorthodox. Any break with the accepted way of doing things is unorthodox. However, this is a milder sense of the word. It refers not so much to truth as it does doing what is accepted and standard. I think a pro-Life Democrat is unorthodox but I would also claim they were doing the truth. Herein lies the larger and more important sense.

The identity of Jesus is not simply "for me." One huge error popular in our church is the constant use of this prepostional phrase. "For us Jesus is the Messiah, or Savior, or Son of God." I hear people say. While it is techincally true, it is also false because it says too little. It focuses on the subject (me, us) and not the object (Jesus). It is a way to side-step making an absolute truth claim and replacing it with a factual statement about personal beliefs. This problem is deeply rooted in much of the current discussions. The emphasis on "personal" beliefs does not easily address the problem, in some ways it compounds it.

The reason why I think it is important to understand the source and status of Islam is because it is a framework for discussion. Is it the final and ultimate revelation? Is it a corrective of the errors which Christians made about God, Jesus, salvation, etc? Knowing that the geographic area in which Islam was born and grew was also rife with teaching about Jesus, but teaching which denied His divinty and was heretical, is an important fact. There are roots which can be investigated. And if it is an extension of ancient heresy it is treated the way all heresy should be treated. It is rejected, even if we understand the need to respect and treat kindly the one who holds such falsehood.

One element of current religios practice in our culture is the strongly held belief that "no one has the right to tell me what to believe." While true as a political and ethical right, it is false as a philosophical assumption about truth claims. The Church (led by the Holy Spirit) is who defines doctrine. The creed is no more, and no less, a human construction than the Scripture. In fact, without the Creed the Scriptures can be and have been interpreted in all manner of ways. Who is Jesus? The Bible is our source, but the definitve, true and orthodox interpretation of those Scriptures is not my role, or yours. It, too, has been given us. Revealed to us for our salvation. Those who reject this teaching on Jesus also reject Him. And we who follow Him can treat such folk with love, respect and kindness, but we can never equate their false, heretical beliefs with our own true and orthodox beliefs. And we should be thankful that we have been given the truth, no matter how undeserving we might be. In the end, all heresy is error and error leads to sin. I care about the heretical status of Islam because I care about the heretical/orthodox teaching of all people and instutions. I know such concerns can go overboard. It can become stifling and hostile when people are running around being "the orthodoxy police." It is not life-gifing to endlessly debate every nuance of every statement to decipher every possible truth claim. However, we can err in the other direction as well. Ignoring orthodoxy completely devolves into "each one doing what he thinks best." And that did not work in the time of Judges and it will not work in our own age.