"Heresy:" Biblical Definitions and Applications

Let's start with the meaning of "heresy". It comes from the Greek word "hairesis", which is the root word of "airein.” The middle voice “to select a term. It has three meanings in classical Greek: (1) seizure of the city, (2) choice or selection, and (3) effort directed at a goal. In Hellenism, it acquired the related sense of teaching and a school. In the latter sense, it came to be used by philosophical schools and groups in a larger society that follow particular leaders in distinction from others. In Judaism, in the Septuagint, "airesis" was still employed in the original Greek sense and “choice” in Genesis 49.5. As one might expect, Philo used the term for the philosophical schools of the Greeks. Josephus reapplied it, however, by speaking of the heresy of the Essenes and the three religious heresies of the Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees in his "Antiquities" 13.59. So far, of course, the word had a neutral sense of a party with distinctive emphases and concerns. By 100 AD, however, folks began to reserve the word for divergent movements. By 200 AD, Jewish groups, Christians and Gnostics, were in view. In the New Testament, for the most part, "airesis" or heresy has the same meaning as Josephus. It speaks of the school or party of the Sadducees and that of the Pharisees. In Acts 26.5, Paul is called the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, obviously, in this instance, a group that was viewed with disfavor. Paul did not accept this designation in 26.14, "according to the way I worship the God of our fathers." The term was also used unfavorably by Jewish leaders in Rome, "But we desire to hear from you what [s]your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere." (Acts 28.22). ἀξιοῦμεν δὲ παρὰ σοῦ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ φρονεῖς, περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης γνωστὸν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἀντιλέγεται. Within the church itself, the term had a very first pejorative nuance. “Concerning this sect (heresy or sect), a pejorative sense emerging. Paul in Galatians 5.20 put "hysteresis" on his list of works of the flesh. 5.20: “…idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.” 5.20: “…εἰδωλολατρία, φαρμακεία, ἔχθραι, ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθείαι, διχοστασίαι, αἱρέσεις.” “Party spirit" in the Revised Standard Version is probably what Paul had in mind. In 1 Corinthians 11.19, the heresies corresponded to the dissensions of 1.10ff and divisions of 11.18, schismata. 1 Corinthians 11.18-19: 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions (schismata) exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 There also have to be factions (heresies) among you so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 1 Corinthians 11.18-19: 18 πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ συνερχομένων ὑμῶν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν, καὶ μέρος τι πιστεύω.19 δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι, ἵνα [καὶ] οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ἐν ὑμῖν 1 Corinthians 1.10ff.: 10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [f]agree and that there be no [g]divisions (schismata) among you, but that you be [h]made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am [i]with Paul,” [j]or “I am [k]with Apollos,” [l]or am [m]with [n]Cephas,” [o]or “I am [p]with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1.10ff.: 10 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ λέγητε πάντες, καὶ μὴ ᾖ ἐν ὑμῖν σχίσματα, ἦτε δὲ κατηρτισμένοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ νοῒ καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ γνώμῃ.11 ἐδηλώθη γάρ μοι περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί μου, ὑπὸ τῶν Χλόης ὅτι ἔριδες ἐν ὑμῖν εἰσιν.12 λέγω δὲ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἕκαστος ὑμῶν λέγει, Ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι Παύλου, Ἐγὼ δὲ Ἀπολλῶ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Κηφᾶ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Χριστοῦ. They represent factions and divisions that are totally incompatible with unity in the community. The heresies of 2 Peter 2.1ff. are more severe than ordinary divisions because they involve divergent teachings insidiously introduced by false teachers. 2 Peter 2.1-3: But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. Thus, the idea of incompatibility of opinion or doctrinal aberrations is added to that faction. The term “heresy” is well on its way to the technical sense acquired in Christian history.