On Heresy

What is heresy?  In the endeavor of protecting truth and safeguarding correct doctrines, Christians must be aware of what constitutes an error so great that one cannot claim to operate on behalf of the Christian deity if he or she holds to it.  One must be careful to not level charges of heresy lightly, as heresy is a far deadlier class of error than that encompassing superficial mistakes.  I myself would probably be called a heretic by the idiotic standards of some Christians due to the extreme controversy in everything that comprises my worldview, from the thoroughly rationalistic epistemology of my worldview all the way to issues like theonomy, annihilationism, and affirmation of aspects of God's nature that many shy away from.

Heresy is a belief or doctrine that contradicts God's nature as revealed by the Bible, not as represented by any historical Christian council, creed, or consensus.  The Bible alone determines Christian doctrine wholly independent of preferences or tradition.  It follows logically, then, that any genuine heresy is something that opposes Biblical doctrines, not something that contradicts the fallacies and inventions of humans.  This means that any belief held up as Christianity which one cannot prove that the Bible teaches does not divide heresy from orthodoxy, nor does any tradition from any period of church history.  I would be called a heretic by the standards of some, yet I do not fear their petty objections.

When Christians challenge my positions, I utilize reason and Biblical knowledge to refute their errors, uncaring of anyone's personal feelings or any deviation from the agreement of others.  This is the way to identify and confront actual heresy: in a manner totally detached from the influence of emotions and a concern for long-standing traditions.  If a Christian discovers that for centuries the church as a whole has been in error, he or she is not a heretic for abandoning what other Christians are illicitly comfortable with.  Let those who seek to judge a belief as heresy absorb this fact into their minds lest they make a hasty, irrational, and untrue judgment about the Biblicality or rationality of a claim.