Author Topic: Knowing the heresies (Read 916 times)

Lorenzo · « **on:** November 08, 2012, 01:35:14 PM »

Friends,

Do you know the heresies that are propagated in the world today?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith." [CCC 2089] According to Hilaire Belloc, "Heresy is the dislocation of some complete and self-supporting scheme by the introduction of a novel denial of some essential part therein...Heresy means, then, the warping of a system by 'Exception'..." [The Great Heresies (TAN Books, 1991) p. 2]. A heresy is not the total rejection of the Christian faith but a distortion of it. One essential truth is denied or exaggerated at the expense of another essential truth. For example, knowledge about the teachings of Christ is important, but the Gnostic heretics claimed that such knowledge was more important than faith. They taught that salvation came through knowledge and not by faith in Jesus Christ. Even though heresies are bad, we can better appreciate the true faith by knowing what to avoid.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/heresies/definition/

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2012, 01:35:47 PM »

Secularism

It is a modern movement to minimize the sacred and holy. Unfortunately this movement has infected Christianity. One version ("Cream-Puffism") is quite popular among Christians today. This heresy exaggerates the truth that "God is Love" by undermining the truth that "God is Holy and Just." Its promoters claim that since God loves us, we can continue committing our personal sins without any fear of punishment. The Bible verse, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." [Psalm 111:10], is either ignored or wished away, along with Hell and Purgatory. Now it is absolutely true that God continues to love thieves and murderers, but He also loves those people who are robbed and killed. Our sins offend Godâ€™s love. God loves us so much that He does not force us to love Him in return. He gives us free will. God loves us so much that He allows us to mortally sin and thus freely choose Hell. But God the Father also loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die on the Cross to set us free from our personal sins (John 3:16 & 36). "He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (Cross), that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed." [1 Peter 2:24] It is our choice. That is the reason why we call Good Friday, good!

Reference:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/heresies/secularism/

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2012, 01:40:32 PM »

Gnosticism

The name for this heresy originated from the Greek word, gnosis, meaning "knowledge." The Greeks were the first, after the Jews, to be evangelized for Christ. With their great tradition of thinkers, like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the Greeks were very attracted to human knowledge and speculation. This infatuation led to the first major heresy to plague the Church. St. Johnâ€™s Epistles in the Bible already appear to be speaking against it. St. Irenaeus of Lyons in 190 A.D. wrote against it in his book, Against Heresies. His first volume is devoted to describing its many differing sects and their beliefs. Manicheism in the 4th century and Albigensism in the 12th century were later manifestations of this heresy. Even today the "New Age Movement" has many similarities. Basically this heresy exaggerated the importance of knowledge over faith. It also considered the body and matter to be evil; whereas, the soul and ideas were good. As a result, it denied the Incarnation of Christ, and even some sects claimed that the Creator was evil. Also marriage and sex were considered evil since their purpose was to make more "bodies." In a perverted twist in logic, the abuses of sex: contraception, adultery, fornication and sodomy, were considered good according to some sects. The Gnostics spent more time speculating on the succession of "angels" between God and man, than in meditating on Godâ€™s Commandments. Their focus was more on thinking rather than on living a good Christian life.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/heresies/gnosticism/

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2012, 01:43:43 PM »

Sola Fides

The Protestant Revolt had many causes including state politics. Also the worldly lifestyle of certain popes, bishops and priests of that time helped to fuel the fire. However, the doctrine, Justification by Faith Alone, was the spark.

This heresy exaggerates the truth concerning salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Even though some members of the Church at that time, such as Tetzel and Erasmus, may not have fully understood the doctrine of salvation, this does not excuse this heresy. It claims that Christians are saved by faith alone. As biblical support, St. Paul is usually cited: "For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law." [Romans 3:28] Now this verse does not contain the word "alone."

Martin Luther actually added "alone" to this verse in his Bibles in order to promote this new doctrine. According to the RSV and NAB Bible translations, the phrase, "by faith alone", only occurs once in the Bible, and that verse condemns this doctrine: "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." [James 2:24] The other error is interpreting the "works of law" in Romans 3:28 as all good works. From the context, it is obvious that St. Paul is referring to the Law of Moses, and the "works of law" are circumcision, eating kosher and other Jewish practices (Acts 15:1-21). St. Paul writes elsewhere in the Bible: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love." [Galatians 5:6] St. Paulâ€™s understanding of faith, as expressed in the Bible, includes more than a confident trust in God, but also obedience to God (Romans 1:5). Also according to Catholic understanding, good works are not what I do but what God does through me by grace (Eph. 2:10; 1 Cor. 15:10; Rom 2:7), so there is no reason to boast (Eph. 2:9).

Even though Martin Luther still understood salvation in terms of grace, some later Christians did not. With the loss of focus on grace, this heresy eventually led to a "faith-alone" version of Pelagianism. This is the reason that some (not all) Protestants reject some or all of the Sacraments, sometimes even Baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3; 1 Peter 3:21).

Reference:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/heresies/sola-fides/

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2012, 01:50:57 PM »

Pelagianism

It is named after the British monk, Pelagius, who was contemporary with St. Augustine and St. Jerome. In the early 5th century, he denied Original Sin as well as the need for God's saving grace. According to his heresy, the guilt of Adam's sin was not passed on to us. Adam's sin only harmed Adam and not us. It was merely an evil example. Likewise, the Redemption of Christ was merely instruction and example for us to follow in order to counter the evil example of Adam.

Pelagius taught that by natural means, such as an austere lifestyle, we could over come our personal sins. We could merit heaven by a natural faith without God's supernatural help - that is grace. According to him, the Law of Moses was as effective as the Gospel for salvation. Both St. Augustine and St. Jerome opposed him. As a result of his work against Pelagius, St. Augustine became known as the "Doctor of Grace."

Pelagius was finally condemned in 418 by the Council of Carthage approved by Pope Zosimus. This Council taught: 1) That Adam's death was the result of sin. 2) As a result of Original Sin, new-born babies need Baptism. 3) By God's grace, we not only know His Commandments but also have the strength to obey them. 4) Without grace, good works are impossible for us. 5) And finally, we and all the saints confess ourselves as sinners in honesty and not merely out of humility. We are justified (saved) by God's grace (Acts 15:11; 18:27; Rom. 3:24; Gal. 2:21; Eph. 1:7; 2:5; 2:8; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:7; Heb. 4:16). Faith and its associated good works are our positive responses or cooperation with that grace. "Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on high." [CCC 2018]

Reference:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/apologetics/heresies/pelagianism/

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Author Topic: Knowing the heresies (Read 916 times)

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Knowing the heresies

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