Against the Heresies: A History of Dissent (part 1)
"There shall be among you lying teachers who shall bring in sects [haireseis] of perdition." (St. Peter the Apostle, Second Epistle, 2:1)
"Heresy differs from apostasy. The apostate ... abandons wholly the faith of Christ either by embracing Judaism, Islamism, Paganism, or simply by falling into naturalism and complete neglect of religion; the heretic always retains faith in Christ." (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Heresy")
"The word heresy as stated in the first objection denotes a choosing ... there are two ways in which a man may deviate from the rectitude of the Christian faith ... Secondly, because, though he intends to assent to Christ, yet he fails in his choice of those things wherein he assents to Christ, because he chooses not what Christ really taught, but the suggestions of his own mind." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-IIae, quest. 11, art. 1)
The Church that Jesus Christ founded was born on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and hovered over them in the form of tongues of fire; the "over-shadowing" action of the Holy Spirit in that event parallels the over-shadowing action of the same Spirit upon the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. On that occasion, it was Christ who was conceived under the hovering of the Spirit, as the Head of the Mystical Body; at Pentecost, it was the Body that was conceived under the hovering of the Spirit.
It was this Spirit whom Jesus had promised to His disciples, the Spirit who would "be with you forever" (cf. John 14:16), who would "teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (cf. John 14:26), and who would "guide you into all the truth." (cf. John 16:13)
With this Divine promise of a permanent, supernatural Guide who would keep them within the confines of "the truth," the Church set out into history to carry out the mandate entrusted to Her by Her Divine Husband: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:18-20)
From the moment of Her "conception" in the Upper Room, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the Church had everything She needed to successfully carry out the Bridegroom's mission: His instructions to Her were grounded precisely in the "all authority in heaven on earth" that He possessed; She thus shared in His "all authority" from the beginning, and was promised His continual assistance in carrying out Her three-fold mission: to make disciples of the nations, to baptize them, and to impart to them the Divine Law. The Church would later summarize this mission in the following catechetical formula: "Question: Why did Christ found the Church? Answer: Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men." (Baltimore Catechism, no. 2, q. 120)
The Church thus had every reason for confidence, for She had several Divine guarantees: the ongoing presence of Jesus, the ongoing presence of the "Spirit of Truth," the promise of always being guided "into all truth," a share in Royal Messianic authority of the King and Son of God, and the promise that "the gates of Hell will not prevail" against Her (cf. Matt. 16:18-19).
In the early years of Her work and ministry, She showed that She was fully conscious of possessing these charisms. Peter (whom subsequent generations would recognize as the head of the Apostles, the foundation of the Church, and source of the Church's visible unity) did not hesitate to declare - with the full authority of the Church behind him - that the Old Covenant requirement of circumcision was no longer binding (cf. Acts 15). Paul would go so far as to declare that the Church was nothing less than "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15); drawing upon the Divine authority possessed by the Church, he would tell his successors Titus and Timothy to "exhort and reprove with all authority, let no one disregard you" (Titus 2:15), "command and teach these things, let no one despise your youth" (1 Tim. 4:11), "keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach" (1 Tim. 6:14), "guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us" (2 Tim. 1:14), "preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort" (2 Tim. 4:2).
So confident was the Church in Her possession and protection of the truth that Jude could exhort the faithful to "contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3) He described the enemies of the Church, those who "reject authority," as those who "perish in Korah's rebellion" (vss. 8-11). In like manner John, the Apostle of Charity, did not hesitate to tell his readers to shun anyone who "does not bring this doctrine," to "not receive him into the house or give him any greeting." (2 John 10-11)
Such was the infant Church's stance towards heresy and those who professed it, towards those who - like Korah, who rebelled against Moses - preferred their own authority over the Divine authority of the Church. Thus Paul instructed Titus, "as for a man who is factious [hairetikos], after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him." (Titus 3:10)
The Church entertained no delusions - although entrusted with "the Spirit of Truth" and consoled with the promise of continual guidance "into all truth", it was also understood that heresy would be an ubiquitous and perpetual threat. The power wielded by the "gates of Hell" was precisely the power wielded by the Prince of Hell: the lies and errors that find their source in "the father of lies" (cf. John 8:44). And though the Church had been promised that the heresies of Hell would never fully prevail over Her, She understood that constant conflict and war with error was also implied in this promise. If eventual victory was guaranteed, then assault was a foregone conclusion.
Thus, Paul understood that "there must be heresies among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized" (2 Cor. 11:19). The Church would ever be occupied with the task of exposing and then uprooting heresies, with the unfortunate (but necessary) result that those who obstinately clung to the errors would have to be excommunicated as well. Her Divine Husband had already warned Her of this sad reality when He instructed that the man who "refuses to listen even to the church" should be regarded "as a heathen and a tax collector," adding that this juridical authority was nothing less than Divine: "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (cf. Matt. 18:15-18)
The Church, then, regarded heresy as a grievous sin. Paul did not hesitate to class it among the "works of the flesh," on par with some of the worst sins known to the Christian: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, heresies, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like." Following the teachings of Jesus, he did not hesitate to add that heresy, along with these other sins, was enough to keep a soul out of heaven: "I warn you ... that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:19-21)
In this manner, and with this understanding, the Church set out on the long path of history: possessing the pure truth in its totality, the perpetual assistance of the "Spirit of Truth" to guarantee Her success in preserving the faith unstained, the abiding presence of Her Lord and Husband, a share in His own Divine and all-encompassing authority over heaven and earth, the duty of exposing heresy and placing heretics outside of Her borders, and the Divine promise of victory over (but also constant war with) the lying powers of Hell.
It would not be long before the first heresy reared its ugly head, and the Church would be faced with the task of confronting it head on and driving it out - a task that would take many years to accomplish.
"Heresy differs from apostasy. The apostate ... abandons wholly the faith of Christ either by embracing Judaism, Islamism, Paganism, or simply by falling into naturalism and complete neglect of religion; the heretic always retains faith in Christ." (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Heresy")
"The word heresy as stated in the first objection denotes a choosing ... there are two ways in which a man may deviate from the rectitude of the Christian faith ... Secondly, because, though he intends to assent to Christ, yet he fails in his choice of those things wherein he assents to Christ, because he chooses not what Christ really taught, but the suggestions of his own mind." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-IIae, quest. 11, art. 1)
The Church that Jesus Christ founded was born on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and hovered over them in the form of tongues of fire; the "over-shadowing" action of the Holy Spirit in that event parallels the over-shadowing action of the same Spirit upon the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. On that occasion, it was Christ who was conceived under the hovering of the Spirit, as the Head of the Mystical Body; at Pentecost, it was the Body that was conceived under the hovering of the Spirit.
It was this Spirit whom Jesus had promised to His disciples, the Spirit who would "be with you forever" (cf. John 14:16), who would "teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (cf. John 14:26), and who would "guide you into all the truth." (cf. John 16:13)
With this Divine promise of a permanent, supernatural Guide who would keep them within the confines of "the truth," the Church set out into history to carry out the mandate entrusted to Her by Her Divine Husband: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:18-20)
From the moment of Her "conception" in the Upper Room, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the Church had everything She needed to successfully carry out the Bridegroom's mission: His instructions to Her were grounded precisely in the "all authority in heaven on earth" that He possessed; She thus shared in His "all authority" from the beginning, and was promised His continual assistance in carrying out Her three-fold mission: to make disciples of the nations, to baptize them, and to impart to them the Divine Law. The Church would later summarize this mission in the following catechetical formula: "Question: Why did Christ found the Church? Answer: Christ founded the Church to teach, govern, sanctify, and save all men." (Baltimore Catechism, no. 2, q. 120)
The Church thus had every reason for confidence, for She had several Divine guarantees: the ongoing presence of Jesus, the ongoing presence of the "Spirit of Truth," the promise of always being guided "into all truth," a share in Royal Messianic authority of the King and Son of God, and the promise that "the gates of Hell will not prevail" against Her (cf. Matt. 16:18-19).
In the early years of Her work and ministry, She showed that She was fully conscious of possessing these charisms. Peter (whom subsequent generations would recognize as the head of the Apostles, the foundation of the Church, and source of the Church's visible unity) did not hesitate to declare - with the full authority of the Church behind him - that the Old Covenant requirement of circumcision was no longer binding (cf. Acts 15). Paul would go so far as to declare that the Church was nothing less than "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15); drawing upon the Divine authority possessed by the Church, he would tell his successors Titus and Timothy to "exhort and reprove with all authority, let no one disregard you" (Titus 2:15), "command and teach these things, let no one despise your youth" (1 Tim. 4:11), "keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach" (1 Tim. 6:14), "guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us" (2 Tim. 1:14), "preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort" (2 Tim. 4:2).
So confident was the Church in Her possession and protection of the truth that Jude could exhort the faithful to "contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3) He described the enemies of the Church, those who "reject authority," as those who "perish in Korah's rebellion" (vss. 8-11). In like manner John, the Apostle of Charity, did not hesitate to tell his readers to shun anyone who "does not bring this doctrine," to "not receive him into the house or give him any greeting." (2 John 10-11)
Such was the infant Church's stance towards heresy and those who professed it, towards those who - like Korah, who rebelled against Moses - preferred their own authority over the Divine authority of the Church. Thus Paul instructed Titus, "as for a man who is factious [hairetikos], after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him." (Titus 3:10)
The Church entertained no delusions - although entrusted with "the Spirit of Truth" and consoled with the promise of continual guidance "into all truth", it was also understood that heresy would be an ubiquitous and perpetual threat. The power wielded by the "gates of Hell" was precisely the power wielded by the Prince of Hell: the lies and errors that find their source in "the father of lies" (cf. John 8:44). And though the Church had been promised that the heresies of Hell would never fully prevail over Her, She understood that constant conflict and war with error was also implied in this promise. If eventual victory was guaranteed, then assault was a foregone conclusion.
Thus, Paul understood that "there must be heresies among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized" (2 Cor. 11:19). The Church would ever be occupied with the task of exposing and then uprooting heresies, with the unfortunate (but necessary) result that those who obstinately clung to the errors would have to be excommunicated as well. Her Divine Husband had already warned Her of this sad reality when He instructed that the man who "refuses to listen even to the church" should be regarded "as a heathen and a tax collector," adding that this juridical authority was nothing less than Divine: "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (cf. Matt. 18:15-18)
The Church, then, regarded heresy as a grievous sin. Paul did not hesitate to class it among the "works of the flesh," on par with some of the worst sins known to the Christian: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, heresies, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like." Following the teachings of Jesus, he did not hesitate to add that heresy, along with these other sins, was enough to keep a soul out of heaven: "I warn you ... that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:19-21)
In this manner, and with this understanding, the Church set out on the long path of history: possessing the pure truth in its totality, the perpetual assistance of the "Spirit of Truth" to guarantee Her success in preserving the faith unstained, the abiding presence of Her Lord and Husband, a share in His own Divine and all-encompassing authority over heaven and earth, the duty of exposing heresy and placing heretics outside of Her borders, and the Divine promise of victory over (but also constant war with) the lying powers of Hell.
It would not be long before the first heresy reared its ugly head, and the Church would be faced with the task of confronting it head on and driving it out - a task that would take many years to accomplish.
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