Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HERESY

Commonly, aberrant doctrine or opinion arising within the Church in opposition to biblical revelation or apostolic tradition (1 Cor. 11:19; 2 Pet. 2:1; cf. Tit. 3:10). Gk. haíresis originally meant “choice” and is so used in the LXX. It came to refer to a chosen way of belief, either by individuals or by groups. Pharisees (Acts 15:5; 26:5), Sadducees (5:17), and Christians (24:5, 14; 28:22) are all referred to as heresies (NRSV “sect”). The pejorative sense of the term dominates in the NT Epistles, where it refers to teaching that diverts believers from the true gospel toward doctrine that erodes the foundations of the faith, leads to ungodly living, and destroys unity in the Church. The Epistles address heresies showing Jewish, Hellenistic, and pagan tendencies, while gnostic and christological heresies greatly threatened the postapostolic Church.

Bibliography. H. O. J. Brown, Heresies (Garden City, 1984).

Jeffrey S. Lamp

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HERESY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)