Clear and faithful confession of the Faith originates from Above and has, by all appearances, less-than-desirable results; even perhaps crucifixions. We pray that the LORD bless and strengthen His Church with faithful teachers and preachers, for without His blessing and Word, we are all damned heretics.
Thanks for another edifying post. I assist at a Lutheran parish in South Bend, IN that is evangelical and catholic in theology and practice; orthodox, confessional, and liturgical, by the grace of God in Christ.
Heresy is not just an abstract thing, but has real effects on real people’s lives and in fact on the world in which we all live, whether or not we share or acknowledge the heresy.
Pity there was nobody around to bop Mohammed when he started to hallucinate. Islam is often viewed as a sort of offshoot or resurgence of Arianism, so we can see that the effect of what one might dismiss as a “mere” doctrinal point has had very real and awful consequences.
People know think they have “moved beyond” doctrine, but they don’t realize that this is (a) impossible and (b) that it’s a doctrine in itself. I saw that the Unitarians have recently started advertising themselves as “Faith beyond beliefs.” LOL! Poor souls, they mean well, but there’s no such thing as faith in the abstract (faith in what???) and doctrine or “beliefs” must always be part of it and they must be clear and orthodox, that is, in line with Jewish and Christian tradition.