The Devil works through 5%/2%/1% error....Can we live like that?

[hopeforhappiness]

Read this on a Heresy-hunting/ discernment website. Implies that we need to be continually searching for heresy/wishy-washy slippage of doctrine, lest that grain of yeast grows and ruins our whole faith. But is there any mileage in the "I'm more orthodox than you" race?
Those websites will point to the scriptural need to "Test all things" and "Contend for the faith"
Is there any way to pull the rug out from under this neurotic mindset/fear? What about Christ being the Way, The TRUTH and the Life?
By the way, are they still going? You know, the sites that have the names of all denominations or movements or leaders listed, ready for a click-on, under the title "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" or some such. When you click, you read about all the fatal links via 5 or 6 degrees of association with something New Age or Ecumenical.
Have they just run out of steam?

 

[GeorgeJ]

Yes.

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

Those sites are only good for the dung pile and nothing else.
Blessings
FCJ

 

[hopeforhappiness]

Please explain why... I am sure they could justify what they are needed.

 

[Kevin.worthy]

Read this on a Heresy-hunting/ discernment website. Implies that we need to be continually searching for heresy/wishy-washy slippage of doctrine, lest that grain of yeast grows and ruins our whole faith. But is there any mileage in the "I'm more orthodox than you" race?
Those websites will point to the scriptural need to "Test all things" and "Contend for the faith"
Is there any way to pull the rug out from under this neurotic mindset/fear? What about Christ being the Way, The TRUTH and the Life?
By the way, are they still going? You know, the sites that have the names of all denominations or movements or leaders listed, ready for a click-on, under the title "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" or some such. When you click, you read about all the fatal links via 5 or 6 degrees of association with something New Age or Ecumenical.
Have they just run out of steam?

Jesus did teach his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and said that a little leaven leavers the whole lump. He also taught them to keep his commandments. What do you think it means that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

 

[hedrick]

Jesus did teach his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and said that a little leaven leavers the whole lump. He also taught them to keep his commandments. What do you think it means that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

The phrase "a little leaven leavns the whole lump" is actually from by Paul, in 1 Cor 5:6 and Gal 5:9. Leavened bread was regarded by Jews as impure, even though it was used every day. In this case the leaven seems to be legalism, so I'd read his image as saying that legalism can corrupt everything. This would be an odd passage to cite in defense of heresy-hunting.

 

[Kevin.worthy]

That's a good point about the citations, though if the teaching is true and comes from an apostle of the Lord Jesus, then I think it's accurate to say that Jesus is teaching it. There's no meaningful difference in my mind.

At any rate, several of the commentaries at Galatians 5:9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." suggest that the leaven can be taken to refer to false doctrine (or, in other words, heresy). For example, from the Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Bible Commentary, "So 'leaven' is used of false doctrine (Mt 16:12: compare Mt 13:33). In 1 Co 5:6 it means the corrupting influence of one bad person; so Bengel understands it here to refer to the person . . . . I prefer to refer it to false doctrine . . . ." This seems fair enough to me. I believe that it is important to be watchful against false doctrine.

 

[hedrick]

For example, from the Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Bible Commentary, "So 'leaven' is used of false doctrine (Mt 16:12: compare Mt 13:33). In 1 Co 5:6 it means the corrupting influence of one bad person; so Bengel understands it here to refer to the person . . . . I prefer to refer it to false doctrine . . . ." This seems fair enough to me. I believe that it is important to be watchful against false doctrine.

With all due respect to these commentators, the context makes it clear that he's opposed to the circumcision party. You can call any belief you disagree with heresy, but that's not heresy in the sense normally used. It's legalism.

 

[Kevin.worthy]

And we could quibble about semantics if we were so inclined. I'm not. Suffice it to say that I believe that there is virtue in being careful about what doctrines you accept. I'm not defending the websites that you were referring to (I don't know anything about them). I'm only saying that false doctrine is a dangerous thing, even in small bits, and that we should be careful not to receive it.

 

[hedrick]

And we could quibble about semantics if we were so inclined. I'm not. Suffice it to say that I believe that there is virtue in being careful about what doctrines you accept. I'm not defending the websites that you were referring to (I don't know anything about them). I'm only saying that false doctrine is a dangerous thing, even in small bits, and that we should be careful not to receive it.

I am careful. However good Christians disagree on many topics. The disagreements sometimes matter. Sometimes they represent differences in how we describe things. But we're still brothers and sisters in Christ, and should treat each other that way. We've all seen the sites described in the OP. They go beyond taking due care.

If you look at Church history, you can find a number of instances where there are disagreements that in retrospect we can see as not very significant. Perhaps they occur because people speaking different languages or from different traditions speak about things differently. E.g. the Oriental Orthodox Churches were considered for centuries to be heretical. But recent meetings between them and other traditional churches have convinced both sides that they were in substantial agreement, but expressed it differently. (Whether Nestorius himself was actually heretical is still debated, but that's not exactly the same as the question of the Oriental Orthodox churches.) Both in the ancient church and today, people often try to inflate their own importance by describing others in hostile terms.

That's not to say there are no genuine heresies, where there would be serious consequences if the Church accepted them. But we should be as careful about describing other Christians as heretics as we are about checking our own ideas.

 

[Kevin.worthy]

There are certainly lots of things to be careful about. And I really can't speak to the websites that you were referring to. I'm not familiar with them at all. In fact, I don't know if I've ever even seen one. I can say, however, that helping people is sometimes a slow process, and that sometimes people simply don't want to be helped, or can't be. That being the case, I try to find a good balance in life between exerting a positive influence on others and letting them make their own choices without any further input from me. In that effort I believe that it is important to seek the inspiration of the Almighty, and that he communicates through lots of different means. I have also found that prayer and fasting can lead to new inspiration and good ideas.