What's a heretic/fanatic??

[Leah]

As much as I hate to admit it, I've never fully understood them. :o

 

[Lynn73]

I would say that a heretic is someone that departs from the teachings of a particular group. For instance, a Muslim who would accept Christ and become Christian would not doubt be considered a heretic by other Muslims. Same for Buddhists or whatever religion. Just as Catholics consider Protestants to be heretic for not accepting the teachings of their church. So, heresy can be in the eye of the beholder. The only kind of heretic I don't want to be is one who disregards, disbelieves, and ignores what God's word says.

 

[Leah]

Ok. Got it now.

Thanks for replying to my question when so many others have viewed this post but didn't feel it was important to answer it.

 

[lmnop9876]

a heretic, properly speaking, is someone who is orthodox in their views on almost all things, but deviates from accepted theology on in their religion on a few very important points.
i.e. Arius: orthodox in almost all things, but denied the essential doctrine of Christ's Divinity

 

[seeking.IAM]

Sometimes I think it is all relative. A heretic is someone who believes something different than we do since we have the truth. A fanatic is someone who is more zealous than us because we, afterall, are the normal ones.

Perhaps its just better not to judge?

seeking.IAM
<><

 

[ScottBot]

I would say that a heretic is someone that departs from the teachings of a particular group. For instance, a Muslim who would accept Christ and become Christian would not doubt be considered a heretic by other Muslims. Same for Buddhists or whatever religion. Just as Catholics consider Protestants to be heretic for not accepting the teachings of their church. So, heresy can be in the eye of the beholder. The only kind of heretic I don't want to be is one who disregards, disbelieves, and ignores what God's word says.

Technically, you've described an apostate. In Christianity, it is one who proclaims belief in Christ, but corrupts His doctrines.

 

[Leah]

Sometimes I think it is all relative. A heretic is someone who believes something different than we do since we have the truth. A fanatic is someone who is more zealous than us because we, afterall, are the normal ones.

Perhaps its just better not to judge?

seeking.IAM
<><

Define normal, please. (in this aspect only)

 

[lmnop9876]

Perhaps its just better not to judge?

Titus 3:10. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
it is the duty of the shepherds of the church to admonish heretics, and, if they refuse to correct their teachings, to reject them.

 

[Leah]

Technically, you've described an apostate. In Christianity, it is one who proclaims belief in Christ, but corrupts His doctrines.

How would someone corrupt His doctrines? Is it like how even Satan can quote scripture, but will twist it around to make it seem like its really doing you harm than good type of corruption?

 

[Entertaining_Angels]

You probably didn't get answers right away, because like you, many people do not know

Anyhow just falling back on the ol' dictionary:

heresy [Show phonetics]
noun
1 [C or U] (the act of having) an opinion or belief that is the opposite of or against what is the official or popular opinion, or an action which shows that you have no respect for the official opinion:
Radical remarks like this amount to heresy for most members of the Republican party.
She committed the heresy of playing a Madonna song on a classical music station.

2 a belief which is against the principles of a particular religion:
He was burned at the stake in the fifteenth century for heresy.

heretic [Show phonetics]
noun [C]
a person who is guilty of heresy

fanatic [Show phonetics]
noun [C]
a person whose strong admiration for something is considered to be extreme or unreasonable:
a fitness/film fanatic

fanatical [Show phonetics]
adjective
His enthusiasm for aerobics was almost fanatical.
Gary's fanatical about football.

 

[lismore]

As much as I hate to admit it, I've never fully understood them. :o

Im medieval Christendom a heretic was someone who disagreeed with the pope on an issue and a fanatic was someone who was more zealous for the faith then he.

 

[Lynn73]

Actually, I see heresy and apostasy as being about the same. If there's a difference I'm not sure exactly what it is.

 

[ScottBot]

Actually, I see heresy and apostasy as being about the same. If there's a difference I'm not sure exactly what it is.

Here is an example. There was a man named Arius who lived in the 3rd century who was a vary charismatic preacher. He hailed from the Alexandria school of Christian philosophy. He studied the gospels, but also listen to some teachers who attempted to rationalize the dual nature of Christ. As a result, he presented a new teaching on Christ, that he was a lesser, created being, inferior to God, but superior to everything else. He was God's conduit for creation, but was not one in substance with God. He was fully human, but somehow not fully divine. The problem with his teaching (which became known as Arianism and was nearly single-handedly responsible for destroying the Apostolic message of Christ). If Christ is not fully divine, one in being with the Father, then his redemptive sacrifice would not have been efficatious for justification. In essence, Christ, as taught by Arius, was not good enough to effect salvation. The problem of Arianism is what prompted Constantine to gather the leaders of the church together in Nicea in 325 AD to promulgate the actual definitive doctrine regarding the nature of Christ. It took the tireless work of one man, Athanasius, to eventually cause the removal and castigation of Arius as a heretic. There is alot of history on this, you may want to look it up in Wikipedia for more detailed information. See, Arius never denounced his faith and belief in Christ, but he taught a distorted version of the truth regarding the nature of Christ. This is called formal heresy, he was a person who was taught the correct gospel, but taught something incorrect to other people which caused many to loose their faith.

On the other hand, an apostate is one who at one point puts faith in Christ, but later rejects him altogether. A great example of this is Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell was actually a Presbyterian minister who became enamoured with the adventist predictions of Ellen White (founder of the 7th day adventists). Eventually, Russell abandoned authentic Christianity altogether and started a new religion in which Christ was never really a man to begin with, and never fully divine. Christ was a manifestation of the Archangel Michael who gave up his angelic form to be born as the man Jesus and, after his crucifixion, had his body desolved by an act of God, and resumed his role as Michael. This is a complete and utter repudiation and rejection of Christ. He didn't just change an aspect of Christ or the important doctrines of Christ, but a total rejection of the Christ of the gospel in favor of a figment of Russell's fruitful imagination.

 

[Lynn73]

Hmm, I think I understand. Thanks!