THE RULE OF FAITH: Orthodoxy vs Heresy

OverviewThe Church in the second century faced heresies that

caused great concern for a long time. One modern writer has spoken of the second and third centuries as “a time of productive confusion” in the history of the church. There were a lot of confusions which paved the way for the rising of people who led the way in doing the great work of defending the faith, stating the faith and living the faith. We honor them for that even though they made many mistakes. It was a time of productive confusion. This is certainly true in the area of doctrine. What should Christians believe? How should they express their faith? What is right and what is wrong? There were many ideas floating around. The church had to try to decide what really is allowable, what is true and what is not.

Jude 3-4 NASB

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

1 John 4:1-3 NASB

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

1 Timothy 4:1-3 NASB

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

Eusebius of Caesarea “Orthodoxy does not have a

history. It is true eternally. Heresy has a history, having arisen at particular times through particular teachers.”

“Heresy is the work of the devil to darken the radiance of the universal and only

true Church.”

Saint Augustine“The rejection of heretics

brings into relief what God’s church holds and what sound

doctrine maintains.”

We can say that there was orthodoxy but an implicit orthodoxy, which was not fully spelled out, not understood or stated clearly. “Orthodox”—that implicit, early orthodoxy—is there from the very beginnings of the church, based on the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. But then the heresies come in. Then in response to the heresies, “orthodoxy” now is underlined. It is clearer. It is more fully understood and adequately defined.

The Challenge of Heresies

GnosticismThe name “gnosticism” derives

from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “knowledge. According to the Gnostics, they possessed a special, mystical knowledge, reserved for those with true understanding. This knowledge was the secret key to salvation.

Gnosticism was also intellectually sophisticated and attractive to many people. It drew on certain elements of Greek philosophy: love for knowledge, depreciation of the physical and of the human body.

Their conclusion: all matter is evil and must escape the human body and this material world.

Basic ideas of Gnosticism1. Dualism – believed that there were two

powers: a good god and an evil god2. Docetism - Christ was not a real human

being and did not have a real human body.

3. “Gnosis” - salvation is by knowledge. Not by faith, not by God’s grace, but by knowledge. Jesus is one of the sources of that knowledge

MarcionismMarcionism was a mixture of

Christianity, Gnosticism, and Docetism. It was the doctrinal system of a sect of the second and third centuries AD  founded by Marcion of Sinope accepting some parts of the New Testament but denying Christ's corporality and humanity and condemning the Creator God of the Old Testament.

MontanismMontanism was an early

Christian prophetic movement of the late 2nd century that called for a reliance on the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit and a more conservative personal ethic.

The task of orthodoxy is clear. IT IS TO STATE THE FAITH. With these heresies —Gnosticism, Montanism, and Marcionism — swirling about in the second century and winning converts, it was important for the church to state and defend its views to get to the place where “orthodoxy” is underlined and clear.

The Church Organized and Defined itself

“The authority of the church rests on three things. It rests on the canon of the Bible, the books that are to be accepted as the authentic, authoritative books of the Christian church. Secondly, it rests on the Apostolic Creed as the normative rule of faith. And thirdly, it rests on the episcopate, the bishops as the guardians and expositors of truth and of Scripture.” – Irenaeus

CanonThe word “canon” simply means

“the rule that is to be followed.” It also means “a rule or a standard”.

This is the response of the church in defining what books are considered authorized or inspired.

The Need for a Canon Preservation of the life and teachings

of Jesus and the Apostles For public reading of the Scriptures Existence of heretical canons Ideas of continuing revelation Apocryphal books begun to appear In relation to the persecutions

The Development of the Canon of the New Testament- Recognition or imposition

The Roman Catholic view is more with the latter, that it was a process of imposition. Scripture is Scripture because the church says it is.

The Protestant view is that Scripture is Scripture because it is Scripture. It would still be Scripture whether the church recognized it to be or not.

Canonical Criteria External Evidence - Where did this

book come from? Who was it written by? Was it written by an apostle?

Internal Evidences - Did a book contain moral or doctrinal elements that measured up to the standards set by the apostles in their acknowledged writings?

CreedsCreeds were statements of faith or

summary of core beliefs. It begun with small statements like “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” “I believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Savior.”

The Apostles’ CreedI believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of

heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The Rule of faith and the Creeds

The church fathers began to speak of the rule of faith as that body of belief that summarizes the teaching of the Bible (like the Apostles’ Creed does but more than that) and that guards the faith from heretical teachings and perversions.

Apostolic SuccessionThe Canon was established to

determine the inspired books, the Creeds were drawn up for the rule of faith, then the Apostolic Succession to used to organize the Church and to protect itself from false teaching and had to do with church order.

Apostolic Succession: Its origin

1. Ignatius of Antioch2. Irenaeus of Lyons3. For reasons of Efficiency and

Orthodoxy

The Apostles’ CreedI believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of

heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.