Alister McGrath (Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth) argues that heresy is not unbelief or a clear, outright rejection of core biblical beliefs so much as modifications of doctrine on the way to unbelief. Thus his definition of heresy (pg. 31) runs: “a doctrine that ultimately destroys, destabilizes, or distorts a mystery rather than preserving it.” At bottom, heresy involves maintaining “the outward appearance of faith coupled with the subversion of its inward identity.” None of the heresies of the early church “can conceivably be considered as the outcome of malice, egotism, or some kind of personal theological depravity. . . . all rest on serious attempts to engage major points of religious and spiritual importance.” (171)
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SAET » Heresy as Keeping Up Appearances » The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology
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