Heresy and Humility (Part 1?)
Originally Posted Sunday, June 25, 2006
I am not an expert in anything. At best I know enough to get me in trouble in a lot of areas. In most areas of the “hard sciences” your lack of real knowledge can be exposed fairly quickly.It is very hard to bluff your way through a chemistry experiment! You may be able to do so for a while, but the final results will reveal your ignorance.
In the past year and a half I have been involved in a lot of theological debates in on-line bulletin boards. One thing that has struck me, and which I want to explore here, is a wondering about the connection between heresy and humility. How many heresies stem out of a lack of being humble?
In my conversations many times I had to respond to a question or a charge put against me without a lot of time to fully explore the topic. I found that my initial, quick, response was my stance throughout the argument.More often than not I would try and frame my argument with, “I could be wrong, but…” However, I am not sure if I would be humble enough to admit defeat and submit to the more Biblical arguments of others.
I kept thinking throughout these “conversations” and wondering if this is how some heresies get their start – a misreading of Scripture with a public defense of that position. As sinful beings always looking out for our own skin, we are not exactly fond of willfully making ourselves look bad, ignorant, weak, etc. Could we not force ourselves to believe our false teaching?
Although the study of the Bible is objective and the study of God is a real science, there are those that make the study subjective and rely on things not able to be objectively studied (i.e. personal subjective experience). It is these people of whom combating heresy is the most difficult, and the ones of whom we have a lot to be scared of. But even those who believe in the objective nature of the Bible can still fall prey to heresy by misreading and misapplying Biblical principles.
In conclusion I would like to pose the question of whether or not heresies can start by one not being humble and willing to submit to the better interpretation of others. I think that I am going to explore this heresy “topic” over the next few days, so stay tuned if interested and I would love to hear your comments as I explore my own thinking. Lord willing, I will be humble enough to be corrected!
I am not an expert in anything. At best I know enough to get me in trouble in a lot of areas. In most areas of the “hard sciences” your lack of real knowledge can be exposed fairly quickly.It is very hard to bluff your way through a chemistry experiment! You may be able to do so for a while, but the final results will reveal your ignorance.
In the past year and a half I have been involved in a lot of theological debates in on-line bulletin boards. One thing that has struck me, and which I want to explore here, is a wondering about the connection between heresy and humility. How many heresies stem out of a lack of being humble?
In my conversations many times I had to respond to a question or a charge put against me without a lot of time to fully explore the topic. I found that my initial, quick, response was my stance throughout the argument.More often than not I would try and frame my argument with, “I could be wrong, but…” However, I am not sure if I would be humble enough to admit defeat and submit to the more Biblical arguments of others.
I kept thinking throughout these “conversations” and wondering if this is how some heresies get their start – a misreading of Scripture with a public defense of that position. As sinful beings always looking out for our own skin, we are not exactly fond of willfully making ourselves look bad, ignorant, weak, etc. Could we not force ourselves to believe our false teaching?
Although the study of the Bible is objective and the study of God is a real science, there are those that make the study subjective and rely on things not able to be objectively studied (i.e. personal subjective experience). It is these people of whom combating heresy is the most difficult, and the ones of whom we have a lot to be scared of. But even those who believe in the objective nature of the Bible can still fall prey to heresy by misreading and misapplying Biblical principles.
In conclusion I would like to pose the question of whether or not heresies can start by one not being humble and willing to submit to the better interpretation of others. I think that I am going to explore this heresy “topic” over the next few days, so stay tuned if interested and I would love to hear your comments as I explore my own thinking. Lord willing, I will be humble enough to be corrected!
Soli Deo Gloria
posted by Mark Vander Pol at 6:23 AM
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