ON THE SUBJECT OF HERESY, by Roger Hathaway, March 2012
It was about 1987 when I wrote the piece about heresy which follows this introduction. I had left the Lutheran ministry in 1965, after fifteen months of Vicarage, because the business of religion was repugnant to me. While I truly loved the chance to share my exciting faith from the pulpit, I resented the great gulf between pulpit and pew. The arrogance, vain pride, and undeserved authority of being a "priest" was incompatible with that cross which my Lord asked me to carry, following Him. The merchandising of Christ would not be my business, ever! I fled the church and never went back.
For about ten years I did not even open a Bible; I needed to clear my head before I could re-examine my faith. Then I began to study ancient history, the philosophers, eastern philosophies, metaphysics, the Tao Of Physics, the Great Pyramid, Church History, and anything else I could poke my nose into, in an open search for Truth, whatever that might turn out to be. The Bible was the filter through which I still viewed everything. I found a Son of God at a higher level than my professors ever knew. A more clear-minded re-examination of church doctrines exposed them as contrived and somewhat inimical. They seem designed to serve the religion business as another LAW to replace the old one from which Jesus had redeemed us. The church had once again bound Christ's sheep in damnable chains. It preached forgiveness of Old Covenant sins while placing them under its new dogma laws. Anyone who dared listen to the quiet whisperings of the Holy Spirit, stumbling in his own search for Truth, quickly found himself out of communication, alienated even from family loved ones. Like Jesus said, "a man's enemies will be those of his own household." Heresy was, and is, still being punished by virtual crucifixions. Below is the piece about Heresy which I wrote during the late 1980's.
Irenaeus was a heresiologist, born about 140 A.D. in Asia Minor. He became the Bishop of the Church at Lyon. He was a grave and serious person who lived very moderately and practically. Fantasy was foreign to him. The book he wrote is called, Against Heresies, about 190 A.D. He became a heresiologist (heresy hunter), the first in our Christian history, because of his grave sincerity. The first part of his book details the heretical doctrines and the second part refutes them. "In order to convert them we must know their dogmas or tenets precisely, for it is impossible to heal a sick man if we do not understand his condition."
Keep in mind that this period of time is about a century after the deaths of the Apostles. The early church was not A Church but was rather a multitude of small groups who met in homes to read whatever letters or gospels they possessed and to worship. If they received news of another epistle of Paul that someone possessed, one group might send a person to copy it so it could be added to this group's collection. There were no theologians to dictate Truth yet. But these people were not hung-up on that concept so much as they were attempting to follow Jesus' command to "search for Truth." They searched. They were alive and vibrant. For them the spiritual awakening was very real and the good news felt like good news. As they read Paul's letters or a gospel they would discuss and try to understand more deeply something about the God Who was reclaiming them. Of course, many different beliefs were presented and there were probably many animated arguments. But these were amateurs in their studies of God's word. No one had a Doctoral Diploma on his wall, proclaiming he was a source of ultimate Truth for all lesser beings. Unfortunately, human nature was not entirely absent either; during the development of this unorganized and widely spread-out mixture of peoples, some men felt the need to nail down Truth into dogmas so they could all be right. Without this, how could there be homogeneity?
Ahh! And there was the beginning of problems for the next eighteen centuries of church history - the primary requirement that all believers hold the same exact truths right down to the nit-picking details, or be damned: homogeneity! This basic principle has never been discussed or examined or stated explicitly or signed into law, but it has been accepted by default as the structural foundation for a religion of Christianity. Within a century after Jesus' death, church leaders began defining exactly what a person must believe; they were laying the foundation stones for what later became a despotic tyranny. So, when any person found himself with an opinion differing from that of Irenaeus or some other church leader, he found himself ostracized and cast out with an accusation of heresy. You might easily imagine that there were many heretics in the second and third centuries while people had only Jesus' words for their faiths. You might also keep in mind that Jesus promoted a spiritual path for solitaires; He did not even hint at founding an organization.
Irenaeus felt the call to conduct a campaign against those hell-bound thinkers who differed from his opinion. He said, "We want not only to show the beast but to wound it from all sides." That simple statement would keynote the history of religion to this very day. He went on to brand heretics as being cunning and malicious and licentious and abominably sensual and blasphemous and dangerous, among other epithets. Thus, he instituted tactics by which to "wound the beast:" by fiery slanders against individuals without really hearing their arguments. He promoted a popular war which supported the unification and security of the self-righteous elitists. His influence helped to form a type of religion that used the tool of hate to separate out the enemy from its midst. The enemy would be any solitaire who wished to find God as the Spirit guided him personally, and to express himself in his own words. Later centuries would find this alleged "church-of-a-loving-God" carrying hate and cruelty to levels not imagined before.
I challenge the belief that homogeneity is essential for spirituality. I challenge the belief that anyone can know any absolute Truth for himself, let alone decree it for others. I challenge that creeds are even Godly; Jesus never stated any or even hinted that doctrines should be formulated. Jesus promoted the individual seeker to pray privately (in a closet) and directly to the Father, and to search for Truth. It becomes experientially clear to a spiritual person that the Spirit of God IS CAPABLE and WILL pick up a person and guide him along his own unique journey.
A person of sincerity who genuinely seeks God will naturally value his own beliefs as his highest treasure, as he should! It is natural to think one's own beliefs (faith) more important than life itself and to think that God must be pleased by such sincere dedication. Those feelings are natural and many have willingly died rather than compromise that integrity. Who can criticize any spiritual person who is willing to die for his beliefs? That is unquestionably one of the most noble and honorable acts that any person can achieve.
It is incomprehensible, to me, that any genuine Christian should so quickly feel hate toward another lover-of-God who simply differs in a doctrinal opinion. What venom sits in the heart of such Christians to arouse such hate so readily? Is there no compassion at all for a sincere seeker of Truth who struggles and sometimes stumbles in his search for God? Is there no understanding that God's Spirit works differently within each unique person? If the so-called Christian religionists ever dared to seek for themselves with similar intensity and to open themselves to God, then they would feel compassion for a fellow seeker! But to castigate one who feels a spiritual fire in his soul, to slander him as Godless and wicked merely because God has come to him in a slightly different light! - this is not comprehensible to anyone who truly knows God in Spirit. Yet we must face the truth that the organized priesthood, from the fourth through sixteenth centuries, believed that such heretics deserved tortured deaths for their wickedness, and the church administered such punishment with merciless zeal. The Church just could not recognize sincere spiritual struggle as a legitimate motive for opinions which varied from its dogmas.
Now, entertain in your imagination for a moment, a world of diverse spiritual people who have such confidence in their own spiritual truths that they can permit others to think freely, and admit that truths might be understood differently by other persons. Since the Spirit of God motivates within a seeker such insights for the purpose of that person's unique path of enlightenment, is it not incumbent upon us to stand aside and permit God to do HIS own work? Is Almighty God not capable of fulfilling His part of the New Covenant (in Hebrews 8) that HE will put His laws in the hearts and minds of HIS offspring? Does that contract not clearly admonish teachers to stand aside? Does HE need robocop clergy to kill any person who expresses his faith in words different from the Church creed?
In such a heavenly world of loving and communing and worshiping of our eternal Father, there might be many differing opinions, many discussions, sincere arguments, formulations of defenses, and intense studies. So what if one person believes the Holy Spirit of God to be a separate person from the Father while another believes Spirit to be the extension of the Father's essence and power? So what if one person believes Jesus to be co-eternal (had no beginning) with the Father for a three-person-God while another person believes Jesus to be "begotten" (had a beginning) of the Father as a Word spoken in time? [Actually, the church requires one to believe both are true] So what if one person believes Baptism should be by immersion, another by sprinkling, and another by anointing as the Baptist foretold? Spiritual fellowship need not be endangered but could be enhanced by the sharing of speculations and discussions! There would be no hatred or anger, no insistence upon homogeneity, no condemnations of fellow seekers, no inquisitions, no organizations claiming exclusive rights of salvation. What there would be: implicit confidence that God is great enough to guide His own children to Himself in HIS own way. Is Almighty God so emotionally insensitive that He cannot tolerate the stumbling of HIS children while they learn to walk. As any mother reaches down to help her baby who has stumbled, so does our Father pull into His heart with special love a child who desperately grasps toward Him. It is hardly comprehensible to my mind that the so-called church-of-a-loving-God could fail to express the simple love that a mother knows instinctively.
It is a happiness to my heart to imagine such a world of toleration and fellowship as I've just described. Knowing that I, myself, have yielded to this Father and with all sincerity have prayed for guidance in Truth, and that the Spirit of God has prompted (compelled) me to so many wonderful insights and convictions, what a thrill it would be to think that I could share and discuss these things with other sincere seekers. But that is not the case. I have shared the manuscript of this book [The Mystic Passion] with many, including two men whom I esteemed highly, one a Doctor of Philosophy, and one a Pastor of a large Church. Neither will even correspond with me or make any comments at all. I can only assume that they have in their hearts excommunicated me and consider my heresies as anathema.
As for my beliefs, it has never been with malice that I differ in opinion from the orthodox. I used to think, naively, that I was more orthodox than the orthodox because I was looking deeper into doctrines than the mere mouthing of words. Professors would roll their eyes up in exasperation because they could not relate to me as I tried to understand more deeply the concepts of doctrines or Scripture. But, for me, the Spirit of God has worked so clearly, so powerfully, so overwhelming me, that it truly is no longer my human nature that lives, but Christ in me. Unless one is willing to yield himself totally to this kind of Father and trust so completely, placing one's salvation in HIS hands and then trusting Him - then one cannot understand the unshakable conviction of a genuinely spiritual seeker of God. It puzzles me that so many friends whom I have valued so highly - such as my Philosophy Professor and my cousin Pastor - could have spent their lives pursuing careers which purported to lead others to God, and yet condemn opinions which differ from the theology they bought as rote. Anger toward them is not solace for me. Hate is opposite from what I feel. Grief is inescapable. Confusion is overwhelming. I feel so ignorant because I cannot understand this and I wonder often if my beliefs really are confused and erroneous. In my conscious human-ego mind I sincerely challenge my beliefs and question if they are born of ignorance, confusion, or vanity. But spiritually I know better, that God has revealed truths to me that are now my own. I don't know that they are true for anyone else. I cannot pretend to know the workings of God's Spirit with other souls. I admit that my truths, as written in this book, are mere words and still fall short of absolute Truth and are "as straw" in comparison. It seems like the Church should know the same about all its creeds and doctrines, leaving open the door for the Spirit of God to work. In my heart I am left with a hope that a future civilization might be of such spiritual nature that individuals can support and encourage the desperate struggles of other prodigals to return Home. As I've indicated in other writings, I do support the downfall and destruction of the organized temple which exists today, which is not very different from that temple of Jesus' day. But I am referring to the organization which acts so ungodly, while I reserve my love and my prayers and communion for the people trapped within it. Until that time, I expect to live out this lifetime quietly and alone and to be considered heretic by those whom I would hug in my heart. My consolation is that I can claim as my Family a long list of heretics and martyrs throughout history whom the Divine Spirit of God has prompted to stand tall before merciless religionists. They are my Family, not because of doctrinal agreement, but because we share the same indwelling Spirit, in Christ.