On Heresy...

In his ministry, Jesus spoke of false teachers who would preach a faith, coming in His name. St. Paul admonished his disciples to keep clear of those who believed differently. He went so far as to say, let them be anathema. Anathema means simply separated from. Those who were called anathema were those who taught a different faith. St Paul saw, full well, the dissenting parties in the church and spoke to the faithful to guard them. Certain churches were embracing pagan ideas back into their folds. This is understandable in the sense that, as any convert knows, it is difficult to leave the Old Man behind. Nonetheless, one who preaches a false teaching knowingly is a heretic and according to the disciples, according to Christ Himself, this type of person is to be avoided.

Later, but only a mere one hundred years later, Iraneaus of Lyons spoke against the Gnostic sects who taught a faith different than ours. But the Gnostics considered themselves to be Christians. They taught Dualism, a belief that good and evil both had equal place in the cosmos. They also taught that the Apostles had taught them a secret teaching, that they were in fact gods and that this knowledge was their true salvation. To the Gnostics, this life was created imperfectly by a demiurge. This teaching is an infusion of pagan self-worship with Christianity, but it is important to note that they believed that the words of Christ and certain disciples actually supported these beliefs. Certain Gnostic sects believed in more Christian teaching, and certain ones believed in less. Either way, it was a heresy that confused the church.
Imagine being in that time in history for a moment...
Entering into a church as an interested person, seeking to find out the truth of these Christians who die for their faith... How would one know the difference between false teaching and right teaching? Iraneaus was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of St. John. Iraneaus used his own lineage, his direct connection to the Apostle John to refute the teachings of the Gnostics. He knew the teaching was false because he had heard the gospel straight from the source!

Mormonism, a modern form of Gnosticism, holds many of these beliefs in a slightly changed form. How can we contest against these heresies without looking at what our early Christian defenders of the faith did. Their arguments are the foundation for our own, and "because the Bible says so." is not a good one.

"The Lord of all gave to His apostles the power of the gospel, and by them we also have learned the truth, that is, the teaching of the Son of God—as the Lord said to them, 'He who hears you hears Me, and he who despises you despises Me, and Him Who sent Me' [Lk.10:16]. For we learned the plan of our salvation from no other than from those through whom the gospel came to us. The first preached it abroad, and then later by the will of God handed it down to us in Scriptures, to be the foundation and pillar of our faith. For it is not right to say that they preached before they had come to perfect knowledge, as some dare to say, boasting that they are the correctors of the apostles. For after our Lord had risen from the dead, and they were clothed with the power from on high when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were filled with all things and had perfect knowledge. They went out to the ends of the earth, preaching the good things that come to us from God, and proclaiming peace from heaven to all men, all and each of them equally being in possession of the gospel of God. -- Against the Heresies, III"

We need to look at the fact that the Gospel as Iraneaus knew it, was first the words of Christ and His Apostles, and only later did it get written. In fact, Iraneaus was the first one to name the Canon of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Most of the churches that were established had few if any writings to preach from. The teachings of the church were passed down on authority from one disciple to the next (Apostolic Succession). It was not until three hundred years later that the church accepted an official canon of scripture which included what we call the New Testament. Speaking to His disciples, the Lord said, " He who hears you, hears me."

So, taking this in the context of the here and now, how can one know if they are interpreting the scripture correctly without this authority. There are thousands of Christian sects, preaching different things, all claiming to be the church. There are even those who claim that the church is invisible and can only be known by the basic principle of what they teach. I offer them this, if this were the case, that the church is an invisible body of believers who are United only by their belief in the Trinity, than certain Gnostics would even fit into this. And we can see that Iraneaus, who preached against this teaching, calling it a heresy, would disagree.

In fact, what we find is that there is an amazing amount of evidence that the early church fathers agreed strongly with each other on doctrine and that the church was visible and could be known by what was taught. There was an overwhelming sense of what was correct doctrine and what was false.

If we look at the myriad of churches, all disagreeing on doctrine, calling themselves Christian nowadays, which one is The Church? Which one can claim apostolic authority? Which one can claim that the Holy Gospel is being interpreted correctly? The Baptists? The Lutherans that protested the Catholic church? The non-denominationalists who refuse to put themselves in a box? The evangelicals who's church did not begin until the 1950-60's? Or is it the 2000 year old ancient sees of the Orthodox church who's claims are founded on both the Gospel and the Early Fathers?... Who's apostolic lineage can be traced from bishop to bishop all the way back to the disciples of Christ?... Who's historical origins began at Pentecost and who's saints were present at the Ecumenical Ecumenical councils which formed the Theology and Creed for the faithful? ... Who has defended the faith against heresy after heresy and remains unchanged?