The Two Kinds of Heretics

For centuries the term heretic has been thrown around as an ace card by theologians and pastors and, lets face it, twenty something seminarians as though the term should stop us in our tracks.

The older I get, though, the more I see the term being used to defend territories of thought rather than to truly protect us from misguided interpretations of scripture. It’s become a term tribes use to defend their tribal security.

The problem is, the misuse of the term is causing us to stop thinking.

We believe in a 7-day creation because we interpret the Bible literally, when even many conservative theologians subscribe to a less literal interpretation of the first few chapters of Genesis which see it more as a story, a poetic grunt toward a God-created world, which would then jive with science and not make us all look so silly. But they won’t speak up for fear of being labeled a heretic? Really?

Who, then, is the heretic? Those who subscribe to a literal interpretation or those who interpret the Bible in a way that, quite obviously, it seems to have been written?

*Photo Credit: Oleh Slobodeniuk, Creative Commons

I’m not afraid of more objective, open interpretations of the Bible because it’s not a book that’s easy to interpret (by God’s intention) because, in my opinion, it’s meant to point us toward Him rather than replace Him. Those who want to put concrete faith in a book rather than (or in addition to) a God want it to be, perhaps, more definitive than it is.

Regardless, though, the term heretic, as of late, has been captured by the more conservative crowd and used to shame, create fear and so on. Same old tricks.

But I actually see 2 kinds of heretics milling about:

Liberal Heretics: These are the people who scan scripture and interpret it through a people-pleasing filter, looking the other way when it gets too demanding.

Conservative Heretics: These are the people who scan scripture and interpret it through a people-controlling filter. They add rules to the text to test people’s loyalty and devotion and use shame and guilt to keep them afraid.

It’s frustrating to me that people who add rules to the Bible aren’t labeled as heretics, too. Or those who interpret things literally that simply shouldn’t be interpreted literally. Or those who, when a subject is vague, present concrete answers as though God has made the issue perfectly black and white. Why aren’t these heretics, too?

The Bible is a mysterious document intentionally written in a style difficult to interpret and contextualize. Certainly there are absolutes, but there are far fewer absolutes than we’re led to believe. What we’re forced with, then, is a need for faith, an existing bit of mystery and a humbling thought that perhaps, as G.K. Chesterton once said, we won’t be able to cram all of heaven into our heads.

I’ll cling to Jesus and try my best.

The Two Kinds of Heretics is a post from: Storyline Blog