Heresy Quotes

“As the philosopher Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) put it, a defensible framework of beliefs enables us to hear a tune where otherwise we would hear only a noise.4”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”8”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“many views that would later be regarded as heretical had their origins in a close reading of the biblical text.34 The Arian controversy of the fourth century, which pitted the arch-heretic Arius against his orthodox opponent Athanasius, can be seen as fundamentally concerning how best to interpret the statements found in John’s Gospel concerning the identity and significance of Jesus Christ.35”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“Heresy thus poses a threat to faith, arguably more serious than many challenges originating from outside the Christian church.”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“Heresy appears to be Christian, yet it is actually an enemy of faith that sows the seed of faith’s destruction.3”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“The essential feature of a heresy is that it is not unbelief (rejection of the core beliefs of a worldview such as Christianity) in the strict sense of the term, but a form of that faith that is held ultimately to be subversive or destructive, and thus indirectly leads to such unbelief. Unbelief is the outcome, but not the form, of heresy.”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

“Cultural assimilation is all too often the prelude to ecclesial extinction.”
― Alister E. McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth