The Traditional View of the First Timothy, Titus and Second Peter Passages

The traditional view of the heresy passages in 1 Timothy 6, Titus 3 and 2 Peter 2 actually fosters division by requiring us to shun anyone who disagrees with our denomination's formal doctrinal statements.

Church organizations have traditionally taught that I Timothy 6:3-5, Titus 3:9-11 and 2 Peter 2:1-2, taken together, are intended primarily to teach that God Himself enforces denominational creeds, doctrinal statements and statements of faith. Church members must, therefore, accept each and every word of their organization’s statement of faith “without any innovation” and “without any mental reservations whatsoever,” simply because the group declares it to be true. This insistence historically tended to include an insistence that not even the technical language, symbols and metaphors used in doctrinal statements and official liturgies may be changed in any way, for any reason. Furthermore, church members must understand the Scriptures only through the filter of their group’s established doctrinal statement, and reject even the apparent plain meaning of any passage of Scripture that appears to contradict that doctrinal statement. Finally, any “so-called Christian” who expresses any disagreement with the denomination’s creed, or who fails or refuses to declare his or her wholehearted agreement with it in every detail when asked to do so, must be shunned as a heretic.

            The negative effect of this traditional understanding of heresy upon the unity of the Church is obvious. If anyone who disagrees with my group in any detail is an heretic and must be shunned, the only way there can ever be unity in the church is if everyone who entertains so much as any doubt concerning my group’s creed repents of his or her “heresy” and wholeheartedly joins “us.” So unity becomes a distant ideal that “we” need not (indeed, dare not) pursue. Only “they” can create unity, and “they” must do it by joining “us.” By focusing attention on individual compliance with group doctrinal statements rather than on whether an individual’s actions are, in fact, divisive, the traditional understanding has actually fostered and, in some cases, even required division in the Church. Thus, it can be said that heresy hunting creates more heresy, just as searching for evil in others creates more evil.

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