Customer Reviews

Heresies and How to Avoid Them: Why It Matters What Christians Believe

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In an age when the study of systematic theology by laypeople has largely gone by the wayside, a book like this which discusses these topics in plain English is a Godsend in more ways than one. Twelve theological scholars craft a history of epistemological controversies in Christian interpretation. In the process they define what orthodox Christian belief is, and what it is not. A good blanket synopsis might be: belief is transcendent and a goal of lifetime study, belief is not simple or pat.

These essays began life as a series of sermons. This is helpful, since it means they are not written in academic jargon. However, these sermons were delivered by professional theological scholars, so this isn't a light bedtime read. Plan to dedicate time to committed study of this book, coupled with references to scripture and time spent in prayer.

This book divides heresies in two groups, controversies on the nature of Christ, and controversies on the nature of salvation. Within these groups the heresies are paired up so we see, for instance, the Arian heresy (Christ is a separate being created by God) and the Docetist heresy (Christ is so thoroughly God that He has no humanity whatever) in contrast to each other. Seeing them laid out this way, it appears the most common root of heresy is a tendency to absolute thinking: God must be all one thing or all the other.

The twelve chapters are mostly lucid and can be read and reread easily. Three of them resist quick reading. Nicholas Adams' abstruse, allusive guide to Pelagianism raises more questions than it answers. Anders Bergquist's guide to Gnosticism requires endurance to plow through his dense, marathon-length paragraphs, some of which run to nearly two pages. And I can't put my finger on why, but Michael Ward's overview of Theopaschitism was just opaque to me.

I wish I could read about some of the specific heresies in more detail, since they seem to reveal a great deal about their culture and about Christian faith. But since the chapters don't cite sources, I lack any way to do that. An appendix includes a list of books for further reading, but most of them appear to be other synoptic books like this one. A little more detail in that regard would be rewarding.

Most Christians who fill pews on Sunday morning are woefully unprepared to deal with challenges to the intellectual structure of their faith. The world wants to make Christ simple and salvation cheap, which they are not. If more Christians take time to read guides like this one so they could be aware of what their faith is and what it is not, the church could be a flourishing fountain of rich, thoughtful discourse for spiritual seekers in our difficult, baggage-laden age.

What a great little book!
As someone that works with the cults, I found their indepth but clear explanations and discussions essential to understanding some of the issues involved in early church doctrines. The authors are very fair to those that held less orthodox beliefs, suggesting that many 'heretical' beliefs began out of a desire to provoke thought and get to the meat of a dogma or belief.
I would recommend this to any Bible student, seminarian, pastor or interested lay person. It's a real gem with lots of information and clarity.

Rogmaministries@tiscali.co.uk

This is a very readable book, owing to the fact that each chapter was originally a sermon, which had actually been preached, not just written. Each chapter details a different heresy following the same pattern: What is it, what are the key Scriptures concerning it (whether supportive or destructive), then the sermon itself detailing the historical form the heresy took and in fulfillment of the title, a how to avoid them today. A strength of this book is the sometimes sympathetic look it gives to the heretic himself. It is not the case with all heretics of the early church that they simply wanted to destroy the truth or somehow distort it for personal profit. Many of the men labeled heretic were as sincere about their faith as the orthodox opponents who eventually triumphed over them. They were just wrong. An excellent aspect of the chapters is that they provide some perspective on the "what if" factor of the heretic. What if Arius was right, what would that mean to Christianity? This brings the reader into the debate and allows him or her to understand that these teachings were not declared heretical because they differed from the people in power, but because they really were contrary to the consistent teaching of Christ.

The format of the book makes it a quick book to read. The information packed into each chapter is definitely worth keeping on hand. This book will become a handy reference for those who confuse all the heretical -isms; one chapter per heresy makes it easy to find what you're looking for. The only criticism I have is that the last part of every chapter was devoted to seeing how each heresy was present today and how to avoid it, and this seemed a little forced in some of the chapters. For example, chapter 4 on Eutychianism, the author was forced to concede that this was not a prevalent heresy today, even though he continued from there to tell the reader how to avoid it.

*****

As a huge Michael Ward fan, I was pleased to discover "Heresies". I was also pleased to see this little paperback centered around the controversies on the nature of Christ, and controversies on the nature of salvation. The author's are eclectic, but the synthesis is good.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about Heresies (and even how to avoid them).

*****

This is an excellent and highly readable review of the common heresies encountered today in many conversations. It addresses the matters of the differing positions on the divinity of Jesus and the humanity of Christ and the actual physical reality of the Incarnation quite well. I have been reading this type of material in more scholarly presentations for quite some time (since college actually) because of encounters with proponents of these beliefs. Not since Dorothy L. Sayers' dealings with the matters have I had so much enjoyment in the reading. While these essays lack some of the pungency and wit of Ms. Sayers, they share in her remarkable ability to communicate clearly and well the matter at hand, the orthodox response, and the explication of the orthodox response. I have thoroughly enjoyed this material and unreservedly recommend it to the seeker, the pastor, and the teacher. It is worth every cent of the cost and every moment spent perusing and re-reading!
5 stars!!!!!

A nice little primer with some interesting thoughts on the first couple of centuries of Christian heresies. It's done in nice, succinct chapters that lay out the heresy, why it's wrong and harmful and "how to avoid it." That is, how to avoid thinking of Christ in Gnostic terms, or in an Arian way, etc. There's a few places here and there I have problems (I think the author on the chapter for Marcionism over emphasizes Luther as an example) but over all a fine book to introduce the subject of heresy and learn some church history from an orthodox perspective.

This book addresses many of the beliefs in the world that are close to Christian beliefs, but they are not on the mark of true Christ followers. It is an easy read.