Heresy - Denote a School, or Sect Which Sets Them Distinctively Apart from Others

Heresy is a rather difficult concept to define. The Greek word hairesis derives from harein, which means in the active voice "to take, win, seize," and in the middle voice "to select, choose." In classical literature, it is used to indicate the taking of a town in battle or the choice of a magistrate, for example. From this there develops in Hellenism the predominant objective use of the term to denote "doctrine" and especially a "school" of thought. Certain schools of thought are associated with a particular, or even a peculiar, doctrine which sets them distinctively apart from others. The use of the word to denote a school, or sect, is the one generally found in the NT, where the word is used of the "sect of the Sadducees (Acts 5:17) and the "sect of the Pharisees" (Acts 15:5), "the strictest sect" of the Jewish religion (Acts 26:5). The early church was referred to by this word, as "the sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5), as "the Way, which they call a sect" (Acts 24:14), and "this sect" everywhere spoken against (Acts 28:22). In fact, according to the standard Greek lexicon, the uses of the word for the Christian church "incline toward" the subsequent development of the word denoting a sect holding unacceptable views, i.e., a "heretical sect." [5] As a school of thought with particular doctrines not acceptable to the larger Jewish body, the church was initially viewed as a heresy. Clearly, the characterization of heresy hinges on who or what is considered authoritative. For the early church, the Lord Jesus and his designated apostles were authoritative, with the result that a charge of heresy by Jewish leaders meant little. (What authority has Preterism been given? Clearly there assumptions concerning 70ad has removed their authority, and substantiates the claim that they are heretics.)