It may seem strange to hear a clergyman speak of heresy in a positive way but that is what I wish to do. In the last century William Cowper Brann defined a heretic as “a fellow who disagrees with you regarding something neither of you knows anything about.”
That definition might make everyone in the world a heretic at some time or other. It hardly satisfies as a definition.
Nor am I satisfied with the dictionary definition of heresy as “religious opinion opposed to the orthodox doctrinal standards of any particular church.” This definition is inadequate because it emphasizes only the negative side of heresy without reference to its positive aspects.
The first definition is too broad, the second too narrow.
Consequently I go back to the origins of the word heresy coming from the Greek word “hairesis” which means a taking or choosing, especially for oneself, hence a choosing of one’s own beliefs.
And the emphasis to be placed here is not on opposition to the opinions and doctrines of others but the positive act of taking one’s own stands. The idea is that it is a good thing to strive for as much truth as one can, being open, always, to new truth from whatever source. Such a commitment can never be harmful to religion.
This is not heresy for the sake of a schism. It is a choosing of one’s own path. It is the heresy of tolerance which draws the line only when it is treated intolerantly.
Admittedly, such a view calls for a broadening of religious freedom, an acceptance of the conviction that there is more than one way to know or to serve God—an encouragement of the ecumenical spirit.
The goal is not that one should become less religious but that his religion should come to life because he is willing to question it while he loves it, to doubt it while he finds strength in it, to work for and experience his own faith while some are saying “Only this represents faith,” and others are saying “Faith is a thing of the past.”
Because one is a heretic, whether within or outside the framework of any particular church, does not mean that he is uncommitted. Rather, his commitments tend to be in other areas than those set by tradition.
The religious heretic, I will call him, questions the notion that revelation is sealed. He looks at the big questions of life in an enthusiastic but critical spirit. The questions, “What is man’s nature? What is the purpose of life? What is God?” he feels, are too big to be answered once and for all.
Hence the commitment of the heretic is to “truth seeking” rather than “truth finalizing.”
The heresy of which I speak does not ask of the heretic that he give up that which he still believes or has found of enduring value. He insists that all be free to hold to the faith that convinces them, but also that they be free to question as they receive new knowledge.
The goal is the Freedom to choose one’s own way; freedom to move beyond the boundaries of the past.
This goal of religious freedom is something very much alive inside as well as outside today’s churches and living religions.
In words attributed to Gautama Buddha, “Be ye lamps unto yourselves; Be your own confidence; Hold to the truth within yourselves as to the only lamp.”
The time may be upon us when this is the only way to a revitalization of faith.
Our prayers:
It was strange, he thought, to hear a wise friend say
“To some people the prayer will be the most important thing
That happens in worship.”
It was strange to hear that, for at the time he thought prayers were meaningless…
And, even later, they seemed so meager as to be mere shreds of lost hope.
Is not every beautiful thing a prayer—
Every melody that touches inner being—
Every life lived in the quality of love?
Therefore we say to God:
“God, we are praying. Hear, thou, our words?”
It was strange to hear that prayer in words,
Could be important to people,
Until he came to see it was not the words, but the conviction they carried;
Until he realized, it is not God who need prayer,
But we who need it.
Amen.
© Robert Mabry Doss