Make Heresy Great Again

You keep using that word, Nazarenes; I do not think it means what you think it means

First, a disclaimer. You’ll have perhaps noticed that these posts are coming later and later. No one told me I had deadlines or a schedule to follow. I’m not a brand (despite the URL for this journal being my name dot com) looking to make sure Engagement with my Content is Optimal. I know full well that I’m the only person who cares about being reasonably regular with writing.

My life is 100% dictated by doctors right now and the substances they put in me, and this second cycle of new chemo has undoubtedly been harder to bounce back from than the first. The calculus that is tabulated between poison, steroid, and growth factor injection is beyond my pay grade, but the body does keep score. Whereas during/after cycle 1 I felt mainly like I was weighted down with a lead blanket for a couple weeks, this cycle has welcomed back my old nemesis Bone Pain. According to that link, 25-45% of people who receive pegfilgrastim injections will experience this.

It’s the most difficult pain sensation to describe to someone. The best I’ve come up with is having someone imagine they’ve bonked their funny bone (which I know is technically not a bone, but a nerve). Now imagine that your funny bone is located in your sternum and hips. And that it triggers every time your heart beats. That’s about as close as I can get, I think. It’s not pleasant, but thankfully it does pass after a day (or two).

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So, what have I been thinking about in the meantime? Well, I can tell you that this post isn’t going to be for everyone.

I’m not interesting in having political discussions here, generally—unless we’re talking about the politics of Formula 1, because it’s sport and daytime soap opera rolled into one. I am, however, guilty of dabbling in ecclesiastical politics.

I say “nearly” because, as someone wading through the vast waters of the Anglican ocean, I’m typically more interested in what other bodies of the church are doing. Not from a “well, you’re not the ‘real’ Church” perspective as some Anglicans hold—you know that’s an asinine opinion to hold, right? I don’t have to tell you that, right? It’s mainly because, as some of you know, I grew up in a small “big-E” Evangelical denomination in the American South. And while I think the question about who the “real” church is is stupid, there is one denomination that is doing something I find quite hilarious as a historical theologian: a heresy trial!

Thomas Jay Oord is being put on trial today by the Church of the Nazarene for “heresy”. His crime is being LGBTQ-affirming. Let’s spare no punches here; it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s guilty in the eyes of denominational leadership for teaching something contrary to what the Church of the Nazarene holds to be true.

This quote from Oord is the most interesting, to me:

“I’m convinced that I won’t get fair treatment going through the trial process,” Oord said. “And I want most of all to make a defense based on theology, not based on the legal nuances of the denomination’s manual.”

Oord is highlighting something important here: that there are two commonly accepted definitions of what is considered “orthodox”, and that 99% of the time Protestants are getting it wrong. Either heresy is a belief or opinion contrary to doctrine, or it’s “dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice” (thanks, M-W). These are not the same.

Some will say that Christian teachings about human sexuality and relationships are consistent throughout centuries; others will tell you otherwise. I am honestly not even interested in that part of the discussion. I am interested in the flippancy with which we bandy about charges of “heresy” against people when—and I must disclaim that this is my opinion as someone who’s studied and written historically and theologically for many years now—Christological issues are not at aim here.

You see, Protestants forget that there have been Seven Ecumenical Councils to attempt to reach a consensus on what is considered “orthodoxy” or “heresy”. Even then, there were major groups of Christians who only accepted the outcomes of the first two or three of these councils! You can read Wikipedia for a quick rundown on what the major topics of debate were.

If you clicked over there and then came back here to say, “Wait a sec, they weren’t just debating about Christ! They were also yelling about eunuchs and kneeling and figuring out the dating of Easter!” then I need you to take a breath, drink some water, and hold on a second. Yes, you’re right. And there were many more arguments! Including who Mary the mother of Jesus really was! And the Holy Spirit! And what the heck are icons?!?

But there is a major difference between how most modern Protestants talk about heresy, and the way the early church talked about heresy. In many ways, the politics remain ever the same; but the stakes were much higher then. Heresy then was about how the living church reflected the witness of Christ (really, the Triune God) in the Bible. Heresy now is about how fractionalized dissidents contrive their own self-government.

If that sounds harsh, it is. And here my ecclesiological cards are on the table. Protestantism shouldn’t be a thing; but neither should Catholicism or Orthodoxy or any other label. We were meant to be simply The Church, and we mucked it up. Anglicans are all technically heretics. And so is every other Protestant. I am happy to put someone on trial for saying that Jesus isn’t either both fully God or fully Human. But there is a semantic limit to the word, and putting someone on trial for their beliefs about LGBTQ people isn’t in that semantic domain. It’s a mockery of the word, and it continues to reveal to the world that the church is a fractured mess. As if we needed any more help in doing it.

Again, at some point I’m going to think and write in a more extended fashion on this topic. In the meantime, thank you for listening to my half-voiced rant while I armchair quarterback a scenario playing out in a denomination to which I do not belong.