I’ve been thinking a lot lately about differing opinions on important matters — primarily in terms of religious and theological issues, though there are similar discussions to be had when it comes to matters of politics or philosophy or virtually any area of inquiry. By differing opinions, I simply mean that reasonably intelligent people, when presented with the same general information, can still come to drastically different and mutually incompatible understandings of important issues.
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I’ve recently encountered several instances of Christians I know calling certain beliefs “heresy.” In one case, a pastor labeled the belief that Christians could be possessed by demons as a heresy. In another, an acquaintance called the entire Emerging Church movement heresy. But what’s the real meaning of such a divisive term? Why not just say “I think you’re wrong?”
There is perhaps no designation within Christianity that is so ubiquitous but yet so difficult to define as that of Evangelical. It is simultaneously bandied about as a term of derision, as a badge of honor, as a litmus test for orthodoxy and as a synonym for fanaticism.