Heretics are not all bad

One of the frustrating aspects of studying at Southeastern is the frequent use of the word heresy and wherever there is heresy there is a heretic. I would estimate that at least half the time we were reading the Pastoral Epistles the practical application had to do with false teachings/teachers. To some extent, this is appropriate given the subject matter of the Pastoral Epistles. After all, Paul the false teachers are the main reason he wrote the letters in the first place (assuming he did write the letters, which I heartily accept). On the other hand, we are not Paul, and at Southeastern, there is a tendency to put those with whom they disagree in the category of THE false teachers about whom Paul wrote. One must give people room to err, because people will err. Yet if there is room to voice their thoughts, however heretical those thoughts may be there then emerges the opportunity to correct those ideas. It is an allusion that fundamentalist churches maintain a doctrinal purity among the flock. I am not sure they realize to what extent they may actually being failing to help address peoples false understandings. In my experience with fundamentalists, there is a fiery reluctance to allow for heterodox statements. If someone is saying something that is in anyway wrong, the teacher corrects him or her immediately. I have seen many times where the correction comes so quickly and so definitively that people learn to keep their thoughts to themselves. The problem with this approach is that it does not really help people come to orthodoxy. It does not mean that their ideas are orthodox; it just means that their words are orthodox. I am not suggesting that most people in these fundamentalist churches do not believe what they verbally affirm; I think they learn not to think about it. The problem of course in one’s life these ideas will be challenged. So why are heretics not all bad, let me tell you what I am not arguing. I am not suggesting that being wrong is okay. However, I am suggesting that allowing people to be wrong is not only okay it is a necessary. It is a necessary part of helping people come to understand what is in fact true.