| Orthodoxy |
| Christian Doctrine Lesson 3 |
| 1. Orthodoxy means "right doctrine." The word orthodoxy come from two Greek words that mean "right" or "straight" doctrine. It is not used in the NT, but the idea is the same as "sound doctrine" as used in 1 Tim. 1:10, 2 Tim. 4:3, Titus 1:9, 2:1. We use it in English to refer to the right mainstream as opposed to the unusual fringe (e.g., orthodox medicine versus alternative medicine). The Greek Orthodox Church once held to Biblical orthodoxy, but no more. The test of Christian orthodoxy is not antiquity, but Scripture. Only Biblical doctrine is orthodox doctrine.. In turn, orthodoxy must produce orthodox or right religious practice. 2. Some truth are essential and foundational to all others. All Bible truths are true, but some are the first importance (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Hebrews 6:1 calls them the "elementary teachings about Christ." They are the basics, the ABCs of doctrine. In theology we call this "dogma." Dogmatic does not mean stubborn or recalcutrant, as some suppose, but rather it means a firm commitment to truth. Dogmatic theology is concerned with the central basic essential truths of Christianity. Christian dogma is not defined by a church, as Roman Catholicism claims for itself, but by the Bible alone. One must believe these essential truths to be a Chrisitan. It is impossible for anyone who rejects, substitutes or adds to these essential truths to be a real Christian. These are the "sina qua non" of Christianity, meawning that without which Christianity is not Christianity. It is dangerously wrong to say, "It does not matter what you beileve as long as you are sincere." 3. The Gospel is the main dogma of the Bible. Among the essential doctrines is the Gospel. The Greek word means "good news" or "good message." It is a divine record of facts to be believed, not a command (that is law). Specifically, 1 Cor. 15:3-4 sums up the Gospel as the truth about the person and work of Christ - the God-man who died for our sins and rose again. There is only one true Gospel, but many false ones (Gal. 1:8-9). The OT preached the same Gospel in advance by prophesy (Gal 3:8, Luke 24:25-26, 46-47). The true Gospel calls for only one response for salvation: faith and repentance (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21). To add good works or baptism to this is to preach a false gospel. To preach the Gospel is simply to present the basic truths about Jesus Christ. 4. Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism are two kinds of orthodoxy. Evangelicalism accepts the truth of the "evangel," that is, the "Gospel." But it does not always defend it strongly. A weak form is known as "neo-evangelicalism." It emphasizes peace and unity over truth. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, is the term given to militant evangelicalism. This is that kind of orthodoxy which fights to defend the essentials by exposing false kinds of Christianity. A key verse is Psa. 11:3, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do." We need to believe and defend the fundamentals of the faith. 5. Orthodoxy is also called "the faith." Another term for this basic content of Biblical Christianity is "The faith" (1 Tim. 1:19, 3:13, 4:1, 5:8, 6:10, etc). It refers to those basic doctrines which are to be believed. Saving faith has a content, known as "the faith." Jude 3 calls upon us not only to believe it but to earnestly defend it. Any interpretation that contradicts the basic Gospel is automataically a wrong interpretation. We need to see the harmony of the entire Biblical message (the analogu of faith. cf. Rom 12:6) structured around this basic theme of orthodoxy, the Gospel, the Faith. 6. Heresy is false doctrine. Orthodoxy is true doctrine. Heterodoxy is a false doctrine. The technical word here is heresy, meaning one's own view that divide the others. In practice, it produces schisms. Being more precise, heresy means the rejection of a fundamental truth. One can still be saved if he is in error on a secondary truth but still believes the essential truths. But rejections of any or all of the basics is heresy, calling them false prophets (Matt. 7:15), false teachers (2 Pet. 2:10), and false brethern (2 Cor 11:26). God pronounces a curse on those who preach a false gospel (Gal 1:8-9). Heresy is no small thing. It attacks the very essentials of the Faith. Those who believe heresy do not believe the fundamentals of the faith and are thus not true Christians. 7. Apostasy occurs when a person no longer professes orthodoxy. This is not the same as backsliding. True Christians backslide; but they do not lose their salvation. Apostasy occurs when someone who once professed the truth of the faith now rejects it. This is what Heb.6 is discussing. Judas is a good example. Apostasy is spiritual and theological treason. There are degrees of apostasy. One may reject only one essential doctrine but still profess the others, such as when someone goes from Evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism or Mormonism or other brands of pseudo-Christianity. Full-blown apostasy is when one becomes atheist. 2 Thess. 2:3 and 1 Tim 4:1 predict that there will be great apostasy one day. 8. A creed is a short summary of what one believes. After the time of the NT, early believers were challenged by the Romans and other pagans, "What do you believe?" The Christians replied by producing short summaries of the faith. The word "creed" comes from the Latin word "credo," which means "I believe." A creed, then, is a short summary of the faith, or the fundamentals of orthodoxy. Somes passages in the NT hint at the idea (1 Tim 3:16). The earliest post-Biblical creed is known as the "Apostles Creed" (2nd century), but was not composed by any of the Apostles themselves. It meant rather that it was a summary of the beliefs of the Apostles. The Nicene Creed (4th century) amplifies it a bit in order to emphasize the deity of Christ. The Apostles Creed is popular with Protestants, the Nicene with Catholics. A third and longer early creed is the Athanasian Creed, based on the teachings of Athanasius in the 4th century. It deals mainly with the doctrine of the Trinity. A Christian believer ought to be able to summarize his own individual creed. |