Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 1 - Heresy in the Church

Tertullian Revisited

Chapter 1: Heresies Exist

The character of the beginning of the 21st century is such that people everywhere declare their own truths to be self-evident in their own lives. Institutional truth is rejected, but individual truth is revered. Traditional values are mocked, whilst brazen boldness is idolized. In his search for ultimate pleasure and unrestricted delight, 21st century man leaves himself wide open to fascist extremes and oppressive regimes. Unless the Church is willing to confront and check this sordid tide of unfettered secularism, humankind is doomed to enter into another Dark Age.

Heresy in the Church manifests in an uber-utopian view that all religions are the same. Inter-faith dialogue becomes a vehicle of un-vetted tolerance and acceptance which leads to a diminishing of Gospel values. The relentless pursuit of inter-faith narcissism causes many to syncretise their beliefs into a melted mush of manufactured meanderings, where the Christian beliefs of the pilgrim are set aside in order to welcome a New Age of Christless cooperation and godless junk.

The existence of heresy in the 21st century Church has occurred because of the blurring of boundaries and the slothful surrendering of sacred values by its leaders. Instead of being gatekeepers and shepherds, they have become innkeepers and goatherds. Their lack of faithful parameters has permitted a wide diverse community to penetrate the Church and destroy it from within. The old ways have folded and the new ways have been anointed. Everlasting Titles of Father, Savior and Lord are being hedonistically set aside because they reduce humankind to helpless, servile children. God no longer has the monopoly over omnipotence and omniscience – 21st century man seeks to steal both those apples and claim them for his own.