The Great American Christian Heresies (Party 1)

 Heresy: the “corruption of truth” has traditionally be known to be caused by the following:

1. Teaching that deviates from the Apostles doctrine and that of the post-Apostolic church: “strange doctrine”
2. Teaching that over-emphasizes a misinterpreted Bible principle even if it contradicts the rest of Scripture
3. Teaching based on a mistranslation of Scripture or a disrespect for canonical tradition

Picking up from the above definition, let's follow this up by statements from the Holy fathers:

"8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8-9

“Now all these heretics are of much later date than are the bishops to whom the apostles committed the churches. . . . It follows, then, as a matter of course, that these aforementioned heretics—since they are blind to the truth and deviate from the way—will walk in diverse roads. Therefore, the footsteps of their doctrines are scattered here and there without agreement or connection. In contrast, the path of those belonging to the church circumscribes the whole world, as possessing the sure tradition from the apostles”. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.548.

Therefore, on account of the heresies, the toil of discovery must be undertaken. Yet, we must not at all abandon [the truth]. Suppose that fruit were set before us. Some of it was real and ripe, and some was made of wax. However, the wax fruit was as much like the real as is possible. Would we abstain from both kinds of fruit merely because of the similarity? . . . Among garden-grown vegetables, weeds also spring up. Are the gardeners, then, to desist from gardening? Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.550.

THESE AGREAT AMERICAN CHRISTIAN HERESIES ARE

THE MAIN SOURCE OF DEFEATED, FRUSTRATED AND LOST CHRISTIANS

• “Once saved, always saved”
• Prosperity Gospel
• Altar replaced by the Pulpit as the center of worship and degrading the Eucharist to secondary importance
• Vague definition of HOLINESS

The greatest heresy of western American Christianity is the unfounded belief on “once saved always saved”. It is definitely the direct opposite of Bible teaching and was propagated by the Gnostic heresy, followed up by Augustine’s teaching on predestination and further worsened by the Calvinist TULIP. Why we continue to use Latin theologians baffle me. Augustine was Greek-illiterate and created his theology entirely based on Jerome's Vulgate. Contrast his theology to that of the Greek Archbishop, John Chrysostom and it's night and day.

The second greatest heresy of the American church is the prosperity gospel. Focusing prayer, worship and the interpretation of Scripture on earthly concerns instead of the things of God. Clear direct opposite of the Matthew 6 teachings, especially Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:2; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16 with "minds set on earthly things" Philippians 3:19. Also, Montanists were heretics in the early church who started the “word of faith” movement

The third greatest heresy of American Christianity is the replacement of the altar with the pulpit as the center of church worship and degrading the Eucharist to secondary importance. The early church believed that the Eucharist was actual food for immortality. The less we do it, the less we are prepared for eternity. The concept of Christ being actually present in the Eucharist has been replaced by symbolic ritual with no presence nor expectation of divine transformation.

The vague definition of holiness use words like sanctification, growth, perfection, etc. However, the early church definition of Holiness is plain SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD (Colossians 3:2; James 4:2-4; 1 John 2:15-17) AND CHRISTLIKENESS (Eph. 3:17-19; 4:11-13; Col. 1:19; 2:9-10; Matt. 25:29), living/walking by faith and not by sight. The world is the source of all evil and tribulation. Hence, any one was not allowed to be baptized as a believer if he has not renounced the world. Therefore, any believer claim to be Christian is totally false unless he has actually renounced the world. The martyrs are the clearest example. Remember, Hebrews 12:14 states that "without holiness, no one will ever see the Lord"

The Wesleyan tradition basically defines holiness as undivided attention to love God with ALL heart, ALL soul, ALL mind, and ALL strength and your neighbor as yourself. Obvious as this actually means if anyone diligently analyzes the meaning of the Great Commandment, most modern Christians seem to lack the correct understanding of the command.

Let me re-articulate it since obvious as it means during Wesley's time, it seems to escape modern Christians, especially western Christians (Roman version of Christianity, i.e, Roman Catholic to Reformation Protestantism, Roman Catholic to Anglican and all the resultant offspring of this branch of the Great Schism. And it is simply this...

IF ONE'S SOURCE OF JOY NO MATTER HOW SMALL COMES MOSTLY FROM THE WORLD OR THE THINGS OF THE WORLD, SUCH IS THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF HOLINESS. HOWEVER, IF ONE LOSES EVERYTHING IN THIS  WORLD BUT HIS SOURCE OF JOY IS GOD ALONE, THEN NO JOY IS LOST SINCE GOD REMAINS. THAT IS HOLINESS, IN FACT, THAT IS ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. Let us go back and review John Wesley's version.....

If one love  God with ALL mind, ALL soul, ALL mind, and ALL strength there is nothing left of the love one  gives other than the love of self. But the Great Commandment continues to say that we need to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Hence there is absolutely no love left for anything else, especially love for the world!!!.  When this is true, one has reached holiness, in fact one has reached entire or full sanctification.

When one truly loves, his source of joy is always from what he loves! Love God alone and all your source of joy comes from God. Love the world, and that simply means you don't love God at all and St. John calls you, a liar. Also, your source of joy is something that is fleeting and passes away, that is why your joy is unstable.

CONCLUSION

• Beware of the church you attend.
• Beware of those radio and TV preachers that you listen to

Most popular American preachers are completely ignorant of Apostolic church tradition and therefore, so are the seminaries they came from and the churches that they lead.