I’m nearing the end (of the New Testament) and I’m seeing something curious. Actually it didn’t occur to me straight out, but more subtly, as I started categorizing everyone in my life as either one who walks in the truth or a false teacher. :-)
It is very interesting that the last books of the Bible are very concerned with the presence of false teachers in the church. Take 2 Peter, for example. Though the apostle begins with an encouragement about growing in godliness, the heart of his message is false teachers are coming and God will judge them. Jude is similar, though he uses the present tense, indicating that now the false teachers have arrived. Because of them, believers must contend for the faith.
How about 1 John? Though the message is largely positive, it’s against the backdrop of people in the church who had departed. John says that those who left us were not part of us. The whole letter is about distinguishing between those who are true and those who are liars. You, John says, are in the faith because you believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh, you love your brothers, and you obey the Father. Those who don’t do these things are against Christ. In 2 John, the apostle writes a short letter to a friend, telling her to watch out because the false teachers have come. In 3 John, the problem is that one man refuses to welcome true teachers.
This is not only true of the general epistles, but it’s true of Paul’s last letters also. How does 1 Timothy start but with a description of the false teachers. Titus, probably written at the same time to a church leader in another place, begins with instructions to appoint elders because there are many false teachers running around. Then, just before Paul’s head was separated from his body, he wrote a second letter to Timothy, stressing how his disciple should respond to the false teachers and how godlessness will increase.
If you read the letters in Revelation, you see that by that time, several decades later, the church had been ravished by false teachers. Only two of the seven churches are commended.
So it doesn’t seem a stretch to me to say that the apostles (Paul, Peter, and John), at the end of their lives, were greatly concerned about false teachers in the church and the damage they could do.
What strikes me today is how the category of false teacher doesn’t seem to exist, at least in some places. We don’t have false teachers, we have different views. I certainly wouldn’t deny that believers can have different interpretations for parts of Scripture. But is there a line over which one can cross in which they become a false teacher?
All I want at this point is a response of “yes.” That, as simple as it seems in light of Scripture, is a monumental step forward, I think.
Todd,
Thanks for this post. I believe that this indeed is a major topic in the NT. As I’ve taught/thought on some of these books, here are some thoughts. I’m not going to try to prove them extensively, but to throw them out in the hope that they spur on further thinking.
I believe the NT would define a false teacher as someone who teaches heretical doctrine. By heretical, I don’t mean something different from what you believe, but something that is actually damning to believe. I believe that Scripture teaches there are certain truths that must be believed to be saved. Examples would include the deity of Jesus (1Jo 2:22), the humanity of Jesus (1Jo 4:3) and the resurrection (1Co 15, especially vss. 2, 14) [forgive the proof-texting as I’m not developing the context, but in context I think that’s what is being said in these verses].
That of course raises the question of what is the difference between a false-teacher and someone who believes a heresy. Is everyone who believes a heresy a false teacher? Difficult to say, I lean towards only seeing those who are actively promoting the heresy as a false-teacher. In practice I don’t know how easy it is to uphold that distinction as if you believe something, you are inevitably going to promote it at some level.
What is amazing is how the NT ?always? looks to see even false teachers saved, while in one sense dealing with them ‘harshly’. See 2Ti 2:25-26 where Paul is dealing with false teachers (as you mention about 2Ti)!
But I would throw out that it would be good to carefully *consider* this topic and 2Jo 1:10-11 specifically before inviting people who knock at your door in…
Some food for thought anyway.
Josh
You’re right, Todd. “Yes”. Or maybe “Yes, but”. For one thing, the phrase “different views”, in certain mouths, can be a polite way to say “false teaching”. It depends upon what’s understood about the speaker.
More importantly, I think it depends on which teachings you mean. The well-known “Essentials”, may I presume? Because there are also circles where things like “pre-trib disp. mill’sm” [or it’s competitor doctrines] would be heinously decried as “false teaching”.
I’m not sure the Apostles had a list at all, much less whether it went like Josh said above, but that’s not the point at hand.
The point at hand is that I can absolutely offer the “yes”. I’m just not sure how you’re thinking would apply this – either today OR in the 1st century.
So, you generalized in a blog post. For shock! ;-)
Josh – thank you for your thoughts. I essentially agree, though I think that we would agree that Scripture places the priority on protecting the flock over the salvation of the false teacher. (Thus, we desire his salvation, but not at the cost of giving him access to our people.) Also, lots of descriptions of the false teachers are pretty focused on condemnation; 2 Tim 2:25-26 is more unique in seeking restoration. And to throw another tough one into the mix, it may be that 1 John 5:16-17 may be teaching to not pray for (some?) false teachers.
It may be helpful to know that my false-teacher horizons lately have not been much beyond bloggers and reports of SBL meetings. I was even wondering how I would finish this sentence: there is no organization in the world with more false teachers (as biblically defined) than _______. I would see some groups as more pernicious than an organization like the Mormons because of the perception that they are in the Christian faith and not part of a cult or another religion.
Bill and Josh – I certainly agree that a false teacher is not one who differs on small matters, but I think that there are certainly more issues than the deity and humanity of Christ. Some people hold and teach things which, given enough time and logical consistency, lead to heresy/apostasy. Evaluation obviously must be done on an individual basis. The goal of my post was to question whether the category still exists in some circles (such as the academic one).