Heterodoxy, Love it or Leave it?
“Buddha would have made a great Christian,”says Steve Cioccolanti, “because his life and teaching were not against any particular religion, rather searching for the ultimate truth and purpose of life.”[1] A Christian can see the hand of God move in the lives of those others have deemed secular. God can been seen throughout history moving among the unlikeliest individuals.
Dominic Erdozain’s, The Soul of Doubt: The Religious Roots of Unbelief from Luther to Marx, speaks to this idea of those traditionally labeled as secularist changing the world of Christianity even if their perspectives did not fall in line with the orthodoxy of their da
y.[2] The line between secular and sacred is often blurred if we see Christ as the center of all things. We enjoy finding those that think like us and excluding the rest in the name of correct theology. “Largely after the advent of Christianity, orthodoxy [was] established as denoting “correct” opinion in matters of religious doctrine. Heterodoxy, conversely, signified a deviance from correct opinion[.] […]People with heterodox views, although deviant, can be met with dialogue and exchange of arguments.”[3] The author makes a good point that we are comfortable accepting those with only slight variance from our own beliefs and excluding or casting out those whose beliefs are not like us. Authors like Marx, Voltaire and Spinoza are long thought by many to be anti-christian in their writings and in how they challenged the status quo (especially within the church).
“It is not uncommon to hear the general claim that traces of religion can still be found in the work of even the most self-professedly secular authors. […]Erdozain [says these authors were] not trying to do away with religion but were essentially concerned with purifying religion from violence, compulsion, and superstition and restoring its primordial purity in the tradition of earlier Christian reformers.”[4] If Erdozain’s supposition is to be believed, these philosophers are really just unordodox; maybe even heterodoxical in their thinking.
Christians for centuries have struggled with those who disagree with them; be it theologically, socially, or ethically. Groups broke off from mainstream christianity yet still claim the foundational tenets of faith. As a result, it has lead many to draw lines in the sand stating what is or is not 
a Christian. The Councils that produced the Apostles and Nicene creeds recognized the need to define our belief. They set up the foundational beliefs that we adhere to today. It seems if we continued to use those creeds to define our faith, then it might be difficult to exclude or call heretical those beliefs that differ slightly. Yet, we continue to seek out groups and communities, as Benedict Anderson[5] would say, that think, speak and act like we do in order to find unity and camaraderie. “I can affirm what I believe is true, wherever I see it. Do I have a relationship with those who confess Christ that is different from those who do not? Of course. But I don’t really see the point in defining out a sub-orthodoxy that makes one officially Christian,”[6] In the pursuit of orthodoxy and weeding out those that are in opposition to what we believe falls within that definition, the church has done many unspeakable acts of violence and injustice.
Jennifer Michael Hecht disagrees with Erdozain’s ideas of the origins of secular ethics. She claims that the real roots are found in Greek and Roman philosophy. She even states that, “some element of personal ethics seems to be hard-wired in humans.”[7] She goes on to say that Erdozain is looking to insert Christianity into the story and because of that he can find it anywhere. Hecht feels that Christianity had moral influence but it is simplistic to think that its influence was substantial. She states, “As we move into the future, it is important to remember the myriad of nonsupernatural models for dedicating oneself to being good.” [8] As Christian leaders we see Christ and His handiwork in all pursuits of truth. Erdozain sees God’s hand even in those that don’t recognize it. When societies were complacent and in need of reformation, God raised up individuals willing to challenge the leaders of the day.
Knowing people whose views that might be considered a little deviant should challenge us to have conversations outside of our own circles. If someone says, “Buddha would make a good Christian” or “Jesus would make a good Buddhist,” this should open up a dialogue about belief and life. Which can then ultimately guide us into a closer walk with Christ. “People are like a lotuses: some are above the water, some ar
e at the same level as the water, some are just below the surface and some are at the bottom, in the mud and clay.”[9] The lotus flower only blooms above water in the full light. This parable speaks to the openness of humanity and its willingness to learn and grow. If iron truly sharpens iron, then doubt, conflict or maybe a little heterodoxical thinking will spur us to be the best Christ has for us. Because of people like Luther, Spinoza, Voltaire, or Darwin, we are able to see the handiwork of God in new and challenging ways.
[1] Cioccolanti, Steve. From Buddha to Jesus. Monarch Books: Grand Rapids, MI. 2007. 49-50
[2] Erdozain, Dominic. The Soul of Doubt: The Religious Roots of Unbelief from Luther to Marx. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.
[3] https://heterodoxology.com/2010/03/05/whats-heterodoxy-anyway/ accessed January 25, 2018
[4] Johnson, Christopher D. L. Johnson. (2017) The soul of doubt: the religious roots of unbelief from Luther to Marx, by Dominic Erdozain, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016,
[5] Anderson, Benedict R. O’G. Imagined Communities : Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Revised ed. London: Verso, 2006.
[6] https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2012/06/19/whos-not-a-christian/ accessed January 25, 2018
[7] Hecht, Jennifer Michael. “How Secular Are Secular Ethics?” The Chronicle of Higher Education 62, no. 24 (2016): B17
[8] Ibid
[9] Cioccolanti, Steve. From Buddha to Jesus. Monarch Books: Grand Rapids, MI. 2007. 47-48
About the Author
Greg
Greg has a wife and 3 children. He has lived and work in Asia for over 12 years. He is currently the Asia Director of Imanna Laboratories, which tests and inspects marine products seeking US Coast Guard certification. His company Is also involved in teaching and leadership development.5 responses to “Heterodoxy, Love it or Leave it?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Greg,
I had not heard of the term “heterodoxy” before, so thank you for introducing me to this.
Although I see dangers in extreme heterodoxy bordering on heresy, I understand completely how you assert when someone is talking about Buddha and Christ, this could “open up a dialogue about belief and life. Which can then ultimately guide us into a closer walk with Christ.”
Well said, especially coming from a missionaries heart living in a far away land.
I appreciate you.
Greg,
Well done on this post. The understanding of heterodoxy is an important addition to this discussion. The creeds have been the lines of demarcation for millennia yet have failed to consistently drive the Church to be all it was meant to be. Thus the Spinozas and Voltaires of this world rallied against the mediocrity they saw.
I think Jennifer Hecht is wrong though. Some of the secularism might come from roots other than Christianity, but the most powerful and challenging have almost always come from within. These are the voices we continue to need to make the Church what it should be for the future.
Greg,
I agree, God moves through people for His purposes, like hardening Pharaoh’s heart against Moses’ pleas so that the whole world would see the power of God. I think you have a good handle on the symbiotic style relationship between religion and secularism during the Reformation and beyond.
God used all the good and bad of the Reformation-Enlightenment and beyond to move Protestant Christianity forward and outward from Europe in a type of diaspora to the West.
I see a lot of Satan’s handiwork first in several of the names you concluded with. Yet, God knows and advances His Kingdom at His pace, for our good and His glory.
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Greg,
I appreciated your thoughts in this post … thank you!
You said, “Knowing people whose views that might be considered a little deviant should challenge us to have conversations outside of our own circles.” This is a gracious invitation to stretching one’s own theology and expand our circles. I think this is happening in our cohort, and I see it happening in so many places today. One of the unusual and unexpected gifts of social media is that we are hearing the voices of so many people unfiltered. Of course this creates all kinds of problems, but the benefit is to consider the stories of those who are unlike us and those who we would have probably never met because our circles generally tend to be tightly enclosed with likeminded people. I was very impressed with Dominic’s ability to discern good from varied voices of history.
Greg, you have the real life experience to speak to this more than any of us. You live in a place where other religions are the majority; you are meeting people with different beliefs who live a Jesus kind of life. This statement bears discussion – “Buddha would have made a great Christian,”says Steve Cioccolanti, “because his life and teaching were not against any particular religion, rather searching for the ultimate truth and purpose of life.” We cannot move non-believers forward into a Christian faith unless we entertain all the confusing, challenging beliefs (especially when “professing Christians” in the US spotlight portray such non-Christian words and actions). Does anyone in your specific mission field ask about this hypocrisy?