On Being “Nice” to False Teachers

I’m quite busy today. In fact, I may have to cut back on blogging through next week. But I want to direct my good readers’ attention to this post by Fr. Matt Kennedy.

Matt+ questions the wisdom of being collegial with heretics. And so do I.

Moreover, I think a big reason for the downfall of the Episcopal Church and other mainline denominations is the past reluctance of the orthodox to call out heretics. There was a time when the march of these churches towards apostasy could have been stopped. But it would have required saying “No!” to false teaching and the exercise of church discipline against clergy persisting in the same.

Instead, the orthodox were “nice” and collegial. . . . And the souls of many and the faithfulness of whole denominations were sacrificed on the altar of that niceness.

I much prefer attitude of the church fathers. They most definitely were not nice to false teachers. (And that’s one reason I do not pull many punches on this blog.)

Whether you agree or not, I urge you to think upon Matt+ Kennedy’s post.

(In my haste, I was not clear that I don't believe in being collegial with heretical clergy. We've all had mistaken views at various times. All the more reason to insist on faithful clergy and teachers.)