Do Heretics Have Freedom Of Speech?

For many years a massive "information war" has been waged between 'orthodox' and 'heretical' Christians. After engaging in this warfare myself for some time, it occurred to me that we are living in the United States of America, and ought to have more charity when it comes to our neighbor's right to air his opinions. I asked in my last article, "If a man drinks poison, it is his right?" So now I will ask: "Do heretics have freedom of speech?" The answer is, "yes, absolutely"--so long as their activities remain outside the church.

We must understand that there are Scriptural procedures for dealing with heresy. When Paul addressed those who caused divisions and offenses, he always spoke of them as existing in a local church setting, & as being dealt with by qualified ministers of the Gospel (2 Tim. 4: 2; Titus 1: 9-13, 3: 10). Paul would never have approved of lay-people sitting in their homes in Corinth, Ephesus, or what have you, and writing private attacks against Hymeneus and Philetus. No. That is not the approved Christian method. The correct procedure is to rebuke one before an assembled congregation, and if he refuses to repent, to exercise church discipline (2 Cor. 13: 10; 3 John 9-10).

But how can church discipline be exercised when 95% of the people we are dealing with don't even belong to any church? The few that do belong to churches ought to be under the authority of their pastors/elders (Hebrews 13: 7, 13). If they are operating outside of the church, however, there is no way to Scripturally deal with them. Yes, you can put up 20 different web sites and blogs to attack their views, but all it ever amounts to is a spread of information, whether good or bad. It is a mere tug-of-war between diverse opinions.

The Hyper-Preterist heresy does not pose as a serious problem. Why not? Because it exists outside of the parameters of the local church. As an Independent Baptist, I have moved among many Gospel ministers & churches, including those of the Southern Baptist denomination, and already know for certain that Hyper-Preterism would never stand a chance in a Scripturally-run congregation. If one of my ministerial brethren got to hear these views, he'd shut his ears after a few seconds, because the doctrines are so far removed from normal Christianity that they carry their own seal of condemnation.

But let's be hypothetical. Suppose Hyper-Preterists attempted to take over a church. Perhaps they succeeded--what then? That would result in a breaking of fellowship among all sister churches. So, the heretical church would be left an isolated body. And isolated bodies pose no threat to the Christian community.

In order to take Hyper-Preterism seriously, I would have to see it burgeoning along denominational/local church lines. I would have to see large numbers of H.P.'s filtering into organizations like the Southern Baptist convention. And that isn't happening! The reason is, because most Christians (especially in the Bible-belt) are traditionalists. You won't get many of them to listen to something they've never heard before. Far from being a bad thing (as I used to think), I think such traditionalism operates as an effective buffer against heresy & newfangled teachings (2 Thess. 3: 6).

But if a heresy does ever get into a church, there are methods of dealing with it. Of course the individual "By-Laws" of each church will determine the exact course of church discipline. But there is no Scripturally approved method of dealing with heresy outside the church. I suppose the atheists have a right to promote their beliefs. American Socialists & anarchists have a right to peacefully assemble & to speak against the government that shelters them--so long as their activities are in accordance with the law. Hyper-Preterists have a right to run websites speaking against the historic Christian faith. This is a free country.

That is why I have laid down my arms and am no longer fighting Hyper-Preterism. I realize now that these men are my "brothers" in the human family, and that as fellow-Americans they have every right to promote their ideologies. Just because I don't agree with certain views, that doesn't make it right for me to prohibit my neighbor's freedom of speech. Then, too, I have to admit that as these doctrines are not cropping up in local assemblies of baptized believers they are no threat to organized Christianity.

Let's face it. Even among the "Church of Christ" denomination, Hyper-Preterism is so small and insignificant that the majority of ministers have never even heard of it. What is called "Partial" Preterism is equally unknown. Whether we like it or not, we'll have to admit that we've vastly over-estimated this heresy. We have witnessed the zeal of some of its leaders, and have made them far more important than they really are. Let us stop being so headstrong in our attacks, & acknowledge that our neighbor has as much right to voice his beliefs as we do.

If any heresy gets to be a problem, rest assured that the churches will know how to deal with it. It is bad enough to over-estimate heresiarchs. Let us not under-estimate the average Bible-believing Christian. Most people who believe in Christ know enough to stay away from poison, and our warnings are not needed. If they are, however, let us feel free to speak with them about it, provided we do not interfere with the free-speech rights of others. We may always remain true Christians. But let us be good Americans as well.