New Heresies (by H.H. Pope Shenouda)

Introduction

The danger of these modern heresies is that they emanate from individuals inside the church, or used to be.  Also their dangers are a result of the fact that they are misrepresented as the Orthodox faith!

What is worse than all of this is that they attribute their errors to the saints. Either because they don’t understand what the saints have said, or because of their faulty translations of their writings, or because they deliberately misrepresent the saints. What is a also dangerrous is that they promote their ideas. 

And some of these, while explaining their ideas, attack the divine revelation!! 

Some of them lived in the West, and were influenced by the intellectual deviations there. Others, did not go to Western countries, but read books published by Western writers, and were influenced by them and embraced them, and wanted to spread what they embraced!

Some like new, strange,  and abnormal ideas.  In spreading them, they find self-glorification in that they know what others do not know. 

Or they present to their readers a new understanding which contains an element of originality, even if it not really originality, but merely a transfer of ideas well known outside our Country, but no one responds to them there.

For these reasons, I find it necessary to expose these strange ideas, and respond to them, so that those who promote them do not become wise in their own eyes (Proverbs 26: 5).

Because they – by their mistakes – fear punishment, they began to attack the principle of punishment in general, even if it emanates from God himself !!

The phrase “divine justice” became heavy on their ears. They do not even accept the work of Redemption, that the Lord Christ lifted the punishment through His crucifixion by fulfilling divine justice !!

That is why I would like to begin with this particular point, because it will lead us to the discovery of many errors in this group of writers

Pope Shenouda III

One of them says “God does not deprive anyone, does not kill anyone. But man deprives himself; he kills himself.  God gives man a choice between life and death, and man freely chooses death, but blames his passions and sufferings on God himself as a terrifying judge. “

But this phrase carries many fallacies, although the writer attributes it
To (Louis Evely). The originator of the idea is in error and the one who promotes the idea is in error for promoting the error without responding to to it. 

God punished many since the beginning in Genesis. He punished Adam and Eve and the Serpent (Genesis 3). And he punished Cain (Genesis 4). He punished the old world In the flood (Genesis 6: 7).  And the people of Sodom were punished by the burning of the City (Genesis 19). The builders of the Tower of Babel were punished (Genesis 11), among many punishments in Genesis and in other books.

But the author of the book who says he is an “Agnostos” (Reader) in the Coptic Orthodox Church” comments on these punishments in the Book of Genesis by saying:

“The author of the Book of Genesis attributes God’s punishment and suffering to God as if it were revenge from God to His dignity–from this creature who insulted him! But God forbid!”

Attacking the Book of Genesis and claiming that it attributes to God what God did not do indicates the author’s lack of faith that the Book of Genesis is inspired by God!! While St. Paul the Apostle says about
The Bible: “All Scripture is inspired by God, and useful for teaching” (2 Titus 3:16). St. Peter the Apostle says regarding  divine books “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21).

 

 

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