The Value of Heretics

There is only one Bible but there are many different Christian understandings of God. Every Christian denomination, for instance, has its own perspective, and there are over 40,000 denominations! But that’s not all. Even within each denomination, individual members have their own unique opinions about God. Someone has quipped: “Whenever four Christians meet together, there are at least five different interpretations of God!”

In light of all the varied interpretations of God, the Swiss theologian Karl Barth suspicioned that much of what we believe about God is merely a projection of who we are. If we are conservative, then we view God as conservative. If we are progressive, well then, God must be progressive. You might say everyone envisions a god in their own image.

If we embrace a certain perspective about race, religion, or politics, then God surely shares our conviction. The truth of the matter is, when it comes to our belief system, our views are not all that different from God’s, or so we convince ourselves.

We might argue that our beliefs are correct because they are based on the Bible. “We only believe what the Bible teaches,” we tell ourselves, “so we must be right.” Yet, if you were to ask any member of the over 40,000 various denominations, they would all vigorously state that their beliefs are biblical too. Of course, each of these Christian groups have their favorite proof texts that substantiate their beliefs, while they dismiss as irrelevant verses that may contradict those views. And, sadly, whenever people profess different understandings of God from the dominant religious culture, well, they may find themselves in a world of trouble.

Just a quick look into the history of the church bears this out. Whether the church was Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, or something else, religious leaders have persecuted, imprisoned, and burned at the stake untold numbers of believers merely because they didn’t have the same impression of God as they did. When it comes to our cherished beliefs about God, we take offense, oftentimes violently so, at those who disagree with us.

The priest and intellectual Giordano Bruno, who lived in the 16th century, found that opinions that ran counter to the church’s teaching put one in grave danger. Admittedly, Bruno was a free thinker who yearned for humanity to use their God-given intellects to think and reason. Contrary to the church’s teaching, which insisted that the earth was the center of the universe, he theorized an alternate explanation. In fact, Bruno suggested that the earth revolved around the sun and was just one of an infinite number of inhabited planets in the universe.

There were many other beliefs that Bruno held that fell outside the church’s doctrinal position as well, some of which may seem heretical to many Christians today. Bruno challenged the religious hierarchy again and again as he believed it was his right to publish what he believed, even if his ideas were out of step with the church. The church, on the other hand, was not so willing to allow people to express their views, especially when it came to sacred church doctrine.

Giordano Bruno

Bruno believed that if only he could present his views to the pope, the pope would see the light. Unfortunately, he was never given the opportunity to address the pope. For almost ten years, he was held in a small, dark dungeon cell by the Roman Inquisition for his heterodox beliefs. He was tortured, starved, and eventually burned at the stake in 1600. Why? What terrible crime had the philosopher committed? His only crime was that his unorthodox views did not align with the traditions of the church. But the tragic tale did not end in 1600. As recently as 1942, Cardinal Mercati declared that the church was perfectly in its right to burn Bruno because he deserved it (Italics mine).

Deserved it? Does anyone deserve to be burned at the stake for simply holding a different belief about God?

What history reveals is that the ways of the church are often at odds with the ways of Jesus. If anyone had reason to retaliate against his enemies, it was Jesus. Yet, from the cross, Jesus forgave those who had driven the nails into his hands and feet and hung him on a wooden beam. Forgiveness was Jesus’ response to dissenters.

The church often takes a different approach. Its enemies are branded heretics, godless, devil worshippers and are ostracized, persecuted, condemned and frequently murdered, all in the name of God. Big difference, don’t you think?

And it’s not just Catholics who have chosen a different path than Jesus. The so-called Protestants are just as guilty for their ungodly behavior in addressing dissenters. Michael Servetus expressed views about the Trinity that were unorthodox and, to avoid persecution from the Roman Inquisition, fled to Geneva where he thought he would find refuge with the Protestant reformer John Calvin.

Calvin had him arrested, tried as a heretic, and sentenced to death. To magnify the pain for Servetus’ heretical views, he was slow-roasted on a spit, where it took hours for him to die. So much for reforming the church! Interestingly, when Servetus was murdered, he was close to discovering the method by which blood circulates through the body, some 75 years before William Harvey’s breakthrough research.

Servetus’ execution by burning

Aren’t Christians supposed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? I certainly can’t find any place in the New Testament where Jesus advocated ridicule, hate, or death for those who disagreed with him. How far from the ways of God the church has strayed.

Before Bruno’s execution, he compared how the early church treated people with the way the church would later respond to dissent. He writes: “The procedure which the Church uses is not that which the Apostles used. For they converted people with preaching and the example of a good life, but now whoever wishes not to be a Catholic must endure punishment and pain, for force is used and not love. The world cannot go on like this...”

Perhaps you have never heard of Giordano Bruno, but his life, although tragically cut short, has led to remarkable contributions in science and art. He influenced such notables as Galileo, Leibniz, Kepler, and Spinoza, who all acknowledged his brilliance and scientific insights. He also inspired such thinkers as Schelling and Goethe. His research into memory assisted the actor and playwright Shakespeare. His “thought experiments” influenced Einstein and helped to open the door to quantum mechanics. While the church condemned him, he is honored today as one of the most influential prescient thinkers of his time.

I’m grateful for intellectual pioneers who have had the courage to think outside the box. Sometimes their views make me a bit uncomfortable, and sometimes I strongly disagree with their perspectives. Still, their lives have contributed to my own spiritual and intellectual growth. Free thinkers help me to consider what I believe and why, and guide me to explore terrain I have never traveled before.   

We should welcome those who challenge our sacred cows. We should value those who think outside the lines, for history teaches that those who dare to question our cherished dogmas often enlarge our picture of God and the world. After all, today’s heretics may very well be tomorrow’s saints!