Ebook: John of Damascus and Heresy: A Basis for Understanding Modern Heresy

The value of this historical study consists in scrutinizing the understanding of heresy and the heretic according to John of Damascus. For this Church Father, a heretic was any Christian who, by willful choice, departs from the one orthodox tradition by adopting a personal opinion on the common faith which he intends to institute as sole truth. This book contains two parts with eight chapters. It aims to apply John of Damascus’ understanding of the recurring and hydra identity of the Christian heretic and his behavior.
By using historical-theological, interdisciplinary and diachronical approaches, the author of this book demonstrates that this Church Father, who is the ‘seal of the patristic era’, remains a relevant authority for our modern comprehension of heresy and the heretic. Through two case studies, namely, the Dutch Reformed Churches and Apartheid, and Kimbanguism, that book specifies, on basis of willful choice and wrong exegesis and hermeneutics, that, on the one hand how a distorted Chris-tian confession contributed to the rise of Apartheid, with its attendant sense of a theocracy, predestination, election, supremacy, divine love and justice. Kimbanguism, on the other hand, represents a heresy against
its will. It is an example of Christian leaders who abused their power to apply cultural elements that resulted in a dramatic misinterpretation of the Christian dogma of the Trinity. Finally, our study intends to apply the notions of willful choice, obstinacy and fanaticism, libertine exege-sis, personal opinion and orthodox tradition or common faith, to portray a heretic by using an interdisciplinary approach: theologically as a liber-tine-exegete, psychologically as a dogmatic and fanatic person, and sociologically as a negative cultural reformer. Thus, our analysis is both historical and theological, and clearly and substantially elucidates the heretical mind in modern times.

Consequently, our inquiry may be summed up as follows. Firstly, heresy habitually comes from an existing text, doctrine or discipline; secondly, it concerns people who are originally Christians; thirdly, it demonstrates that a heretic may be a fervent and an educated Christian, a layman or a church leader, who, on the basis of willful choice, interprets Biblical texts freely, with his personal exegesis and hermeneutics, and ultimately incorrectly. From this exegesis and hermeneutics he deduces and sustains a new doctrine that he defends with obstinacy and fanaticism.

As argues Baumert (1996: 174), ‘each age reads the Bible with its own eyes.’ Apartheid and Kimbanguism after 2001 could be considered both ‘colonial heterodox and religious movements’ which are due to the search of novelty. Particularly, apartheid as an ideology was like a theo-cratic regime which does not separate religious and political matters, as was the case of Islam during the time of Muhammad and the four first caliphs. Moreover, Apartheid could be seen as ‘ethical heresy.’ It was based on the selective use of the Bible, as its theological justification, and by reading into the biblical text what is just not there. Indeed, their originators—Afrikaners with their ‘popular hermeneutic’ were ‘libertine exegetes’ who by obsessional disposition elaborated a kind of cultural, political and economic reform.

Moreover, from 2001, with strong interference from popular beliefs concerning the persons of Simon Kimbangu and of his three sons, there emerged a confused, unclear and distorted doctrine of Trinity. Until now, this doctrinal crisis remains unresolved. Would this be due to un-consciously incorporating a cultural idea into the original Christian Kimbanguist doctrine? That is to say that in the case of Kimbanguism, the heretical characteristic of willful choice is likewise reflected in the doctrines put forward by the leadership of Kimbanguism since 2001. This religious leadership, in our opinion, probably unwittingly, misused the notion of hierarchical power and the Bakongo cosmology to justify, on the basis of the Christian tradition and the Bible, the tenets of their Trinitarian doctrine. Indeed, this wilful choice is expressed through the free, culturally-based hermeneutics elaborated by Nzakimuena. In fact, we have already mentioned how on the basis of philosophical exegesis, Nzakimuena reinterpreted the biblical texts and substituted1 the name of Kimbangu for the name of God in the Old Testament. In the Kikongo tradition, the name of Kimbangu means ‘one who reveals hidden things.’ Nzakimuena applied the same exegesis in the New Testament by substituting the title of Holy Spirit with the name of Simon Kimbangu, as the author of the conception of Jesus, as it written in Mat-thew 1, 18–20.

Apart from the substitutions already mentioned, the Kimbanguist leadership argues that the three sons of Simon Kimbangu are special creatures: ‘Ba Nzambi ya nse’ (the gods come on earth). This concep-tion, based on Kongo folk theology, constitutes the basis of the quest for purity which is conferred on the sons of Simon Kimbangu who are now considered as the ‘trinity on earth.’ It is clear that this heresy is initiated by the church leadership which purports to introduce dogmatic and ec-clesiastic reform by way of cultural reform.
1 Gen. 41, 28; 41, 39; Jer 33, 3; Am 3, 7; Da 2, 22–23.

Historically speaking, this book is very relevant in portraying mod-ern heresy and heretic even if the heretic remains still as a hydra. I recommend its reading and I wish a wealthy academic career and blessed ecclesiastic work.