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Heresy
World Scripture
HERESY
Among the most insidious causes of deviation from the religious path is the
lure of false teaching, or heresy. The scriptures of every major religion warn
against it. "Heresy" means opinion, and the wisdom of orthodox tradition is
not something to be denied or perverted on the basis of mere opinion. The
orthodox tradition carries with it the deposit of wisdom inherited from the
founders, prophets, saints, and sages who have had the surest and deepest
insight into truth. It is rare that a novel teaching can hope to attain the
same level of insight.
Yet every genuine religion, when it was first born, was branded a heresy by the
leaders of the orthodox establishment. The founders of religion gave their
teachings based on profound religious insights or new revelation, not mere
opinion. But how could members of the establishment orthodoxy know that? How,
beyond the criterion of orthodoxy, do we distinguish a false teaching from a
true one? This requires careful discernment.
The fundamental error of heresy is that it deceives innocent people by leading
them to deny the truth. A number of the passages gathered below also attack
false prophets and heretics for having base motives: they are hypocrites using
religion for worldly gain (although orthodox teachers could have the same
flaw). Others point to their rotten fruits: licentious living, greed, and the
sowing of dissension. Still others attribute these false teachings to the work
of demons and evil spirits. But some heresies deceive through advocating a
standard of conduct even more austere or a faith even more extreme than what is
called for in the correct path. These selections conclude with two examples:
First is the schism of the Buddhist order led by Devadatta, who advocated
extreme austerities beyond those of the Middle Path. The second is the
conflict between Jeremiah and the false prophet Hananiah; while Jeremiah
expected God to judge Israel for its sins, Hananiah had such extreme faith that
he believed God would defend Jerusalem at all costs.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are
ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.
1. Christianity. Bible, Matthew 7.15-16
God's Messenger is reported as saying, "In the last times men will come forth
who will fraudulently use religion for worldly ends and wear sheepskins in
public to display meekness. Their tongues will be sweeter than sugar, but
their hearts will be the hearts of wolves. God will say, 'Are they trying to
deceive Me, or are they acting presumptuously towards Me? I swear by Myself
that I shall send trial upon those people which will leave the intelligent men
among them confounded.'"
2. Islam. Hadith of Tirmidhi
The prophets who lead my people astray,
who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.
3. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Micah 3.5
There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Master who brought them, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of
them the way of truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit
you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and
their destruction has not been asleep.
4. Christianity. Bible, 2 Peter 2.1-3
Some shameless men, becoming monks, propagate a doctrine of their own. And
others believe in it, put their faith in it, adopt it, saying, "Well, you speak
the truth, O brahmin or O sramana! We shall present you with food, drink,
spices, and sweetmeats, with a robe, a bowl, or a broom." Some have induced
others to honor them, and some have made their proselytes to honor them.
Before, they were determined to become [genuine] sramanas, poor monks who would
have neither sons nor cattle, to eat only what should be given them by others,
and to commit no sins. But after having entered the religious life they do not
cease from committing sins, they cause others to commit sins, and they assent
to another's committing sins. Thus they are given to pleasures, amusements,
and sensual lust; they are greedy, fettered, passionate, covetous, the slaves
of love and hate; therefore they cannot free themselves nor free anyone else.
5. Jainism. Sutrakritanga 2.1.18-19
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Matthew 7.15-16: Cf. Matthew 7.16-20, p. 465; 1 John 4.1, p. 380. Sutrakritanga
2.1.18-19: Cf. Mark 7.6-7, pp. 489f.
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Thus have We appointed unto every Prophet an adversary--devils of humankind and
jinn--who inspire in one another plausible discourse through guile.
6. Islam. Qur'an 6.112
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the
faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the
pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared.
7. Christianity. Bible, 1 Timothy 4.1-2
Brahma and Vishnu were arguing, each shouting that he was supreme. In anger,
Brahma cursed Vishnu: "You will be deluded and your devotees will have the
appearance of brahmins, but they will be against the Vedas and the true path of
release."
8. Hinduism. Parasara Purana 3
Mara, the Evil One, may come along in the guise of a teacher, and say, "Give up
what you have heard up to now!... What you have heard just now, that is not
the word of the Buddha. It is poetry, the work of poets. But what I here
teach to you, that is the teaching of the Buddha, that is the word of the
Buddha." If, on hearing that, a Bodhisattva wavers and is put out, then one
should know that he has not been predicted by the Tathagata, that he is not
fixed on full enlightenment. But... an Arhat, a monk whose outflows are dried
up, does not go by someone else whom he puts his trust in, for he has placed
the nature of Dharma directly before his own eyes.
9. Buddhism. Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 17.2
Indeed, the causes of discord and rebellion against religion are that in
opposition to the laid-down orders of the Book of God, people follow dictates
of their mind and introduce innovations and schism. Consequently, in spite of
the commands of God, such persons are considered heads of religion who know
nothing about religion.
The fact is, had falsehood been allowed to show separately from truth, seekers
of truth would have easily discerned it, and would have kept away from false-
hood. And had truth been allowed to appear distinct from falsehood, people
would not have found [it] easy to criticize religion. But unfortunately men
started mixing parts of truth with falsehood, and Satan exploited this
situation, and got complete control over the minds of its followers. Only such
persons can escape its trap, who have advanced with the help of God towards
sober and rational ways of meditation.
10. Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 55
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1 Timothy 4.1-2: Cf. 1 John 4.1, p. 380. Parasara Purana 3: In this passage
the sectarian feuds in Hinduism--here the devotees of the Vaishnavite bhakti
sects are labeled heretics--have their origins in quarrels among the gods. The
very human quarrels and jealousies of the gods in Hindu popular traditions
should be counterpoised with the philosophical Vedic and Upanishadic doctrine
that all the gods are transcendentally One. Perfection of Wisdom in Eight
Thousand Lines 17.2: Cf. Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom 382, p. 441.
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Be not those who ascribe partners unto God--those who split up their religion
and become schismatics, each sect exulting in its tenets.
11. Islam. Qur'an 30.31-32
The demons, led by Prahlada, had stolen the sacrificial portions of the gods,
but they were so full of svadharma, Vedic worship, and asceticism that they
could not be conquered. Vishnu created a man of delusion to lead the demons
from the path of the Vedas; the man was naked, bald, carrying a peacock feather
fan; he went where the demons were practicing asceticism at the banks of the
Narmada and made them all into Arhats, discouraging them from their asceticism
and teaching them contradictory tenets about dharma.... Then the man put on
red garments and taught the rest of the demons that the sacrifice of animals
was an evil act. He taught, "If the animal slaughtered in the sacrifice is
assured of arrival in heaven, why does the sacrificer not kill his own father?"
Then the demons became Buddhists, and they caused others to become heretics,
abandoning the Vedas and reviling the gods and brahmins, discarding their armor
of svadharma. The gods attacked them and killed them.
12. Hinduism. Vishnu Purana 3.17-18
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Qur'an 30.31-32: The schismatic, by exalting in human opinions, is in effect
joining other gods with God. Vishnu Purana 3.17-18: In Vaishnavite Hinduism,
the Buddha is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu who teaches heresy in order to
delude the demons. Thus, begrudgingly, Buddha is honored as a savior against
the demons while his teaching is condemned. In this passage the Buddha avatar
is a composite figure: he walks naked like a Jain, and he also teaches a second
heresy recognizable as Materialism by its satire on the traditional
rationalization for animal sacrifices. In this case, as in Mahabharata 13.40,
p. 433, spiritual beings of high status are jealous of other beings with
superior virtue; compare Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, p. 405; Isaiah
14.12-15, p. 439; Qur'an 17.61-64, p. 440. In Hinduism, traditions about
demons aspiring for divinity are often metaphors for people of inferior caste
aspiring to a destiny beyond their station; sometimes they are successful--cf.
Matsya Purana 180.5, p. 710, and Vishnu Purana 1.17-20, pp. 889f.--but in this
case their aspirations are foiled.
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As Devadatta was meditating in private, a reasoning arose in his mind thus:
"Whom could I now please so that, because he is pleased with me, much gain and
honor would accrue to me?" And he thought of Prince Ajatasattu. Throwing off
his own form and assuming that of a young boy clad in a girdle of snakes, he
became manifest in the prince's lap. Terrified, he asked who he was.
"I am Devadatta."
"If that is really so, please become manifest in your own form." And Devadatta,
throwing off the young boy's form stood, wearing his outer cloak and his robes
and carrying his bowl, before Prince Ajatasattu. Greatly pleased with this
wonder of psychic power, morning and evening he went to wait on him with five
hundred chariots, bringing five hundred offerings of rice cooked in milk as a
gift of food. And in Devadatta, overcome by the gains, honors, and fame, his
mind obsessed by them, there arose the longing to be the one to lead the Order
of monks. But at its very occurrence Devadatta declined in his psychic power.
Moggallana then warned the Lord of Devadatta's longing. He replied:
"Moggallana, this foolish man of himself will now betray himself. The teacher
who is not pure in moral habit, or in mode of livelihood, or in teaching
Dhamma, or in the exposition, or in the vision of knowledge... pretends that he
is pure, and that his moral habit, etc., are pure, clean, untarnished. Although
disciples know this about him, they think, 'If we should tell this to
householders, he would not like it, and how could we speak about what he would
not like? Moreover [by his reputation] we receive the requisite of robes, alms
food, lodgings, and medicines...' Disciples protect such a teacher and such a
teacher expects protection from them. But I, Moggallana, am pure in moral
habit, in mode of livelihood... Disciples do not protect me and I do not
expect protection from them.
"Do not, monks, envy Devadatta's gains, honors, and fame. For as long as
Prince Ajatasattu goes to him morning and evening, Devadatta's wholesome mental
states may be expected to decline, not to grow, just as a fierce dog would
become much fiercer if a bladder were thrown at his nose. Devadatta's gains,
honors and fame bring about his own hurt and destruction."
Now at that time the Lord was sitting down teaching Dhamma surrounded by a
large company which included a king. And Devadatta got up, saluted the Lord
and spoke thus, "Lord, the Lord is now old, stricken in years and at the close
of his life. Let him be content to abide in ease here and now, and hand over
the Order of monks to me. It is I who will lead the Order of monks."
"Enough, Devadatta, please do not lead the Order of monks. I would not hand
over the Order even to Sariputta and Moggallana. How then to you, a wretched
one to be vomited up like spittle?"
And Devadatta, angry and displeased at having been disparaged, went away. The
Lord addressed the Order of monks, saying, "Let the Order carry out a formal
act of information against Devadatta, to the effect that whereas Devadatta's
nature was formerly of one kind, now it is of another; and that whatever he
should do by gesture or by voice, in that neither the Buddha nor the Dhamma nor
the Order is to be seen, but only Devadatta."
On hearing the news Devadatta sought to deprive the recluse Gotama of life. He
saw the Lord pacing up and down in the shade of Mount Vulture Peak, and having
climbed it he hurled down a great stone. But two mountain peaks, meeting,
crushed it and only a fragment fell down; but it drew blood on the Lord's foot.
Looking upward he said to Devadatta, "You have produced much demerit, foolish
man, in that you, with your mind malignant and set on murder, drew the
Tathagata's blood."
Then Devadatta appealed to some friends of his, saying, "Come, we will approach
the Lord and ask for five policies, saying, 'Lord, the Lord in many a figure
speaks in praise of desiring little, of being contented, of expunging evil, of
being punctilious, etc. Lord, the following five policies are conducive
thereto: Monks must be forest dwellers for as long as they live; whoever should
abide in a village, sin would besmirch him. They must be beggars for alms;
whoever should accept an invitation to a meal would commit sin. They should
wear rags; whoever accepts a robe given by a householder, commits sin. They
should dwell at the root of a tree; whoever should go under cover commits sin.
They should never eat fish and flesh; whoever eats fish or flesh commits sin.'
The recluse Gotama will not allow these five policies, but we will win the
people over to them."
Devadatta's friends replied, "It is possible, with these five policies, to make
a schism in the recluse Gotama's Order, a breaking of the concord. For, your
reverence, people esteem austerity." So Devadatta and his friends approached
the Lord, and put the matter of these five policies before him.
"Enough, Devadatta," he said. "Whoever wishes, let him be a forest dweller,
whoever wishes, let him stay in a village; whoever wishes, let him be a beggar
for alms; whoever wishes, let him accept an invitation; whoever wishes, let him
wear rags; whoever wishes, let him accept robes given by a householder..."
Devadatta was joyful and elated that the Lord did not accept these five
policies. He entered Rajagaha and taught them to the people, and such people
as were of little faith thought that Devadatta and his friends were punctilious
while Gotama was permissive of profligacy. But the people who had faith and
were believing complained to the monks that Devadatta was creating a schism,
and the monks told the Lord. He said to Devadatta, who acknowledged the truth
of the complaint,
"Do not let there be a schism in the Order, for a schism in the Order is a
serious matter, Devadatta. He who splits an Order that is united sets up
demerit that endures for an eon and he is boiled in hell for an eon. But he
who unites an Order that is split sets up sublime merit and rejoices in heaven
for an eon."
13. Buddhism. Vinaya Pitaka ii.184-98
In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Thus the Lord said to me, "Make
yourself thongs and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to...
Zedekiah king of Judah, 'Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of
Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. Why will you and your people
die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken
concerning any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? Do not listen
to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, "You shall not serve the
king of Babylon," for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you. 'I have
not sent them,' says the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name,
with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the
prophets who are prophesying to you.'"
In that same year... Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke
to me in the House of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the
people, saying, "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have broken
the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this
place all the vessels of the Lord's House, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to
this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles
from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the
king of Babylon."
Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the
priests and all the people who were standing in the House of the Lord; and the
prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words
which you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon
the vessels of the House of the Lord, and all the exiles. Yet hear now this
word which I speak in your hearing and the hearing of all the people: The
prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and
pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who
prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be
known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet."
Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the
prophet, and broke them. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people,
saying, "Thus says the Lord, 'Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.'" But
Jeremiah the prophet went his way.
Sometime after... Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen,
Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a
lie. Therefore thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of
the earth. This very year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion
against the Lord.'" In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet
Hananiah died.
14. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Jeremiah 27-28
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Vinaya Pitaka ii.184-98: Cf. Itivuttaka 11, p. 273; Digha Nikaya i.167, p. 950.
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