I have an acquaintance that believes the Israelite's view of God (angry, vengeful, wrathful, etc.) is very different from the God that Jesus preached. They believe that mankind couldn't figure out what God wanted so God sent Jesus. They refuse to believe in the God of the Old Testament even at the threat of God's wrath. From what I gather this person is involved in the Emergent church and so on (primarily holding to an Eastern dialectical hermeneutic or eastern scientific method).

Would this person's views of God be considered heretical and blasphemous? And if so to what degree - does the heresy start in the Early Church, the Great Schism or with the Protestant Reformation and why or why not?

Hopefully this makes sense! Thanks!

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Justin Carroll
Laymen, Westminster Presbyterian Church
PCA
Lancaster, PA

Sounds similar to the ancient Gnostic and Marcionitic heresy.

As far as the judgment of heresy goes, they certainly sound like they are bordering on it. I don't think you should focus on that however. It would be better to simply demonstrate their misunderstanding through New Testament texts that focus on God's wrath as fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8-9 for example).

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Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA

"What sort of pledge and how great is this of love towards us! Christ lives for us not for himself!"
John Calvin, Commentary on the Hebrews (7:25)

Thanks for the quick reply. And I agree wholeheartedly; it shouldn't be the focus. We do have very friendly exchanges, but the subject of heresy and blasphemy seems to have been reduced to subjectivity (i.e. like the words have no meaning anymore). The way I understand it is this person's views seem to be outside of what would be considered orthodox Christianity.

I think that since before the Great Schism, when the Church was for the most part united in the east and west that they would have rejected this idea that God was not wrathful. And the fact that God is connected to the person and work of Jesus would make the statement blasphemous.

I agree, it shouldn't be a point of focus, but it is something I'm interested in hearing more viewpoints on. Thanks again.

I understand. Perhaps you could keep it very simple as in:

The Apostle's Creed states that Christ "shall come to judge the quick and the dead"? This is the most basic statement of the Christian faith; one which all traditions have adhered to and must adhere to in order to be called Christian.

Do you confess this? If so, what does it mean? Is this not an outpouring of God's wrath? (John 3:36; Romans 1:18, 3:5, 9:22; Ephesians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9; Revelation 6:16-17)