Heresy

Author: Alister Mcgrath
Publisher: SPCK
Our ongoing fascination with alternative pictures of Christianity is on public display every time a never-before- seen gospel text is revealed, archaeological discoveries about Jesus make front page news, or a new work of fiction challenges the very foundations of the Church. In recent years the distinction between heresy and orthodoxy has come under fire by those eager to reject the formal boundaries of sanctioned beliefs about Jesus.

McGrath’s provocative thesis is that the categories of heresy and orthodoxy must be preserved by the church today. Jesus certainly presented one message in contrast to another. Tracing back to him those messages that (in our best estimation) are faithful to Jesus’ mission is still the task of the church, despite increasingly popular cries that these practices are outdated and restrict freedom.