Denny
I think you are right that the root of all heresy is the failure to believe God's Word <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" />; to ask with the Serpent "hath God truly said?" when we know good and well he hath. But while liberals, New Agers, and relativists may openly deny the authority and inerrancy of the Word of God, most of the others that I listed do not consciously do so. Their interpretations of Scripture are strained, distorted, misleading, sinful, and wrong, but ask any of them and they'll say they believe the Bible is God's Word.

I did limit the question to dangers within the evangelical church, so Roman Catholicism in any of its diverse manifestations was not itself an option, although via ecumenicism , pluralism, relativism, the Emerging Church, and the New Perspective on Paul, considerable Roman Catholic influence may be creeping in unawares (or in the case of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, "awares").

I would also not agree that all of the heresies I listed stem from denying justification by faith alone and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Certainly the New Perspective on Paul denies this, as do most advocates of universalism, relativism, and liberalism. But most Arminians do not consciously reject these (John Miley is an instructive and notable exception), nor do Third Wavers, or Seeker-Sensitive churches. The others are I think somewhat mixed.

You could go even further and say the root of all heresy is just plain sin, but while that is true, I don't think it is very helpful in determining which heresies pose the greatest and most immediate threat (even if they are not themselves the most odious and abhorrent) to the evangelical church.


Vicit Agnus Noster,

Brad J. Hammond