FALSE TEACHERS
“There shall be false prophets among the people,
who shall bring in false teachings and destructive heresies,
even denying the Lord God who bought them” (2 Peter 3:1).
Many attacks have and will continue to be made upon the Church, its members and its true doctrine., Among the most dangerous are false teachings which seek to corrupt the truths which are secured in the Church from earliest times to the present, almost two thousand years! How can we escape the attacks waged by preachers of false teachings and destructive heresies? Only by remaining close to God having our mind fixed on Him through continuous communication and prayer. The Church will always survive and preserve its many truths, but the false teachings and destructive heresies, while assaulting the faithful, are capable of producing many casualties upon those who are unaware of their poisonous nature.
Many false teachers have appeared in the past and many destructive heresies have been sown like corn in the four corners of the world. If you are aware of these heresies which the fathers of the Councils condemned, you will be able to distinguish the newer heresies which are dangerous. Prayer and signing ourselves with the Cross offers very good protection.
The false teachings and heresies do not always come from the outside but many arise within the Church usually from the clergy. An important question is what false teachings and heresies are attacking the Church during this present era? This is important to know in order to be avoid being caught in a pernicious trap.
Ecumenism and false love are presently the greatest attacks upon the Church, and has assaulted the Church continuously for decades. Among the higher clergy this heresy flourishes and its perpetrators have abandoned Orthodox beliefs, as they openly spread this heresy, claiming it to be love of those outside the Church.
To understand the heresy of ecumenism is, we must first recall what constitutes the true Church. Orthodoxy is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and is unique for it is full and complete in itself, and is never mixed with erroneous teaching. Jesus Christ is its only divine and human Head, and the Holy Spirit is its one and only Guide. She preserves all the pure, true and correct dogmas Christian teaching. She rejects false teachings and heresies which seek to attack and corrupt her truths and doctrine.
Ecumenism is a pernicious heresy that seeks to undermine the basic truths of Orthodoxy by union with those outside the Church without converting and baptizing them. Its perpetrators would unite Orthodoxy with the many false teachings of heretical Christians all who are members of ecumenism. Their method is to teach that Christianity is divided into many churches and need to be united with each other.
