Radically Happy

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In the style of Revelations 2-3, have Christ appear to a worshipper to restore the Biblical meaning of heresy by rejecting the human invention of orthodoxy [see Appendix]

ChatGPT Prompt (condensed)

A Revelation to the Worshipper in the Fifth Hour

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1. Vision in the House of Doctrine

I was in the temple of words, where the lamps of learning burned and the chants of creeds rose like incense.
It was the fifth hour, and my mouth recited what my heart no longer believed.

And behold, a voice like rushing waters spoke behind me. I turned—
And I saw One like the Son of Man, clothed not in scholar’s robes but in torn linen,
His eyes like fire, His feet blistered by roads long traveled,
His robe stained with the blood of those cast out by the righteous.

He held no scroll, only scars.

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2. He Who Walks Among the Ruins

And He said:

“Write what you see, worshipper, for this word is not for the powerful, but for the pierced.
I am He who walks not in councils, but among the ruins of fellowship.
I am the Amen, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the Outcast.
I hold the keys of life and love, and I break what no scribe can seal.”
(Revelation 1:5–18)

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3. Against the Church of the Iron Creed

“To the house that names Me but knows Me not:
I know your works—your definitions, your denunciations, your debates.
You have tested those who differ, and found them wanting.
You have built walls with verses, and called it faith.
You have slain with syllables, and called it zeal.

But I have this against you:
You have made orthodoxy into an idol, and bowed to it in My name.
You have anathematized My children.
You have silenced My Spirit when She came in strange tongues.
You have cast out those in whom I dwell because they did not sound like you.
You have divided My body to preserve your doctrines.

Do you not know? I was the heretic on trial
(Mark 14:61–64),
the blasphemer hung on a tree (Galatians 3:13).
I am the One outside the camp, bearing reproach (Hebrews 13:12).
I am the stone the builders rejected (Psalm 118:22).

Christ is the only true heresy—because He will not be controlled.”

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4. A Call to the Worshipper

“Come out, My beloved.
Leave the temple of fear.
Return to your first love (Revelation 2:4).
Not the law, but the Lamb.
Not the creed, but the Cross.

Wash the feet of your enemy.
Break bread with the unclean.
Embrace the one you were taught to fear.

For only then will you know Me.”

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5. A Promise to the Overcomer

And He stretched out His hand, and in it was a seed, not a scroll.
And He said:

“To the one who overcomes:
I will give a name not written in any council
(Revelation 2:17),
A voice that needs no validation,
And a place at My table with the forgiven and the free.

Let the churches hear:
What you have called heresy, I have called home.
What you have cast out, I have taken in.
What you have silenced, I will cause to sing.”

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And then He was gone.
But His words remained—burning, breaking, birthing.

And I, the worshipper,
forgot the chant of orthodoxy,
and remembered the voice of the Lamb.

Amen. Come, Heretic Christ.

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Appendix A: Recovering a Biblical Understanding of Heresy

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1. What Is Heresy?

The word heresy comes from the Greek αἵρεσις (hairesis), meaning:

• “choice,”
• “preference,”
• “sect” or “party,”
• and later, “a body of men separating themselves from others” (see full lexicon entry).

In its earliest usage, hairesis was neutral—describing a school of thought or a group identity.
In the New Testament, it is never used to mean “false doctrine.” Instead, it refers to separation—a breaking away, a factional spirit, a communal fracture.

Heresy is not incorrect belief. Heresy is division from the Body of Christ.

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2. Four Times Hairesis Refers to the Church Itself

In the Book of Acts, hairesis is used by outsiders to describe Christians—i.e., the Bride of Christ:

• Acts 15:5 – “The sect (hairesis) of the Pharisees who believed”: Jewish believers in Jesus.
• Acts 24:5 – “Ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes”: an accusation against Paul.
• Acts 24:14 – “According to the Way, which they call a sect”: Paul affirms the faith others call heresy.
• Acts 28:22 – “This sect is spoken against everywhere”: referring to the Church at large.

These show that the early Church was itself perceived as a hairesis—a faithful faction in contrast to religious power.

From the world’s perspective, Christians were heretics.
And so we may say:
Christ is the only true heresy—because He alone divides justly between light and darkness (cf. Luke 12:51).

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3. Three Times Hairesis Is Condemned—Because It Divides Without Christ

In the epistles, hairesis is condemned not for doctrinal error, but for causing separation among believers:

• 1 Corinthians 11:19 – “There must be factions (haireseis) among you”: heresies reveal hypocrisy and fractured fellowship.
• Galatians 5:20 – “Heresies” listed among the works of the flesh: partisan division is condemned alongside envy, strife, and jealousy.
• 2 Peter 2:1 – “Destructive heresies”: teachings that separate from Christ and destroy unity.

In each case, the problem is division itself, not disagreement.

Heresy does not merely lead to division.
Heresy is division—the severing of communion through loyalty to anything other than Christ.

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4. Christ, the One True Heresy

In truth:

• Christ is the only true heresy—because He divides not by law or opinion, but by the Cross.
• He separates:
  • Light from darkness (John 3:19–21),
  • Spirit from flesh (Galatians 5:17),
  • Old creation from new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
  • He is the stone the builders rejected (Psalm 118:22), the heretic nailed to a tree.

Every other division is heresy.
Only Christ crucified can divide without sin.

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5. Conclusion

To recover a biblical understanding of heresy is to reclaim its original meaning:

• Heresy is division—and only Christ has authority to divide the body.
• Any other boundary—doctrinal, ethnic, political, institutional—is a false heresy, a separation not founded on the Cross.
• Any community that separates in Christ’s name, but not by His Spirit, is heretical in the very act of calling others heretics.

“That they may all be one… so that the world may believe.”
— John 17:21

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Appendix B. Inventing Orthodoxy

1. Council of Nicaea (325 AD) — where creedal orthodoxy was first state-enforced
2. Theodosius I’s Edict (381 AD) — making Nicene orthodoxy the imperial religion
3. The Anathemas of the Councils — formalized exclusions of “heretical” views
4. Execution of Michael Servetus (1553) — killed by Calvinists for “heresy,” echoing the legacy of exclusion
5. Walter Bauer’s Thesis — arguing that orthodoxy was the product of power, not consensus