Question: Are heretics saved? Do Arius, Pelagius, et all have the hope of salvation? Or are they condemned to hell?

Nick

Answer: Dear Nick,

The question of salvation is not one which Plain Truth Ministries addresses with absolute dogmatism. Judgment belongs to God. He has not assigned any human being this task, nor asked our assistance.

Institutional Christianity has not always expressed love and concern, but all too often judgmentalism and condemnation. Jesus was clear about how he felt about religious judgmentalism, but that has not changed the fact that we humans continue to battle such attitudes. The fact that Christians have made mistakes does not invalidate Christianity.

One does not automatically fall into the category of judge, jury and executioner by simply affirming truth. For Christians, there is such a thing as truth and error. It is possible to be discerning without being self-righteous, zealous for truth without being arrogant.

We do not know what was in the heart of men like Arius and Pelagius, but we know God does. All we can judge is the impact and effect of their teaching, not their hearts, not their intent, not their sincerity. The fruit of their teaching has not been good, has hurt and had negative impact in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. We must not neglect to point that out, even when some may accuse us of being self-righteous, hypocritical, etc. Pitfalls, mistakes and errors must be shared with others, and the basic motivation comes from what some call the Golden Rule, common to many world religions, articulated by Jesus in Matthew 7 – "Do to others what you would have them do to you….."

Hoping this may help to respond to the spirit of your question,

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht