Christians also can be divided into two broad groups. The first of those is heterodox, which comes from the Greek and simply means "different belief" or "different praise". Another, more historic word for this group is heretic. Heretic is not a pejorative term (although it has been used improperly as one), but merely descriptive. Heretic derives from the Greek hairesis, meaning "I choose," and describes those Christians that choose out of the whole Faith what they prefer, and ignore (at best) the rest of the Faith. This category includes all protestants, such as Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Pentecostals, and so on.
The opposite of heretic is catholic, a word that comes from the Greek kata holon, "according to the whole." The opposite of heterodox is orthodox, a word that also comes from the Greek, and means "right belief," or "right praise." A Christian that accepts the whole Faith is Catholic, or Orthodox.
Step 4 of 8
Send
comments or questions to Saint Mary's
Web Master