Material Logic Ch. 13: What is Heresy?
Why cannot society carry on without a creed?
Because a code and a character are the product of a creed.
What is the heresy that "nothing can be known about divine things" called?
Scientism or reductionism
According to established modern usage, in what two ways is the word "heresy" used?
Vaguely and diversely
The denial of a scheme _______________ is not heresy.
Wholesale
What is connoted by the term "heresy" today?
"Bygone and forgotten quarrels, an old prejudice against rational examination"
Material cause
A belief composed of elements of a larger, more coherent belief, in which a part is missing
Formal cause
A belief system with a part missing
Efficient cause
A skeptical attitude
Give a general definition of the term "creed"
A statement of religious belief
What does the author mean by a complete and self-supporting scheme?
Any system of affirmation in physics or mathematics or philosophy, etc. the various parts of which are coherent and sustain eachother
Why does the author think that heresy is important?
Because in order to understand any society, you must understand its religious system and how it could be affected by the deviations of parts of that religion, and also because Christianity is essentially wrapped up with the history of Europe.
Why is "heresy" used diversely?
Because it could mean one of fifty things
Why is a definition difficult to pinpoint today?
Because it involves mental effort and the modern mind is lazy
Why is heresy so important in understanding society?
Because society is directly tied up in religion, and religion effects the way of life and character of society. Heresy causes deviations from the original religion in society, thus it has a profound impact on the behavior of society.
Why is "heresy" used vaguely?
Because the modern mind is as averse to precision in ideas as it is enamored of precision in measurement
Human society cannot carry on without some __________.
Creed
What two examples does Belloc give of "complete and self-supporting schemes"?
Euclidean geometry and Newtonian physics
Heresy is not a __________ subject.
Fossil
Rule 1: generic and differentiating element
Generic: a heresy is a system of belief, differentiating: a system with one part missing
Define heresy.
Heresy is the dislocation of some complete and self supporting scheme by the introduction of a novel denial of some essential part therein.
Why is heresy different today than it was in the past?
It has become generalized and and appears in many forms
Why does the author say that the denying of a scheme wholesale is not heresy? What must a heresy retain in order to be a heresy?
It is the essence of heresy that it leaves standing a great part of the structure it attacks. On this account it can appeal to believers and continues to affect their lives through deflecting them from their original characters.
How is Communism a heresy?
It retains much of the original scheme but denies part of it
To the author, what is the religion that sustains England?
Patriotism
What does the author mean by warping a system by exception?
Picking out one part of the structure, and implying that scheme is marred by taking away one part of it, denying one part of it, and either leaving the void unfilled or filling it with some new affirmation
What might the body of modern heresies be called?
The Antichrist
What are other examples of modern heresies?
The attack on the indissolubility of marriage, and the affirmation that nothing can be known about divine things.
What must happen before the body of modern heresies is given a name?
The conflict between the modern anti-Christian spirit and the permanent tradition of Faith must become acute through persecution and the triumph or defeat of it.
To what people does the study of Christian heresies have a special interest?
To those who belong to the Christian and European culture
Final cause
To understand society, particularly European culture
