The Sweet Taste of Heresy
En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius Bishop of Antioch and disciple of John, wrote a series of letters exhorting Christians to faithful theology and piety. While urging his readers to remain faithful to the Apostolic tradition, which had been handed down by Jesus, Ignatius writes,
“I urge you, therefore – yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ – partake only of Christian food, and keep away from every strange plant, which is heresy. These people, while pretending to be trustworthy, mix Jesus with themselves – like those who administer a deadly drug with honeyed wine, which the unsuspecting victim accepts without fear, and so with fatal pleasure drinks down death.”
-The Letter of Ignatius to the Trallians
Today, mix nothing else with the gospel of Jesus Christ. To mix heresy with orthodoxy, as Ignatius argues, is like a deadly drug mixed with honeyed wine. Heresy is poison. Only the gospel can bring nourishment.