Overview
The Bible addresses heresy across 24 verses, drawn from the New Testament. These passages cluster most in Jude, Acts and Titus. Closely related themes include Reprobacy, Judges of Israel, Anarchy and Readings, Select. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Judas, Jesus, Moses and Cain.
Key Bible verses about heresy
New Testament
Acts
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
Titus
2 John
Jude
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. first estate: or, principality
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. strange: Gr. other
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,1161 despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
People in the Bible and heresy
Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.
In the Bible dictionary
Studying heresy for yourself
- Begin with Acts 16:20, then read the passages below in canonical order.
- Compare how Jude, Acts and Titus each treat the theme.
- Consider the lives of Judas, Jesus and Moses and how their stories intersect with it.
- Widen the study to related themes: Reprobacy, Judges of Israel, Anarchy and Readings, Select.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about heresy?
The Bible addresses heresy across 24 verses, drawn from the New Testament. These passages cluster most in Jude, Acts and Titus. Closely related themes include Reprobacy, Judges of Israel, Anarchy and Readings, Select. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Judas, Jesus, Moses and Cain.
How many Bible verses are about heresy?
The Bible references heresy in 24 verses (King James Version).
Where does the Bible first mention heresy?
In canonical order, the first of these passages is Acts 16:20: “And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,”
Which people in the Bible are associated with heresy?
Judas, Jesus, Moses, Cain and Balaam.
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