| Summary: | This study is an attempt at understanding how and why the New Testament responds to false teaching as it does. It will be limited in scope to a survey of Galatians, 1 Timothy, and 1 John as samples of the New Testament response to false teaching. Each canonical document will be examined on its own to discover each particular author's strategies for and aims in responding to false teaching. The findings from the sample documents will be integrated and New Testament patterns of response to false teaching will be proposed. In the end, it will be shown that, in responding to false teaching, the New Testament asserts authority over opponents, identifies opponents' teaching as heretical, emphasizes the serious threat posed by heresy, promotes Christian orthodoxy, encourages the church to choose fidelity and encourages the church to remove false teachers. These findings should form the beginning of a more complete study of the New Testament response to false teaching, and as canonical documents of the Christian church, this study should inform the church in its response to heresy.
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