How do heretics differ in their approach to the Holy Bible?

First: they do not enter by the door: St. John Chrysostom says, “Observe the marks of a robber; first, that he does not enter openly; secondly, not according to the Scriptures, for this is the, ‘ not by the door ’ (John 10:1–6). Here also He refers to those who had been before, and to those who should be after Him, Antichrist and the false Christs, Judas and Theudas (Acts 5:36), and whatever others there have been of the same kind.”¹³⁶

And regarding the saying of Christ that the thief “ enters not by the door ” (John 10:1), Chrysostom says, “And with good cause He calls the Scriptures ‘a door,’ for they bring us to God, and open to us the knowledge of God, they make the sheep, they guard them, and suffer not the wolves to come in after them. For Scripture, like some sure door, bars the passage against the heretics, placing us in a state of safety as to all that we desire, and not allowing us to wander; and if we undo it not, we shall not easily be conquered by our foes. By it we can know all, both those who are, and those who are not, shepherds. On which account also He said to the Jews, ‘Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me’ (John 5:39); and brought forward Moses, and called him and all the Prophets witnesses, for ‘all,’ says He, ‘who hear the Prophets shall come to Me;’ and, ‘Had you believed Moses, you would have believed Me’ … Well did He say, ‘climbs up,’ not ‘enters in,’ since to climb is the act of a thief intending to overleap a wall, and who does all with danger.”¹³⁷

Second: they misuse the Holy Bible: St. Clement of Alexandria spoke of the heretics’ misuse of the Bible, saying:

“And if those also who follow heresies venture to avail themselves of the prophetic Scriptures; in the first place they will not make use of all the Scriptures, and then they will not quote them entirely … But, selecting ambiguous expressions, they wrest them to their own opinions , gathering a few expressions here and there; not looking to make sense, but making use of the mere words. For in almost all the quotations they make, you will find that

134 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 31 (see the text of Paul Bedjan and Dr. Fr. Behnam Sony).

135 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 154, IV on Sodom (Genesis 19).

136 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 59.2 (NPNF I/14:211) amended.

137 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 59.2 (NPNF I/14:211) amended.

they attend to the names alone, while they alter the meanings … not using the quotations they adduce, according to their true nature.”¹³⁸

“Although they speak of one God and though they sing the praises of Christ, they speak without accuracy, not in accordance with truth; for they discover another God, and receive Christ not as the prophecies deliver . But their false dogmas, while they oppose the conduct that is according to the truth, are against us”.¹³⁹

“Wherefore the Scriptures have conceived for gnostics [i.e., Christians with true knowledge]; but the heretics, not having learned them, dismissed them as not having conceived.”¹⁴⁰

“And let him who has once received the Gospel, even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation, not turn back, like Lot's wife, as is said; and let him not go back either to his former life, which adheres to the things of sense, or to heresies.”¹⁴¹

Third: They are preoccupied with foolish disputes that waste time and miss the point: St. John Chrysostom says, “we should not be occupied with questions, since if we question, it is not faith; for faith sets reasoning at rest. But why then does Christ say, ‘Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you’ (Matt. 7:7)?; and, ‘Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life?’ (John 5:39). The seeking there is meant of prayer and vehement desire, and He bids ‘search the Scriptures,’ not to introduce the labors of questioning, but to end them, that we may ascertain and settle their true meaning, not that we may be ever questioning, but that we may have done with it.”¹⁴²