I recall reading a quote in some patristic document, in which the Church Father said (basically) that lay people who were under a heretical bishop would be condemned, but that they would be condemned more lightly if they were simply following the path given to them by their fathers. The jist of the passage was that if people went "searching for the truth," and ended up in heresy, they would have a harsher judgment than those who just followed a heresy that had been handed to them by their fathers. I was almost positive that it was in The Commonitory by St. Vincent of Lerins, but I read it again last night and didn't see it there. Any suggestions as to where to look next?
Help With Patristic Quote?
Re: Help With Patristic Quote?
Justin Kissel wrote:I recall reading a quote in some patristic document, in which the Church Father said (basically) that lay people who were under a heretical bishop would be condemned, but that they would be condemned more lightly if they were simply following the path given to them by their fathers.
Total absolute nonsense!!! Any "church father" who said this was not speaking with the love of Christ in his heart.
Think about it. For the first 1500 years of the church (at least) MOST of the faithful were uneducated peasants who did not have the knowledge of theology to make any type of informed decision. And even if they did, they certainly did NOT have the resources to pick up and move to another bishop's jurisdiction. Most people were born and died in the same village!
This type of stuff [irritates me - EDITED BY MODERATOR]! I refuse to believe that a God so full of Love for his creation that He would sacrifice himself for us would condemn someone for being unlucky enough to be born under the wrong Bishop.
How pathetic this makes our God !
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Justin Kissel
Justin Kissel wrote:I'm sorry that you struggle with this issue (paradox) Tom, I certainly didn't mean to evoke such a reaction.
No Justin, you misunderstand. I am NOT struggling with this issue; it is a lie.
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Anastasios
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For once, I agree with Tom. :shock: 
We need to read this stuff in context. If you are under a heretical bishop and don't know it--becuase you are LAZY and not willing to test his teaching as the New Testament instructs us, then fine, you will be condemned.
But if you are really ignorant (some might say BLISSFULLY ignorant) of church politics and divisions, and you live in a time when the teachings have not been hammerd out officially yet, I have serious doubts God would condemn you.
Of course God can do whatever he wishes. Perhaps though Tom and I are misreading Justin's point. We will ALL be judged, so when he says "more harshly" for willful error, that could be true in the sense that being under a heretical bishop would harm your spiritual progress since you would be outside of the Church. This I can accept as in line with what other fathers have said about mercy, God's providence, etc. But if we are saying that in either case the layman is going to be judged/condemned to hell, but one is going to be better off in hell than the other, I would say this is false.
Sorry to ramble, it's late and I am trying to figure this out.
Anastasios