The Hymeanean Heresy
The Hymeanean Heresy
2 Timothy 2:15-18 English Standard Version 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
I believe the Hymeanean Heresy is due to these men attributing the resurrection of the end of the age (70AD) to the resurrection of the firstfruits at the Cross (30AD). See Matthew 27:51-53.
This was deceptive for many reasons. First, the Hymeanean Heresy denied the 70AD resurrection at the end of the age and falsely attribute it to the resurrection in 30AD.
Second, this caused the Gentile Church to be bound by the Law. The Old Covenant Law was not done away with until 70AD, so seeing the Herodian Temple standing made them believe that they would always be enslaved to religious rituals.
This was discouraging to the Gentiles and it caused division within the Church. It's safe to say that these false teachers claimed that the New Heavens and the New Earth happened at the Cross of Jesus, which was wrong.
This can be possibly linked to the other false teachings in scripture with people withholding sex from their spouses to appear Holy before God (1 Corinthians 7), abandoning marriages with non-believers, and prohibiting marriages (1 Timothy 4). Remember, at the resurrection nobody will stay married, so it is easy to see how this can be twisted into a false doctrine.
Third, it denied the 70AD wrath of God being poured out on Apostate Jerusalem/ the events of the abomination of desolation. This heresy discredited both Jesus and Paul. It was a huge threat to the Church.
The Old Covenant Law was destroyed in 70AD. Ironically, to deny a 70AD resurrection is to say we are still under the Old Covenant Law.
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