In religion,heterodoxy (fromAncient Greek:héteros, 'other, another, different' +dóxa, 'popular belief') means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official ororthodox position".[1]
Heterodoxy is also an ecclesiasticaljargon term, defined in various ways by different religions and churches. For example, in some groups, heterodoxy may describe beliefs that differ from strictly orthodox views but that fall short either of formal or of materialheresy.
In theEastern Orthodox Church, the term is used primarily in reference to Christian churches anddenominations not belonging to the communion of Eastern Orthodox churches and espousing doctrines contrary to the receivedHoly Tradition.[2]
Charles Spurgeon said:
[Y]ou shall find spiritual life in every church. I know it is the notion of the bigot, that all the truly godly people belong to the denomination which he adorns. Orthodoxy is my doxy; heterodoxy is anybody else's doxy who does not agree with me.[3]
TheArabic wordghulat is used byShia Muslims for beliefs perceived as being extremely heterodox (more in line with theChristian use of the word "heresy"). In particular, the term is used to describe the beliefs of minority Muslim groups who ascribe divine characteristics to a member ofMuhammad's family (especiallyAli) or the earlycompanions of the Prophet such asSalman the Persian. The assumption is that the groups thus described have gone too far and have come to associate them with God (shirk).
Sunni and Shia Muslims see each other as heterodox, differing in practice mainly on matters of jurisprudence orfiqh, splitting historically on the matter of the succession ofAli to the caliphate byMuawiyah. A third and much smaller movement isIbadi, which differ from both of these groups on a few key points. Several ultra-orthodox groups such as theWahhabis, in turn, see themselves as the only truly orthodox groups within Islam.[4]
According toPhilip Hitti, during theUmayyad andAbbasidcaliphates there was a marked tendency among several quite unrelated heterodox groups to affiliate themselves with the Shiites, particularly the Ismailis, in a general feeling of heterodox solidarity in a Sunni-controlled empire.[5] The cause of theAlids thus became a rallying point for a diverse range of heterodox Islamic movements. The view thatAli was divine, though never mainstream within Shiism, is attested in the early centuries of Islam.
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The main schools of Indian philosophy that reject the absoluteness of theVedas, including Buddhism and Jainism, were regarded as heterodox by Hinduism.[6] In 2015, theSupreme Court of India ruled that Hinduism cannot be narrowed down to particular beliefs or doctrine, saying that it "incorporates all forms of belief without mandating the selection or elimination of any one single belief".[7]
In late 1999, legislation was created in China to outlaw "heterodox religions".[8] This was applied retroactively toFalun Gong, a spiritual practice introduced to the public in China byLi Hongzhi (李洪志) in 1992.[9]
Heterodox economics refers toschools of economic thought considered outside ofmainstream economics, referred to as orthodox economics, often represented by expositors as contrasting with or going beyondneoclassical economics.
Heterodox economics refers to the consideration of a variety of economic schools andmethodologies, which can include neoclassical or other orthodox economics in part. Heterodox economics refers to a variety of separate unorthodox approaches or schools such asinstitutional,post-Keynesian,socialist,Marxian,feminist,Georgist,Austrian,ecological, andsocial economics, among others.[10]
Steering Committee of the National Peoples' Congress (NPC) on 1 November 1999, passed a law on the suppression of heterodox religion (xiejiao).
