I would say that heresy has a number of characteristics: First, there is a departure from the truth of Scripture and the apostolic faith. Second, it is deceptive, in that it often has a grain of truth to it or something right, but is ultimately false and misleading. Third, it is divisive, in the sense of causing factions and frictions in the churches over doctrine. Fourth, in terms of ethics, it could be debauched, in the sense of propagating libertine attitudes and various immoralities, or it could