THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

her'-e-tik, her'-e-tik, he-ret'-i-kal (hairetikos): Used in Tit 3:10, must be interpreted according to the sense in which Paul employs the word "heresy" (1Co 11:19; Ga 5:20) for "parties" or "factions." According to this, the Scriptural meaning of the word is no more than "a factious man" (American Standard Revised Version), an agitator who creates divisions and makes parties. Weizsacker translates it into German ein Sektierer, "a sectarist." The nature of the offense is described in other words in 2Th 2:6,11.