2.6. What is pertinacity, and why is it essential in judging heresy?

2 - Doctrine Heresy and the Preservation of the Faith
Written By Steve John

Pertinacity means stubborn, willful persistence in rejecting Catholic truth, even after being shown that the belief contradicts Church teaching.

It is what distinguishes:

  • Material heresy: when someone holds a false idea unknowingly or innocently,

  • From formal heresy: when someone knowingly and obstinately refuses to accept a defined dogma.

Only formal heresy separates a person from the Church and results in the loss of grace and membership in the Mystical Body of Christ.

Steve John
Previous

2.5. What is heresy, and how is it different from error?
Next

2.7. What happens to a person who becomes a formal heretic? Are they still part of the Church?