human
Heresy, as Tertullian points out, is a word of Greek origin, and the idea which lies at the root of it is _choice_.[85] Choosing for oneself what pleases oneself, independently of other considerations;--that is the fundamental notion on which later meanings of the term are based. Thus in the Septuagint it is used of a _free-will_ offering, as distinct from what a man is bound to offer (Lev. xxii. 18; comp. 1 Macc. viii. 30). Then comes the notion of choice in reference to matters of opinion, without, however, necessarily implying that the chosen opinion is a bad one. And in this sense it is used quite as often for the party or school of thought which holds the particular opinion as for the body of opinion which is held. In this sense it is several times used in the Acts of the Apostles; as
gpt
(v. 17),
human
(xv. 5; xxvi. 5): and in this way Christianity itself was spoken of as a
gpt
or
human
; that is, a party with chosen opinions (xxiv. 5, 14; xxviii. 22). And in profane literature we find Diogenes Laertius in the second or third century speaking of ten