In the territory of modern-day Turkey, precisely where the country's capital, Ankara, is located, in ancient times lay Galatia, named after a union of Celtic tribes (Gauls or Galatians) who invaded the region and conquered it in the 3rd century BC. The descendants of these Celts, who had mixed with the Greeks, heard Christian preaching in the 1st century from the Apostle Paul. Thus the Church of Christ appeared there.
But after the apostle left them, these Christians began listening to other preachers who called themselves Christians but were spreading incorrect beliefs. Concerned by this, the Apostle Paul sent a letter to the Christian community of Galatia, known as the Epistle to the Galatians, which is part of the New Testament. Through this epistle, he corrects the situation, explaining in detail why the opinion they had accepted is deeply wrong, unsafe, and impermissible for Christians.
At the end, he adds: "As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" (Gal. 5:12).
And here we see the truth — very unsuitable for many modern people — that in the Church of Christ there is no pluralism of opinions. It is not the case that on dogmatic matters you may think one way, I may think another, and he may think yet another way of his own. No. In what pertains to the dogmas of the Christian faith, principle matters. Because the issue is not one of tastes, but of truth and falsehood. As the same apostle says elsewhere, for Christians there is "one Lord, one faith" (Eph. 4:5), not many different faiths contradicting each other. Only truth leads to salvation, while falsehood leads to perdition. Therefore, according to the apostle, not only can these agitators and their opinions not be tolerated, but they themselves must be removed from the Christian community.
And here, as St. Theophan the Recluse explains, the same thought is expressed that lies behind the Church's practice of anathematization. The proclamation of anathema is the same removal of heretics — who agitate Christians with their false interpretations and false ideas — from those who wish to follow the truth of Christ.
A question arises: why did the Apostle Paul himself not impose excommunication on these people? The Holy Fathers explain that by doing so, he, firstly, expresses trust in the Galatians that they, having received his admonition, will themselves remove the false teachers from their midst. And secondly, there may also be this thought: if the Apostle Paul had commanded and they had obeyed, they would have obeyed as something external. But when he made it clear that this is not simply his desire, but also how it should be in the Church of Christ, then they themselves, from their own hearts and voluntarily, will remove these heretics. He leaves this decision to them.
Because when an external authority prescribes that we remove someone, a temptation may arise to somehow continue communicating with the removed one, considering oneself more merciful than that superior who removed the troublemaker. But when you yourself make the decision that you will not communicate with this person as a brother in Christ, then there is no longer room for such temptations.
It is also noteworthy that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians themselves, explaining at length why what they were told is untrue, but he wrote nothing to their troublemakers, these false teachers. He does not attempt to admonish or correct the troublemakers themselves. As the apostle himself said, "Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted" (Titus 3:10) and cannot be persuaded by words.
Continuing further, the apostle says that "those who give themselves to heresy will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:19). And these are extremely important words, explaining the entire subsequent history of the Church, in particular, why the Holy Fathers fought against heresies so uncompromisingly, at the risk of both their lives and public peace. Because this is not simply a difference in words, but a matter of truth and falsehood. And precisely because falsehood leads not to salvation but to destruction, the Holy Fathers, like the Apostle Paul, made every effort to protect the children of the Church from various heresies.
So, remembering this, let us also cherish Orthodoxy, let us learn the faith, turn away from false teachers, and guard ourselves from ending up among those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God.