1. Term

The term “sect” is a loanword from Lat. secta, sequor, and in the first instance it has the neutral sense of a school, following, party, or teaching, like the Lat. haeresis, a cognate of Gk. hairesis. Derivation from seco (cut, separate, break away) is etymologically incorrect but has led to popular disparagement.

In the NT hairesis is used negatively (1 Cor. 11:18–19; Gal. 5:20; 2 Pet. 2:1) to speak of factions that produce schismata (divisions, schisms) in the church (Heresies and Schisms). As a result, the church through…