Many heretics fall into error when they encounter various passages of Christ speaking hyperbole. For example, when He declared “store not up any treasure on earth”, did He mean not any at all? Nay, but He was pressing extremely far in the opposite direction from the natural sinful human tendencies to go too far in the other direction, in order to emphasize His point, which was to be not caught up in the things of this world too much. Likewise, when He declared “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple”, He did not hereby mean that all Christians must hate their parents with a pernicious hatred. Rather, it was hyperbole, to make the point that He must come before anyone, even one’s parents or wife. Likewise when He said “judge not lest ye be judged”, obviously He did not prohibit all judging, for as King of Kings He will come to judge the entire world, and in John 7:24 He commanded us to judge righteous judgment, and the Apostle declared “do you not know that we will judge even angels? How much more the things of this life!”. So then it is clear Christ meant by this, be not quick to judge. Otherwise how could He have said “do not give what is holy to the dogs, do not throw your pearls before swine” if we could not judge who is a dog, or “ye shall know them by their fruits” if we could not judge who is a false prophet? Or again how could the Apostle declare “a man that is a heretic after the first and second warning reject” if we could not judge who is a heretic? Likewise, when Christ declared “call no man father”, He did not intend to prohibit all titles of respect, as if all were an affront to Him. Instead, He warned against men becoming too wrapped up in the externals of religion. Likewise, when He declared “resist not an evil man”, He did not mean never resist even if life was in danger, or do not resist with words. Rather, He was making the point to build patience and fortitude, which all Christians must have. And when He declared “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you,” He did not thereby mean one could actually cause earthquakes and uproot the greatest physical mountains, but rather that the man who trusts in Him will accomplish great things, in often unexpected ways. Likewise, when He said “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire”, he did not mean to literally mutilate your body, but was emphasizing the terrible reality of eternal fire for those who obey the flesh rather than the Spirit. Likewise when He said “store not up for yourselves treasures on earth”, He did not mean this literally but hyperbolically, since the Apostle could not have commanded the collection from the stores of the faithful in 1 Corinthians 9:11 or remain in the houses and possessions held by the disciples when he went from city to city, nor could he declare masters did not have to release their owned slaves, by all accounts the most oppressive of possessions. The Pontiffs have often had to fight against heretics that took these and similar verses literally, and departed from the wise instruction and teaching of the fathers in communion with Rome. While it promoted evangelical perfections in those who were called to such, not all were required to abide by these things literally. An example of heretics who misinterpreted these matters and destroyed many souls thereby are the Dulcinians.
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