Secta

From opinion to heresy : the semantic evolution of the word « secta », from its origins to the Early Middle Ages The word "secta", originally devoid of negative connotations, long referred to a line of intellectual or moral conduct, particularly in philosophy. Christians gave the term a religious overtone by using it, adjoined to the calque "haeresis", to translate the Greek "hairèsis", used even in the New Testament to mean dissenting or heterodox groups. "Secta" suggested the deviation and indiscipline of a circle placing itself outside the Catholic Church. This semantic shift towards the modern idea of a « sect » was for a long time incidental, until the adoption of Christianity as a State religion (391-392) officialized it. Classical pluralism, which considered the variety of « sects » as a sign of intellectual health, was thus replaced by an exclusive religion imposing an indisputable dogma. "Secta" tended to become a synonym of "haeresis", and its use in a non-pejorative sense was limited to science

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