[The_Reader_David]

Since, as an Orthodox Christian, I certainly regard the "Roman Church" -- I'd prefer Latin church, following the usage of the Orthodox Fathers at the time of Rome's schism, since we Orthodox have a parallel claim to Romanity, having gotten the Empire, while they get the city -- as having no special authority with regard to the Scriptures (and indeed since their schism from the Church, as having no authority).

However, while the Patriarchate of Rome was Orthodox, (we can dispute dates, but certainly before 1009 which is the earliest date at which Rome could have been dropped from the Diptychs of Constantinople), as part of the universal Church, they had a say in the selection of the canon, and like authority to all the other patriarchates and the local churches outside the Empire as regards the interpretation of the Scriptures and their application to the life of the Church. Of course, it was within the Patriarchate of Rome that the local Council of Carthage in 419 set down the canon of Scripture, which was subsequently given universal force by the disciplinary session of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, meeting in Constantinople, in 692. Of course, this was not because of any special authority, but because the Marcionite heresy, which roiled the Patriarchate of Rome and had set down its own canon of Scripture, called for a decisive refutation on all points, so fixing the Church's own canon of Scripture had become an issue of local importance.

The Latins, with their peculiar theory of papal authority, regard the canon as having been fixed in 419, since the Acta of Carthage received the assent of the local patriarch, the Pope of Rome.

And the correct word is heretical -- it comes from Greek roots meaning going one's own way. I would note that only heretics regard Origen as a "Father of the Church". (Resurrected in spherical bodies???!!! Anathema!)

[:-)===== (Orthodox monastic smiley)

[BroJoeK]

Thanks for the great history lesson!
In the contest between Greek and Latin, my sympathies go with underdog Greeks, and among Greeks with the old iconoclasts.

Of course, any church has a right to declare which books belong in its canon.
As for a proper name for those who disagree with a particular church’s choices, I would relegate the word “heresy” — with its ancient memories of wars, mass murders and burnings at the stake — to history.
“Unorthodox” is a perfectly accurate word those who disagree with the majority of believers.

North America was by and large founded by such people, and I firmly believe they should be treated with the highest respect — so “unorthodox” not “heretics”.

:-)