“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes” (Song of Sol. 2:15, KJV). Bernard of Clairvaux, perhaps the greatest preacher of his age, chose this as his text for a sermon series he gave against heresy in 1143. The vine was Christ’s church, and the little foxes were the heretics who threatened the salvation of its members.

In Bernard’s day, groups dissenting from Roman Catholicism began to appear, partly because they weren’t happy with the type of Christianity taught by the church, and partly because of the church’s call for reform. As popes railed against sins of the clergy, lay people became increasingly critical as well. By the 1100s, reformers, some for and some against the church, were gaining followings.

Those who broke away from the church were considered heretics. The concept is scriptural, designating those who substitute human opinion for the truths revealed by Christ (e.g., 2 Peter 2:1). Catholic medieval theologians, like Bernard, ...

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