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sekt (αἱÌÏεσις, haıÌresis): “Sect†(Latin, secta, from sequi, “to followâ€) is in the New Testament the translation of hairesis, from haireÌoÌ„, “to take,†“to chooseâ€; also translated “heresy,†not heresy in the later ecclesiastical sense, but a school or party, a sect, without any bad meaning attached to it. The word is applied to schools of philosophy; to the Pharisees and Sadducees among the Jews who adhered to a common religious faith and worship; and to the Christians. It is translated “sect†(, of the Sadducees; , of the Pharisees; , of the Nazarenes; , of the Pharisees; , of the Christians); also the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version and the English Revised Version margin “heresyâ€), “After the Way which they call a sect, so serve I the God of our fathers†(just as the Pharisees were “a sectâ€); it is translated “heresies†(, margin “sects,†the American Standard Revised Version “factions,†margin “Greek: 'heresies' “; the English Revised Version reverses the American Standard Revised Version text and margin; , the American Standard Revised Version “parties,†margin “heresiesâ€; the English Revised Version reverses text and margin; , “damnable heresies,†the Revised Version (British and American) “destructive heresies,†margin “sects of perditionâ€); the “sect†in itself might be harmless; it was the teaching or principles which should be followed by those sects that would make them “destructive.†Hairesis occurs in 1 Macc 8:30 (“They shall do it at their pleasure,†i.e. “choiceâ€); compare Septuagint , . See HERESY.