This adjective derives from the noun for "sect" or "party" (hairesis) and means factious, divisive, or given to creating heretical divisions. Paul uses it in Titus 3:10 instructing Titus to warn and then reject a "divisive person." Classical usage emphasized the ability to choose or belonging to a philosophical school, but early Christian usage developed the negative sense of one who creates factions or promotes false teaching. The concern is not for those who hold different opinions but for those who actively cause schisms and divisions in the church through their sectarian spirit and heterodox teaching.