If he made a mistake and it was pointed out, then insisting on that refuted view is going against the Pesukim.
I am not that enthralled with Apikursus to think about it all day and ponder who’s in and who’s out. As I pointed out another time, people research topics that interest them. I keep on seeing this conversation, over and over again, of how far exactly may one go and not be, or be called, an Apikores. Is it really that interesting?