Taking up the Sword is a dangerous task. The art requires a studious mind, and a willingness to accept the proper authority. When people have tried to "use their own ideas" to interpret Scripture things have gone wrong.
That is how heresies are born.
The early Church dealt with a lot of heresies. A teacher could simply show up, claim to have some sort of knowledge about the Bible that brought him to the understanding that, for example, God is really a eight foot tall purple giraffe. Other teachers, though, would check Scripture and call this false teacher out. Everyone realized pretty quickly that there needed to be a universal answer, so councils would form to deal with hot-button issues. These ecumenical councils are key in the formation of the Christian Church in the first thousand years.
Now, not all things called heretical are heresy, and not everything accepted as Christian is sound Scripturally. So, lets first define a heresy.
Thomas Aquinas defined a heresy "as a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas." (Now, I'm not always in agreement with Aquinas, but he was a doctor of the church, and this definition is a solid one.)
To be more modern in our understanding, a heresy is a teaching that looks Christian on the outside but has none of the foundation. One of the most well known is Arianism, which taught that Jesus wasn't divine but a creation of God the Father. It's the poster child of heresies mostly due to the Nicene and Athenasian Creeds, which means almost every Christian has heard it or its teachings refuted.
The frustrating part of heresies today is the Protestant Reformation. Now, protestantism is listed as a heresy by the Roman Catholic Church, and condemned at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). While heresies are to be condemned at ecumenical councils, the meeting at Trent was not ecumenical, that is, the whole church. It was only the RCC calling out opposition, some of whom were merely schismatic not heretical. Some "reformers" did adopt heretical views (and we will, in time, be taking pot shots at them), but some did truly want to discuss issues that were leading people astray. Ironically, this means sections of the Roman Church may be labeled "heretical," though heterodox (doctrines that are non-conformal to official teachings) may be more accurate.
My intent is to call out the ones that are prevalent today, kind of a "target recognition" list. Below is a list of heresies condemned as of the Council of Chalcedon in 1054, with notes about their beliefs.
First are the Trinitarian heresies. All of these deny the Trinity, but often in specific ways.
Adoptionism
- Belief that Jesus was born a mere human, later adopted as "Son of God" at baptism
- Denied Christ is fully God
Apollinarism
- Jesus had a human body, and a "lower soul" (seat of emotions), but a divine mind
- Denied the divinity of Christ
- Denied the Two Natures of Christ
Arabici
- Belief that the soul perishes with the body at death
Arianism
- Belief that Jesus was created by God
- Denied the divinity of Christ
Docetism
- Belief that Jesus didn't have a physical body, but that His body and death on the cross were illusions
- Denied the humanity of Christ
Macedonians / Pneumatomachians
- Belief that the Holy Spirit is a creation, and servant, of God the Father and God the Son
- Denied the Holy Spirit is God
Melchisedechians
- Belief that priest Mechisedech is incarnation of "logos" (divine word) and the Holy Spirit
- Denied the Holy Spirit is God
- Denied Christ is the Word of God
Monarchianism
- Overemphasis on "invisibility" of God
- Leads to Adoptionism or Modalism (Sabelianism)
Monophysitism / Eutychianism
- Belief that Jesus's divine nature overwhelms His human one
- Denied the humanity of Christ
- Denied the Two Natures of Christ
Monothelitism
- Belief that Christ has two natures, but one will
- Denied the humanity of Christ
- Denied the divinity of Christ
- Denied the Two Natures of Christ
Nestorianism
- Belief that Christ was a natural union between Word and Flesh, not the divine Son of God
- Denied the divinity of Christ
Patripassiansim
- Belief that Father and Son are not distinct persons, and that both suffered on the cross
- Denied the individuality of the Trinity
Psilanthropism
- Belief that Jesus was never divine
- Denied the divinity of Christ
Sabelianism (more commonly called Modalism)
- Belief that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are aspects of God, not distinct persons
- Denied the unity of the Trinity
- Denied the individuality of the Trinity
Next up are the Gnostic heresies.
Gnosticism, and its heresies, are a sticky wicket at times. The various philosophies that lead to and contribute to gnosticism predate Christ's death. There are many variations of gnosticism. The most commonly held belief is the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in a material world created by an imperfect god. The gnostics taught that a "secret knowledge" was needed to transcend this imprisonment. A lot of philosophies, Buddhism being most obvious, teach this. In some ways, gnosticism is synonymous with mysticism, but not universally, especially since neither are so easy to nail down. To make matters worse, when a theologian speaks of gnosticism, usually he speaks of the Christian sects and cults that are heretical, not the other ideas that could be called gnostic. This just adds to the confusion brought about by false teachers like Bart Erhman. Guys like him believe, quite wrongly, that the "gnostic gospels" are older and more accurate than the New Testament. The sensational nature of such "research," coupled with books like "The da Vinci Code," have made gnosticism quite popular to consider as an "explanation" for Christianity. I will have to deal further with Erhman and others at a different time, since refuting them is easy but somewhat lengthy. Right now, lets just list the gnostic heresies.
Manichaeism
- Belief that good and evil are equally powerful, with evil being the material world
- Denied the Creation account
- Denies the humanity of Christ
Paulicianism, Priscillianism, Naassenes, Valentianism
- Dualistic gnostic sects
Sethian
- Belief that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was an agent of the true god to bring knowledge
- Denied Original Sin
- Denied the Fall
Ophites
- Belief that the serpent was the hero and god the villain
- Denied Original Sin
- Denied the Fall
Finally there are other early heresies that don't quite fit into these two categories. The ones that have stuck around today most frequently are one of these. They include:
Antinomianism
- Belief that Christians are free from the moral law
- Denied Original Sin
Audianism
- Belief that God literally has a human form, and Jesus death to be celebrated during Passover
Barallot
- Held all things, including wive and children, in common
Circumcellians
- Militant version of Donatists, who would attack people to provoke being "martyred"
Donatism* (may be a schism, not heresy)
- Taught that ministers had to be faultless so as to have the sacraments administered by them to be valid (initially as a reaction to those who betrayed the faith in the face of Roman persecution)
Ebionites
- Belief that Christians must follow Jewish laws and rites, and that Christ is not divine
- Denied the divinity of Christ
Euchites / Messalians
- Belief, among other things, that a state of perfection is achievable through prayer not sacrament
Iconoclasm
- Belief that icons were idols and should be destroyed
Marcionism
- Belief that Jesus was God and Paul the chief apostle, but the Hebrew God was separate and lower
- Denied the Trinity
- Somewhat overlapping with Gnosticism
Montanism
- Belief that new prophecy overrode apostles, that falling Christians could not be redeemed, that ecstatic prophecy was required
Pelagianism
- Belief that humanity wasn't tainted by original sin, and the human will can choose good or evil
- Denial of Original Sin
Semi-pelagianism
- Belief that the growing of faith was by God's grace while beginning of faith was man's will
- May be synonymous with Arminianism
- Denial of Original Sin
Of all of these, some are more prevalent than others. Iconoclasm was a big issue in the Middle Ages, and at times is today (thanks to John Calvin). Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism are rampant, as is Arianism, Modalism, and Antinomianism. A number of teachers may have incorporated Gnostic teachings as well, and the ideas of the Ebionites are very popular with the "Hebrew Roots" movement, if I'm understanding that kerfuffle correctly.
Now, I know the title says this is a "master list," but to be honest its not. There are more, and I'll probably have to amend it as I encounter. But that's not the point. The goal here is to write up little reports on what various heresies are and how to recognize them. Much like how fighter pilots are trained to recognize different aircraft and know how best to deal with them.
So that will be the next task: detailing a specific heresy and how it occurs today, as well as documenting the countermoves.
No comments:
Post a Comment