A heresy is a theological doctrine, system, or belief that is determined to be false and incompatible with official church dogma. The development of official church dogma has therefore been highly influenced by debates over which beliefs are heretical and which beliefs are not heretical. A close examination of Christian creeds reveals that much of their content exists to renounce specific heresies. Friedreich Schleiermacher believes that there are four natural heresies that all Christians should avoid: the Docetic, the Nazarean, the Manichean, and the Pelagian (explained below). However, there were many more heretical debates in the pre-Reformation era, the most important of which are:
Nazarenes. (~40–300). The Nazarenes were a sect of Christianity that believed that Christ was the divine Messiah, but also insisted that strictly following all of the OT Law and ceremonies was necessary for salvation. Believers in this are also called Judaizers or Judaizing Christians. This was a major issue in the early church, as many maintained that converts to Christianity were required to be circumcised. Paul, who was evangelizing primarily to non-circumcised gentiles, convened the Council of Jerusalem to address the issue. The Council ruled that converts were free from most of the requirements of the Law (including circumcision) but did retain a few. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from acts of sexual immorality” (Acts 15:28-29). The early heretical sect called the Nazarenes is not to be confused with the modern Church of the Nazarene, an American protestant denomination emerging out of the Wesleyan holiness movement.
Gnosticism (~100–200). Gnosticism is a dualistic belief system where spiritual things are good and material things are evil. Everyone has a spark of good within their evil material bodies and requires special knowledge from the spiritual world to be aware of this good. Gnosticism therefore emphasizes the need of special knowledge to obtain salvation (gnosis=knowledge). Not all Gnostics were Christian, but the Christian form of Gnosticism taught that Christ came to earth in human appearance to teach humanity how to reunite with God.
Adoptionism (~100–200). Adoptionism, also called Dynamic Monarchianism, is a heretical early Christian nontrinitarian theological doctrine which holds that Jesus was adopted as the Son of God at his baptism (or perhaps at His resurrection, or at His ascension). Adoptionism was most likely followed by Christians that only had access to the writings of Paul, who does not mention the virgin birth (nor does the Gospel of Mark). Acts 13:33 and Heb 5:5 have also been used to defend adoptionism. They both quote Ps 2:7, which reads, “You are My Son, Today I have fathered You.” Adoptionism was rejected as a heresy since it contradicts the orthodox doctrine that Christ is eternally divine and co-existent with the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Docetism (~100–325). Docetism is the heretical teaching that Jesus’s body was either an illusion or a phantom. It is a form of Gnosticism, which teaches that things in the spiritual world are good but things in the material world are evil. Christ, being all good, could therefore not assume a material body. A corollary of Docetism is that God cannot and did not suffer, as there was no material body to suffer and die. Docetism was ruled as heretical at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and again at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Ebionitism (~50–200). The Ebionites were an early Jewish sect that rejected the divinity and virgin birth of Jesus. They lived a voluntary life of poverty and focused on a life of obedience to both the Law of Moses and to the moral teachings of Jesus. They viewed Jesus as a normal human who perfectly fulfilled the Law of Moses and was therefore adopted by God as His Son, thereby fulfilling the messianic prophesies of the OT. The Ebionite movement gradually diminished after the failed Bar Kokhba revolt in 136 resulted in complete Jewish defeat.
Marcionism (~145–400). Sometime between 85 and 110, Marcion of Sinope was born as the son of a bishop. Marcion developed some unorthodox beliefs and was excommunicated by his father around 137. Marcion believed that the God of the OT was not the same God as the God of the NT. The former, referred to by Marcion as the Demiurge, was legalistic and vengeful while the latter was loving and forgiving. The Church of Rome condemned Marcion’s teachings in 144. Undeterred, Marcion established his own church which spread quickly and rivaled the orthodox church for several hundred years. Marcion created the first semblance of a New Testament, which consisted of ten letters of Paul (excluding the Pastorals) and a modified version of Luke. Part of the orthodox church’s motivation to develop their own NT canon was in response to Marcionism.
Montanism (~150–600). Montanism is named for its founder, Montanus. Montanus believed that he and his woman assistants, Prisca and Maximilla, were receiving new prophesies that went beyond the teachings of the Jesus and the Apostles. This movement spread widely and was referred to as the New Prophesy. Around 177, Apollinarius, Bishop of Hierapolis, presided over a synod which condemned the New Prophecy. Montanism was thereafter generally considered heretical by orthodox Christianity, but the movement persisted for many hundreds of years.
Monarchism/Modalism/Sabellianism (~100–325). Monarchism is the non-trinitarian belief that God is a single Person rather than three co-eternal Persons of the same substance. Modalism is a form of Monarchism where the single Person of God reveals himself through different modes such as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some monarchists argue that since there is only one God, God the Father must have suffered on the cross. This was referred to as Patripassionism by the Latin Fathers (Pater=Father; passio=suffering). It was similarly referred to as Sabellianism by the Greek Fathers, after Sabellius, who taught this in the third century. These beliefs were condemned as heretical at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which affirmed the eternal triune nature of God.
Manichaeism (~250–350). Manichaeism is considered a Christian heresy but was also a stand-alone religion in Persia. It was founded by Mani in the third century, who viewed himself as the last in a line of prophets that included Adam, Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus. Manichaeism is a form of dualistic Gnosticism that believes the world is a fusion of spirit and matter, the original principles of good and evil. The fallen soul is trapped in the evil, material world and can reach the transcendent world only by way of the spirit. At death, the soul of a righteous person returns to Paradise. The soul of a person who persisted in things of the flesh is condemned to rebirth.
Arianism (~300–325). Arianism was one of the most impactful heresies in Christian history. It was first taught by Arius and held that Christ was created by the Father and is therefore not co-eternal with the Father (although this creative act occurred outside of time and before the heavens and the earth were created). Arianism argues that the Bible teaches that Christ was begotten by the Father and therefore cannot be co-eternal with the Father. The vigorous Arianism debate, famously fought by Athanasius of Alexandria, focused on whether Christ was homoousios (of the same substance of the Father) or homoiousios (of the similar substance of the Father). Arianism was condemned as heretical at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 as it denies the eternal nature of the triune God. Although the Council of Nicaea was called by Emperor Constantine, Constantine remained sympathetic to Arianism. Many believe that Constantine was baptized just before his death by the Arian priest Eusebius of Nicomedia.
Apollinarianism (~350–81). Apollinarianism is the belief that Christ incarnate had a human body, a human soul, and a divine mind, but not a human mind. These beliefs were first developed and taught by Apollinaris of Laodicea after the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicaea asserted both the full divinity and the full humanity of Christ but did not explain how a single entity can be both infinite and finite. Apollinaris’s explanation was that this required Christ having a human body with human feelings but without a human mind. Apolinarianism was deemed heretical in 381 at the First Council of Constantinople, which concluded that Apolinarianism denies the full humanity of Christ.
Pelagianism (~390–418). This heresy was named after Pelagius, a British theologian. His teachings deny original sin and stress the essential goodness of human nature and the freedom of the human will. God commands us not to sin, and God would not command the impossible. Therefore, it must be possible to live a sin-free life. Pelagianism was vigorously attacked by Augustine, who believed that mankind was incapable of doing anything good unless enabled by God. Pelagianism was decisively condemned at the 418 Council of Carthage.
Monophysitism (~400–451). Monophysitism is the heretical doctrine that Christ Incarnate has a single divine nature and did not have a human nature. It is sometimes called Eutychianism, but Eutychianism typically refers to Christ incarnate having a single nature that is a mixture of human and divine. Monophysitism was vigorously opposed by Pope Leo I, and was declared heretical at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Nestorianism (~400–451). This heresy was named after Nestorius, who was a patriarch of Constantinople. It holds that Christ incarnate existed as two separate persons, the man Jesus and the divine Son of God. Nestorius was attacked for his teachings by many prominent church leaders including Cyril of Alexandria, who issued 12 anathemas against him. Nestorius and his teachings were eventually condemned as heretical at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Anabaptism (1527–present). Anabaptism started as a Protestant movement that did not recognize the validity of infant baptism. People who had been baptized as infants needed to be baptized again. Anabaptism is derived from the Greek words ana (again) and baptizō (baptism). The Anabaptists were not received well by most governments. Infant baptism was often associated with citizenship and denying its validity could be interpreted as treason. The Anabaptists first recorded their beliefs in 1527 in the Schleitheim Confession. Its author, Michael Sattler, was consequently arrested and executed. From this point forward, the Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by both Roman Catholics and Protestants alike. Today, the largest surviving Anabaptist groups include the Amish, the Hutterites, and the Mennonites.
Socinianism (~1550–1700). This heresy was developed by Lelio and Fausto Sozzini, Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians. It was further developed among the Polish Brethren in the seventeenth century and was taught by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania. Socinianism is a nontrinitarian Christian belief system that rejects the pre-existence of Christ and holds that Jesus did not exist until he was conceived as a human being. In 1658, a decree from the Holy Roman Empire ordered the Socinians to either conform to Roman Catholic doctrine or be forced into exile or death.
Christian Marxism (~1850–present). Marxism in its pure form is atheistic and therefore incompatible with any form of Christianity, including heretical Christianity. However, many of the elements of Marxism that have been advanced by liberal Christian theologians have been characterized by conservative theologians (i.e., those holding to the Bible’s authority and infallibility) as heretical. The socialistic aspects of Marxism replace the Gospel with the Communist Manifesto, the fallen nature of mankind with capitalistic power structures, redemption through Christ with redemption through the uprising of the proletariat, and the Kingdom of God with social happiness through an equal distribution of wealth.[i] The Marxist goal of human redemption through collective human effort has been characterized as a revived form of Pelagianism, as it believes in the inherent goodness of human nature that can be inhibited by, among other things, social institutions.[ii] The Marxist belief in the goodness of human nature has also been characterized as a revived form of Gnosticism, which denies that man is a fallen creature and therefore has no need to repent of sin and develop virtue.[iii]
[i] For a more complete description of Marxism as a secular replacement for Christianity, see Robert Schwarzwalder’s “Marx’s New Religion,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 62, no. 4, Dec. 2019: 775-788.
[ii] For a more complete description of Marxism as a form of the Pelagian heresy, see William Oddie’s “Christian Socialism: An Old Heresy?” Crisis Magazine, Oct. 1984.
[iii] For a more complete description of Marxism as a form of Gnosticism, see Nicholas Healy’s “Socialism: A Christian Heresy?” New Oxford Review, vol. 87, no. 3, Apr. 2020: 20-24.
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