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Historical examination of heresies focuses on a mixture of theological, spiritual, and political underpinnings to explain and describe their development. For example, accusations of heresy have been leveled against a group of believers when their beliefs challenged, or were seen to challenge, Church authority. Some heresies have also been doctrinally based, in which a teaching were deemed to be inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of orthodox dogma. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the role of Creed s in the definition of orthodox beliefs. Orthodoxy has been in the process of self-definition for centuries, defining itself in terms of its faith and changing or clarifying beliefs in opposition to people or doctrines that are perceived as incorrect. The reaction of the orthodox to heresy has also varied over the course of time; many factors, particularly the institutional, judicial, and doctrinal development of the Church, have shaped this reaction. Heresy remained an officially punishable offense in Roman Catholic nations until the late 18th century. In Spain, heretics were prosecuted and punished during the Counter-Enlightenment movement of the restoration of the monarchy there after the Napoleonic Era. The use of the term '' and the ''character'' of debates over Ordination Of Women and gay priests. Popular imagination relegates "heresy" to the Middle Ages , when the Church's power in Europe was at its height, but the case of the scholar and humanist Giordano Bruno was not the last execution for heresy. ETYMOLOGY The word heresy comes from ''haeresis'', a Latin transliteration of the Greek word meaning ''choosing'', ''choice'', ''course of action'', or in an extended sense ''school of thought''.Oxford English Dictionary The word appears in the New Testament and was appropriated by the Catholic Church to mean a sect or belief that threatened the unity of Christian doctrine. ''Heresy'' is frequently regarded as a departure from '' Orthodoxy ''. EMERGENCE OF CREEDS AND CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY Urgent concerns with the uniformity of belief and practice have characterized Christianity from the outset. In the three centuries between the crucifixion and Nicaea, the religion was at times an illegal, underground movement spreading within the urban centers of the Roman Empire, a process bolstered through merchants and travel through the empire. The process of establishing orthodox Christianity was set in motion by a succession of different interpretations of the teachings of Christ being taught after the . The reason for this demand was to insure that new converts would not be followers of teachings that conflicted with widely accepted views of Christianity such as Gnosticism and other movements that later were considered heretical by church leaders. These statements of faith became the framework for ecumenical creeds such as the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed . It was against these creeds that techings were judged in order to determine orthodoxy and to establish teachings as heretical. The first ecumenical and comprehensive statement of belief, the Nicene Creed , was formulated in the First Council Of Nicaea in 325. EARLY CHRISTIAN HERESIES See Also: Early Christianity In the middle of the 2nd century, three unorthodox groups of Christians adhered to a range of doctrines that divided the Christian communities of Rome: the teacher Marcion , the Pentecostal outpourings of ecstatic Christian prophets of a Continuing Revelation , in a movement that was called " Montanism " because it had been initiated by Montanus and his female disciples, and the Gnostic teachings of Valentinus . Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullian 's ''Prescription Against Heretics'' (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus ' '' Against Heresies '' (''ca'' 180, in five volumes), written in Lyon after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius Of Antioch and Polycarp Of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the '' Epistle Of Barnabas '' accepted by many Christians as part of Scripture in the 2nd century, warned about Mixing Judaism With Christianity , as did other writers, leading to decisions reached in the First Ecumenical Council , which was convoked by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, in response to further disruptive polemical controversy within the Christian community, in that case Arianist disputes over the nature of the Trinity. In the first Christian millennium, the execution of heretics was very rare (at least according to the historical sources). John Coffey (2000), ''Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558-1689'',p.23 Suppression of heresies One of the roles of bishops, and the purpose of many Christian writings, was to refute Heresies . The New Testament itself speaks of the importance of maintaining orthodox doctrine and refuting heresies, showing the antiquity of the concern.e.g. ; ; ; , and the Epistle of James in general. During those first three centuries, Christianity was effectively outlawed by requirements to venerate the Roman emperor and Roman gods. Consequently, when the Church labelled its enemies as heretics and cast them out of its congregations or severed ties with dissident churches, it remained without the power to persecute them. However, those called "heretics" were also called a number of other things (e.g. "fools," "wild dogs," "servants of Satan"), so the word "heretic" had negative associations from the beginning, and intentionally so. Before 325 AD, the "heretical" nature of some beliefs was a matter of much debate within the churches. After 325 AD, some opinion was formulated as dogma through the ''canons'' promulgated by the councils. Each phrase in the Nicene Creed , which was hammered out at the Council Of Nicaea , addresses some aspect that had been under passionate discussion and closes the books on the argument, with the weight of the agreement of the over 300 bishops in attendance. had invited all 1800 bishops of the Christian church (about 1000 in the east and 800 in the west). The number of participating bishops cannot be accurately stated; Socrates Scholasticus and Epiphanius of Salamis counted 318; Eusebius of Caesarea, only 250. In spite of the agreement reached at the council of 325 the Arians who had been defeated dominated most of the church for the greater part of the fourth century, often with the aid of Roman emperors who favored them. In the East, the successful party of Cyril cast out Nestorius and his followers as heretics and Collected And Burned His Writings . Irenaeus (c. 130–202) was the first to argue that his "orthodox" position was the same faith that Jesus gave to the Apostles , and that the identity of the apostles, their successors, and the teachings of the same were all well-known public knowledge. This was therefore an early argument supported by Apostolic Succession . Irenaeus first established the doctrine of four gospels and no more, with the synoptic gospels interpreted in the light of '' John ''. Irenaeus' opponents, however, claimed to have received secret teachings from Jesus via other apostles which were not publicly known. Gnosticism is predicated on the existence of such hidden knowledge, but brief references to private teachings of Jesus have also survived in the canonic Scripture as did warning by the Christ that there would be False Prophet s or false teachers. Irenaeus' opponents also claimed that the wellsprings of divine inspiration were not dried up, which is the doctrine of Continuing Revelation . The Spanish ascetic Priscillian Of Avila was the first person to be executed for heresy, only sixty years after the First Council of Nicaea, in 385 . He was executed at the orders of Emperor Magnus Maximus , over the procedural objections of bishops Ambrose Of Milan and Martin Of Tours , who claimed the Churches' right to punish its own. Although Priscillian of Avila was the first person to be executed for heresy there are instances of violence between Christians in the first centuries caused by disagreements of correct doctrine. Christology A number of the beliefs the Catholic Church has come to regard as heretical have to do with Christology , that is, with the nature of Jesus Christ and the relationship between Christ and God the Father. The Orthodox teaching, as it developed, is that Christ was fully divine and at the same time fully human, and that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal. This position was challenged in the fourth century by Arius . As a result, the Nicene Creed was adopted in 325. Athanasius , the primary opponent of Arius, was also the first to list the 27 books we have in the New Testament circa 367, but disputes continued; see Biblical Canon . The earliest Christian heresies were generally Christological in nature, that is, they denied either Christ's (eternal) divinity or humanity. For example, Docetism held that Jesus' humanity was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation; whereas Arianism held that Jesus was not eternally divine. Most of these groups were dualistic, maintaining that reality was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter, usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represented in the unified divine and human natures of Christ.R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz, ''Medieval Worlds'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 58 Recent views on heresy in early Christianity The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Walter Bauer proposed a thesis that in earliest Christianity, Orthodoxy and Heresy do not stand in relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many regions heresy is the original manifestation of Christianity. Scholars such as Pagels and Ehrman have built on Bauer's original thesis. Drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians , Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics , they see Early Christianity as fragmented and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies.1 The Pattern of Christian Truth, written by . In The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1, Origins to Constantine Series: Cambridge History of Christianity by Frances M. Young ISBN-13: 9780521812399 Published February 2006 History of Christianity Volume 1, Origins to Constantine, Walter Bauer hypothesis was addressed again this time in the introduction of the book it states each article addressed the uniqueness of each early Christian community but stated that the tenets of the mainstream or catholic church insured that each early Christian community did not remain isolated. The Russian philosopher or sobornost was the original church's response (through the patristic works of the early fathers) to the idea that there where multiple orthodoxies and no real heresies. LIST OF CHRISTIAN HERESIES Christological Institutional Popular heresies Textual heresies Other heresies Controversial groups Gnosticism See Also: Gnosticism Valentinius Early in the Christian era, '' "THE TEXT: (BOOK I) THE HERETICS PREFACE To Irenaeus "Unhappy men, who want to be some kind of false prophets, but deny the gift of prophecy to the Church, suffering what those do who, because of those who come in insincerity, separate themselves from the fellowship of the brethren". Greek philosophers in the tradition of Plato were also outspoken against the gnostics and considered them heretical to Hellenic or Platonic philosophy akin to Sophistry . Giving criticism of the sectarian gnostics like those later applied to the Glycon cult.The Enneads by Plotinus The Second Ennead II.9 - "Against Those That Affirm The Creator of the Kosmos and The Kosmos Itself to be Evil: [Generally Quoted as "Against the Gnostics" (see Neoplatonism And Gnosticism ). According to Stephen L. Harris , the Gospel Of John both includes gnostic elements and refutes gnostic beliefs. It presents a dualistic universe of light and dark, spirit and matter, good and evil, much like the gnostic(or Essene) accounts. Instead of escaping the material world, however, Jesus bridges the spiritual and physical worlds. John also equates eternal life with knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (17:3). The Gospel Of Thomas has some gnostic elements but lacks the full gnostic cosmology. The scene in John with "doubting Thomas," in which he ascertains that the resurrected Jesus is physical, refutes the gnostic idea that Jesus returned to spirit form after death. The story might be an attempt to undermine the gospel of Thomas. Christian opposition to gnostic ideas appear in early Christian writings (cf. 1 John , Book Of Revelation (see the Nicolaitanes ) and the '' Letter Of Ignatius To The Smyrnaeans '') and many church fathers and Christian saints (see Anti-Gnosticism stub). Some scholars believe that there were at least three distinct divisions within the Christian movement of the 1st century: the '' Adversus Haereses '' 1.4 and 5. Valentinius had been in Rome, and there is nothing improbable in the presence of Valentinians there in the time of Plotinus. But the evidence in the Life ch.16 suggests that the Gnostics in Plotinus's circle belonged rather to the other group called Sethians on Archonties , related to the Ophites or Barbelognostics: they probably called themselves simply "Gnostics." Gnostic sects borrowed freely from each other, and it is likely that Valentinius took some of his ideas about Sophia from older Gnostic sources, and that his ideas in turn influenced other Gnostics. The probably Sethian Gnostic library discovered at Nag Hammadi included Valentinian treatise: ep. Puech (Michelle Puech), Le pp. 162-163 and 179-180. End of Section 9'' Marcionism See Also: Marcion Marcionism In 144, the Church in Rome expelled . One must keep in mind that we only know of Marcion through his critics and they considered him a major threat to the form of Christianity that they knew. John Knox (the modern writer, not to be confused with John Knox the Protestant Reformer) in ''Marcion and the New Testament: An Essay in the Early History of the Canon'' (ISBN 0-404-16183-9) was the first to propose that Marcion's Gospel may have preceded Luke's Gospel and Acts. {Link without Title} Marcion argued that Christianity should be solely based on Christian Love . He went so far as to say that Jesus’ mission was to overthrow Demiurge -- the fickle, cruel, despotic God of the Old Testament -- and replace Him with the Supreme God of Love whom Jesus came to reveal, see also Antithesis Of The Law . Marcion was labeled a gnostic by Irenaeus .Irenaeus "Detection and Overthrow of the False Knowledge" chapter XXVII.-Doctrines of Cerdo and Marcion. Irenaeus' labeled Marcion this because of Marcion expressing this core gnostic belief (see the Sethian and Ophites gnostics), that the creator God of the Jews and the Old Testament was Satan, the devil, the cause of evil to mankind. Or in essence that the Jews, Christians (and anyone who worshipped the creator of the material world the Pagans too) was worshiping the devil. This position, he said, was supported by the ten Epistles of Paul that Marcion also accepted. His writing had a profound effect upon the development of Christianity and the Canon . Montanism See Also: Montanism In the 2nd century, Montanism , named after its founder Montanus, spread across the Roman Empire . It even boasted Tertullian as a convert. The sect's ecstasy, Speaking In Tongues , and other details are similar to those found in Pentecostalism . Its believers followed the beliefs of chastity, including forbidding remarriage. Martyrs were emphasized in this Christian heresy, as Montanus preached that if a follower died as a martyr, he was forgiven of all his sins in his death and sacrifice. CATHOLIC UNDERSTANDING Heresy is defined by Thomas Aquinas as "a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the Faith of Christ, corrupt its Dogma s." The Catholic Church teaches that its doctrines are the authoritative understandings of the faith taught by Christ and that the Holy Spirit protects the Church from falling into error when teaching these doctrines. To deny one or more of those doctrines, therefore, is to deny the faith of Christ. Heresy is both the non orthodox belief itself, and the act of holding to that belief. While the term is often used by laymen to indicate any Non Orthodox belief such as Paganism , by definition heresy can only be committed by someone who considers himself a Christian, but rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church. A person who completely renounces Christianity is not considered a heretic, but an Apostate , and a person who renounces the authority of the Church but not its teachings is a Schism atic. The Church makes several distinctions as to the seriousness of an individual Heterodoxy and its closeness to true heresy. Only a belief that directly contravenes an Article Of Faith , or that has been explicitly rejected by the Church, is labelled as actual "heresy." Canon 751 of the Catholic Church's Code of " on his own (example: dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1950), or defined solemnly by an Ecumenical Council in unison with a Pope (ex: the definition of the Divinity of Christ in the Council of Chalcedon) ("de fide catholica"). An important distinction is that between ''formal'' and ''material heresy''. The difference is one of the heretic's subjective belief about his opinion. The heretic who is aware that his belief is at odds with Catholic teaching and yet continues to cling to his belief pertinaciously is a formal heretic. This sort of heresy is sinful because in this case the heretic knowingly holds an opinion that, in the words of the first edition of the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', "is destructive of the virtue of Christian faith . . . disturbs the unity, and challenges the Divine authority, of the Church" and "strikes at the very source of faith." Material heresy, on the other hand, means that the individual is unaware that his heretical opinion denies, in the words of Canon 751, "some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith." The opinion of a material heretic is still heresy, and it produces the same objective results as formal heresy, but because of his ignorance he commits no sin by holding it. The penalty for a baptized Catholic above the age of 18 who obstinately, publicly, and voluntarily manifests his or her adherence to an objective heresy is automatic Excommunication ("latae sententiae") according to Can. 1364 par.1 C.I.C.. A belief that the church has not directly rejected, or that is at variance with less important church teachings, is given the label, ''sententia haeresi proxima'', meaning "opinion approaching heresy." A Theological Argument , Belief , or Theory that does not constitute heresy in itself, but which leads to conclusions which might be held to do so, is termed ''propositio theologice erronea'', or "erroneous theological proposition." Finally, if the theological position only suggests but does not necessarily lead to a doctrinal conflict, it might be given the even milder label of ''sententia de haeresi suspecta, haeresim sapiens'', meaning "opinion suspected, or savoring, of heresy." Some significant controversies of doctrine have risen over the course of history. At times there have been many heresies over single points of doctrine, particularly in regard to the nature of the Trinity , the doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Immaculate Conception . Types of heretics # the heretic impenitent and not relapsed (for the first time) # the heretic impenitent and relapsed (for the first time was penitent now is impenitent) # the heretic penitent and relapsed (for the first time was penitent now is penitent too, but relapsing was the capital offence) # the heretic negative (who denied his crime) # the heretic contumacious (who absconded) Since the Church doesn't thirst for blood ''(ecclesia non sitit sanguinem)'', the first four types were all delivered over to the secular arm. The state usually immediately punished heresy with Death Sentence . The longest delay could be five days. The custom that the impenitent heretics (the first two types) were cast into the flames alive and the penitent (the third type) were first strangled or hanged and then burned was not always observed. Catholic response to heresy The Church has always fought in favor of orthodoxy and the Pope's authority as the successor of St. Peter to determine truth. At various times in history, it has had varying degrees of power to resist or punish heretics, once it had defined them. In the early church, heresies were sometimes determined by a selected council of bishops, or Ecumenical Council , such as the First Council of Nicaea and promulgated by the Pope and the bishops under him. The orthodox position was established at the council, and all who failed to adhere to it would thereafter be considered heretics. The church had little power to actually punish heretics in the early years, other than by Excommunication . To those who accepted it, an excommunication was the worst form of punishment possible, as it separated the individual from the body of Christ, his Church, and, if the sentence accurately reflected God's judgement, meant the denial of Salvation . Excommunication, or even the threat of excommunication, was enough to convince many a heretic to renounce his views. Priscillian achieved the distinction of becoming the first Christian burned alive for heresy in 385 at Treves . In later years, the Church instituted the Inquisition , an official body charged with the suppression of heresy. The Inquisition was active in several nations of Europe , particularly where it had fervent support from the civil authority. The Albigensian Crusade ( 1209 - 1229 ) was part of the Catholic Church 's efforts to crush the Cathars . It is linked to the movement now known as the Medieval Inquisition . The Spanish Inquisition was particularly brutal in its methods, which included the Burning At The Stake of many heretics. However, it was initiated and substantially controlled by King Ferdinand Of Spain rather than the Church; King Ferdinand used political leverage to obtain the Church's tacit approval. Another example of a medieval heretic movement is the Hussite movement in the Czech Lands in the early 1400s . It is widely reported that the last person to be burned alive at the stake on orders from Rome was Giordano Bruno , executed in 1600 for a collection of heretical beliefs including Copernicanism and (probably more important) an unlimited universe with innumerable inhabited worlds. The last case of an execution at an '' Auto De Fe '' by the Spanish Inquisition was the schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll , accused of Deism and executed by Garroting July 26 , 1826 in Valencia after a two-year trial. The development of the Printing Press greatly hampered the ability of the church to suppress dissidents, with the result that Martin Luther was able to successfully fight the Papacy and forge the Protestant Reformation . Modern Catholic response to Protestantism Well into the twentieth century, Catholics - even if no longer resorting to persecution - still defined Protestants as heretics. Thus, Hillaire Belloc - in his time one of the most conspicuous speakers for Catholicism in Britain - was outspoken about the "Protestant heresy". He even defined Islam as being "a Christian heresy", on the grounds that Muslims accept many of the tenets of Christianity but deny the godhood of Jesus (see Hilaire Belloc#On Islam ). However, in the second half of the century - and especially in the wake of Vatican II - the Catholic Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, tends not to refer to Protestantism as a heresy nowadays, even if the teachings of Protestantism are indeed heretical from a Catholic perspective. Modern usage favors referring to Protestants as "separated brethren" rather than "heretics", although the latter is still on occasion used vis-a-vis Catholics who abandon their Church to join a Protestant denomination. Many Catholics consider Protestantism to be material rather than formal heresy, and thus non-culpable. Some of the doctrines of Protestantism that the Catholic Church considers heretical are the belief that the Bible is the only source and rule of faith (" Sola Scriptura "), that faith alone can lead to salvation (" Sola Fide ") and that there is no sacramental, ministerial priesthood attained by ordination, but only a universal priesthood of all believers. PROTESTANTISM AND HERESY The main meaning of 'heresy' to a Protestant is the concept of telling lies about God. It is not at its core a matter of opposing the authorities (though, like all authorities religious or otherwise, Protestant leaders often invoke the concepts of heresy and Apostasy to defend themselves from attack). Protestants chose the difficult course of action, to try to steer a middle course between (1) respecting God enough to care that humans tell the truth about God, and (2.) being tolerant and loving of those who honestly see things differently, giving them an open ear because there might be something to learn from them. Protestants who seek to re-establish what they see as ancestral Christian principles sometimes refer to Catholicism (or indeed other Protestant groups) as heretical. One aspect of Catholicism many Protestants regard as heresy against original Christianity is the Veneration Of The Saints , and in particular the Cultus of the Virgin Mary . Another is the doctrine of Transubstantiation , the belief that the bread and wine at Mass become the actual Body and Blood of Christ. REFERENCES SEE ALSO |
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