Heresy

[leothelioness]

Some of you may remember a very interesting thread a while back in the GT forum regarding heresies in early Christianity.

Well, I thought the thread was so interesting I decided to resurrect it here. I do not know all the heresies that arose during the early days of the church so I created this thread specifically for the discussion of these heresies and how they came to be.

One of the heresies that I remember being discussed was the heresy of Nestorianism.

I thought it would be interesting if everybody could provide some other heresies of the early church and discuss what they are and how they were started.

This is purely for learning about the history of the early church.

So, if you have anything to contribute please do so. I love history and theology so I'm eager to learn more.

 

[ConanTheLibrarian]

Catholic Answers has a handy summary of the major heresies throughout history. Just be warned that one of the heresies on their list is "protestantism." It is useful for the early centuries, though, and keeping the various groups straight.

http://www.catholic.com/library/Great_Heresies.asp

 

[E.C.]

The only remnant of anything similar to Nestorianism that I know of, would be the Assyrian Church of the East which, I've been told, has Nestorian-like beliefs.

 

[a_ntv]

The only remnant of anything similar to Nestorianism that I know of, would be the Assyrian Church of the East which, I've been told, has Nestorian-like beliefs.

No, their theology os acceptable by catholics (and probably also by Orthodoxes)

Here the common christological declaration between ACoE and CC:: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/po...church_en.html
As heirs and guardians of the faith received from the Apostles as formulated by our common Fathers in the Nicene Creed, we confess one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten of the Father from all eternity who, in the fullness of time, came down from heaven and became man for our salvation. The Word of God, second Person of the Holy Trinity, became incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit in assuming from the holy Virgin Mary a body animated by a rational soul, with which he was indissolubly united from the moment of his conception.
Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity, consubstantial with the Father and consubstantial with us in all things but sin. His divinity and his humanity are united in one person, without confusion or change, without division or separation. In him has been preserved the difference of the natures of divinity and humanity, with all their properties, faculties and operations. But far from constituting "one and another", the divinity and humanity are united in the person of the same and unique Son of God and Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of a single adoration.
Christ therefore is not an " ordinary man" whom God adopted in order to reside in him and inspire him, as in the righteous ones and the prophets. But the same God the Word, begotten of his Father before all worlds without beginning according to his divinity, was born of a mother without a father in the last times according to his humanity. The humanity to which the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth always was that of the Son of God himself. That is the reason why the Assyrian Church of the East is praying the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour". In the light of this same faith the Catholic tradition addresses the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ". We both recognize the legitimacy and rightness of these expressions of the same faith and we both respect the preference of each Church in her liturgical life and piety.​

Your opinion?

 

[E.C.]

That is between the Assyrians and the Catholics. Not the Assyrians and the Eastern Orthodox.

 

[Alphadux]

Gnosticism was a very early heresy which seems to have even been combated by the Apostles.

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

Well, I thought the thread was so interesting I decided to resurrect it here. I do not know all the heresies that arose during the early days of the church so I created this thread specifically for the discussion of these heresies and how they came to be.

Hi leothelioness,

One approach that some find helpful is to group heresies by topic: Trinitarian heresies, Christological heresies (concerning Christ), etc. There is some overlap in the topics, of course. But by isolating a particular topic one can trace and discern the chronological development of the arguments.

In the Christological heresies, attempts were made to resolve issues concerning the divine and human natures of Christ. Early on the controversy was this: Was Jesus human and/or divine? In the 90s the Docetists said Jesus didn't really have a body, so they denied His human nature. This is refuted by 1 John 4:1-3. The Ebionites in the 200s went the other extreme: they denied Jesus was divine, and therefore he did not have a divine nature. Irenaeus refuted the Ebionites.

Unlike the Docetists and Ebionites, the next set of answers did not deny the natures of Christ. They affirmed both natures, but understood one to be "less than full." Arius and the Arians of the 300s affirmed that Jesus had a human nature. However by declaring Jesus to be a created being and not God, they reduced his divine nature. The Apollonarians swung the other theological direction: they affirmed Jesus' divine nature, but reduced his human nature. Arianism was declared heretical at Nicea in 325 and Constantinople in 381. The Apollonarian position was also condemned at Constantinople in 381.

Then in the 400s, we get another set of answers to the question: how were the two natures related? Unlike the Arians and Apollonarians, Nestorians affirmed both divine and human natures in Christ. However Nestorius taught that Christ was two persons: a human person and a divine person held together in a moral union. The Eutychian position was a response against Nestorianism. Eutychians taught that Christ had only one nature - a unique nature that was a mixture of divine and human natures. The Nestorian position was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Eutychian position was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and Constantinople in 680. The Eutychian position is also referred to as Monophysitism.

Not everyone though has accepted the Council of Chalcedon of 451. While Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox are "Chalcedonic" Christians with regard to the two natures of Christ, the Oriental Orthodox Churches hold to Miaphysitism or Henophysitism. To some Oriential Othodox christians, Chalcedon is too close to the Nestorian heresy while to some Chalcedon christians, the OOC is too close to Monophysitism.


LDG

 

[BigNorsk]

Collyridians, who get their name from the collyris a twisted cake they offerred to Mary. That cult was fairly strong in Arabia at one time and may be the source of the apparent mistake Mohammed had that the Trinity meant three gods and included Mary.

Marv

 

[Rion]

What about the ones in Revelations, during the 7 Churches section?

 

[Tonks]

The only remnant of anything similar to Nestorianism that I know of, would be the Assyrian Church of the East which, I've been told, has Nestorian-like beliefs.

Modalism and Adoptionism are still found far too frequently as well.

 

[Tyndale]

The heretics fork.

This was a steel rod with two spikes on both ends of it. One side was jabbed into the sternum, and the other into the bottom of the chin, preventing the victim from speaking.​

http://members.fortunecity.com/babygurl1385/fork.jpg

 

[ArnautDaniel]

Some of you may remember a very interesting thread a while back in the GT forum regarding heresies in early Christianity.

Well, I thought the thread was so interesting I decided to resurrect it here. I do not know all the heresies that arose during the early days of the church so I created this thread specifically for the discussion of these heresies and how they came to be.

One of the heresies that I remember being discussed was the heresy of Nestorianism.

I thought it would be interesting if everybody could provide some other heresies of the early church and discuss what they are and how they were started.

This is purely for learning about the history of the early church.

So, if you have anything to contribute please do so. I love history and theology so I'm eager to learn more.

A simple rule of thumb:

If it makes sense and is easy to explain it is very very likely a heresy.

If it makes no sense whatsoever and is hard to get the mind around and put words to, it is probably orthodoxy.