List of Christian heresies
A
doctrine that is considered to be false or erroneous by the mainstream Christian Church. Heresies have been a major source of division and conflict within the Christian Church throughout its history. The Church has responded to heresies in a variety of ways, including through theological debate, excommunication, and even violence.[1]
This is a list of all Christian heresies that have been condemned by one or more Christian Church(es).
1st century
Heresy | Rejected by | Description |
---|---|---|
Docetism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief of Docetism holds that Jesus Christ did not have a real physical body, but only an apparent or illusory one.[2] |
2nd century
Montanism | mainline Protestantism
|
A movement that emphasizes the importance of prophecy and ecstatic experiences.[3] |
Adoptionism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God from eternity, but was adopted by God at some point in his life.[4] |
Universalism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that all people will eventually be saved. Universalists believe that God's love is so great that no one will be excluded from salvation.[5] |
Valentinianism | mainline Protestantism
|
A Gnostic heresy that taught that the world was created by a series of emanations from the supreme being. Valentinians believed that salvation came from knowledge of the true nature of the universe. |
Sabellianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three distinct persons, but are simply different manifestations of the same divine being.[6]
|
Gnosticism | mainline Protestantism
|
A complex system of thought that teaches that the material world is evil and that salvation can be achieved through knowledge (gnosis).[7] |
Marcionism | mainline Protestantism
|
A heresy that arose in the 2nd century AD. Marcionists believed that the God of the Old Testament was a different god from the God of the New Testament.[8] |
Monarchianism | mainline Protestantism
|
A heresy that taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all the same being. Monarchians were also known as Unitarians.[9] |
Modalism
|
mainline Protestantism
|
Modalism is the belief that the |
Patripassianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that the Father and Son are not two distinct persons, and both God the Father and the Son suffered on the cross as Jesus.[11] |
Psilanthropism
|
mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Jesus is "merely human": and that he never became divine, or that he never existed prior to his birth as a man.[12]
|
Sethianism | mainline Protestantism
|
Sethianism was a 2nd-century Sophia, the Demiurge, and gnosis as the path to salvation.[13]
|
Basilideanism | mainline Protestantism
|
Basilideanism was a Gnostic Christian sect founded by |
3rd century
Novatianism | mainline Protestantism
|
A movement that arose in response to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire. Novatians believed that Christians who had lapsed during the persecution could not be forgiven.[15] |
4th century
Arianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Jesus Christ is not fully divine, but is a created being.[16] |
Donatism | mainline Protestantism
|
A movement that arose in North Africa in the 4th century AD. Donatists believed that the Catholic Church had become corrupt and that only the Donatists were the true Christians.[17] |
Apollinarianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Jesus did not have a human mind or soul, but only a human body.[18] |
Tritheism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that there are three gods, rather than one God in three persons.[19] |
Collyridianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief is that the Trinity consists of the Father, Son, and Mary and that the Son results from the marital union between the other two.[20] |
Binitarianism | mainline Protestantism
|
Binitarianism is a Christian heresy that teaches that there are only two persons in the Godhead: the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is not considered to be a separate person, but rather an aspect of the Son or the Father.[21] |
Subordinationism | mainline Protestantism
|
A heresy that teaches that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not co-equal with the Father. Subordinationists believe that the Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father in either nature, role, or both.[22] |
Anomoeanism | mainline Protestantism
|
A heresy that taught that Jesus was not fully divine, but was a created being. Anomoeans also believed that Christ could not be like God because he lacked the quality of self-existence.[23] |
Antidicomarians | Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches | Antidicomarians also called Dimoerites, were a Christian sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century who rejected the perpetual virginity of Mary. They were condemned by St. Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century.[24] |
5th century
Nestorianism
|
mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Jesus Christ was two persons, the divine Son of God and the human Jesus of Nazareth. Nestorius said that the Virgin Mary is not the Mother of God (Theotokos) because she gave birth to the human part Jesus, not the divine Son of God, and called her Christotokos. Nestorianism was condemned as a heresy by the Council of Ephesus (431)[25] |
Pelagianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that humans can be saved by their own efforts, without the need for God's grace.[26] |
Eutychianism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Christ is in one nature and of two, with the humanity of Christ subsumed by the divinity.[27] |
Monophysitism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Christ has only one nature, which is divine.[28] |
Miaphysitism | mainline Protestantism
|
The belief that Christ is fully divine and fully human, in one nature (physis).[29][30] |
6th century
Three Chapters | Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches | The " Theodoret of Cyrus, and an epistle by Ibas of Edessa to Maris). The Byzantine Emperor Justinian desired to reunite the Miaphysite and Chalcedonian Churches throughout Byzantium, and so anathematized the Three Chapters and commanded Byzantine bishops (which included at the time the Pope) to do so as well. Pope Vigilius however believed doing so would undermine the authority of Chalcedon, and so initially refused to do so. Eventually, after incarceration and deportation to Constantinople, he agreed to anathematize the Three Chapters and concur with the Emperor in December of 553.[31]
|
7th century
Iconoclasm | Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches | Iconoclasm was a movement that arose in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. Iconoclasts believed that the veneration of icons was idolatry. The iconoclastic controversy lasted for centuries until the Council of Nicaea II in 787 when the veneration of icons was officially restored.[32] |
Monothelitism | mainline Protestantism
|
Monothelitism was a heresy that arose in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. Monothelites believed that Christ had only one will, which was divine.[33] |
Paulicianism | mainline Protestantism
|
Paulicianism was a heresy that arose in the 7th century. Paulicians believed that the material world is evil, and the only way to salvation is to reject it.[34] |
12th century
Catharism | mainline Protestantism
|
Catharism was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France.[35] |
15th Century
Stephanism | Oriental Orthodox Churches | The Stephanites were a sect in Ethiopia which rejected veneration of icons, saints, and angels. The sect was subject to suppression on account of its rejection of the legendary origins of the Solomonic Dynasty. It greatly resembled later Protestant movements in Europe.[36]
|
16th century
Socinianism | mainline Protestantism
|
A heresy that denied the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. Socinians believed that Jesus was a human being who was inspired by God.[37] |
Protestantism | Catholic Church | Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that broke away from the Catholic Church in the 16th century. The Catholic Church condemned Protestantism as a heresy on numerous occasions. In 1521, Pope Leo X issued the bull Exsurge Domine, which condemned 41 propositions from Martin Luther's writings. In 1530, the Council of Trent condemned 20 propositions from the Augsburg Confession, the foundational document of Lutheranism. And in 1563, the Council of Trent condemned 10 propositions from the Calvinist confession of faith.[38] |
17th century
Jansenism | mainline Protestantism
|
A religious movement within the Catholic Church that arose in the 17th century. It was named after Cornelius Jansen, a Dutch theologian who wrote a book called "Augustinus" that argued that human beings are incapable of saving themselves by their own efforts and that salvation is entirely a matter of God's grace.[39] |
Quietism | Catholic Church | A religious movement within the Catholic Church which held that Christians should do nothing so as to not impede God's active will, and that men ought to remain silent.[40] |
18th century
Febronianism | Catholic Church | A religious movement within the Catholic Church that sought to make Catholicism more relevant to local cultures, reduce the power of the Pope, and reunite with Protestant Churches.[41] |
20th century
Americanism | Catholic Church | A political and religious outlook attributed to some |
Feeneyism | Catholic Church | The rejection of the doctrines of |
Modernism | Catholic Church | The belief that all doctrines are subject to change, and that doctrines ought to change depending on the time and location. Condemned by Pascendi Dominici Gregis.[44]
|
References
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- ^ "Montanism". Montanism | History, Teachings, Heresy, Founder, & Facts | Britannica. Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ISBN 978-0-334-02930-4.
- ^ "Universalism". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ Henry, Wace. Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature. Delmarva Publications, Inc. p. 27.
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- ^ "Monarchianism". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
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- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Basilides". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ "Novatian and Novatianism". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ISBN 978-1-4674-3175-0.
- ^ "Donatist". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ "Apollinarianism". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "tritheism". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Collyridianism". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-0384-4.
- ^ "Subordinationism | Christianity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ "Anomoean | Anomoean | Monophysite, Miaphysite, Dyophysite | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Shipman, Andrew Jackson (1907). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. .
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- ^ "Pelagianism". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ "Eutychianism". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Monophysite". Monophysite | Definition, History, & Beliefs | Britannica. Britannica. 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "miaphysitism". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ "The Universal Church and Schisms". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, U.K.
- ^ "Three Chapters Controversy | Christianity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ "Iconoclasm". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Monothelitism and Monothelites". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Paulicians". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Cathari | Christian sect | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ Dirshaye, Menberu (2005). "Estifanos". Dictionary of African Christian Biography. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "Socinianism". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Protestantism | Definition, Beliefs, History, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ "Jansenism | Description, History, & Beliefs | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ^ "Coelestis Pastor". Papal Encyclicals. 20 November 1687. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). pp. 230–231.
- ^ "Americanism | Roman Catholicism | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale (PDF) (in Latin). Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. p. 100.
- ^ "Pascendi Dominici Gregis". The Holy See. 8 September 1907. Retrieved 4 June 2023.