The Beheading of John the Baptist
No, not that head
On heresies and their dangers
Before getting into the main topic, I’d like to explore the idea of heresies for a moment. I have come to the conclusion that the early Church dealt with two classes of heresies. There are the usual sorts of heresies with which we are familiar. For instance Gnosticism, Marcionism, Montanism, Adoptionism, and Docetism.
Gnosticism is the belief in a god of a higher order than the demiurge who created the world. Marcionism is the belief that the Old Testament God is different from the New Testament God. Montanism seeks to continue the prophetic tradition through the use of the Holy Spirit. Adoptionism is the belief that Jesus was not born the son of God but instead was adopted by God after baptism, ascension, or resurrection. Docetism is the belief that Jesus was pure spirit and his human body was an illusion. Don’t even get me started on Arianism.
What always struck me as curious is that in its battle against heresies, the early Church did not seem to worry about others gaining knowledge of the heresies themselves. The Church was concerned that there were factions with teachings that were contrary to the teachings of the Church. The Church generally identified the heresy, held a debate with a vote, and then declared the beliefs…
