Heresy has been a concern in Christian communities at least since the writing of 2 Peter: "even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them"(2P. 2:1-AV). While in the first two or three centuries of the early Church heresy and schism were not clearly distinguished and a similar overlapping occurred in medieval scholastic thought, heresy is understood today to mean the denial of revealed truth as taught by the Church.[1] Schleiermacher, writing in 1821/2 defined it as "that which preserved the appearance of Christianity, and yet contradicted its essence".[2]

Heresy is anything contrary or against the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

"For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you,"
(1 Cor. 11:19).

Below are common Christian Heresies

1. Marcionism (IInd Century)
(named after Marcion, 85-160)
The wrathful and war-like God of the Old Testament is a different god from the just and forgiving God of the New Testament, who, on discovering human suffering, appeared as Jesus Christ to bring salvation; the Old Testament is irrelevant; in the New Testament only parts of Luke and parts of the Pauline letters are authentic.
This is heretical in part because:
(1) It denies the unity of God. (2) It misunderstands the humanity of Christ. (3) It rejects accepted scriptures.
Comment: Marcion rejected all scriptures except the book of Luke and the letters of Paul, to whom he considered himself an intellectual successor. He was excommunicated as few as four years after his conversion to Christianity. Rejecting nearly all forms of Christianity but his own, Marcion attracted a sufficient following to cause concern among more mainstream Christians, and his lasting influence on many Christian communities was probably one of the influences that led to the establishment of Nicene Creed (AD 325).

2. Gnosticism (IInd Century)
(named for Greek gnosis γνῶσις, "knowledge"
Our world was created not by the true God, but by a lesser one —the "demiurge" (δημιουργός), a kind of divine craftsman— whose creation of the mundane world was essentially something of a mistake. Humans have a spark of divinity, however. The realm of the true God is concealed from humans, but there is secret knowledge which can enable some human souls to return to it. The knowledge was secretly transmitted by Jesus to the select few. Public rituals, unfortunately, have little utility.
This is heretical in part because:
(1) God created everything, including people. There was no "demiurge."


3. Manichaeism (IIIrd century)
(named after Mani, ca. 216-276)
The world is caught in a conflict between the forces of good and evil, led by two gods, a conflict which has existed since the beginning of time.
This is heretical in part because:
(1) It postulates more than one god. (2) In the beginning there was only God. Evil therefore could have entered the world only afterward.
Comment: Mani was a Persian or Mesopotamian. Although Manichaeism sometimes borrowed Christian elements (as well as Zoroastrian, Hebrew, and even eventually Buddhist elements), Manichaeism was not really a Christian sect, and its doctrines therefore should be classed as paganism rather than heresy. But it was an important force in the third and forth centuries (when it was usually illegal), and competed with Christianity, with which some people tried to combine it.

4. Arianism (IVth century)
(named after Arius, 256-336)
ArianHeretic-n
Arius, not yet officially a heretic, kneels before Constantine and the bishops at the First Council of Nicaea. (Miniature from the martyrology of Emperor Basil II, Vatican Library)
Jesus was different from God and secondary to him.
Condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 381)
This is heretical in part because:
Christ was wholly divine, as well as wholly human, and, being wholly divine, could in no way be secondary to God the Father.
Although Arianism was originally propounded with the simultaneous view that Jesus' nature was nevertheless still divine, the term is also extended, confusingly, to a wider range of views, including the view that Jesus was an ordinary person. Although condemned by the Church in the fourth century, the belief continues to reinvent itself today among liberal Christians. The non-divinity of Jesus is, of course, also a view held by most non-Christians.
Comment: Arianism is historically one of the most important of the great heresies because it was especially widespread, as was opposition to it. The bitter conflict (personified in Arius and his enemy St. Athanasius) was important in inspiring Emperor Constantine to intervene by calling the Council of Nicene (Nicaea) in 325, which developed the Nicaean Creed, encapsulating the orthodox doctrine of the trinity.

5. Pelagianism (Vth century)
(named after Pelagius, ca 354 or 360 - ca 420 or ca 440 )
The sin of Adam affected only Adam, not all humanity. Every individual is born innocent, but is free to choose to perform good or evil deeds. Thus choosing to behave virtuously will earn one spiritual salvation. Augustine errs in understanding that God's foreknowledge of all things means that human acts are predestined, since that undermines free will and the virtue of moral behavior. We are saved or condemned by our own choices, not by choices made by Adam.
This is heretical in part because:
(1) People are saved ONLY by God's grace through their faith in Christ, not by the works they perform, which may have many motivations, including bad ones. (2) It is illogical so speak of complete free will, since even free will is a gift of God, and therefore contingent upon God's agency.
(3) It denies the contamination of all humans by original sin and allows for the possibility of sinless humans without the need of salvation through Christ, or of sinful humans able to gain merit on their own without reference to Christ.
Comment: Pelagianism was a particular target for St. Augustine (354-430), one of the most important formulators of Christian theology. Pelagius was condemned as a heretic in 418, apparently in part due to Augustine's denunciation of him. Arguably it was his effort to argue against Pelagianism that led Augustine to refine his doctrine of the absolute necessity of divine grace in human salvation
Comment: Variants of his position became widespread in modern Christianism under the name "semi-Pelagianism" (in contrast to predestinationism). Today most vernacular Christianity holds that freely performed good deeds improve one's chances of salvation.

8. Monophysitism (Vth century)
Christ had a single, divine nature, not separate human and divine natures.
Condemned at the Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon, 451)
This is heretical in part because:
Christ was both wholly human and therefore suffered as we suffer, and also wholly divine, and therefore able to forgive sins and redeem humans. To argue that he has only a divine nature is to deny that he had a human nature able to suffer as a human suffers.
Condemned at the Third Council of Constantinople (680).
Comment: Although Monophysitism has been reinvented constantly throughout the history of Christianity, it is often especially associated with Cyril of Alexandria (ca 376 - 444), and enjoyed greatest popularity in the churches of Syria, Palestine, Ethiopia, and especially Egypt.

9, Adoptionism – God granted Jesus powers and then adopted him as a Son.

Adoptionism is an error concerning Christ that first appeared in the second century. Those who held it denied the preexistence of Christ and, therefore, His deity. Adoptionists taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. As a reward for His great accomplishments and perfect character Jesus was raised from the dead and adopted into the Godhead.

This error arose out of an attempt by people to understand the two natures of Jesus. The scriptures tell us that Jesus is both God and man: “for Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form,” (Col. 2:9). This is known as the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union where in the one person of Christ, there are two natures: God and man.

10. Albigenses – Reincarnation and two gods: one good and other evil.

A heresy during the middle ages that developed in the town Albi in Southern France. This error taught that there were two gods: the good god of light usually referred to as Jesus in the New Testament and the god of darkness and evil usually associated with Satan and the “God of the Old Testament.” Anything material was considered evil including the body which was created by Satan. The soul, created by the good god, was imprisoned in the evil flesh and salvation was possible only through holy living and doing good works. At death, if the person has been spiritual enough, salvation comes to the believer. But, if the person has not been good enough, he is reincarnated as an animal or another human. The Albigenses denied the resurrection of the body since it was considered evil.
The Albigenses taught that Jesus was God but that He only appeared as a man while on earth.
In 1208, Peter de Castelnau, an official representative of the Pope, was murdered by an Albigenses. Since they had been growing in number, becoming a threat, and would not convert to Christianity, Pope Innocent III ordered them to be wiped out.The persecution was fierce and the movement was stopped.

11. Docetism – Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be human.

Docetism was an error with several variations concerning the nature of Christ. Generally, it taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, “dokeo” = “to seem”). This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer. Therefore, God as the word, could not have become flesh per John 1:1,14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.. ” This denial of a true incarnation meant that Jesus did not truly suffer on the cross and that He did not rise from the dead.

The correct doctrine is the Hypostatic Union, that Jesus is both fully God and fully man (Col. 2:9) and did not give up any divine attributes while as a man on earth.

....WHAT ARE U TRYING TO SAY...?

Nice write up

oprajo:
Nice write up

Nice one, Bingbagbo.
However, I didn't see semi-Pelegianism, Arminianism and Freewill.

Wouldn't it be nice to point out that those "heresies" are predating versions of the same religion and some were removed by popular opinion to compile the bible?
And why is young earth creationism not in that list?

5solas:
Nice one, Bingbagbo.
However, I didn't see semi-Pelegianism, Arminianism and Freewill.

will do that bro