Early Christian Heresies

How could things get worse? The early Christians faced martyrdom in the arena. Yet on top of this they had to do battle with heretics. Gnostics, starting with Valentinus about 137, claimed you had to have secret 'gnosis', knowledge, as opposed to salvation being available to all. Valentinus considered himself a Christian, to the fury of Irenaeus. Most of the Gnostic schools believed that "matter was hostile to the good"(p 28), ideas which came from Greek philosophy and Zoroastrian dualism. There was also Marcion, who formed a church without the Old Testament and much of the new. And Montanists, who wanted church to be an emotional experience, and demanded separation of Christians from the world. Tertullian would famously fall for this heresy. "By the end of the century the Montanist Church appeared as an even more powerful rival to the Catholic Church than the Marcionites had been" (p 61). Manichaeism was not a Christian heresy, but it taught a dualistic system. Augustine was, originally, a believer. Arianism was the heresy that would nearly rend the church in two. "Arguments about the Trinity and about the relation of Christ to the Father had been growing in intensity" (p 91). Written in clear, easy to understand language, and aimed at the general reader, this book would be a useful reference tool for anyone.

How could things get worse? The early Christians faced martyrdom in the arena. Yet on top of this they had to do battle with heretics. Gnostics, starting with Valentinus about 137, claimed you had to have secret 'gnosis', knowledge, as opposed to salvation being available to all. Valentinus considered himself a Christian, to the fury of Irenaeus. Most of the Gnostic schools believed that "matter was hostile to the good"(p 28), ideas which came from Greek philosophy and Zoroastrian dualism. There was also Marcion, who formed a church without the Old Testament and much of the new. And Montanists, who wanted church to be an emotional experience, and demanded separation of Christians from the world. Tertullian would famously fall for this heresy. "By the end of the century the Montanist Church appeared as an even more powerful rival to the Catholic Church than the Marcionites had been" (p 61). Manichaeism was not a Christian heresy, but it taught a dualistic system. Augustine was, originally, a believer. Arianism was the heresy that would nearly rend the church in two. "Arguments about the Trinity and about the relation of Christ to the Father had been growing in intensity" (p 91). Written in clear, easy to understand language, and aimed at the general reader, this book would be a useful reference tool for anyone.