Silouan
24th March 2007, 12:24 PM
In this thread, I would like to discuss a topic that is very interesting to me: ancient heresies in the modern world. To begin, I would like to state one rule for the thread: 1) Please DO NOT demonize any Christian group or denomination. We are not here to accuse and be hateful. Instead, lets just focus on the heresies and modern teachings that fall into one or more of these heresies.
The HERESIES (this is not an exhaustive list):
1) Adoptionism - taught that Jesus was born human and became divine later during his baptism and thus was adopted as the son of God.
2) Apollinarianism - taught that Jesus Christ had a human body and a human soul but no human rational mind (nous), because the Divine Logos had taken its place.
3) Arianism - taught that the Son of God was not God but rather a created being with a definite origin in time. In Arius's words, "there was [a time] when he was not." Arius denied the full deity of the preexistent Son of God who became incarnate ("the Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh" John 1:14 - NKJV). He held that the Son, while divine and like God, was created by God as the agent through whom he created the universe, and thus that there was a time when the Son was not. The Council of Nicea in 325, led in its teachings by Athanasius, condemned Arianism and maintained that Christ was God from God, Light from Light, Very God from Very God, begotten not made (not created), and One in essence with the Father, producing the first version of the Nicece Creed.
4) Docetism - taught that Jesus Christ only appeared to be man but was not in actuality. According to Docetae (Illusionists), the eternal Son of God did not really become human, have a physical body, or suffer on the cross; he only appeared to do so, i.e., his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion.
5) Donatism - schismatic Christian sect, strongly opposed by Saint Augustine, that arose in North Africa in the fourth century A.D. and believed in sanctity as requisite for church membership and administration of all sacraments.
6) Monophysitism - This heresy denies the humanity of Christ. It removes the value of Christ's redemptive work, because it denies that Christ suffered as a man. It declares that Christ had a single (mono), divine, nature.
7) Montanism - apocalyptic movement of the 2d cent. It arose in Phrygia (c.172) under the leadership of a certain Montanus and two female prophets, Prisca and Maximillia, whose entranced utterances were deemed oracles of the Holy Spirit. They had an immediate expectation of Judgment Day, and they encouraged ecstatic prophesying and strict asceticism. They believed that a Christian fallen from grace could never be redeemed, in opposition to the Catholic view that, since the sinner’s contrition restored him to grace, the church must receive him again. Montanism antagonized the church because the sect claimed a superior authority arising from divine inspiration.
8) Nestorianism - teaches that the human and divine essences of Christ are separate and that there are two persons, the man Jesus Christ and the divine Logos, which dwelt in the man. Thus, Nestorians reject such terminology as "God suffered" or "God was crucified", because they believe that the man Jesus Christ suffered. Likewise, they reject the term Theotokos (Giver of birth to God) for the Virgin Mary, using instead the term Christotokos (giver of birth to Christ) or Anthropotokos (giver of birth to a man).
9) Sabellianism - also known as modalism, is a heresy which states that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one God, rather than three distinct persons. Modalism's unitarian view of God is commonly described by an analogy: water in its three states of ice, liquid, and steam appear to be different substances, but in reality they all are composed of the same chemical compound, H20. Likewise, for Sabellians or modalists God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit appear to be three distinct persons, but they are really just different manifestations of one solitary God.
I look forward to your responses!
Christ be with all!
The HERESIES (this is not an exhaustive list):
1) Adoptionism - taught that Jesus was born human and became divine later during his baptism and thus was adopted as the son of God.
2) Apollinarianism - taught that Jesus Christ had a human body and a human soul but no human rational mind (nous), because the Divine Logos had taken its place.
3) Arianism - taught that the Son of God was not God but rather a created being with a definite origin in time. In Arius's words, "there was [a time] when he was not." Arius denied the full deity of the preexistent Son of God who became incarnate ("the Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh" John 1:14 - NKJV). He held that the Son, while divine and like God, was created by God as the agent through whom he created the universe, and thus that there was a time when the Son was not. The Council of Nicea in 325, led in its teachings by Athanasius, condemned Arianism and maintained that Christ was God from God, Light from Light, Very God from Very God, begotten not made (not created), and One in essence with the Father, producing the first version of the Nicece Creed.
4) Docetism - taught that Jesus Christ only appeared to be man but was not in actuality. According to Docetae (Illusionists), the eternal Son of God did not really become human, have a physical body, or suffer on the cross; he only appeared to do so, i.e., his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion.
5) Donatism - schismatic Christian sect, strongly opposed by Saint Augustine, that arose in North Africa in the fourth century A.D. and believed in sanctity as requisite for church membership and administration of all sacraments.
6) Monophysitism - This heresy denies the humanity of Christ. It removes the value of Christ's redemptive work, because it denies that Christ suffered as a man. It declares that Christ had a single (mono), divine, nature.
7) Montanism - apocalyptic movement of the 2d cent. It arose in Phrygia (c.172) under the leadership of a certain Montanus and two female prophets, Prisca and Maximillia, whose entranced utterances were deemed oracles of the Holy Spirit. They had an immediate expectation of Judgment Day, and they encouraged ecstatic prophesying and strict asceticism. They believed that a Christian fallen from grace could never be redeemed, in opposition to the Catholic view that, since the sinner’s contrition restored him to grace, the church must receive him again. Montanism antagonized the church because the sect claimed a superior authority arising from divine inspiration.
8) Nestorianism - teaches that the human and divine essences of Christ are separate and that there are two persons, the man Jesus Christ and the divine Logos, which dwelt in the man. Thus, Nestorians reject such terminology as "God suffered" or "God was crucified", because they believe that the man Jesus Christ suffered. Likewise, they reject the term Theotokos (Giver of birth to God) for the Virgin Mary, using instead the term Christotokos (giver of birth to Christ) or Anthropotokos (giver of birth to a man).
9) Sabellianism - also known as modalism, is a heresy which states that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one God, rather than three distinct persons. Modalism's unitarian view of God is commonly described by an analogy: water in its three states of ice, liquid, and steam appear to be different substances, but in reality they all are composed of the same chemical compound, H20. Likewise, for Sabellians or modalists God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit appear to be three distinct persons, but they are really just different manifestations of one solitary God.
I look forward to your responses!
Christ be with all!