Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
104-499: Heresy in Christianity , Judaism , and Islam has at times been met with censure ranging from excommunication to the death penalty. Heresy is distinct from apostasy , which is the explicit renunciation of one's religion, principles or cause; and from blasphemy , which is an impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things. Heresiology is the study of heresy. Derived from Ancient Greek haíresis ( αἵρεσις ),
208-791: A Doctor of the Church , often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption due to his writings on the Assumption of Mary . He was also a prominent exponent of perichoresis , and employed the concept as a technical term to describe both the interpenetration of the divine and human natures of Christ and the relationship between the hypostases of the Trinity. John is at the end of the Patristic period of dogmatic development, and his contribution
312-591: A 4th-century antinomian sect from Macedonia held that the Threefold God transformed himself into a single hypostasis in order to unite with the souls of the perfect. They were anti-clerical and rejected baptism and the sacraments, believing that the passions could be overcome and perfection achieved through prayer. Many groups held dualistic beliefs , maintaining that reality was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter, usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Docetism held that Jesus' humanity
416-503: A Christian apologist, Bauer's theory does not show an equality between the established church and outsiders including Simon Magus . According to Mitchell et al., each early Christian community was unique, but the tenets of the mainstream or catholic Church insured that each early Christian community did not remain isolated. The Ante-Nicene period (2nd–3rd century) saw the rise of a great number of Christian sects , cults and movements with strong unifying characteristics lacking in
520-527: A Georgian who died in 1028. John was born in Damascus , in 675 or 676, to a prominent Damascene Christian Arab family. His father, Sarjun ibn Mansur , served as an official of the early Umayyad Caliphate . His grandfather, Mansur ibn Sarjun , was a prominent Byzantine official of Damascus, who had been responsible for the taxes of the region during the reign of Emperor Heraclius and also served under Emperor Maurice . Mansur seems to have played
624-521: A Muslim can only marry and do trade in the presence of witnesses – and what biblical prophets and verses foretold Muhammad 's coming – since, John says, Jesus was foretold by the prophets and whole Old Testament. John claims that the Muslims answered that Muhammad received the Quran in his sleep. John claims that he jokingly answered, "You're spinning my dreams." Some of the Muslims, John says, claimed that
728-653: A companion's wife before outlawing adultery, and that the Quran is filled with stories, such as the She-Camel of God and God giving Jesus an "incorruptible table." It is believed that the homily on the Annunciation was the first work to be translated into Arabic. Much of this text is found in Manuscript 4226 of the Library of Strasbourg (France), dating to 885 AD. Later in the 10th century, Antony, superior of
832-545: A core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches . It is distinguished from both apostasy and schism , apostasy being nearly always total abandonment of the Christian faith after it has been freely accepted, and schism being a formal and deliberate breach of Christian unity and an offense against charity without being based essentially on doctrine. The development of doctrine,
936-568: A great price. As a refugee from Italy, Cosmas brought with him the scholarly traditions of Latin Christianity . Cosmas was said to have rivaled Pythagoras in arithmetic and Euclid in geometry . He also taught John's orphan friend, Cosmas of Maiuma . John possibly had a career as a civil servant for the Caliph in Damascus before his ordination. He then became a priest and monk at
1040-436: A heretical movement is called a heresiarch , while individuals who espouse heresy or commit heresy are known as heretics . According to Titus 3 :10 a divisive person should be warned twice before separating from him. The Greek for the phrase "divisive person" became a technical term in the early Church for a type of "heretic" who promoted dissension. In contrast, correct teaching is called sound not only because it builds up
1144-492: A historian the overwhelmingly dominant view that for the period of Christian origins, ecclesiastical doctrine already represented what is primary, while heresies, on the other hand somehow are a deviation from the genuine (Bauer, "Introduction"). Scholars such as Pagels and Ehrman have built on Bauer's original thesis. Drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians , Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics and Marcionites , they argue that early Christianity
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#17327662043631248-463: A number of executions on charges of heresy. During the thirty-eight years of Henry VIII 's reign, about sixty heretics, mainly Protestants, were executed and a rather greater number of Catholics lost their lives on grounds of political offences such as treason, notably Sir Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher , for refusing to accept the king's supremacy over the Church in England. Under Edward VI ,
1352-531: A person in propounding these views. Heresy in Christianity Heresy in Christianity denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches . The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the role of creeds in the definition of orthodox beliefs, since heresy is always defined in relation to orthodoxy. Orthodoxy has been in
1456-468: A plot to attack Damascus . The caliph then ordered John's right hand be cut off and hung up in public view. Some days afterwards, John asked for the restitution of his hand, and prayed fervently to the Theotokos before her icon: thereupon, his hand is said to have been miraculously restored. In gratitude for this miraculous healing, he attached a silver hand to the icon, which thereafter became known as
1560-486: A prologue not found in most other translations, and was written by an Arab monk, Michael, who explained that he decided to write his biography in 1084 because none was available in his day. However, the main Arabic text seems to have been written by an unknown earlier author sometime between the early 9th and late 10th century. Written from a hagiographical point of view and prone to exaggeration and some legendary details, it
1664-408: A role in the capitulation of Damascus to the troops of Khalid ibn al-Walid in 635 after securing favorable conditions of surrender. Eutychius , a 10th-century Melkite patriarch, mentions him as one high-ranking official involved in the surrender of the city to the Muslims. The tribal background of Mansur ibn Sarjun, John's grandfather, is unknown, but biographer Daniel Sahas has speculated that
1768-616: A visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the Epistle of Barnabas accepted by many Christians as part of Scripture in the 2nd century, warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity , as did other writers, leading to decisions reached in the first ecumenical council , which was convoked by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, in response to further disruptive polemical controversy within
1872-522: Is among the foundational documents of Lutheranism, lists 10 heresies by name which are condemned: Manichaeans , Valentinians , Arians , Eunomians , Mohammedans , Samosatenes , Pelagians , Anabaptists , Donatists and "certain Jewish opinions". The 39 Articles of the Anglican Communion condemn Pelagianism as a heresy. In Britain, the 16th-century English Reformation resulted in
1976-411: Is disputed by Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy . Present-day nontrinitarians , such as Unitarians , Latter-day Saints and other Mormons , and Jehovah's Witnesses , reject all seven Councils. Some Eastern Orthodox consider the following council to be ecumenical, although this is not universally agreed upon: Some individual examples of the execution of Eastern Orthodox heretics do exist, such as
2080-576: Is less one of theological innovation than one of a summary of the developments of the centuries before him. In Catholic theology , he is therefore known as the "last of the Greek Fathers". The main source of information for the life of John of Damascus is a work attributed to one John of Jerusalem, identified therein as the Patriarch of Jerusalem . This is an excerpted translation into Greek of an earlier Arabic text. The Arabic original contains
2184-420: Is nearly powerless against exoheretics. He acknowledged by examples that heresy has repeatedly become orthodoxy. Publishing his findings as The Dinosaur Heresies , revisionist paleontologist Robert T. Bakker , himself a scientific endoheretic, treated the mainstream view of dinosaurs as dogma : I have enormous respect for dinosaur paleontologists past and present. But on average, for the last fifty years,
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#17327662043632288-501: Is not devoted to the Catholic Church and to our Orthodox holy Faith" a heretic. The Church had always dealt harshly with strands of Christianity that it considered heretical, but before the 11th century these tended to centre on individual preachers or small localised sects, like Arianism , Pelagianism , Donatism , Marcionism and Montanism . The diffusion of the almost Manichaean sect of Paulicians westwards gave birth to
2392-430: Is not the best historical source for his life, but is widely reproduced and considered to contain elements of some value. The hagiographic novel Barlaam and Josaphat is a work of the 10th century attributed to a monk named John. It was only considerably later that the tradition arose that this was John of Damascus, but most scholars no longer accept this attribution. Instead much evidence points to Euthymius of Athos ,
2496-459: Is some theological and practical overlap between these groups. The act of using Church of Scientology techniques in a form different from that originally described by L. Ron Hubbard is referred to within Scientology as " squirreling " and is said by Scientologists to be high treason . The Religious Technology Center has prosecuted breakaway groups who have practiced Scientology outside
2600-703: Is the Hussite movement in the Czech lands in the early 15th century. The last person to be burned alive at the stake on orders from Rome was Giordano Bruno , executed in 1600 for a collection of heretical beliefs including Copernicanism , belief of an unlimited universe with innumerable inhabited worlds, opinions contrary to the Catholic faith about the Trinity, divinity of Christ, and Incarnation. Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon , who played an instrumental part in
2704-634: Is welcome, of ideas that are in fundamental disagreement with the status quo in any practice and branch of knowledge. Scientist/author Isaac Asimov considered heresy as an abstraction, mentioning religious, political, socioeconomic and scientific heresies. He divided scientific heretics into: endoheretics, those from within the scientific community ; and exoheretics, those from without. Characteristics were ascribed to both and examples of both kinds were offered. Asimov concluded that science orthodoxy defends itself well against endoheretics (by control of science education, grants and publication as examples), but
2808-614: The Catholic Church has convened numerous other councils which it deems as having the same authority, making a total of twenty-one Ecumenical Councils recognised by the Catholic Church. The Assyrian Church of the East accepts only the first two, and Oriental Orthodoxy only three. Pope Sergius I rejected the Quinisext Council of 692 (see also Pentarchy ). The Fourth Council of Constantinople of 869–870 and 879–880
2912-669: The Catholic Church , the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith criticizes writings for "ambiguities and errors" without using the word "heresy." On 11 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI stated that some Protestant groups are "ecclesial communities" rather than Churches. Representatives of some of these Christian denominations accused the Vatican of effectively calling them heretics. However, Pope Benedict XVI clarified that
3016-653: The Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation , various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups those churches deemed heretical. The Eastern Orthodox Church also rejects the early Christian heresies such as Arianism , Gnosticism , Origenism , Montanism , Judaizers , Marcionism , Docetism , Adoptionism , Nestorianism , Monophysitism , Monothelitism and Iconoclasm . Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon , who played an instrumental part in
3120-662: The Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. One source suggests John left Damascus to become a monk around 706, when al-Walid I increased the Islamicisation of the Caliphate's administration. This is uncertain, as Muslim sources only mention that his father Sarjun (Sergius) left the administration around this time, and fail to name John at all. During the next two decades, culminating in the Siege of Constantinople (717-718) ,
3224-501: The Massachusetts Bay Colony . At the time, the colony leaders were apparently hoping to achieve their vision of a "purer absolute theocracy" within their colony. As such, they perceived the teachings and practices of the rival Quaker sect as heretical, even to the point where laws were passed and executions were performed with the aim of ridding their colony of such perceived "heresies." The Articles of Religion of
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3328-800: The Methodist Churches teach that Pelagianism is a heresy. John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist tradition, harshly criticized antinomianism, considering it the "worst of all heresies". He taught that Christian believers are bound to follow the moral law for their sanctification . Methodist Christians thus teach the necessity of following the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments, citing Jesus' teaching, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (cf. Saint John 14:15). Starting in medieval times, Muslims began to refer to heretics and those who antagonized Islam as zindiqs ,
3432-510: The Quran , which he criticizes harshly. Other sources describe his education in Damascus as having been conducted in accordance with the principles of Hellenic education , termed "secular" by one source and "classical Christian" by another. One account identifies his tutor as a monk by the name of Cosmas , who had been kidnapped by Arabs from his home in Sicily , and for whom John's father paid
3536-622: The Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal. It was only after the legalisation of Christianity, which began under Constantine I in AD ;313 that the various beliefs of the proto-orthodox Church began to be made uniform and formulated as dogma, through the canons promulgated by the General Councils . The first known usage of the term 'heresy' in a civil legal context was in 380 by the " Edict of Thessalonica " of Theodosius I. Prior to
3640-737: The Umayyad Caliphate progressively occupied the borderlands of the Byzantine Empire. An editor of John's works, Father Le Quien , has shown that John was already a monk at Mar Saba before the dispute over iconoclasm, explained below. In the early 8th century, iconoclasm , a movement opposed to the veneration of icons, gained acceptance in the Byzantine court. In 726, despite the protests of Germanus , Patriarch of Constantinople , Emperor Leo III (who had forced his predecessor, Theodosius III , to abdicate and himself assumed
3744-589: The ecumenical councils and then enforced orthodoxy by Imperial authority. The first known usage of the term in a legal context was in AD 380 by the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I , which made Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire . Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as "heresy". By this edict
3848-525: The plural "we" , whether in reference to himself, or to a group of Christians that he belonged to who spoke to the Muslims, or in reference to Christians in general. Regardless, John claims that he asked the Muslims what witnesses can testify that Muhammad received the Quran from God – since, John says, Moses received the Torah from God in the presence of the Israelites, and since Islamic law mandates that
3952-660: The "Three-handed", or Tricherousa . That icon is now located in the Hilandar monastery of the Holy Mountain . Due to his commitment to iconodulism , he was condemned by anathema by the iconoclastic Council of Hieria in 754. He was later rehabilitated by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. When the name of John of Damascus was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1890, it
4056-412: The "worst of all heresies". He taught that Christian believers are bound to follow the moral law for their sanctification . Methodist Christians thus teach the necessity of following the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments, citing Jesus' teaching, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (cf. Saint John 14:15). In the 17th century, Jansenism , which taught the doctrine of predestination ,
4160-601: The 7th-century text Concerning Heresy , Saint John of Damascus named Islam as Christological heresy, referring to it as the "heresy of the Ishmaelites" (see medieval Christian views on Muhammad ). The position remained popular in Christian circles well into the 20th century, by theologians such as the Congregationalist cleric Frank Hugh Foster and the Roman Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc ,
4264-516: The Bible and, "likewise, it seems," spoke to an Arian monk that taught him Arianism instead of Christianity. John also claims to have read the Quran, or at least parts of it, as he criticizes the Quran for saying that the Virgin Mary was the sister of Moses and Aaron and that Jesus was not crucified but brought alive into heaven. John further claims to have spoken to Muslims about Mohammad. He uses
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4368-459: The Byzantine emperor, but adopted a simplified style that allowed the controversy to be followed by the common people, stirring rebellion among the iconoclasts. Decades after his death, John's writings would play an important role during the Second Council of Nicaea (787), which convened to settle the icon dispute. Leo III reportedly sent forged documents to the caliph which implicated John in
4472-711: The Cathars grew to represent a popular mass movement and the belief was spreading to other areas. The Cathar Crusade was initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar heresy in Languedoc . Heresy was a major justification for the Inquisition ( Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , Inquiry on Heretical Perversity) and for the European wars of religion associated with the Protestant Reformation . Galileo Galilei
4576-479: The Catholic Church was Spanish schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll in 1826. The number of people executed as heretics under the authority of the various "ecclesiastical authorities" is not known. Although less common than in earlier periods, in modern times, formal charges of heresy within Christian churches still occur. Issues in the Protestant churches have included modern biblical criticism and the nature of God. In
4680-576: The Christ that there would be false prophets or false teachers. Irenaeus' opponents also claimed that the wellsprings of divine inspiration were not dried up, which is the doctrine of continuing revelation . The earliest controversies in Late Antiquity were generally Christological in nature, concerning the interpretation of Jesus' (eternal) divinity and humanity. In the 4th century, Arius and Arianism held that Jesus, while not merely mortal,
4784-479: The Christian community, in that case Arianist disputes over the nature of the Trinity. Irenaeus ( c. 130 – c. 202 ) was the first to argue that his orthodox position was the same faith that Jesus gave to the apostles , and that the identity of the apostles, their successors, and the teachings of the same were all well-known public knowledge. This was therefore an early argument supported by apostolic succession . Irenaeus first established
4888-672: The Church by Pope Leo XIII . Besides his purely textual works, many of which are listed below, John of Damascus also composed hymns, perfecting the canon , a structured hymn form used in Byzantine Rite liturgies. As stated above, in the final chapter of Concerning Heresy, John mentions Islam as the Heresy of the Ishmaelites . He is one of the first known Christian critics of Islam. John claims that Muslims were once worshipers of Aphrodite who followed after Muhammad because of his "seeming show of piety," and that Mohammad himself read
4992-464: The English heresy originally meant "choice" or "thing chosen". However, it came to mean the "party, or school, of a man's choice", and also referred to that process whereby a young person would examine various philosophies to determine how to live. The word heresy is usually used within a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic context, and implies slightly different meanings in each. The founder or leader of
5096-525: The Middle Ages whose teachings were deemed heretical by the established church, such as: At the beginning of the 13th century, the Catholic Church instituted the papal or monastic Inquisition , an official body charged with the suppression of heresy. This began as an extension and more rigorous enforcement of pre-existing episcopal powers (possessed, but little used, by bishops in the early Middle Ages) to inquire about and suppress heresy, but later became
5200-632: The Muslims that the black stone in Mecca was the head of a statue of Aphrodite. Moreover, he claims, the Muslims would be better off to associate Jesus with God if they say Jesus is the Word of God and Spirit. John claims that the word and the spirit are inseparable from that in which they exist and if the Word of God has always existed in God, then the Word must be God. John ends the chapter by claiming that Islam permits polygamy , that Muhammad committed adultery with
5304-591: The Old Testament that Christians believe foretells Jesus' coming is misinterpreted, while other Muslims claimed that the Jews edited the Old Testament so as to deceive Christians (possibly into believing Jesus is God, but John does not say). While recounting his alleged dialogue with Muslims, John claims that they have accused him of idol worship for venerating the Cross and worshipping Jesus. John claims that he told
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#17327662043635408-459: The Orthodox historian Jean Meyendorff , suppose that he might have been a lower-level tax administrator, a local tax collector who would not have needed to be mentioned in the archives, but who might not have necessarily been part of the court either. In addition, John's own writings never refer to any experience in a Muslim court. It is believed that John became a monk at Mar Saba , and that he
5512-539: The Roman Empire by what is commonly called the Edict of Milan , and was the first Roman Emperor baptized, set precedents for later policy. By Roman law the Emperor was Pontifex Maximus , the high priest of the College of Pontiffs ( Collegium Pontificum) of all recognized religions in ancient Rome . To put an end to the doctrinal debate initiated by Arius , Constantine called the first of what would afterwards be called
5616-575: The Umayyad caliphs . John of Jerusalem claims that he also served as a senior official in the fiscal administration of the Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Malik before leaving Damascus and his position around 705 to go to Jerusalem and become a monk . However, this point is debated within the academic community as there is no trace of him in the Umayyad archives, unlike his father and grandfather. Some researchers, such as Robert G. Hoyland , deny such an affiliation, while others, like Daniel Sahas or
5720-470: The apostolic period. They had different interpretations of Scripture , particularly the divinity of Jesus and the nature of the Trinity . Some of the major sects , cults and movements with different interpretations of Scripture from those of the Proto-Orthodox church were: Before AD 313, the heretical nature of some beliefs was a matter of much debate within the churches , and there
5824-578: The charge being punishable by death. Ottoman Sultan Selim the Grim regarded the Shia Qizilbash as heretics. Shiites, in general, have often been considered heretics by Sunni Muslims , especially in Indonesia , Saudi Arabia and Turkey . To Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb , Sikhs were heretics. In 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini , supreme religious leader of Iran , issued a fatwa that declared
5928-439: The concept of heresy was retained in theory but severely restricted by the 1559 Act of Supremacy and the one hundred and eighty or so Catholics who were executed in the forty-five years of her reign were put to death because they were considered members of "a subversive fifth column ." The last execution of a "heretic" in England occurred under James VI and I in 1612. Although the charge was technically one of "blasphemy" there
6032-469: The details of his work are in scientific disrepute, the concept of catastrophic change ( extinction event and punctuated equilibrium ) has gained acceptance in recent decades. The term heresy is used not only with regard to religion but also in the context of political theory. The term heresy is also used as an ideological pigeonhole for contemporary writers because, by definition, heresy depends on contrasts with an established orthodoxy . For example,
6136-431: The doctrine of four gospels and no more, with the synoptic gospels interpreted in the light of the Gospel of John . Irenaeus' opponents, however, claimed to have received secret teachings from Jesus via other apostles which were not publicly known. Gnosticism is predicated on the existence of such hidden knowledge, but brief references to private teachings of Jesus have also survived in the canonic Scripture as did warning by
6240-410: The domain of selected Dominicans and Franciscans under the direct power of the Pope. The use of torture to extract confessions was authorized by Innocent IV in 1252. The Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) was part of the Catholic Church 's efforts to crush the Cathars . It is linked to the movement now known as the Medieval Inquisition . Another example of a medieval movement condemend as heretic
6344-412: The early centuries of the Christian community. He described the community's beliefs and doctrines as orthodox (from ὀρθός , orthos , "straight" or "correct" and δόξα , doxa , "belief") and the Gnostics ' teachings as heretical. He also invoked the concept of apostolic succession to support his arguments. Constantine the Great , who along with Licinius had decreed toleration of Christianity in
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#17327662043636448-556: The execution of Avvakum in 1682. From the late 11th century onward, heresy once again came to be a concern for Catholic authorities, as reports became increasingly common. The reasons for this are still not fully understood, but the causes for this new period of heresy include popular response to the 11th-century clerical reform movement, greater lay familiarity with the Bible , exclusion of lay people from sacramental activity, and more rigorous definition and supervision of Catholic dogma . The question of how heresy should be suppressed
6552-439: The extolling of natural over supernatural virtues, the preference of active over passive virtues, the rejection of religious vows as not compatible with Christian liberty, and the adoption of a new method of apologetics and approach to non-Catholics." Cardinal James Gibbons responded to Pope Leo XIII that no educated Catholic Christian in the United States subscribed to these condemned doctrines. The last case of an execution by
6656-488: The faith, but because it protects it against the corrupting influence of false teachers. Tertullian ( c. AD 155–240 ) implied that it was the Jews who most inspired heresy in Christianity: "From the Jew the heretic has accepted guidance in this discussion [that Jesus was not the Christ ]." The use of the word heresy was given wide currency by Irenaeus in his 2nd-century tract Contra Haereses ( Against Heresies ) to describe and discredit his opponents during
6760-415: The famous 11th- and 12th-century heresies of Western Europe. The first one was that of Bogomils in modern-day Bulgaria, a sort of sanctuary between Eastern and Western Christianity. By the 11th century, more organised groups such as the Patarini , the Dulcinians , the Waldensians and the Cathars were beginning to appear in the towns and cities of northern Italy, southern France and Flanders. In France
6864-509: The field hasn't tested dinosaur orthodoxy severely enough. He adds that, "Most taxonomists, however, have viewed such new terminology as dangerously destabilizing to the traditional and well-known scheme." The illustrations by the author show dinosaurs in very active poses, in contrast to the traditional perception of lethargy. Immanuel Velikovsky is an example of a recent scientific exoheretic; he did not have appropriate scientific credentials and did not publish in scientific journals . While
6968-418: The formation of the Lutheran Churches condemned Johannes Agricola and his doctrine of antinomianism —the belief that Christians were free from the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments —as a heresy. Traditional Lutheranism, espoused by Luther himself, teaches that after justification, "the Law of God continued to guide people in how they were to live before God". Among the positions in violation of
7072-456: The formation of the Lutheran Churches , condemned Johannes Agricola and his doctrine of antinomianism – the belief that Christians were free from the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments – as a heresy. Traditional Lutheranism, espoused by Luther himself, teaches that after justification, "the Law of God continued to guide people in how they were to live before God." The Augsburg Confession of 1539, which
7176-570: The grace of salvation and not by following God's commandments ( sola fide ), and that the only Christian priesthood can be a universal priesthood of all believers . John of Damascus#Teachings and dogmatic works John of Damascus ( Arabic : يوحنا الدمشقي , romanized : Yūḥana ad-Dimashqī ; Greek : Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός , romanized : Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós , IPA: [ioˈanis o ðamasciˈnos] ; Latin : Ioannes Damascenus ; born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn , يوحنا إبن منصور إبن سرجون ) or John Damascene
7280-406: The heresy laws were repealed in 1547 only to be reintroduced in 1554 by Mary I ; even so two radicals were executed in Edward's reign (one for denying the reality of the incarnation, the other for denying Christ's divinity). Under Mary, around two hundred and ninety people were burned at the stake between 1555 and 1558 after the restoration of papal jurisdiction. When Elizabeth I came to the throne,
7384-462: The inquisition was that of the schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll , accused of deism by the waning Spanish Inquisition and hanged on 26 July 1826 in Valencia after a two-year trial. Some of the doctrines of Protestantism that the Catholic Church considers heretical are the belief that the Bible is the only supremely authoritative source and rule of faith and practice in Christianity ( sola scriptura ), that only by faith alone can anyone ever accept
7488-565: The issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as 'heresy'. By this edict, in some senses, the line between the Christian Church's spiritual authority and the Roman State's jurisdiction was blurred . One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and State was a sharing of State powers of legal enforcement between Church and State authorities, with
7592-590: The latter describing it as "the great and enduring heresy of Mohammed." For some years after the Reformation , Protestant churches were also known to execute those they considered heretics; for example, Michael Servetus was declared a heretic by both the Reformed Church and Catholic Church for rejecting the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity . The last known heretic executed by sentence of
7696-404: The monastery of St. Simon (near Antioch) translated a corpus of John Damascene. In his introduction to John's work, Sylvestre patriarch of Antioch (1724–1766) said that Antony was monk at Saint Saba. This could be a misunderstanding of the title Superior of Saint Simon probably because Saint Simon's monastery was in ruins in the 18th century. Most manuscripts give the text of the letter to Cosmas,
7800-510: The more right-wing groups within Orthodox Judaism hold that all Jews who reject the simple meaning of Maimonides 's 13 principles of Jewish faith are heretics. As such, most of Orthodox Judaism considers Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism heretical movements, and regards most of Conservative Judaism as heretical. The liberal wing of Modern Orthodoxy is more tolerant of Conservative Judaism, particularly its right wing, as there
7904-545: The name Mansur could have implied descent from the Arab Christian tribes of Kalb or Taghlib . The name was common among Syrian Christians of Arab origins, and Eutychius noted that the governor of Damascus, who was likely Mansur ibn Sarjun, was an Arab. However, Sahas also asserts that the name does not necessarily imply an Arab background and could have been used by non-Arab, Semitic Syrians. While Sahas and biographers F. H. Chase and Andrew Louth assert that Mansūr
8008-524: The official Church without authorization. Although Zoroastrianism has had an historical tolerance for other religions, it also held sects like Zurvanism and Mazdakism heretical to its main dogma and has violently persecuted them, such as burying Mazdakians with their feet upright as "human gardens." In later periods Zoroastrians cooperated with Muslims to kill other Zoroastrians deemed heretical. Buddhist and Taoist monks in medieval China often called each other "heretics" and competed to be praised by
8112-471: The party spirit. The word appears in the New Testament , usually translated as sect , and was appropriated by the Church to mean a sect or division that threatened the unity of Christians. Heresy eventually became regarded as a departure from orthodoxy , a sense in which heterodoxy was already in Christian use soon after the year 100. Heresy is used today to denote the formal denial or doubt of
8216-434: The phrase "ecclesial community" did not necessitate explicit heresy, but only that the communities lacked certain "essential elements" of an apostolic church, as he had written in the document Dominus Iesus . In the Catholic Church , obstinate and willful manifest heresy is considered to spiritually cut one off from the Church, even before excommunication is incurred. The Codex Justinianus (1:5:12) defines "everyone who
8320-515: The position of orthodoxy , and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Walter Bauer , in his Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (1934/1971), proposed that in earliest Christianity, orthodoxy and heresy did not stand in relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many regions heresy was the original manifestation of Christianity. Bauer reassessed as
8424-493: The process of self-definition for centuries, defining itself in terms of its faith by clarifying beliefs in opposition to people or doctrines that are perceived as incorrect. The word heresy comes from haeresis , a Latin transliteration of the Greek word αἵρεσις originally meaning choosing, choice, course of action, or in an extended sense a sect or school of thought, which by the first century came to denote warring factions and
8528-543: The royal court. Although today most Chinese believe in a hybrid of the "Three Teachings" (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucian) the competition between the two religions may still be seen in some teachings and commentaries given by both religions today. A similar situation happened with Shinto in Japan. Neo-Confucian heresy has also been described. In other contexts the term does not necessarily have pejorative overtones and may even be complimentary when used, in areas where innovation
8632-470: The souls of the Jews." He labeled all heresy as "Jewish", claiming that Judaism would "pollute [Catholics and] deceive them with sacrilegious seduction." The identification of Jews and heretics in particular occurred several times in Roman-Christian law . In Eastern Orthodox Christianity heresy most commonly refers to those beliefs declared heretical by the first seven Ecumenical Councils . Since
8736-810: The state enforcing what it determined to be orthodox teaching. Within five years of the official criminalization of heresy by the emperor, the first Christian heretic, Priscillian , was executed in 385 by Roman officials. For some years after the Protestant Reformation , Protestant denominations were also known to execute those whom they considered heretics. The edict of Theodosius II (435) provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of Nestorius. Those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death. Seven councils considered by main Christian denominations as ecumenical were convened between 325 and 787. These were mostly concerned with Christological disputes: Not all of these Councils have been universally recognised as ecumenical . In addition,
8840-855: The state's authority and that of the Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and state was the sharing of state powers of legal enforcement with church authorities. Within six years of the official criminalization of heresy by the Emperor, the first Christian heretic to be executed, Priscillian , was condemned in 386 by Roman secular officials for sorcery, and put to death with four or five followers. However, his accusers were excommunicated both by Ambrose of Milan and by Pope Siricius, who opposed Priscillian's heresy, but "believed capital punishment to be inappropriate at best and usually unequivocally evil." The edict of Theodosius II (435) provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of Nestorius. Those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death. In
8944-462: The throne in 717 immediately before the great siege) issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their exhibition in public places. All agree that John of Damascus undertook a spirited defence of holy images in three separate publications. The earliest of these works, his Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images , secured his reputation. He not only attacked
9048-414: The tongue-in-cheek contemporary usage of heresy, such as to categorize a " Wall Street heresy" a " Democratic heresy" or a " Republican heresy", are metaphors that invariably retain a subtext that links orthodoxies in geology or biology or any other field to religion. These expanded metaphoric senses allude to both the difference between the person's views and the mainstream and the boldness of such
9152-599: The views of the Catholic Church that Luther had taken when he was a Catholic priest were, " Haereticos comburi est contra voluntatem Spiritus " (It is contrary to the Spirit to burn heretics). This phrase was the name given to summarized version of his comments that were included in Exsurge Domine , a 1520 papal bull that listed his anti-heretic killing sympathies along with 40 other positions Luther had taken in his writings that were allegedly heretical, and which he
9256-461: The writing of Salman Rushdie to be heretical, and a bounty was issued for anyone who assassinated him. Heresy remains an offense punishable by death in some nations. The Baháʼí Faith is considered an Islamic heresy in Iran, with systematic persecution of Baháʼís . Orthodox Judaism considers views on the part of Jews who depart from traditional Jewish principles of faith heretical. In addition,
9360-625: Was brought before the Inquisition for heresy, but abjured his views and was sentenced to house arrest , under which he spent the rest of his life. Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy", namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe , and that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He
9464-410: Was an Arab Christian monk , priest , hymnographer , and apologist . He was born and raised in Damascus c. 675 AD or 676 AD; the precise date and place of his death is not known, though tradition places it at his monastery, Mar Saba , near Jerusalem on 4 December 749 AD. A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law , theology , philosophy , and music , he
9568-668: Was an Arabic name, Raymond le Coz asserts that the "family was without doubt of Syrian origin"; indeed, according to historian Daniel J. Janosik, "Both aspects could be true, for if his family ancestry were indeed Syrian, his grandfather [Mansur] could have been given an Arabic name when the Arabs took over the government." When Syria was conquered by the Muslim Arabs in the 630s, the court at Damascus retained its large complement of Christian civil servants, John's grandfather among them. John's father, Sarjun (Sergius) , went on to serve
9672-589: Was assigned to 27 March. The feast day was moved in 1969 to the day of John's death, 4 December, the day on which his feast day is celebrated also in the Byzantine Rite calendar, Lutheran Commemorations, and the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church. John of Damascus is honored in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church on 4 December. In 1890, he was declared a Doctor of
9776-486: Was fragmented, and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies. Ehrman's view is that while the specifics of Bauer's demonstration were later rejected, his intuitions are broadly accepted by scholars and were confirmed beyond what Bauer might have guessed. According to H. E. W. Turner , responding to Bauer's thesis in 1954, "what became official orthodoxy was taught early on by the majority of church teachers, albeit not in fully developed form." According to Darrell Bock ,
9880-668: Was given the by-name of Chrysorroas (Χρυσορρόας, literally "streaming with gold", i.e. "the golden speaker"). He wrote works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter. He is one of the Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is best known for his strong defence of icons . The Catholic Church regards him as
9984-418: Was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation. Others held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represented in the unified divine and human natures of Christ. The orthodox teaching, as it developed in response to these interpretations, is that Christ was fully divine and at the same time fully human, and that the three persons of
10088-551: Was no true mechanism in place to resolve the various differences of beliefs. Heresy was to be approached by the leader of the church according to Eusebius , author of the Church History . Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullian 's Prescription Against Heretics (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus' Against Heresies (c. 180, in five volumes), written in Lyon after his return from
10192-648: Was not eternally divine and was, therefore, of lesser status than God the Father . Arianism was condemned at the Council of Nicea (325), but nevertheless dominated most of the church for the greater part of the 4th century, often with the aid of Roman emperors who favoured them. Trinitarianism held that God the Father , God the Son , and the Holy Spirit were all strictly one being with three hypostases . The Euchites ,
10296-405: Was not resolved, and there was initially substantial clerical resistance to the use of physical force by secular authorities to correct spiritual deviance. As heresy was viewed with increasing concern by the papacy , however, the secular arm was used more frequently and freely during the 12th century and afterward. There were many Christian sects , cults , movements and individuals throughout
10400-649: Was one later execution in Scotland (still at that date an entirely independent kingdom) when in 1697 Thomas Aikenhead was accused, among other things, of denying the doctrine of the Trinity. Another example of the persecution of heretics under Protestant rule was the execution of the Boston martyrs in 1659, 1660, and 1661. These executions resulted from the actions of the Anglican Puritans , who at that time wielded political as well as ecclesiastic control in
10504-611: Was ordained as a priest in 735. John was raised in Damascus, and Arab Christian folklore holds that during his adolescence, John associated with the future Umayyad caliph Yazid I and the Taghlibi Christian court poet al-Akhtal . One of the vitae describes his father's desire for him to "learn not only the books of the Muslims, but those of the Greeks as well." From this it has been suggested that John may have grown up bilingual. John does indeed show some knowledge of
10608-510: Was ordered to recant. When Luther failed to accept the bull and give a broad recantation of his writings, he was excommunicated in the subsequent 1521 papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem . The Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Communion and the Twenty-five Articles of the Methodist Churches condemn Pelagianism . John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist tradition, harshly criticized antinomianism, considering it
10712-508: Was regarded by the Catholic Church as a heresy; the Jesuits were particularly strong opponents of Jansenism. The text Augustinus , which propagated Jansenist beliefs, was repudiated by the Holy See . In Testem benevolentiae nostrae , issued on 22 January 1899, Pope Leo XIII condemned as heresy, Americanism , "the rejection of external spiritual direction as no longer necessary,
10816-464: Was required to "abjure, curse and detest" those opinions. Most contemporary historians of science believe the Galileo affair is an exception in the overall relationship between science and Christianity. Pope Gregory I stigmatized Judaism and the Jewish people in many of his writings. He described Jews as enemies of Christ: "The more the Holy Spirit fills the world, the more perverse hatred dominates
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