List of Christian heresies

A heresy is a belief or doctrine that is considered to be false or erroneous by the mainstream Christian church. Heresies have been a major source of division and conflict within the Christian church throughout its history. The church has responded to heresies in a variety of ways, including through theological debate, excommunication, and even violence.[1] The majority of these heresies centered around false ideas about Jesus Christ's nature. The early church councils were convened to address these heresies and to define the true nature of Jesus. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD condemned Arianism and affirmed that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD condemned Monophysitism and affirmed that Jesus Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. This is a list of all Christian heresies that have been condemned by one or more Christian churches.

This article is about Christian heresies disregard of the denomination. For Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church, see List of heresies in the Catholic Church.

1st century
Heresy Rejected by Description
Docetism Catholic church, Orthodox
church and mainline Protestantism.		 The belief of Docetism holds that Jesus Christ did not have a real physical body, but only an apparent or illusory one.[2]

2nd century
Montanism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A movement that emphasizes the importance of prophecy and ecstatic experiences.[3]
Adoptionism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God from eternity, but was adopted by God at some point in his life.[4]
Universalism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that all people will eventually be saved. Universalists believe that God's love is so great that no one will be excluded from salvation.[5]
Valentinianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A Gnostic heresy that taught that the world was created by a series of emanations from the supreme being. Valentinians believed that salvation came from knowledge of the true nature of the universe.
Sabellianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three distinct persons, but are simply different manifestations of the same divine being.[6]
Gnosticism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A complex system of thought that teaches that the material world is evil and that salvation can be achieved through knowledge (gnosis).[7]
Marcionism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that arose in the 2nd century AD. Marcionists believed that the God of the Old Testament was a different god from the God of the New Testament.[8]
Monarchianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all the same being. Monarchians were also known as Unitarians.[9]
Modalism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Modalism is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three different modes of God, as opposed to a Trinitarian view of three distinct persons within the Godhead.[10]
Patripassianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that the Father and Son are not two distinct persons, and both God the Father and the Son suffered on the cross as Jesus.[11]
Psilanthropism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Jesus is "merely human": and that he never became divine, or that he never existed prior to his birth as a man.[12]
Sethianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Sethianism was a 2nd-century Gnostic movement that believed in a supreme God, Sophia, the Demiurge, and gnosis as the path to salvation.[13]
Basilideanism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Basilideanism was a Gnostic Christian sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria. Basilidians believed that the material world was created by an evil demiurge and that the goal of salvation was to escape from this world and return to the spiritual realm.[14]

3rd century
Novatianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A movement that arose in response to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire. Novatians believed that Christians who had lapsed during the persecution could not be forgiven.[15]

4th century
Arianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Jesus Christ is not fully divine, but is a created being.[16]
Donatism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A movement that arose in North Africa in the 4th century AD. Donatists believed that the Catholic Church had become corrupt and that only the Donatists were the true Christians.[17]
Monophysitism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that arose in the 4th century AD. Monophysites believed that Jesus Christ had only one nature, the divine nature.[18]
Apollinarianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Jesus did not have a human mind or soul, but only a human body.[19]
Tritheism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that there are three gods, rather than one God in three persons.[20]
Collyridianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief is that the Trinity consists of the Father, Son, and Mary and that the Son results from the marital union between the other two.[21]
Binitarianism Catholic Church, Orthodox Church and mainline Protestantism Binitarianism is a Christian heresy that teaches that there are only two persons in the Godhead: the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is not considered to be a separate person, but rather an aspect of the Son or the Father.[22]
Subordinationism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that teaches that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not co-equal with the Father. Subordinationists believe that the Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father in either nature, role, or both.[23]
Anomoeanism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that taught that Jesus was not fully divine, but was a created being. Anomoeans also believed that Christ could not be like God because he lacked the quality of self-existence.[24]

5th century
Nestorianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Jesus Christ was two persons, the divine Son of God and the human Jesus of Nazareth. Nestorius said that the Virgin Mary is not the Mother of God (Theotokos) because she gave birth to the human part Jesus, not the divine Son of God, and called her Christotokos. Nestorianism was condemned as a heresy by the Council of Ephesus (431)[25]
Pelagianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that humans can be saved by their own efforts, without the need for God's grace.[26]
Eutychianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Christ is in one nature and of two, with the humanity of Christ subsumed by the divinity.[27]
Monophysitism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. The belief that Christ has only one nature, which is divine.[28]

6th century
Three Chapters Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox church The "Three Chapters" were three "Nestorian" writings (The person and writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, some writings of Theodoret of Cyrus, and an epistle by Ibas of Edessa to Maris). The Byzantine Emperor Justinian desired to reunite the Miaphysite and Chalcedonian churches throughout Byzantium, and so anathematized the Three Chapters and commanded Byzantine bishops (which included at the time the Pope) to do so as well. Pope Vigilius however believed doing so would undermine the authority of Chalcedon, and so initially refused to do so. Eventually, after incarceration and deportation to Constantinople, he agreed to anathematize the Three Chapters and concur with the Emperor in December of 553.[29]

7th century
Iconoclasm Catholic church and Orthodox church Iconoclasm was a movement that arose in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. Iconoclasts believed that the veneration of icons was idolatry. The iconoclastic controversy lasted for centuries until the Council of Nicaea II in 787 when the veneration of icons was officially restored.[30]
Monothelitism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Monothelitism was a heresy that arose in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. Monothelites believed that Christ had only one will, which was divine.[31]
Paulicianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Paulicianism was a heresy that arose in the 7th century. Paulicians believed that the material world is evil, and the only way to salvation is to reject it.[32]

12th century
Catharism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. Catharism was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France.[33]

15th Century
Stephanism Oriental Orthodox Church The Stephanites were a sect in Ethiopia which rejected veneration of icons, saints, and angels. The sect was subject to suppression on account of its rejection of the legendary origins of the Solomonic Dynasty. It greatly resembled later Protestant movements in Europe.[34]

16th century
Socinianism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A heresy that denied the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. Socinians believed that Jesus was a human being who was inspired by God.[35]
Protestantism Catholic Church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that broke away from the Catholic Church in the 16th century. The Catholic Church condemned Protestantism as a heresy on numerous occasions. In 1521, Pope Leo X issued the bull Exsurge Domine, which condemned 41 propositions from Martin Luther's writings. In 1530, the Council of Trent condemned 20 propositions from the Augsburg Confession, the foundational document of Lutheranism. And in 1563, the Council of Trent condemned 10 propositions from the Calvinist confession of faith.[36]

17th century
Jansenism Catholic church, Orthodox church and mainline Protestantism. A religious movement within the Catholic Church that arose in the 17th century. It was named after Cornelius Jansen, a Dutch theologian who wrote a book called "Augustinus" that argued that human beings are incapable of saving themselves by their own efforts and that salvation is entirely a matter of God's grace.[37]
Quietism Catholic church A religious movement within the Catholic Church which held that Christians should do nothing so as to not impede God's active will, and that men ought to remain silent.[38]

18th century
Febronianism Catholic church A religious movement within the Catholic Church that sought to make Catholicism more relevant to local cultures, reduce the power of the Pope, and reunite with Protestant churches.[39]

20th century
Americanism Catholic church A political and religious outlook attributed to some American Catholics and denounced as heresy by the Holy See.[40]
Sedevacantism Catholic Church The belief that the Catholic Church has not had a Pope since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and that all Popes from John XXIII and forward are Antipopes[41]
Feeneyism Catholic church The rejection of the doctrines of Baptism of desire and Baptism of blood, on the grounds that they grant justification but are not sufficient for salvation. Named for Leonard Feeney, a Jesuit priest from Boston.[42]
Modernism Catholic church The belief that all doctrines are subject to change, and that doctrines ought to change depending on the time and location. Condemned by Pope Pius X in the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis.[43]

References
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