Adoptionism: The heresy that denies the pre-existence of Christ Jesus (and therefore His deity) and claims that God tested Jesus and, after having passed the test and upon His baptism, granted Him powers and then adopted him as a Son. This error first appeared in the 2nd century and was later revived in the 8th century in Spain by Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, bishop of Urgel. This error arose out of an attempt to understand the two natures of Christ, which is known as the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union.
Albigenses: The heresy that claims there are 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 had been spiritual enough, salvation came to them. Otherwise, the person was reincarnated as an animal or another human. This heresy denied the resurrection of the body since it was considered evil. This error taught that Jesus was God, but that He only appeared as man while on Earth. This error was developed in the middle ages in Southern France.
Apollinarianism: The heresy that denies the true and complete humanity in the person of Jesus and claims that Jesus’ divine will overshadowed and replaced the human with a glorified form of human nature. This error, taught by Apollinaris the Younger, bishop of Laodicea in Syria about 361, claimed that the two natures of Christ could not co-exist within one person.
Arianism: The heresy that claims only God the Father is eternal and too pure and infinite to appear on the Earth. Therefore, God produced Christ the Son out of nothing as the first and greatest creation. The Son is then the one who created the universe. God adopted Christ as the Son. Essentially, Jesus was a lesser created being. This error was developed by Arius of Alexandar around 320 in Alexandria Egypt. This belief has found itself in Socinianism and modern day Rationalism, Unitarianism, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult.
Docetism: The heresy that claims Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be human. This error was developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God could not suffer. 1 John 4:2-3 and 2 John 7 refute this.
Donatism: The heresy that claims that the validity of the sacraments depends on the character of the minister. In other words, if a minister who was involved in a serious enough sin were to baptize a person, that baptism would be considered invalid. Since nobody is morally pure, this presents a huge problem. This error was taught by Donatus, bishop of Casae Nigrae.
Ebionism: The heresy that denies the divinity of Christ Jesus. This error, one of the early heresies in the church, says that Jesus was a good teacher and prophet, but that He was in no way divine. It also denied Jesus’ pre-existence. The Ebionites also taught that we should keep the Sabbath day (Saturday), a belief that finds itself in the modern day Seventh-Day Adventism cult.
Eutychianism: The heresy that denied that Jesus had either a divine or human nature, but a different nature altogether that was part human and part divine. This error existed during the 4th and 5th centuries, developed by Eutyches of Constantinople.
Gnosticism: The heresy that claims salvation is achieved through special knowledge. It also claims a dualism of good and bad in the universe, which states that the unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. So God created lesser divinities or “emenations.” One of these emenations, Wisdom, desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring the demiurge, an evil god, was formed, and it was this evil god who created the universe. He, along with archons, kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after death. Matter was considered evil. This error denies the incarnation of God as the Son. This belief has found itself in the New Age Movement cult.
Kenosis: The heresy that claims that Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes while He was a man here on Earth. This error was first introduced in the late 1800’s in Germany with Gottfried Thomasius, a Lutheran theologian. Essentially, this error denies Jesus’ full divinity. The correct doctrine would be the Hypostatic Union.
Manicheanism: The heresy that claims that there are two gods: a good spiritual god and a bad material god, who are in constant battle with each other. The bad god was identified as Satan and said to have as much power as the good God, Jehovah. Human beings were the battle ground between these two gods. This heresy also believed that Jesus was not really a human, but a divine being that inhabited a phantom-type body. This error was taught in the 3rd century by Mani, who attempted to create a single religion by combining Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. Manicheanists inclined toward a twisted “Christianity” and spared no effort to preserve many apocryphal or non-inspired writings such as the Gospel of Thomas.
Marcionism: The heresy that claims that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from that of the New Testament, claiming that the OT and NT were contradictory. This error was taught in the 2nd century by Marcion, who denied both the deity and humanity of Christ, believing that He did not have a real body. Marcionism was anti-OT and anti-Jew.
Modalism: The heresy that claims that God is one person who has appeared throughout history in three modes or forms. It denies the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, during Jesus’ baptism, God left the body of Jesus as an empty husk in order to speak as the Father and then descend as the dove, only to inhabit the body of Christ again afterward. This belief originated from Sabellianism and has found itself in United (or Oneness) Pentecostalism and United Apostolic Churches.
Monarchianism: The heresy that claims that there is one God as one person, the Father. It was an attempt to maintain Monotheism and refute Tritheism. This error was developed in the 2nd century. Dynamic Monarchianism claims that God is the Father and Jesus is only a man, while the Spirit was a force or presence of God the Father. This belief has found itself in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christadelphians, and Unitarians. Some ancient Dynamic Monarchists were also Adoptionists. Modal Monarchianism claims that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are just modes of the single person who is God.
Monophysitism: The heresy that claims that Jesus had only one nature: divine. It denies the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union. This error arose out of a reaction against Nestorianism, which taught Jesus was two distinct persons instead of one. Its roots can be traced back to Apollinarianism, which taught that the divine nature of Christ overtook and replaced the human one.
Nestorianism: The heresy that claims that Jesus was two distinct persons. This error was named after Nestorius. He repudiated the Marian title “Mother of God,” and held that Mary was the mother of Christ only in respect to His humanity.
Patripassionism: The heresy that claims that the Father became incarnate, was born, suffered, and died on the cross.
Sabellianism: The heresy that claims that God is one being and one person who appears in three different modes or forms, also claiming that the Father became incarnate, was born, suffered, and died on the cross. It denies the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, during Jesus’ baptism, God left the body of Jesus as an empty husk in order to speak as the Father and then descend as the dove, only to inhabit the body of Christ again afterward. This belief finds itself in Modalism, Patripassionism, and modern day United (or Oneness) Pentecostalism and United Apostolic Churches.
Semi-Pelagianism: This heresy is a weaker form of Pelagianism, and claims that man and God co-operate to achieve man’s salvation. The co-operation is not by human effort, as in keeping the law, but rather in the ability of a person to make a free will choice. Semi-Pelagianism teaches that man can make the first move toward God by seeking God out of his own free will and that man can co-operate with God’s grace even to the keeping of his faith through human effort. In other words, God responds to the initial effort of the person and His grace is not absolutely necessary to maintain faith. This belief has found itself in modern day Arminianism (the root belief in Dispensationalism).
Socinianism: The heresy that denies the Trinity. God is a single person with the Spirit as the power of God. Jesus was only a man, but a deified man who was to be adored. This error was derived from two brothers of the surname Sozinni in the 1500’s in Poland. Socinianism also rejected infant baptism, hell, and taught the annihilation of the wicked, a belief that finds itself in modern day Seventh-Day Adventism and Jehovah’s Witnesses cults.
Subordinationism: The heresy that claims that the Son is lesser than the Father in essence or in attributes. Jesus is different in nature than the Father. Primarily, this error teaches that the Son is not eternal and divine (Arian Subordinationsim) and, therefore, not equal to the Father in being and attributes. Another form of this error claims that the Son is divine but not equal to the Father in being, attributes, and rank. Essentially, the Son is inferior to the Father.
Tritheism: The heresy that claims that the Trinity is really three separate beings forming three separate gods. This erring view is often misplaced by the cults for the doctrine of the Trinity. This belief finds itself in Mormonism—but with a twist. Mormonism teaches there are many gods in the universe, but they serve and worship only one of them. The godhead for Earth to them is really three separate gods: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father used to be a man on another world who brought one of his wives with Him to this world. They both have bodies of flesh and bones. The son is a second god who was literally begotten between god the father and his goddess wife. The Holy Spirit is a third god. Mormonism is Polytheistic with a Tritheistic emphasis.
Albigenses: The heresy that claims there are 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 had been spiritual enough, salvation came to them. Otherwise, the person was reincarnated as an animal or another human. This heresy denied the resurrection of the body since it was considered evil. This error taught that Jesus was God, but that He only appeared as man while on Earth. This error was developed in the middle ages in Southern France.
Apollinarianism: The heresy that denies the true and complete humanity in the person of Jesus and claims that Jesus’ divine will overshadowed and replaced the human with a glorified form of human nature. This error, taught by Apollinaris the Younger, bishop of Laodicea in Syria about 361, claimed that the two natures of Christ could not co-exist within one person.
Arianism: The heresy that claims only God the Father is eternal and too pure and infinite to appear on the Earth. Therefore, God produced Christ the Son out of nothing as the first and greatest creation. The Son is then the one who created the universe. God adopted Christ as the Son. Essentially, Jesus was a lesser created being. This error was developed by Arius of Alexandar around 320 in Alexandria Egypt. This belief has found itself in Socinianism and modern day Rationalism, Unitarianism, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult.
Docetism: The heresy that claims Jesus was divine, but only seemed to be human. This error was developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God could not suffer. 1 John 4:2-3 and 2 John 7 refute this.
Donatism: The heresy that claims that the validity of the sacraments depends on the character of the minister. In other words, if a minister who was involved in a serious enough sin were to baptize a person, that baptism would be considered invalid. Since nobody is morally pure, this presents a huge problem. This error was taught by Donatus, bishop of Casae Nigrae.
Ebionism: The heresy that denies the divinity of Christ Jesus. This error, one of the early heresies in the church, says that Jesus was a good teacher and prophet, but that He was in no way divine. It also denied Jesus’ pre-existence. The Ebionites also taught that we should keep the Sabbath day (Saturday), a belief that finds itself in the modern day Seventh-Day Adventism cult.
Eutychianism: The heresy that denied that Jesus had either a divine or human nature, but a different nature altogether that was part human and part divine. This error existed during the 4th and 5th centuries, developed by Eutyches of Constantinople.
Gnosticism: The heresy that claims salvation is achieved through special knowledge. It also claims a dualism of good and bad in the universe, which states that the unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. So God created lesser divinities or “emenations.” One of these emenations, Wisdom, desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring the demiurge, an evil god, was formed, and it was this evil god who created the universe. He, along with archons, kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after death. Matter was considered evil. This error denies the incarnation of God as the Son. This belief has found itself in the New Age Movement cult.
Kenosis: The heresy that claims that Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes while He was a man here on Earth. This error was first introduced in the late 1800’s in Germany with Gottfried Thomasius, a Lutheran theologian. Essentially, this error denies Jesus’ full divinity. The correct doctrine would be the Hypostatic Union.
Manicheanism: The heresy that claims that there are two gods: a good spiritual god and a bad material god, who are in constant battle with each other. The bad god was identified as Satan and said to have as much power as the good God, Jehovah. Human beings were the battle ground between these two gods. This heresy also believed that Jesus was not really a human, but a divine being that inhabited a phantom-type body. This error was taught in the 3rd century by Mani, who attempted to create a single religion by combining Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. Manicheanists inclined toward a twisted “Christianity” and spared no effort to preserve many apocryphal or non-inspired writings such as the Gospel of Thomas.
Marcionism: The heresy that claims that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from that of the New Testament, claiming that the OT and NT were contradictory. This error was taught in the 2nd century by Marcion, who denied both the deity and humanity of Christ, believing that He did not have a real body. Marcionism was anti-OT and anti-Jew.
Modalism: The heresy that claims that God is one person who has appeared throughout history in three modes or forms. It denies the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, during Jesus’ baptism, God left the body of Jesus as an empty husk in order to speak as the Father and then descend as the dove, only to inhabit the body of Christ again afterward. This belief originated from Sabellianism and has found itself in United (or Oneness) Pentecostalism and United Apostolic Churches.
Monarchianism: The heresy that claims that there is one God as one person, the Father. It was an attempt to maintain Monotheism and refute Tritheism. This error was developed in the 2nd century. Dynamic Monarchianism claims that God is the Father and Jesus is only a man, while the Spirit was a force or presence of God the Father. This belief has found itself in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christadelphians, and Unitarians. Some ancient Dynamic Monarchists were also Adoptionists. Modal Monarchianism claims that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are just modes of the single person who is God.
Monophysitism: The heresy that claims that Jesus had only one nature: divine. It denies the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union. This error arose out of a reaction against Nestorianism, which taught Jesus was two distinct persons instead of one. Its roots can be traced back to Apollinarianism, which taught that the divine nature of Christ overtook and replaced the human one.
Nestorianism: The heresy that claims that Jesus was two distinct persons. This error was named after Nestorius. He repudiated the Marian title “Mother of God,” and held that Mary was the mother of Christ only in respect to His humanity.
Patripassionism: The heresy that claims that the Father became incarnate, was born, suffered, and died on the cross.
Sabellianism: The heresy that claims that God is one being and one person who appears in three different modes or forms, also claiming that the Father became incarnate, was born, suffered, and died on the cross. It denies the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, during Jesus’ baptism, God left the body of Jesus as an empty husk in order to speak as the Father and then descend as the dove, only to inhabit the body of Christ again afterward. This belief finds itself in Modalism, Patripassionism, and modern day United (or Oneness) Pentecostalism and United Apostolic Churches.
Semi-Pelagianism: This heresy is a weaker form of Pelagianism, and claims that man and God co-operate to achieve man’s salvation. The co-operation is not by human effort, as in keeping the law, but rather in the ability of a person to make a free will choice. Semi-Pelagianism teaches that man can make the first move toward God by seeking God out of his own free will and that man can co-operate with God’s grace even to the keeping of his faith through human effort. In other words, God responds to the initial effort of the person and His grace is not absolutely necessary to maintain faith. This belief has found itself in modern day Arminianism (the root belief in Dispensationalism).
Socinianism: The heresy that denies the Trinity. God is a single person with the Spirit as the power of God. Jesus was only a man, but a deified man who was to be adored. This error was derived from two brothers of the surname Sozinni in the 1500’s in Poland. Socinianism also rejected infant baptism, hell, and taught the annihilation of the wicked, a belief that finds itself in modern day Seventh-Day Adventism and Jehovah’s Witnesses cults.
Subordinationism: The heresy that claims that the Son is lesser than the Father in essence or in attributes. Jesus is different in nature than the Father. Primarily, this error teaches that the Son is not eternal and divine (Arian Subordinationsim) and, therefore, not equal to the Father in being and attributes. Another form of this error claims that the Son is divine but not equal to the Father in being, attributes, and rank. Essentially, the Son is inferior to the Father.
Tritheism: The heresy that claims that the Trinity is really three separate beings forming three separate gods. This erring view is often misplaced by the cults for the doctrine of the Trinity. This belief finds itself in Mormonism—but with a twist. Mormonism teaches there are many gods in the universe, but they serve and worship only one of them. The godhead for Earth to them is really three separate gods: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father used to be a man on another world who brought one of his wives with Him to this world. They both have bodies of flesh and bones. The son is a second god who was literally begotten between god the father and his goddess wife. The Holy Spirit is a third god. Mormonism is Polytheistic with a Tritheistic emphasis.