The over a 2000-year history of the ancient church has been marred by various heretical movements which have in turn corrupted the original doctrine by introducing dogmas that are contrary to the teaching of the original church. These heresies taught a doctrine either questioned or contravened the original and true teachings of the Christian church. As a result, various sects emerged. The ancient heresies are categorized into Christological/Trinitarian [examples: Macedonians, Adoptionism, Arianism, Docetism], Gnosticism [examples: Manichaeism, Ophites, Sethian], and others [examples: Donatism, Marcionism]. Understanding the concept of ancient heresies is important to the modern theologist as it helps in the understanding of current and heresies, such as Rastafarianism, and even the doctrine/theology of prosperity that is affecting many Christian leaders today. Introduction Heresy in and within the church has been a major concern for Christian communities from as early as the writing of Peter’s Second Epistle and even before then heretic sects still existed. Therefore, it is not possible to clearly point out the inception of heresy. However, through the years and following the significant changes that have led to a reformation in the concepts of Christianity and theology, heresy has taken different forms following different beliefs and in the stewardship of various leaders. Heresy refers to the denial or rejection of revealed truth as has been taught by the church. Although the ideals and principles of heretics [adherents of a heresy] seem to preserve the appearance of Christianity. It nevertheless contradicts the very essence of Christianity regarding teachings and founding dogmas or in other words legal doctrines. When people formulate a belief system that is at odds with a particular existing and defined doctrine heresy, schism, and challenge towards the first faith arises. According to the perspectives of the early Church in Rome, any form of challenge or even departure or deviation from the taught doctrine was deemed as heresy regardless of the motives that influenced its emergence in the first place. In the ancient church, or rather, during the period of early Christianity, heresies were identified and grouped into three categories. These are Christological/Trinitarian Heresies, Gnostic Heresies, and Other Ancient Church Heresies. Following the reformation, other heresies emerged namely the Medieval Heresies, 19th-century Heresies, and Modern Movements which are deemed Heretical. Therefore, the concept of heresies has taken different forms over the year but what remains constant and shared among all of them is that they have moved from the original church dogma and spread other doctrines that claim to have their basis in true Christianity but in actual sense deviate what the teachings of the mainstream church. This paper takes a broad analysis of Heresies from the ancient church through the age or reformed theology, and also sheds light on some evidence of heretical teachings that have infiltrated the modern day church Historical Background/Perspective of Heresy Over the 52000-year history of the church, it has faced major persistent and recurring heretical movements. Starting from the earliest days of the church, various disputes over policy ad doctrine led to an increase in discontent among the Christians of the ancient Church. This discontent aroused desires among the believers to break away from the central or mainstream church authority, and this was the beginning of heresy in the ancient church. The original doctrine of Christianity was general and simple, but as the dogma expanded to address specific issues such as the Trinity, divinity etcetera, complex questions arose. It is the emergence of these complex issues that led to the rise of heretic thoughts among the early Christian believers. Initially, the doctrine was founded on the simple principle cited in the book of John that God is: Love – 1st 3John 4:8, 16; the Spirit – John 4:24; and the Light – 1st John 1:5. With the emerging questions that marked the departure from this early doctrine, people wanted to know more about the divinity of Christ and his role in overcoming the devil as well as the nature and person of the Holy Spirit among other concerns. In search of answers, heretic thoughts and sects were formed and persisted for years, others centuries. Therefore, in a very simple definition, heresy is any deviation from the churches teaching in the sense of upholding a doctrine that is contrary to the teachings of the mainstream church dogma. For example, a person is deemed heretic if he or she knows but decides to challenge the concept of the Holy Trinity in one way or the other. One may also become a heretic by rejecting or questioning the authority and more importantly, the divinity of Jesus Christ. On the same note, one becomes a heretic if he or she claims or believes that there are two separate powers in operation where one represents good, and other represents evil. However, it is important to note that only a Christian who acts in defiance of the church’s central dogma is capable of becoming a heretic or harboring heretic thoughts. In other words, a non-believer or simply, a non-Christian cannot and should not be accused of heresy under the church’s definition. This is based on the fact that such an individual never upheld the central doctrines in the first place, and is therefore not deviating from the truth or the teachings taught per se. Explanation Of The Concept Of Heresy In Ancient Church Heresy, and what it entails to be a heretic can be explained through an excellent and practical example derived from Spain. Apparently, this concept was more prevalent among the Spanish Christians during the early 15th century. According to Michael Thomsett, Christianity was the dominant religion in Spain at the time, but there were some few Jews. The Spanish religious practice and State was largely anti-Jewish, but nevertheless, the practicing Jew could not be termed as a heretic. However, the law initially gave the Jews two choices – either convert to Christianity or leave the country. This law was later reformed forbidding Jews from leaving, not just the country, but the ghetto areas that were assigned specifically to them, and could also not be allowed by law to conduct any forms of trade with the Christians. They, therefore, had no alternative but to convert to Christianity. It was suspected that the new converts were secretly practicing their Jewish rituals. Under such circumstances, the ancient church or rather, ancient Christians in Spain viewed a heretic as “anyone who secretly practiced a non-Christian faith rather than embrace the doctrines that the Church mandated”. Therefore, one needs to be a believer to qualify as a heretic [by deviating from the true dogma in one way or the other]. The reason for saying that heresy existed even during and before the time Peter wrote his second epistle is based on his teaching in 2nd Peter chapter two and verse one where his teaching as recorded in the Bible, King James Version (KJV), is as follows. Peter 1says, “but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the lord that bough them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” This is, by all means, a clear proof and explanation that heresy entails the erroneous teaching and/or the spread of false doctrines. It is also proof that heresy predates the era of the apostles and even that of the birth and coming of Jesus Christ. The following section examines some of the major heresies within the six heretical categories mentioned in [Christological/Trinitarian, Gnostic, and Other Early Church Heresies as well as Medieval, 19th-Century, and Modern Heresies. ANCIENT CHURCH HERESIES A) CHRISTOLOGICAL/TRINITARIAN HERESY In theology, Christology has a dual meaning. From the broader perspective, it refers to the overall study of the life and work of Jesus Christ. On a narrow viewpoint, it refers to the questions of the relationship between the human and divine in the person of Jesus Christ. The orthodox teaching maintained that 6God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were strictly one in three hypostases (Trinity). The Trinitarian/Christological questions that arose were about how Jesus could be human and divine at the same time, and how the Holy Spirit was divine and the same to God the Father and the Son. The heretic sect/subgroups within the Chritological/Trinitarian category are many, but only four are examined for purposes of this research. They are as follows: i) Macedonians/Pneumatomachians These are also referred to as Spirit fighters. This heretics accept the divinity of Christ but reject the divinity of the Holy Spirit. According to Lewis Ayres, Augustine notes that the questions of who created the Spirit, when and for what purpose raised major contentions among the early church Christians. It, therefore, became a spring of heresy, such as depicted by the Macedonians. It was founded by Bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople in the 4th-Century. Macedonians believed 2that the Holy Spirit was created by the God the Son to serve both God the Father and the Son. This is of course not true as the three are co-equals existing in a trinity. ii) Adoptionism/Psilanthropism/Dynamic Monarchianism This heresy was propagated by Theodotus of Byzantium. It rejected the divinity of Christ, arguing that he was a mere mortal later adopted by God as a son because of his supreme virtue and that the descent of the Holy Spirit upon his was evidence of the adoption. iii) Arianism This one is closely related to Adoptionism in the sense that it also rejects the true divinity of Christ. However, it accepts that he was created by God the Father but that his title as the Son of God was just but a courtesy one and an inaccurate title. It is associated with Arius, (ca, AD250-336). According to Rowan Williams, this dogma’s allegations make it the “archetypal Christian heresy”. iv) Docetism This heresy existed mostly in the 1st century and held that the Jesus’ body and crucifixion were mere illusions. The argument was that Jesus was an immortal, indestructible pure spirit and hence could not experience a physical death. B) GNOSTICISM This is another large category of ancient heresy. It refers to differentiated syncretistic religious movements that consist of diverse belief systems that are generally unified in the teaching that human beings are divine souls created by an imperfect god [demiurge/Abrahamic God] and trapped in a material world. It was mostly perceived as a corruption of the doctrine of Christianity based on its ideals of gnosis. According to Christoph Markschies, Gnosis in the 2nd century after Christ was a term used to define an idea or formation of knowledge that transcends time, in other words, “the knowledge of divine mysteries” (MARKSCHIES 13). The sub-categories of Gnostic Heresies are many but for purposes of the current study; only three will be examined. i) Manichaeism This is an ancient Gnostic heresy associated to Mani (210-276 AD). According to Michael Thomsett, the reoccurrence of gnostic heresies was set to happen for many centuries to come. On this note, this particular heresy thrived continuously between the 3rd to the 7th century and died out shortly before the Sixteenth Century in China. It is mainly a dualistic doctrine that believed that evil and good are equally powerful and that all material things are evil. ii) Ophites This one is a belief that the serpent [symbolizing Satan] that tempted 2Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and tricked them into eating the forbidden fruit was a hero. It further holds that instead, the God who forbade them from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the first place is the real enemy. As already mentioned, the gnosis allowed people to feel that they were capable of searching and finding divine knowledge and that this was right in itself to the human being. Therefore, anyone who stood in the way of gaining this knowledge, including God Himself, is an enemy. iii) Sethian This heresy originated from the Ophites heresy. The sect/followers of this heresy were found in Syria, and they formed around the Apocalypse of Adam. The Sethian central belief is that the Snake [Satan] in the Garden of Eden was actually and agent of the true God. They argued that God used it as an agent to bring the knowledge of truth to man through the fall of man. Therefore, it slightly differs from the ophitic heresy by failing to openly condemn God as the enemy. It is notable that the gnostic heresies discussed herein pay a close focus on knowledge. This is because, as David Brakke points out, everything Gnostics did was in an attempt to gain an increasingly higher knowledge of the divine and God. C) OTHER ANCIENT CHURCH HERESIES This category comprises the several heresies that do not fit in the other two categories. Only two will be discussed here in detail. i) Donatism This was an extremist doctrine holding in the church of saints, and any form of sin was damnable and totally unacceptable. They continually encouraged martyrdom; regarding it as the supreme Christian virtue and evidence of sainthood. According to Frend, this was heresy because its teachings were opposite to Catholicism. ii) Marcionism It developed around year 144, and although it accepted the divinity of Jesus as the savior and Paul as his paramount apostle, it rejected the Hebrew God and the Hebrew Bible as well. These heretics believed that the wrathful and unforgiving God of the Hebrews was a lower entity and not the all-forgiving God of the Christians and the New Testament. To them, the Hebrew God was an alien God and not the true one. Their ideas continued for over three-hundred years in the West. D) Medieval, 19th –Century, Counter-Reformation, And Modern Heresies Just to mention briefly, Catharism has seen a medieval heresy because it denied the Christian teachings that Jesus could be the Son of God and still be incarnate. Free Spirit was also a medieval heresy as adherents believed that perfection on earth could be gained by mixing Christianity with mystical beliefs. It may be unknown to some people that Jehovah’s Witnesses, was termed a heretic movement of the 19th-Century because of its complete rejection of the Trinity. They believe that God is one-person- alone and that Jesus [as Michael the Archangel] was His first creation. Jansenism was a major Catholic heresy in the frame of counter-reformation between the 16th and 18th century. It emphasized the necessity of divine grace, original sin, and predestination. Josephinism, another counter-reformation heresy, sought to impose a liberal ideology on the Christian church. The Rastafari Movement is a modern heresy because 4of its worship of Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) instead of God. Prosperity Theology is a modern heresy deemed as so because of its belief that financial blessing is God’s will for Christians; that donations to the ministry and positive speech will increase one’s blessings. They over emphasize the book of Malachi which asks people to give to God and that failure to tithe is robbing God. Asking people to honor God with tithes and offerings is not heretic, but the teaching becomes heretic when the ministers emphasize material wealth over and above everything else. Conclusion The term ‘heresy’ is closely associated with the idea of a troublemaker, dissenter, and pest Heresies have long been in existence since the beginning of the ancient church, and they exist even today. It is important for modern Christians to learn the origin and nature of different heresies so that they can know how to approach the issue and reform the church by redirecting its teachings towards the original and genuine doctrine.