A Brief History of Heresy

by Evans, G. R.

• ISBN13: 9780631235255
• ISBN10: 0631235256
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-03
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This short and accessible book introduces readers to the problems of heresy, schism and dissidence over the last two millennia. The heresies under discussion range from Gnosticism, influential in the early Christian period, right through to modern sects.The idea of a heretic conjures up many images, from the martyrs prepared to die for their beliefs, through to sects with bizarre practices. This book provides a remarkable insight into the fraught history of heresy, showing how the Church came to insist on orthodoxy when threatened by alternative ideals, exploring the social and political conditions under which heretics were created, and how those involved were 'tested' and punished, often by imprisonment and burning. Engaging written, A Brief History of Heresy is enlivened throughout with fascinating examples of individuals and movements. A short, accessible history of heresy. Spans the last two millennia, from the Gnostics through to modern sects. Considers heresy in relation to ecclesial separatism, doctrinal disagreement, church order, and basic metaphysics. Enlivened with intriguing examples of individuals and movements. Written by a leading academic in the field of Religious History.

Author Biography

G. R. Evans is Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge. Her previous publications include Law and Theology in the Middle Ages (2002), The Church and the Churches (1994), Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages (1993), and Problems of Authority in the Reformation Debates (1992). She is also the editor of The Medieval Theologians (Blackwell Publishing, 2000). She was for ten years a prominent member of the Church and Order Advisory Group of the Church of England, and is a former diarist for The Church Times.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	viii
Preface	x
The Importance of Being United	1	(22)
Forming Consensus	5	(5)
The Papacy	10	(3)
The Bible in the Hands of Heretics	13	(7)
Areas Where Disagreement May be Allowed	20	(3)
The Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Faith	23	(24)
The Apostles' Creed	24	(5)
The Nicene Creed	29	(5)
Catechesis	34	(4)
Misdirected Worship and Taking the Name of God in Vain	38	(3)
Does the Faith `Develop' Through History?	41	(4)
The Content of the Creeds and the Question of Orthodoxy	45	(2)
The Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Order	47	(18)
`Disorder' at the Wild Fringes	47	(6)
Orderliness	53	(2)
Ministry and Order	55	(2)
The Rigorist Dispute	57	(2)
Schismatics	59	(2)
Diaspora	61	(1)
Orthopraxis	62	(3)
Classifying Heresies	65	(25)
What Could be Imported from Ancient Philosophy?	66	(1)
Incarnation and Christology	67	(3)
The Augustinian Trio	70	(1)
The Easter Controversy	71	(1)
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation	72	(1)
1054 and the Schism of East and West	73	(3)
From Sect to `Confessional Identity'	76	(4)
The Power of a Name	80	(3)
Categories of Unbelief	83	(3)
Pinning Accusations to Suspected Heretics	86	(2)
The Creation of a Critical Literature	88	(2)
Heresy and Social Challenge	90	(33)
Popular Heresy: The Anti-establishment Dissidents Speak up for Themselves	93	(5)
The Road to Dissent	98	(1)
The Waldensians	99	(7)
John Wyclif and the Lollard Movement	106	(4)
Jan Hus	110	(7)
The Hussite `Movement'	117	(2)
Social Consequences After the Middle Ages	119	(4)
Good and Evil	123	(11)
The Mediaeval Dualists	126	(8)
Dealing with Heresy	134	(23)
University Sermons	136	(2)
The Preaching of the Heretics Themselves	138	(3)
Crusade	141	(1)
Inquisition	142	(7)
The Change in the Balance of Power	149	(2)
Living with Difference	151	(6)
Conclusion	157	(9)
Notes	166	(14)
Further reading	180	(6)
Index	186