# Heresy in Christianity

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Formal denial or doubt of a core Christian doctrine

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**Heresy in Christianity** denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core [doctrine](/source/Doctrine) of the Christian faith[1] as defined by one or more of the [Christian churches](/source/Church_(congregation)).[2]

As Christianity became established as a church, it defined orthodoxy and combated deviation from it by developing ecclesiastical, universal, and ecumenical councils. [Excommunication](/source/Excommunication), [inquisition](/source/Inquisition), and execution (by civil authorities) were used against heretics who refused to recant,[3] and major heresies were sometimes dealt with by [military crusades](/source/List_of_Crusades#Against_heretics). With the growth of toleration and [ecumenicalism](/source/Ecumenicalism), inquisitions have been abandoned.

The first Christian executed for heresy was [Priscillian](/source/Priscillian) in 385 AD,[4] and the last was [Cayetano Ripoll](/source/Cayetano_Ripoll), (accused of [Deism](/source/Deism)) in 1826 AD.[5] Some notable heresies in Christian history have been [Arianism](/source/Arianism), [Marcionism](/source/Marcionism), [Donatism](/source/Donatism), [Catharism](/source/Catharism), [Docetism](/source/Docetism), [Gnosticism](/source/Gnosticism), [Pelagianism](/source/Pelagianism), [Nestorianism](/source/Nestorianism), and [Conciliarism](/source/Conciliarism).[6]

## Etymology

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,[7][8] which by the first century came to denote warring factions and the party spirit. The word appears in the [New Testament](/source/New_Testament), usually translated as *[sect](/source/Sect)*,[9] 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](/source/Orthodoxy), a sense in which [heterodoxy](/source/Heterodoxy) was already in Christian use soon after the year 100.[10]

## Definition

See also: [Excommunication](/source/Excommunication)

Heresy (in Christianity) is used today to denote the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith[1] as defined by one or more of the [Christian churches](/source/Christian_churches).[2] It is distinguished from both [apostasy](/source/Apostasy_in_Christianity) and [schism](/source/Schism_in_Christianity),[2] apostasy being nearly always total abandonment of the Christian faith after it has been freely accepted,[11] and schism being a formal and deliberate breach of Christian unity and an offense against charity without being based essentially on doctrine.[12]

## Early Christianity (1st century – c. 325)

See also: [Early Christianity](/source/Early_Christianity)

### Development of orthodoxy

See also: [Diversity in early Christian theology](/source/Diversity_in_early_Christian_theology)

The development of doctrine, the position of [orthodoxy](/source/Orthodoxy), and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. [Walter Bauer](/source/Walter_Bauer), in his *Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity* (1934/1971),[note 1] 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.[13][14] Bauer reassessed as a historian the overwhelmingly dominant view[note 2] 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").[13]

Scholars such as [Pagels](/source/Elaine_Pagels) and [Ehrman](/source/Bart_D._Ehrman) have built on Bauer's original thesis. Drawing upon distinctions between [Jewish Christians](/source/Jewish_Christians), Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics and [Marcionites](/source/Marcionites), they argue that early Christianity was fragmented, and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies.[15][16] 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.[17]

According to [H. E. W. Turner](/source/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."[18] According to [Darrell Bock](/source/Darrell_Bock), a Christian apologist,[19] Bauer's theory does not show an equality between the established church and outsiders including [Simon Magus](/source/Simon_Magus).[20][note 3] According to Mitchell et al., each early Christian community was unique, but the tenets of the mainstream or [catholic](/source/Catholic_(term)) Church ensured that each early Christian community did not remain isolated.[21]

### Diversity

Main article: [Diversity in early Christian theology](/source/Diversity_in_early_Christian_theology)

The [Ante-Nicene period](/source/Ante-Nicene_period) (2nd–3rd century) saw the rise of a great number of Christian [sects](/source/Sect), [cults](/source/Cult) and [movements](/source/Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements) with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. They had different interpretations of [Scripture](/source/Bible), particularly the [divinity of Jesus](/source/Christology) and the nature of the [Trinity](/source/Trinity). Some of the major [sects](/source/Sect), [cults](/source/Cult) and [movements](/source/Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements) with different interpretations of [Scripture](/source/Bible) from those of the [Proto-Orthodox](/source/Proto-orthodox_Christianity) church were:

- [Gnosticism](/source/Gnosticism) (particularly [Valentinianism](/source/Valentinianism)) – reliance on revealed knowledge from an unknowable God, a distinct divinity from the [Demiurge](/source/Demiurge) who created and oversees the material world.

- [Marcionism](/source/Marcionism) – the [God](/source/God_the_Father) of [Jesus](/source/Jesus) was a different God from the [God](/source/Yahweh) of the [Old Testament](/source/Old_Testament).

- [Montanism](/source/Montanism) – relied on [prophetic](/source/Prophecy) [revelations](/source/Revelation) from the [Holy Spirit](/source/Holy_Spirit_in_Christianity).

- [Adoptionism](/source/Adoptionism) – Jesus was not born the [Son of God](/source/Son_of_God_(Christianity)), but was adopted at his [baptism](/source/Baptism_of_Jesus), [resurrection](/source/Resurrection_of_Jesus) or [ascension](/source/Ascension_of_Jesus).

- [Sabellianism](/source/Sabellianism) – Belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three synonymous one person of God, rather than three distinct "persons" within one God. Also known as Modalism and [Patripassianism](/source/Patripassianism).

- [Docetism](/source/Docetism) – Jesus was pure spirit and his physical form an illusion.

### Proto-orthodoxy

Main article: [Proto-orthodoxy](/source/Proto-orthodoxy)

Before AD 313 there was no true mechanism in place to resolve the [various differences of beliefs](/source/Diversity_in_early_Christian_theology) within the early Christian Church. Heresy was to be approached by the leader of the church, according to [Eusebius](/source/Eusebius), author of the *[Church History](/source/Church_History_(Eusebius))*.

## Late Antiquity (313–476) and Early Middle Ages (476–799)

Main articles: [Christianity in late antiquity](/source/Christianity_in_late_antiquity) and [History of Christianity of the Middle Ages](/source/History_of_Christianity_of_the_Middle_Ages)

### Christology

Main article: [Christology](/source/Christology)

The earliest controversies in Late Antiquity were generally [Christological](/source/Christological) in nature, concerned with the interpretation of Jesus' (eternal) divinity and/or humanity. In the 4th century, [Arius](/source/Arius) and [Arianism](/source/Arianism) held that Jesus, while not primarily mortal, was not always divine and was, therefore, of lesser status than [God the Father](/source/God_the_Father). Arianism was condemned at the Council of Nicea (325) but nevertheless was widely believed in the church of that century. [Trinitarianism](/source/Trinitarianism) held that [God the Father](/source/God_the_Father), [God the Son](/source/God_the_Son), and the [Holy Spirit](/source/Holy_Spirit) were all strictly one being with three [hypostases](/source/Hypostasis_(Christianity)). The [Euchites](/source/Euchites), a 4th-century [antinomian](/source/Antinomianism) sect from [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia), held that the triune God transformed himself into a single hypostasis to unite with the souls of the perfect. Euchites were [anti-clerical](/source/Anti-clerical) and rejected baptism and the sacraments, believing that the passions could be overcome and perfection achieved through prayer.[22]

Many groups held [dualistic](/source/Dualistic_cosmology) beliefs, maintaining that reality was composed of two radically opposing parts: matter, usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. [Docetism](/source/Docetism) held that Jesus's humanity was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation. Others held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God, and therefore both were good, and that these two realms were represented in the unified divine and human natures of Jesus.[23]

### Legal suppression of heresies

Main article: [History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance](/source/History_of_Christian_thought_on_persecution_and_tolerance)

The legalisation of Christianity under [Constantine I](/source/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity) in AD 313 led to the uniformity of proto-orthodox beliefs and the formulation of dogma through canons from the [ecumenical councils](/source/Ecumenical_councils). The first known usage of the term 'heresy' in a civil legal context was in 380 by the "[Edict of Thessalonica](/source/Edict_of_Thessalonica)" of [Theodosius I](/source/Theodosius_I). Before the issuance of this edict, the Church lacked state-sponsored support for any specific legal mechanism to address what it identified as 'heresy.' With this edict, the distinction between the [Church and the Roman government](/source/Christianity_as_the_Roman_state_religion) became less clear. 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 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](/source/Priscillian), was executed in 385 by Roman officials.[4]

A few decades later, the edict of [Theodosius II](/source/Theodosius_II) (435) provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of [Nestorius](/source/Nestorius).[24] Those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death.[25]

### Ecumenical councils

Main article: [First seven Ecumenical Councils](/source/First_seven_Ecumenical_Councils)

[Seven ecumenical councils](/source/First_seven_ecumenical_councils) were convened between 325 and 787. These were primarily concerned with Christological disputes:

- The [First Ecumenical Council](/source/First_Council_of_Nicaea) - ordered by Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, with [Pope Alexander I of Alexandria](/source/Pope_Alexander_I_of_Alexandria) presiding over more than 300 bishops who condemned [Arius'](/source/Arius) view that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father.

- The [Second Ecumenical Council](/source/First_Council_of_Constantinople) - held at Constantinople in 381 by initiative of Emperor [Theodosius I](/source/Theodosius_I), with the patriarchs of Alexandria, Constantinople, and Antioch presiding over 150 bishops. It decided and declared that the Holy Spirit is as divine as the God the Father and Son of God, and is co-equal Holy Trinity. This council also condemned [Apollinarianism](/source/Apollinarianism).

- The [Third Ecumenical Council](/source/First_Council_of_Ephesus) - held in Ephesus by the initiative of Emperor [Theodosius II](/source/Theodosius_II), in 431 with Pope [Cyril of Alexandria](/source/Cyril_of_Alexandria) presiding over with 250 bishops. It was mired in controversy because of the absence of the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch, the absence of the Syrian clergy, and violence directed against the archbishop of Constantinople, [Nestorius](/source/Nestorius), and his supporters. It affirmed [hypostatic union](/source/Hypostatic_union) and that [Mary](/source/Mary%2C_mother_of_Jesus) is the "Bearer of God" (*[Theotokos](/source/Theotokos)*), contrary to the teachings of Nestorius, whom it anathematized. The Council also anathematized [Pelagianism](/source/Pelagianism) which followers were granted asylum by Nestorius

- The [Fourth Ecumenical Council](/source/Council_of_Chalcedon) - held in Chalcedon by the initiatives of Emperor [Marcian](/source/Marcian) in 451, with the [Anatolius of Constantinople](/source/Anatolius_of_Constantinople) presiding over 500 bishops. This council affirmed that Jesus has [two natures](/source/Diophysitism): God and man, distinct yet always in perfect union. It was based largely on [Pope Leo I](/source/Pope_Leo_I)'s *Tome*. It condemned both [eutychian](/source/Eutychianism) and [miaphysite](/source/Miaphysitism) forms of [monophysitism](/source/Monophysitism) espoused by [Eutyches](/source/Eutyches) and Pope [Dioscorus I](/source/Dioscorus_I) of Alexandria respectively.

- The [Fifth Ecumenical Council](/source/Second_Council_of_Constantinople) - held in Constantinople in 553 by the initiatives of Emperor [Justinian I](/source/Justinian_I). It was presided by Patriarch [Eutychius of Constantinople](/source/Eutychius_of_Constantinople) interpreted the decrees of Chalcedon and further [explained](/source/Neo-chalcedonism) the relationship between Jesus's two natures; it also condemned the [teachings](/source/Origenism) of [Origen](/source/Origen) on the [pre-existence](/source/Pre-existence) of the soul.

- The [Sixth Ecumenical Council](/source/Third_Council_of_Constantinople) - held in Constantinople in 681 by Emperor [Constantine IV](/source/Constantine_IV) and was presided by Patriarch [George I of Constantinople](/source/George_I_of_Constantinople), declaring that Jesus had [two energies](/source/Dyoenergism) and [two wills](/source/Diothelitism) of His two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the [monoenergist](/source/Monoenergist) and [monothelites](/source/Monothelites).

- The [Seventh Ecumenical Council](/source/Second_Council_of_Nicaea) - called by Empress Regent [Irene of Athens](/source/Irene_of_Athens) in 787 and held in Nicaea. It was presided by Patriarch [Tarasios of Constantinople](/source/Tarasios_of_Constantinople) and promulgated the [veneration](/source/Iconodulism) of [icons](/source/Icon) while forbidding their worship. It was reinforced by "[The Triumph of Orthodoxy](/source/Council_of_Constantinople_(843))" after end of second Iconoclasm.

Not all these Councils have been universally recognised as [ecumenical](/source/Ecumenical_Council). In addition, the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) has convened numerous other councils that it deems have the same authority, making a total of twenty-one Ecumenical Councils recognised by the Catholic Church.

The [Assyrian Church of the East](/source/Assyrian_Church_of_the_East) accepts only the first two, and [Oriental Orthodoxy](/source/Oriental_Orthodoxy) only three. [Pope Sergius I](/source/Pope_Sergius_I) rejected the [Quinisext Council](/source/Quinisext_Council) of 692 (see also [Pentarchy](/source/Pentarchy)). The Fourth Council of Constantinople of [869–870](/source/Fourth_Council_of_Constantinople_(Roman_Catholic)) and [879–880](/source/Fourth_Council_of_Constantinople_(Eastern_Orthodox)) are disputed by Catholicism and [Eastern Orthodoxy](/source/Eastern_Orthodoxy).

Present-day [nontrinitarians](/source/Nontrinitarianism), such as [Unitarians](/source/Unitarianism), [Latter-day Saints](/source/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints) and other [Mormons](/source/Mormonism), and [Jehovah's Witnesses](/source/Jehovah's_Witnesses), reject all seven Councils.

Some Eastern Orthodox consider the following council to be ecumenical, although this is not universally agreed upon:

1. The [Fifth Council of Constantinople](/source/Fifth_Council_of_Constantinople) was actually a series of councils held between 1341 and 1351. It affirmed the [hesychastic](/source/Hesychastic) theology of St. [Gregory Palamas](/source/Gregory_Palamas) and condemned the philosopher [Barlaam of Calabria](/source/Barlaam_of_Calabria).

1. In addition to these councils, several significant councils have been meant to define the Eastern Orthodox position further. They are the [Synods of Constantinople in 1484](/source/Synod_of_Constantinople_(1484)), [1583](https://orthodoxwiki.org/Sigillion_of_1583), [1755](/source/Cyril_V_of_Constantinople#The_Oros_and_the_validity_of_baptisms), 1819, and [1872](/source/Phyletism), the [Synod of Iași](/source/Synod_of_Ia%C8%99i), 1642, and the [Pan-Orthodox Synod of Jerusalem, 1672](/source/Synod_of_Jerusalem_(1672)). Some individual examples of the execution of Eastern Orthodox heretics do exist, such as the execution of [Avvakum](/source/Avvakum) in 1682.

## High Middle Ages (800–1299) and Late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance (1300–1520)

Main articles: [Medieval history of Christianity § High Middle Ages (800–1300)](/source/Medieval_history_of_Christianity#High_Middle_Ages_(800–1300)), [Medieval history of Christianity § Late Middle Ages (1300–1499)](/source/Medieval_history_of_Christianity#Late_Middle_Ages_(1300–1499)), and [Heresy in the Catholic Church](/source/Heresy_in_the_Catholic_Church)

This 1711 illustration for the *[Index Librorum Prohibitorum](/source/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum)* depicts the Holy Ghost supplying the book burning fire.

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](/source/Laity) familiarity with the [Bible](/source/Bible), exclusion of lay people from [sacramental](/source/Sacrament) activity, and more rigorous definition and supervision of [Catholic dogma](/source/Catholic_dogma). The question of how heresy should be suppressed 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](/source/Papacy), however, the [secular arm](/source/Secular_arm) was used more frequently and freely during the 12th century and afterward.

### Medieval heresies

There were many Christian [sects](/source/Sect), [cults](/source/Cult), [movements](/source/Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements) and individuals throughout the Middle Ages whose teachings were deemed heretical by the established church, such as:

- [Paulicians](/source/Paulicianism) – an [Armenian](/source/Armenia) group (6th to 9th centuries) who sought a return to the purity of the church at the time of [Paul the Apostle](/source/Paul_the_Apostle).

- [Tondrakians](/source/Tondrakians) – an [Armenian](/source/Armenia) group (9th to 11th centuries) who advocated the abolition of the [Church](/source/Armenian_Apostolic_Church) along with all its traditional rites.

- [Bogomils](/source/Bogomilism) – a group arising in the 11th century in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria) who sought a return to the spirituality of the early Christians and opposed established forms of government and church.

- [Berengarians](/source/Berengarians) – a proto-Protestant religious sect that adhered to the views of [Berengar of Tours](/source/Berengar_of_Tours), Archdeacon of [Angers](/source/Angers), and opposed the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the practice of infant baptism, and private sacramental confession in the mid-11th century.

- [Gundolfo](/source/Gundolfo) – an itinerant 11th century preacher near [Lille](/source/Lille), [France](/source/France), who taught that [salvation](/source/Salvation_in_Christianity) was achieved through a virtuous life of abandoning the world, restraining the appetites of the flesh, earning food by the labor of hands, doing no injury to anyone, and extending charity to everyone of their own faith.

- [Cathars](/source/Catharism) – a major Christian movement in the [Languedoc](/source/Languedoc) region of southern [France](/source/France) from the 12th to 14th centuries. The Cathars believed that human [souls](/source/Soul) were the spirits of [angels](/source/Angel) trapped within the physical creation of an evil god. Through living a pure and sinless life, the soul could become perfect and free from the snare of matter.

- [Arnoldists](/source/Arnoldists) – a 12th-century group, inspired by the example of controversial figure [Arnold of Brescia](/source/Arnold_of_Brescia) (c. 1090 – June 1155), from [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy) who criticized the wealth of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) and preached against [baptism](/source/Baptism) and the [Eucharist](/source/Eucharist).

- [Petrobrusians](/source/Petrobrusians) – 12th century followers of [Peter of Bruys](/source/Peter_of_Bruys) in southeastern [France](/source/France) that considered the New Testament epistles to have a subordinate authority, questioning their apostolic origin, and rejected the authority of the Old Testament.

- [Henricans](/source/Henry_of_Lausanne) were 12th century followers of Henry of Lausanne in France. They rejected the [doctrinal](/source/Catholic_theology) and disciplinary authority of the [church](/source/Catholic_Church), did not recognize any form of [worship](/source/Worship) or [liturgy](/source/Liturgy#Christianity) and denied the [sacraments](/source/Sacraments_of_the_Catholic_Church).

- [Waldensians](/source/Waldensians) – a movement that began in the 12th century in [Lyon](/source/Lyon), [France](/source/France), and still exists today. They held that [Apostolic poverty](/source/Apostolic_poverty) was the way to spiritual perfection and rejected what they perceived as the [idolatry](/source/Religious_images_in_Christian_theology) of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church).

- [Joachimites](/source/Joachimites) – a millenarian group arose from the Franciscans in the thirteenth century. They based their ideas on the prior works of [Joachim of Fiore](/source/Joachim_of_Fiore) (c. 1135 – 1202), though rejecting the Church of their day more strongly than he had.

- [Humiliati](/source/Humiliati) – a 12th-century group from northern Italy who embraced poverty, charity and [mortification](/source/Mortification_in_Roman_Catholic_teaching). Initially approved by the church, they were suppressed for disobedience in 1571.

- [Pasagians](/source/Pasagians) – a religious sect which appeared in Lombardy in the late 12th or early 13th century that retained [Mosaic Law](/source/Mosaic_Law) and believed in a [Demiurge](/source/Demiurge).

- [Brethren of the Free Spirit](/source/Brethren_of_the_Free_Spirit) – a term applied in the 13th century to those, primarily in the [Low Countries](/source/Low_Countries), [Germany](/source/Germany), [France](/source/France), [Bohemia](/source/Bohemia) and northern [Italy](/source/Italy), who believed that the [sacraments](/source/Sacraments_of_the_Catholic_Church) were unnecessary for [salvation](/source/Salvation_in_Christianity), that the [soul](/source/Soul) could be perfected through imitating the life of [Christ](/source/Christ), and that the perfected soul was free of [sin](/source/Christian_views_on_sin) and beyond all [ecclesiastical](/source/Canon_law_of_the_Catholic_Church), [moral](/source/Christian_ethics) and secular law.

- [Apostolic Brethren](/source/Apostolic_Brethren) (later known as [Dulcinians](/source/Dulcinian)) – a 13th to 14th century sect from northern Italy founded by [Gerard Segarelli](/source/Gerard_Segarelli) and continued by [Fra Dolcino](/source/Fra_Dolcino) of [Novara](/source/Novara). The Apostolic Brethren rejected the worldliness of the church and sought a life of perfect sanctity, in complete poverty, with no fixed domicile, no care for the morrow, and no vows.

- [Fraticelli](/source/Fraticelli) (or Spiritual Franciscans) – [Franciscan](/source/Franciscans) through the 13th to 15th centuries who regarded the wealth of the Church as scandalous.

- [Neo-Adamites](/source/Adamites#Neo-Adamits) – a term applied in the 13th to 15th century to those, including [Taborites](/source/Taborites), [Picards](/source/Picards) and some [Beghards](/source/Beghards), who wished to return to the purity of the life of [Adam](/source/Adam) by [living communally](/source/Intentional_community), practicing social and religious [nudity](/source/Christian_naturism), embracing [free love](/source/Free_love) and rejecting [marriage](/source/Marriage_in_the_Catholic_Church) and individual ownership of property.

- [Nicholas of Basel](/source/Nicholas_of_Basel) – a 14th-century [Swiss](/source/Basel) leader who, after a spiritual experience, taught that he had the authority to use [episcopal](/source/Bishop) and [priestly](/source/Priesthood_in_the_Catholic_Church) powers (even though he was not ordained), that submission to his direction was necessary for attaining spiritual perfection, and that his followers could not [sin](/source/Christian_views_on_sin) even though they committed crimes or disobeyed both the [Church](/source/Catholic_Church) and [pope](/source/Pope).

- [Lollards](/source/Lollardy) – the 14th century followers of [John Wycliffe](/source/John_Wycliffe). They advocated [translating the Bible into English](/source/Bible_translations_into_English), rejected [baptism](/source/Baptism) and [confession](/source/Sacrament_of_Penance), and denied the doctrine of [transubstantiation](/source/Transubstantiation).

- [Hussites](/source/Hussites) – the 14th century followers of [Jan Hus](/source/Jan_Hus). They demanded celebration of the [Lord's Supper in both kinds](/source/Utraquism) (bread and wine to priests and laity alike).

### Inquisition

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Catholic Church instituted the papal or monastic [Inquisition](/source/Inquisition) which 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 the domain of selected [Dominicans](/source/Dominican_Order) and [Franciscans](/source/Franciscans)[26] under the direct power of the Pope. The use of torture to extract confessions was authorized by Innocent IV in 1252.[26]

[Giordano Bruno](/source/Giordano_Bruno), was executed by the Church for heretical beliefs in 1600. A believer in [Copernicanism](/source/Copernicus) (the idea that the earth and other planets orbited the sun), he is perhaps most famous for his preaching that the universe was unlimited with innumerable inhabited worlds; but also professed heretical ideas about [eternal damnation](/source/Hell), the [Trinity](/source/Trinity), the [deity of Christ](/source/Christology), the [virginity of Mary](/source/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)), and [transubstantiation](/source/Transubstantiation), [pantheism](/source/Pantheism),[27] and [metempsychosis](/source/Metempsychosis) regarding the [reincarnation](/source/Reincarnation) of the [soul](/source/Soul). Historians disagree over whether his heresy trial was mainly a response to his cosmological views,[28][29][30] or his views on religion and [afterlife](/source/Afterlife).[31][32][33][34][35]

## Reformation and Modern Era (1520–present)

In the 16th century several preachers/scholars ([Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther), [John Calvin](/source/John_Calvin), and others) attempted to reform the Catholic Church, disagreeing with church doctrine on the [nature of salvation](/source/Salvation_in_Christianity), the [sale of indulgences](/source/Sale_of_indulgences), etc. This movement developed into the [Protestant](/source/Protestantism) [Reformation](/source/Reformation) and a major [schism in Christianity](/source/Schism_in_Christianity). Unlike many other heresies, Protestantism was not eliminated by the Catholic church and as of 2010 is estimated to comprise 37% of all Christians.[36]

### Modern Roman Catholic response to Protestantism

Main article: [Heresy in the Catholic Church § Modern Roman Catholic response to Protestantism](/source/Heresy_in_the_Catholic_Church#Modern_Roman_Catholic_response_to_Protestantism)

At the [Council of Trent](/source/Council_of_Trent) (1545–1563) Catholic leaders declared all forms of Protestantism [heretical](/source/Heresy_in_the_Catholic_Church). Some of the doctrines of Protestantism that the Catholic Church considers heretical are the belief that the [Bible](/source/Bible) is the only supremely authoritative source and rule of faith and practice in Christianity (*[sola scriptura](/source/Sola_scriptura)*), that only by faith alone can anyone ever accept the grace of salvation and not by following God's commandments (*[sola fide](/source/Sola_fide)*), and that Christian priesthood should be a universal [priesthood of all believers](/source/Priesthood_of_all_believers).[37]

Among the positions in violation of the views of the Catholic Church that [Martin Luther](/source/Martin_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](/source/Exsurge_Domine#Text)*, a 1520 papal bull[38][39] 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 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](/source/Decet_Romanum_Pontificem)*.

In the 17th century, [Jansenism](/source/Jansenism), which taught the doctrine of [predestination](/source/Predestination), was regarded by the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) as a heresy; the [Jesuits](/source/Jesuit) were particularly strong opponents of Jansenism.[40] The text *[Augustinus](/source/Augustinus_(Jansenist_book))*, which propagated Jansenist beliefs, was repudiated by the [Holy See](/source/Holy_See).[41]

In *[Testem benevolentiae nostrae](/source/Testem_benevolentiae_nostrae)*, issued on 22 January 1899, [Pope Leo XIII](/source/Pope_Leo_XIII) condemned as heresy, [Americanism](/source/Americanism_(heresy)), "the rejection of external spiritual direction as no longer necessary, 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."[42] [Cardinal James Gibbons](/source/Cardinal_James_Gibbons) responded to Pope Leo XIII that no educated Catholic Christian in the United States subscribed to these condemned doctrines.[42]

#### Last execution of a heretic

The last case of an execution by the inquisition was that of the schoolmaster [Cayetano Ripoll](/source/Cayetano_Ripoll), accused of [deism](/source/Deism) by the waning [Spanish Inquisition](/source/Spanish_Inquisition) and hanged on 26 July 1826 in [Valencia](/source/Valencia_(city_in_Spain)) after a two-year trial.[5]

### Protestant responses to heresy of other Protestants

For some years after the [Protestant Reformation](/source/Protestant_Reformation), [Protestant denominations](/source/List_of_Christian_denominations) were also known to execute those whom they considered heretics. Protestantism is divided into various denominations on the basis of [theology](/source/Christian_theology) and [ecclesiology](/source/Protestant_ecclesiology),[43] including [Adventists](/source/Adventism), [Anabaptists](/source/Anabaptism), [Anglicans/Episcopalians](/source/Anglicanism), [Baptists](/source/Baptists), [Calvinist/Reformed](/source/Reformed_Christianity),[note 4] [Lutherans](/source/Lutheranism), [Methodists](/source/Methodism), [Moravians](/source/Moravian_Church), [Pentecostals](/source/Pentecostals), [Plymouth Brethren](/source/Plymouth_Brethren), [Presbyterians](/source/Presbyterianism), [Quakers](/source/Quakerism) and [Waldensians](/source/Waldensians).[45] some of whom have had serious disagreements historically.

[Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther) and [Philip Melanchthon](/source/Philip_Melanchthon), who played an instrumental part in the formation of the [Lutheran Churches](/source/Lutheran_Church) condemned [Johannes Agricola](/source/Johannes_Agricola) and his doctrine of [antinomianism](/source/Antinomianism)—the belief that Christians were free from the moral law contained in the [Ten Commandments](/source/Ten_Commandments)—as a heresy.[46] 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".[46]

The [Thirty-nine Articles](/source/Thirty-nine_Articles) of the [Anglican Communion](/source/Anglican_Communion) and the [Twenty-five Articles](/source/Articles_of_Religion_(Methodist)) of the [Methodist Churches](/source/Methodist_Church) condemn [Pelagianism](/source/Pelagianism).[47]

[John Wesley](/source/John_Wesley), the founder of the Methodist tradition, harshly criticized antinomianism,[48] considering it the "worst of all heresies".[49] He taught that Christian believers are bound to follow the [moral law](/source/Ten_Commandments) for their [sanctification](/source/Sanctification_in_Christianity).[48] Methodist Christians thus teach the necessity of following the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments, citing [Jesus'](/source/Jesus_in_Christianity) teaching, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (cf. Saint John 14:15).[50] Luther advocated the death penalty for Anabaptists in 1530, 1531, and 1536.[51][52]

#### Bloodshed

Protestant Christians did not have Ecumenical Councils, Inquisitions or some of the other institutions for establishing orthodoxy and preventing deviation from it, but were known to kill individuals for heresy and related matters during the Reformation and Counter reformation. As mentioned above Martin Luther opposed the burning of heretics.[39][38] However he did not oppose the execution of members of at least one radical Protestant sect -- Anabaptist -- and advocated the death penalty for them in 1530, 1531, and 1536.[51][52] One of the results of the [Diet of Speyer (1529)](/source/Diet_of_Speyer_(1529)) was an agreement between attending Catholics and Lutherans to kill Anabaptists.[53]

In Home Postils 1533, Luther explained the need for civil authorities to execute those who create "scandal" with "false doctrine".

The worldly authorities bear the sword with orders to prevent all scandal so that it may not enter and inflict harm. But the most dangerous and horrible scandal is where false doctrine and worship penetrates ... They (i.e. state officials) must resist it (i.e. scandal) stoutly, and realize that nothing else will avail save their use do the sword and of the full extent of their power in order to preserve the doctrine pure and the worship clean and undefiled.[54]

Protestant leader [John Calvin](/source/John_Calvin) also advocated for the execution of Unitarian [Michael Servetus](/source/Michael_Servetus), though he favored beheading rather than his burning. Servetus was killed in 1533.[55]

According to the [University of Notre Dame](/source/University_of_Notre_Dame), approximately 300 Catholics were "killed for their faith" in Britain between 1534 and 1681 CE. (300 Protestants were also killed from 1553 to 1558 under the Catholic reign of "Bloody Mary", Mary I.)[56]

## Eastern Orthodox response to Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism

[Metropolitan Philaret](/source/Philaret_Drozdov), the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna (and posthumously canonized as a saint) rejected the status of heretic for [Evangelical Lutherans](/source/Lutheranism) and [Roman Catholics](/source/Catholic_Church).[57][58]

## See also

- [Christianity portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Christianity)
- [Middle Ages portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Middle_Ages)

Part of a series on Christology Concepts Christ (Messiah) Kyrios Son of God God the Son Logos Incarnation Pre-existence Active obedience Communicatio idiomatum Consubstantiality Exaltation Humiliation God-man Homoiōma Son of man Hypostatic union Person Prosopon Imitation Intercession Kenosis Syncatabasis Knowledge Love Perfection Wisdom Threefold office Redeemer Doctrines Christological doctrines Adoptionism Apollinarism Binitarianism Eutychianism Chalcedonism (Neo) Docetism Dyoenergism Monoenergism Dyothelitism Monothelitism Dyophysitism Monophysitism Miaphysitism Henotikon Homoousionism Homoiousianism Homoianism Nestorianism Theopaschism By denomination Extra calvinisticum Lutheran Christology v t e

- [Heresy in the Catholic Church](/source/Heresy_in_the_Catholic_Church)

- [Infallibility of the Church](/source/Infallibility_of_the_Church)

- [List of heresies in the Catholic Church](/source/List_of_heresies_in_the_Catholic_Church)

- [Esoteric Christianity](/source/Esoteric_Christianity)

- [List of people burned as heretics](/source/List_of_people_burned_as_heretics)

- [Pelagius](/source/Pelagius)

- [Word of Faith](/source/Word_of_Faith)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** *Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum* Tübingen 1934 (a second edition, edited by Georg Strecker, Tübingen 1964, was translated as *Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity* 1971).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Bauer (1964:3f) instanced [Origen](/source/Origen), *Commentarius II in Cant.*, and *Sel. in Proverb.* and [Tertullian](/source/Tertullian), *De praescript. haer.* 36 as espousing the traditional theory of the relation of heresy.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** According to Gregory & Tuckett, Bock "is not an expert on the Christian Apocrypha, and his shortcomings are often apparent."[19]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** This branch was first called *Calvinism* by Lutherans who opposed it, but many find the word *Reformed* to be more descriptive.[44] It includes [Presbyterianism](/source/Presbyterianism), [Congregationalism](/source/Congregational_church), many of [united and uniting churches](/source/United_and_uniting_churches), as well as historic [Continental Reformed churches](/source/Continental_Reformed_church) in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, and elsewhere.

## References

### Citations

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NIDCC-heresy_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NIDCC-heresy_1-1) J.D Douglas (ed). *The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church* Paternoster Press/ Zondervan, Exeter/Grand Rapids 1974, art *Heresy*

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODCC-heresy_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODCC-heresy_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ODCC-heresy_2-2) Cross & Livingstone (eds) *Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church*, 1974 art **Heresy**

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Petruzzello-Britannica_3-0)** Petruzzello, Melissa. ["heresy"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/heresy). *Britannica*. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-burrus-1995-97_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-burrus-1995-97_4-1) Burrus, Virginia (1995). [*The Making of a Heretic: Gender, Authority, and the Priscillianist Controversy*](http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft009nb09t/). University of California Press. p. 97. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-520-08997-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-08997-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nashuatelegraph-1826_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nashuatelegraph-1826_5-1) ["Daily TWiP – The Spanish Inquisition executes its last victim today in 1826"](http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/805877-196/daily-twip---the-spanish-inquisition-executes.html). 26 July 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hornbeck-Fordham-10_6-0)** Hornbeck II, J. Patrick (24 October 2011). ["Top 10 Heresies in the History of Christianity"](https://now.fordham.edu/inside-fordham/top-10-heresies-in-the-history-of-christianity/). *Fordham University*. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Oxford English Dictionary

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["aipɛoç – Ancient Greek (LSJ)"](https://lsj.gr/wiki/%CE%B1%E1%BC%B5%CF%81%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B9%CF%82). *lsj.gr*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Strong's Greek: 139. αἵρεσις (hairesis) – Sect, faction, heresy"](https://biblehub.com/greek/139.htm). *biblehub.com*. Retrieved 1 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Ådna, Jostein (2005). [*The Formation of the Early Church*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BwWzi_omhrAC&dq=Jostein+heterodox+heresy&pg=PA342). Mohr Siebeck. p. 342. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-16-148561-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-16-148561-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Prummer_11-0)** Prümmer, Dominic M. *Handbook of Moral Theology* Mercer Press 1963, sect. 201ff

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Cross & Livingstone (eds) *Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church*, 1974 arts *apostasy*, *schism*

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_14-1) Bauer, Walter (1971). *Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity*. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8006-1363-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8006-1363-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [Behr, John](/source/John_Behr) (2013). [*Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity*](https://books.google.com/books?id=isxoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5). OUP Oxford. pp. 5–6. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-166781-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-166781-7). [Walter Bauer claimed] that Christianity was a diverse phenomenon from the beginning, that 'varieties of Christianity' arose around the Mediterranean, and that in some places what would later be called 'heretical' was initially normative [...] Although some of Bauer's reconstructions are inaccurate and have been dropped, the idea that Christianity was originally a diverse phenomenon has now been generally accepted.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Pagels, Elaine](/source/Elaine_Pagels) (1979). *The Gnostic Gospels*. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-679-72453-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-679-72453-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Ehrman, Bart D.](/source/Bart_D._Ehrman) (2003). [*Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew*](https://archive.org/details/lostchristianiti00ehrm). New York: Oxford. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-514183-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-514183-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ehrman2005_19-0)** Bart D. Ehrman (2005). [*Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew*](https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA176). Oxford University Press. p. 176. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-518249-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-518249-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Turner, H. E. W. (29 October 2004). [*The Pattern of Christian Truth: A Study in the Relations between Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Early Church*](https://books.google.com/books?id=aTxLAwAAQBAJ&q=The+Pattern+of+Christian+Truth:+A+Study+in+the+Relations+between+Orthodoxy+and+Heresy+in+the+Early+Church). Wipf and Stock Publishers. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59244-982-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59244-982-8).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGregoryTuckett2015453_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGregoryTuckett2015453_21-1) [Gregory & Tuckett 2015](#CITEREFGregoryTuckett2015), p. 453.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Bock, Darrell L. The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities / [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7852-1294-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7852-1294-2)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Frances M. Young (2006), *The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1: Origins to Constantine*, Series: Cambridge History of Christianity [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-81239-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-81239-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** McIntosh, Matthew (22 November 2020). ["A History of Heresy in Ancient and Medieval Christianity"](https://brewminate.com/a-history-of-heresy-in-ancient-and-medieval-christianity/). *Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas*. Retrieved 1 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz, *Medieval Worlds* (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 58

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Thompson2009_27-0)** Jay E. Thompson (2009). [*A Tale of Five Cities: A History of the Five Patriarchal Cities of the Early Church*](https://books.google.com/books?id=anocDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA138). Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 138. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4982-7447-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4982-7447-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MV2010_28-0)** María Victoria Escribano Paño (2010). ["Chapter Three. Heretical texts and *maleficium* in the *Codex Theodosianum* (*CTh.* 16.5.34)"](https://books.google.com/books?id=p_Udwo-g7VIC&pg=PA135). In Richard Lindsay Gordon; Francisco Marco Simón (eds.). *Magical Practice in the Latin West: Papers from the International Conference Held at the University of Zaragoza, 30 Sept. – 1st Oct. 2005*. Brill. pp. 135–136. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-90-04-17904-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-17904-2).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Catholic_Encyclopedia_Inquisition_29-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Catholic_Encyclopedia_Inquisition_29-1) ["Catholic Encyclopedia Inquisition"](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm). *New Advent*. Retrieved 3 October 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBirx1997Collinge2012[httpsarchiveorgdetailshistoricaldictio0000coll_2ndedipage188_188]_30-0)** [Birx 1997](#CITEREFBirx1997); [Collinge 2012](#CITEREFCollinge2012), p. [188](https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000coll_2ndedi/page/188).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Gatti, Hilary (26 October 2012). ["Why Giordano Bruno's "Tranquil Universal Philosophy" Finished in a Fire"](https://books.google.com/books?id=1Jo3hYavTpkC&pg=PA116). In Lavery, Jonathan; Groarke, Louis; Sweet, William (eds.). *Ideas under Fire: Historical Studies of Philosophy and Science in Adversity*. Fairleigh Dickinson. pp. 116–118. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-61147-543-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-61147-543-2). One of the first and most notable developments consisted in a growing awareness that earlier commentators had indeed been right to consider Bruno's trial as being closely linked to that of Galileo (...) Jean Seidengart underlined the particular emphasis to be found throughout the trial on Bruno's doctrine of a plurality of worlds." and "Bruno, however, by admitting so candidly his distance from the Catholic theology, was indirectly questioning such a system of law, which imposed on his conscience views different from his own. (...) he was doing it in the name of a principle of religious pluralism which derived directly from his cosmology.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** Martínez, Alberto A. (2018). [*Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition*](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/B/bo28433424.html). University of Chicago Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1780238968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1780238968).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Koyré, Alexandre (1980). *Estudios galileanos* (in Spanish). México D.F.: Siglo XXI Editores. pp. 159–169. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-9682310355](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9682310355).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEYates1977450_34-0)** [Yates 1977](#CITEREFYates1977), p. 450.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Michael J. Crowe, *The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750–1900*, Cambridge University Press, 1986, p. 10, "[Bruno's] sources... seem to have been more numerous than his followers, at least until the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century revival of interest in Bruno as a supposed 'martyr for science.' It is true that he was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600, but the church authorities guilty of this action were almost certainly more distressed at his denial of Christ's divinity and alleged diabolism than at his cosmological doctrines."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** [Adam Frank](/source/Adam_Frank) (2009). *The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate*, University of California Press, p. 24, "Though Bruno may have been a brilliant thinker whose work stands as a bridge between ancient and modern thought, his persecution cannot be seen solely in light of the war between [science and religion](/source/Science_and_religion)."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** [White 2002](#CITEREFWhite2002), p. 7: "This was perhaps the most dangerous notion of all... If other worlds existed with intelligent beings living there, did they too have their visitations? The idea was quite unthinkable."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** Shackelford, Joel (2009). "Myth 7 That Giordano Bruno was the first martyr of modern science". In [Numbers, Ronald L.](/source/Ronald_Numbers) (ed.). *Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 66. "Yet the fact remains that cosmological matters, notably the plurality of worlds, were an identifiable concern all along and appear in the summary document: Bruno was repeatedly questioned on these matters, and he apparently refused to recant them at the end.14 So, Bruno probably was burned alive for resolutely maintaining a series of heresies, among which his teaching of the plurality of worlds was prominent but by no means singular."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Pew-500_Protestants_39-0)** Sahgal, Neha (27 October 2017). ["500 years after the Reformation, 5 facts about Protestants around the world"](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/10/27/500-years-after-the-reformation-5-facts-about-protestants-around-the-world/). *Pew Center*. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** ["Catholic Encyclopedia: Protestantism"](https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12495a.htm). *www.newadvent.org*. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Bainton-145_41-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Bainton-145_41-1) [Bainton, Roland H.](/source/Roland_Bainton) (1950). *Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther*. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press., pp. 145–147.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Fredericq-27_42-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Fredericq-27_42-1) Fredericq, Paul (1900). [*Corpus Documentorum Inquisitionis Haereticae Pravitatis Neerlandicae*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5jdWnEO2hvUC&pg=PA27) (in Latin). p. 27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Cambridge2006_43-0)** Brown, Steart J.; Brown, Stewart J.; Brown, Stewart Jay; Tackett, Timothy; Bowie, K. Scott; Young, Frances Margaret; Mitchell, Margaret Mary; Casiday, Augustine; Norris, Frederick W.; Angold, Michael; Noble, Thomas F. X.; Baranowski, Roberta A.; Smith, Julia M. H.; Rubin, Miri; Hsia, R. Po-chia; Gilley, Sheridan; Simons, Walter; McLeod, Hugh; Stanley, Brian (2006). *The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 7, Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660–1815*. Cambridge University Press. p. 307. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0521816052](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0521816052).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Brechka2012_44-0)** Brechka, Frank T. (2012). *Gerard Van Swieten and His World 1700–1772*. Springer Science & Business Media. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-9401032230](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9401032230).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Heffron2011_45-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Heffron2011_45-1) Heffron, Christopher (14 October 2011). ["Ask A Franciscan: What is Americanism?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190606040214/https://www.franciscanmedia.org/ask-a-franciscan-what-is-americanism/). Franciscan Media. Archived from [the original](https://www.franciscanmedia.org/ask-a-franciscan-what-is-americanism/) on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hillerbrand_46-0)** Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. (2004). [*Encyclopedia of Protestantism*](https://books.google.com/books?id=PMSTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59). Vol. 1–4. London; New York: Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-92472-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-92472-6). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200523002949/https://books.google.com/books?id=PMSTAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA2-PA349) from the original on 23 May 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hägglund_2007_47-0)** Hägglund, Bengt (2007). *Teologins Historia* [*History of Theology*] (in German). Translated by Gene J. Lund (Fourth Revised ed.). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pewforum1_49-0)** ["Pewforum: Global Christianity"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131101114257/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf) (PDF). 19 December 2011. Archived from [the original](https://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf) (PDF) on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SeelyeSelby2018_50-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SeelyeSelby2018_50-1) Seelye, James E.; Selby, Shawn (2018). *Shaping North America: From Exploration to the American Revolution*. [ABC-CLIO](/source/ABC-CLIO). p. 50. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1440836695](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1440836695).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Wilson2011_51-0)** Wilson, Kenneth (2011). *Methodist Theology*. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 87. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0567317469](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0567317469).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-YrigoyenWarrick2013_52-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-YrigoyenWarrick2013_52-1) Yrigoyen, Charles Jr.; Warrick, Susan E. (2013). *Historical Dictionary of Methodism*. Scarecrow Press. p. 30. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0810878945](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0810878945).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hurst1903_53-0)** Hurst, John Fletcher (1903). [*John Wesley the Methodist: A Plain Account of His Life and Work*](https://archive.org/details/johnwesleymetho00hursgoog). Eaton & Mains. p. [200](https://archive.org/details/johnwesleymetho00hursgoog/page/n210).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** *The Wesleyan Methodist Association Magazine*. Vol. 12. R. Abercrombie. 1849. p. 368.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-his_55-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-his_55-1) Bainton, Roland H. [*Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther*](https://archive.org/details/hereistandalifeo005163mbp/page/n381/mode/2up). Abingdon-Cokesbury Press. pp. 376–378. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-mldp_56-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-mldp_56-1) [*Did Martin Luther support the death penalty for heretics?*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q209CXOQQYo). *Lux Veritatis*. Event occurs at 2:15. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Haught-Horrors_57-0)** Haught, James A. (17 June 2022). ["Holy Horrors: Christian persecution of Anabaptists \[Excerpt from Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness, by James A. Haught \]"](https://churchandstate.org.uk/2022/06/holy-horrors-christian-persecution-of-anabaptists/). *Church and State*. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-58)** [*Did Martin Luther support the death penalty for heretics?*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q209CXOQQYo). *Lux Veritatis*. Event occurs at 5:36. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hartropp-CT-2017_59-0)** Hartropp, Joseph (27 October 2017). ["The dark side of the Reformation: John Calvin and the burning of heretics"](https://www.christiantoday.com/news/the-dark-side-of-the-reformation-john-calvin-and-the-burning-of-heretics). *Christianity Today*. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FaithND-martyrs_60-0)** ["Martyrs of the English Reformation"](https://faith.nd.edu/saint/martyrs-of-the-english-reformation/). *FaithND*. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** ["Two Thousand Year Old"](http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/apostolic_christianity_s_kovasevich.htm). *www.holytrinitymission.org*. Retrieved 1 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** Kovacevich, Steven. "Chapter 10. The Church of God". [*Apostolic Christianity and the 23,000 Western Churches*](http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/apostolic_christianity_s_kovasevich.htm).

### Sources

- [Birx, H. James](/source/H._James_Birx) (11 November 1997). ["Giordano Bruno"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190516084317/http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html). *The Harbinger*. Mobile, AL. Archived from [the original](http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html) on 16 May 2019.

- Collinge, William J. (2012). [*Historical Dictionary of Catholicism*](https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000coll_2ndedi). [Scarecrow Press](/source/Scarecrow_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8108-5755-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8108-5755-1).

- Gregory, Andrew; Tuckett, Christopher, eds. (2015). *The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha*. Oxford University Press.

- Keating, Karl (1990), *Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on Romanism by Bible Christians*, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780898701777](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780898701777)

- White, Michael (2002). [*The Pope & the Heretic*](https://archive.org/details/popeheretictrues00whit). New York: William Morrow. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-06-018626-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-018626-5).

- [Yates, Frances](/source/Frances_Yates) (1977) [1964]. [*Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition*](/source/Giordano_Bruno_and_the_Hermetic_Tradition). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7100-2337-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7100-2337-7).

## Further reading

- Clifton, Chas S. (1992). [*Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics*](https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhe00chas). New York: Barnes and Noble Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7607-0823-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7607-0823-1).

- Edwards, Mark (2009). [*Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church*](https://books.google.com/books?id=z9acTl-jAkAC). Ashgate. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0754662914](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0754662914).

- Richard Flower, ed. (2025). *The Cambridge Companion to Christian Heresy*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-108-47047-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-108-47047-6).

- Slade, Darren M. (January 2014). ["Arabia Haeresium Ferax (Arabia Bearer of Heresies): Schismatic Christianity's Potential Influence on Muhammad and the Qur'an"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140202093241/http://atijournal.org/ATI_Vol7_No1.pdf) (PDF). *American Theological Inquiry*. **7** (1): 43–53. Archived from [the original](https://www.academia.edu/7928101) on 2 February 2014.

- Latinovic, Vladimir (2020). [Who Do You Call a Heretic? Fluid Notions of Orthodoxy and Heresy in Late Antiquity](https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030534240). Palgrave. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-030-53425-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-030-53425-7).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Heresy in Christianity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy_in_Christianity) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy_in_Christianity?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.