Jacob Carmody

Heresy Summaries
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is the belief that salvation is achieved through secret knowledge and by only some
people. Gnosticism also teaches that there are actually two gods; the creator god that propagated
the evil of the world in the New Testament, and the god that is an unknowable and a divine being
that we hear of in the New Testament. The Gnostics say that the Logos were sent to five this
secret knowledge to a select few so they could be reunited with this unknowable and divine
god. To receive this knowledge the people would have to perform certain rituals that tell of
amulets and other forms of incantations release hidden powers. The Gnostics also reject the idea
that Jesus was both human and divine, for if he were to be human then he would material,
making him evil. They say his body was simply an apparition.

Arianism
Arianism is the product of the beliefs of Arius, a priest from Alexandria in Egypt who claimed
that Jesus was not eternally God and was not His equal. He instead believed that Christ was a
supreme creation of God, and that God could not create something that is equal to his power.
Arianism became a great threat to the Church, so to combat this they reaffirming the beliefs of
Jesuss divinity into the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Arianism was ultimately
eliminated in the sixth and seventh centuries, but ideas from it can be seen today the forms of
Christian sects like Jehovahs Witnesses or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
These sects view Christ as the son of God, but not his equal.

Apollinarianism
Apollinaris was the bishop of Laodicea in Syria who supported the ideas against the Arians that
Jesus Christ was divine. However, he stated that Christ did not have a human mind or will, and
that he did not live a complete human life as a man. Apollinarianism was declared erroneous and
was condemned in 381 by the First Ecumenical Council of Constantinople.

Nestorianism
Nestorianism is from the teachings of Nestorius, who said that Christ was the unity of two
people; one of which was divine and the other was human. Nestorius refused to call Mary the
Mother of God. Nestorius and his teachings were condemned by the Church, and his followers
established separate Churches. These Churches would however return to union with Rome
eventually.
Monophysitism
Monophysitism stems from the belief that there is only one true nature of Christ, and that his
human nature was incorporated, or simply added, into the divine nature. An analogy that better
explains this is that it is like how a drop of water is absorbed into an ocean.