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Consequences of Heresy

After the Crucifixion, the Jewish followers of Jesus continued to see the movement as Jewish, albeit a reformed version of Judaism. The Apostle Paul saw it as a movement that welcomed all Jews and Gentiles, and he proselytized mainly to the Gentiles. The Apostles had disagreements among themselves that required resolution. But that was just the beginning of the trials and tribulations that the Jesus movement evolving into the infant Christian church would have faced.

Challenge to Church Doctrine

Perhaps the reason that so many gospels and other texts were written over the fifty years or so after Jesus' death was due to squabbling among the disciples. Each would have wanted to set into record his time with Jesus and interpretations of his teachings. Without Jesus to lead them, the group of Apostles struggled to stay together in spite of their differences. Peter and Andrew considered going back to their fishing enterprise. Mary Magdalene, according to the Gnostic gospel bearing her name, had sought them in their hiding places, consoled them in their grief, and admonished them to turn their minds back upon the teachings of Jesus. But who would be the new leader? To whom were they to turn now that Jesus was gone?

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The modern Catholic Church teaches that only a Christian who rejects the church's teachings can commit heresy. A schismatic is someone who turns away from the authority of the church but still believes its teachings, and an apostate is one who completely rejects Christianity. Members of other faiths cannot be Christian heretics.

The Jesus followers did what Jesus had commissioned them to do. In their work of sharing Jesus' teachings with others, they established new communities of Christians. Initially, those communities may have stayed close to the teaching they had been given, but what happened as those communities evolved and new ideas or questions emerged? It seems logical that if they had a copy of a gospel account or some other sacred writing about Jesus' teachings or sayings, they would use it to inspire each other and try to grapple through any issues that troubled them. Who was to say if they were following the faith correctly or not?

Undoubtedly, differences of opinion would have become more problematic when interpretations by new cults of believers calling themselves Christians and living around Palestine, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Syria threatened the emerging orthodox Christian church. The earliest writings of the New Testament, Paul's letters, clearly show the struggles faced by the new converts when cultural or other religious influences clashed with Paul's understanding of “Christian” belief. Paul, of course, never uses the word Christian. Not only Paul during his lifetime, but later the orthodox early fathers had to clarify and redefine who they were and what they believed in order to defend their doctrine when new ideas threatened to change it.

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For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? — Romans 10:12–14

Early church father Irenaeus used the term “haereses” in his Against Heresies , in which he describes his opponents and their beliefs as opposed to his own orthodox ideology (which became the position of the church). “Orthodox” comes from the Latin words ortho , meaning “straight,” and doxa, which means “thinking.”

The Church Deals with Gnostic Heretics

Some of the earliest ideas that orthodox Christians found heretical dealt with the Trinity and the nature of Jesus and the Father. The Trinity basically is a belief that God is three beings having one essence: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with Jesus being both human and divine. The Trinity is a Christian mystery — a matter of belief and faith rather than a rational conclusion. The orthodox early church believed that Christ died and that his death was a Paschal sacrifice that redeemed humanity by taking away the sins of the world. The church considered Christ's sacrifice as a gift from God, the Father, and at the same time a gift that the Son of God offered humanity by giving life to the Father through the Holy Spirit.

As Christianity spread and flourished, the orthodox fathers had to vigorously defend assaults of heresy, particularly against the Gnostics. Among the various communities of Gnostics could be found a variety of understandings and portrayals of Jesus. The Valentinians, for example, saw him as a savior figure while Gnostic believers in Seth viewed Jesus as the incarnation of Seth. The diversity of beliefs among Christians extended into other areas of belief as well.

As already mentioned, the role of women as church leaders, according to some modern scholars, was seen as a threat to the version of Christianity that was growing ever more powerful in the early second century. Women themselves were not mounting any kind of threat, but whatever gains they may have made began to erode. Still, some Gnostic sects allowed women to serve in the highest ecclesiastical roles. Their theology — with the Holy Spirit being female and women being light-and wisdom-bearers, the manifestation of the Divine in feminine form — carried over into the Gnostics' “real-world” treatment of women. Such views, however, were condemned by the later orthodox Christian church. With such ideas challenged and defeated, teachers of such ideas excommunicated, and writings eliminated, the Gnostics would have a tough time remaining a viable branch of anything. Even today, the church is ever-vigilant for ideas that are in error from its position. The following list sets forth ten heresies the proto-orthodox Christian fathers identified and attempted to eliminate.

Destruction of Writings by Fire and Water

Athough Jesus had admonished all his followers to love one another, make no new law, and judge not, some early leaders, for reasons of self-preservation, were judgmental against the Gnostics. The literalist Christians did not seek out or persecute people who were pagans, magicians, or members of secret societies (as they did the Gnostics) because those people were not calling themselves Christians. Their beliefs were not heresies against Christianity. It is likely, however, that the church would have pronounced disapproval or provided warnings to protect its own flock. Christian heresy, however, from any direction could not be tolerated.

Early church father Irenaeus was among the first to use apostolic succession as a means to refute his opponents' beliefs and also to list the four gospels (now known as the canonical gospels) as divinely inspired. Some scholars suggest that Irenaeus did the latter in response to the Gnostic Marcion severely editing the Gospel of Luke to create his own canon. In fact, Irenaeus believed that the Gnostic writings were unlike the works handed down by the Apostles. The Gnostics found truth in their mystical visions and spiritual insights, less so in the gospel stories of Jesus' life and teachings. This became a source of frustration and anger among the early church fathers, especially Irenaeus.

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What does Jesus mean when he says in the Gospel of Thomas that he reveals his mysteries to those who are worthy of them, and to not let the left hand know what the right is doing?

The esoteric teachings that Jesus gave his disciples are revealed to those ready to learn them, and they are not to be cast about and spread around to anyone other than the chosen ones.

The Gnostic mystics posed a concern to the early Christian fathers. After the Roman Emperor Constantine allowed freedom of religion, the evolving Christian church banished heretics and ordered their tainted texts and materials destroyed by fire or water or other means. One such text, the Gospel of Thomas (a Gnostic text found at Nag Hammadi), preserved a saying in which Jesus told his disciples that he was not their master, but because they had sipped from the “bubbling stream” he had measured out, they had become drunk. In another part of that gospel, Jesus told his followers that those who would drink from his mouth would become like him and that things hidden would be revealed. This gospel is remarkable in that scholars think it might be as old as or older than the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the canonical gospels. Some say it may have been a source for those Gospels. Jesus appears to suggest that there are hidden things of which one can obtain knowledge and that it is possible to become like him by drinking from his mouth (taking in his teachings). However, because the the literalist faction of the Christian community found the text heretical, the Gospel of Thomas was condemned and destroyed.

Excommunication

Despite Tertullian's writing that each human should worship according to his own conviction and should never be compelled to follow a particular religion, there were instances when those who believed as he did saw the teaching or activities of some Christians as deeply threatening. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip declares that he who achieves gnosis is no longer a Christian but has become a Christ. What need then would that Christian have for a church, hierachy, creed, canon, or sacramental rites?

The followers of the charismatic teacher Montanus, while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues and produced new revelations and prophecies. They declared that they were not just inspired by God but spoke in the person of God. Montanus sought to increase the number of sacred texts by adding his own “divinely inspired” works. The orthodox church had other ideas and declared that there was to be no more original revelation through prophecy, that it had ended with the Apostolic Age. That left Christians the option of explaining the Word of God, but they could add nothing new to the body of prophecy and divine revelation that went on during the Apostles' lifetimes. Montanus was excommunicated in circa A.D. 190.

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Excommunication literally means “no longer in communion.” Churches use excommunication as a spiritual censure and condemnation of a person or group. After excommunicating someone, the church can also implement a banishment, shunning, or shaming.

Gnosticism took off and flourished in the second century, suggesting that it briefly entered the mainstream of Christianity. The extraordinary Gnostic teacher Valentinus may have been considered a candidate for the position of Bishop of Rome, and history records that he dutifully served the church in the arena of public affairs. He also claimed some apostolic sanctioning as the student of Theudas, a disciple of the Apostle Paul. Still, in his later life his Gnostic thinking (possibly about the lack of need for clergy to obtain salvation) distanced him from the orthodoxy and its emerging apostolic hierarchy. So in A.D. 150 Valentinus, like others before him including Basilides and Marcion, was excommunicated and his writings and sacred texts destroyed.

Excommunication from the church worked to some degree to eliminate heretics, but it didn't completely stamp out the offending sects. Some groups continued to build followings. The orthodox church fathers used the power of the pen and began to write polemics against heresies (mainly Gnostic) that they had identified. Irenaeus wrote his famous Against Heresies in circa A.D. 180 and specifically mentioned the Gospel of Truth, believed to have been written by Valentinus. The orthodox fathers revised a baptismal creed into a statement of Christian belief, calling it the Apostles' Creed. The creed's language became extremely important inasmuch as it countered Gnostic heresies. So before the persecution of Christians ended, the patristic fathers had within their spiritual arsenal their written refutations, excommunication and expulsion of heretics from the church, destruction of their offending materials, fiery sermons against the wrong beliefs espoused by their opponents, a creed, and a canon. Once Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians and the orthodoxy had the power of the state to help it push down outbreaks of heresy and heretics, the hunt was on.

The Tragic Fate of the Cathars

In the twelfth century, a religious movement known as Catharism, with distinctly Gnostic elements, emerged in southern France. The people behind the movement were known as Cathars (“pure ones”), although sometimes they were referred to as the Albigensians because they lived near the town of Albi. The Cathars protested against the excesses of the Roman Catholic clergy. Although a few Cathars had been put to death, the group began to flourish under the protection of William, Duke of Aquitaine. No doubt shocking to the orthodox Roman Catholic Church, several priests espoused Cathar beliefs and joined the Cathars. The Cathari elders embraced an ascetic lifestyle and were were known simply as good men or good women. The followers received baptism of the Spirit before death, ensuring that they would become elders or Perfecti.

Beliefs of the Cathars

The Cathars, like Gnostic Christians centuries before them, believed in a divine spark imprisoned in humans. The material or physical realm had been designed and created by an inferior god/Satan/Demiurge. The God of orthodox Christians was not the true God but rather an imposter, and his church was corrupt. Humans, through their individual efforts, had to free themselves from the material existence to obtain enlightenment and liberation. Otherwise, they were destined to have to repeat life in the material realm through reincarnation.

The Cathars rejected the Trinity, the Hebrew scriptures, and the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. They also rejected the idea of purgatory and hell. To the Cathars, the entrapment of the divine spark in the physical human envelope made this world the real hell. They were pacifists whose nonviolent beliefs extended toward animals. They eschewed meat and dairy products. The Cathars believed that the spirit was found in the soul that was itself contained within the human body. Keeping their spirit pure so that it could return the the realm of Light (God) was the most important task in life.

Hierarchy of Structure

The Cathar hierarchy contained two tiers: Perfecti (perfect ones or elders) and Credentes (believers). Both women and men could become Perfecti , and both practiced extreme asceticism. It was not imposed upon the Credentes . The Perfecti wore black robes and lived their lives as Jesus had, depending upon alms for food, doing penance and prayer, serving others, and teaching. To become a Perfecti , one had to undergo the ritual consolamentum , a baptism by the Holy Spirit and an ordination into the ascetic element of the group. The Perfecti stood as spiritual exemplars to the community.

The Credentes led a lifestyle more worldly than the Perfecti . They could even marry. But they had to swear oaths not to take a life or kill animals. If death approached, a Credente could accept the rite of consolamentum and stop eating and drinking to hasten death. The Cathars worshipped the God of Love rather than the deity of the Hebrew scriptures.

Suppression by Massacre

Pope Eugene III decided that church had to put an end to the Cathars. He sought and received help from Bernard of Clairvaux, Cardinal Peter of St. Chrysogonus, and others, but wiping out the movement proved futile. The Roman Catholic Church issued edicts against the Cathars, but this didn't suppress them either. The Church tried other tactics as well, but without success. Noblemen protecting the Cathars were excommunicated and put to death. In A.D. 1208, the Pope ordered a crusade against them and a papal decree proclaiming that all Cathar lands would be confiscated. The result was the Albigensian Crusade, which took place over the next forty years, during which northern French landowners took up the fight in the south against the Cathars.

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The Cathars espoused Gnostic beliefs in the divine feminine and practiced gender equality. They venerated Mary Magdalene, and her legends, myths, and stories are kept alive in oral traditions that are especially strong in southern France where the Cathars once flourished.

The community of Béziers fell on July 22, 1209, the feast day of Mary Magdalene. The Cistercian abbot Arnaud-Amaury, who commanded the siege, was asked how he could distinguish Catholics from Cathars in the battle. He supposedly said that he killed them all, for God would recognize his own. The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene housed 7,000 people and they were all slaughtered. Thousands of other townspeople were killed as well. Some scholars say the figure for the dead could have been as high as 20,000 people, including women and children. Still, Catharism did not die.

The Crusades and Inquisition

By the middle of the thirteenth century, the bishops under Pope Innocent met to again deal with the Cathar “problem.” Catharism had become entrenched in the French towns of Albi, Toulouse, and Carcassonne and was spreading its Gnostic heresies. The Pope and his bishops decided to establish the Inquisition for the purpose of permanently exterminating the Cathars, their ideas, and their movement. The Roman Catholic Church set up inquests in various districts, making it easier to find, try, and punish heretics. Another massacre of Cathars took place in Monteségur when two hundred Perfecti were burned in a massive bonfire near the base of the castle located there. The Church also meted out severe punishments for noblemen and anyone suspected of being a Cathari sympathizer. The Cathars who eluded detection went into hiding and scattered far and wide. The Inquisition maintained records of those it executed and so historians know that the last Cathar Perfecti was put to death in A.D. 1321.

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Crusades were always announced by a session of preaching after which the “soldier” had to swear a vow. Then the pope or one of his representatives presented the “soldier” with a cross. In this way, the church “inducted” individuals into its army of Christian soldiers to do battle on its behalf.

Some historians refer to the massacre of Cathars as the Albigensian Crusade. The Crusades normally were thought of as military expeditions (holy wars) launched during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries to reclaim sacred places such as Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim tyranny. But since that time the term, according to the dictionary, has broadened to encompass a vigorous, aggressive movement to defend an idea or cause.