A Brief History of Heresy

Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion

by G.R. Evans

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.

Genres: History, Church History, Nonfiction, Religion

216 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2002

About the author

Professor Emeritus of Medieval Theology and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge

Reviews

[Casper Denck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also posted at http://nicodemist.wordpress.com/2010/...

On first sitting down to write this review I was going to start with quite a negative review stating that this had been given an inaccurate title and that the nearest to history was its eclectic mention of various – predominately medieval – heresies, however, on reflection this is a little unfair. If you are looking for a narrative history of the development of orthodoxy and the boundaries of acceptable divergence then this is not the book for you (I was). Rather than being a strictly historical book this is rather more of an introductory study into the prevailing idea of heresy through the Church’s history, it is therefore more of a thematic study.

In the first chapter Evans introduces the idea of Christian Unity and its importance for self-identity. Evans suggests that there needs to be a consensus of common ideals and therefore, with the geographical divergence of Christian communities there was a move towards ecclesiastical centralisation under a strong theology of papal primacy.

In the second and third chapters Evans delineates what are to be considered two of the variants of heresy that consistently re-assert themselves. In chapter two Evans describes the importance of theological orthodox and the central place of the creeds, particularly the apostle’s creed, for determining who was outside the bounds of acceptable doctrine. This branch of heresy is essentially intellectual and is represented by the Christological controversies of the fourth century of which Arianism is the archetype. The second type of heresy is less an overstepping of doctrinal boundaries but the lack of appropriate orthopraxis. Where the first type of heretic was a rationalistic one, the second was charismatic and political, often involving the call to return to the apostolic primitive church and rebelling against the corruption of the establishment, these movements were often supported by lower social classes than the elite higher clergy. Hence this second group was, on one level less theological, the concern being mainly a moral one. This is a helpful clarification by Evans. The next two chapters offer some historical comments on each of these tendencies. Chapter four outlines the main intellectual fault-lines of the (rationalist) heresies while chapter five offers a survey of the links of heresy to social challenge which characterise the charismatic fringe. In Chapter six Evans offers a brief survey of the recurring trend to Gnostic criticisms of the church while in the final chapter there is a survey of how the ‘Church’ has dealt with heretics.

By way of criticism I would perhaps make one point. Whilst this book, as I mentioned earlier, is not strictly a history the limited scope of the examples used did confuse me. Aside from discussion of early heresies and the occasional aside about modern movement I did wonder whether Evans thought heresy began and ended in the middle ages; this is not entirely surprising as this is her academic specialty. Nonetheless, a more comprehensive range of historical examples would have been helpful. This is particularly pertinent to her closing chapter when she discusses contemporary approaches to doctrinal diversity. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have had their own heresy trials and yet these were not discussed. This seems a great shame.

This book is aimed at providing an introduction that does not pre-suppose theological knowledge and this I think has been achieved very well. In clear writing Evans has offered a good, although incomplete, introduction to the idea of heresy as well as introducing its most famous proponents.

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Evans is quite objective and sees things as I understand them. And I have the historian's view, so this is accurate. The Church has been badly assessed on this issue. Most people view heresy from the context of human rights thought of today. In times when executions and exile were ordinary, the Church's treatment of heretics was, for the most part, very lenient. Then there are people who say that the Church represents God and should not persecute/kill. This is true, but we must remember that what was done in the treatment of heresy by the Church was done for the benefit of souls. Tolerance of differing views even heretical views is only a very modern idea, as the last chapter of the book describes. Mistakes were made on both sides, sometimes with good intentions, sometimes for political reasons. But there is nothing that should embarrass the Roman Christian.