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Flee from Heresy: A Catholic Guide to Ancient and Modern Errors

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Society is lost and confused about God, morality, and eternity. Catholics face persecution, from outside and inside the Church, for living their Faith. Priests speak out against errors and corruption in their own hierarchy, only to be marginalized and punished by their superiors. The few bishops who remain faithful to the changeless teaching of Christ are rebuked and “canceled,” even by the pope himself, and sent into exile. Catholics longing for reverent worship are forced out of their parishes and into makeshift venues.

This is a description of the Catholic Church in the fourth century.

With similar patterns recurring in our time, one Catholic bishop is calling out to

“Know the errors and embrace the truth!”

In Flee from Heresy, Bishop Athanasius Schneider — raised among persecuted Catholics in the Soviet Union — offers a systematic treatment of more than 130 doctrinal errors, from ancient times down to our own day, along with English translations of the Church’s major anti-heresy documents of the past two centuries.

In this fascinating exposé, you will discover the ideological roots of our own unsteady times and be better equipped to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). You will

What heresy is — and what it is not A sweeping history of heresies across the centuries How heresy destroys charity and the spiritual life Why God allows heresy to afflict His holy Church Names and categories of more than 130 doctrinal errors The nefarious heresy of the anti-Christ and the anti-Mary How heresy relates to schism, apostasy, and excommunication Why the Virgin Mary is invoked as “Destroyer of Heresies”Combining theological precision, superb historical insight, and concrete principles for action today, Flee from Heresy is a timely and trustworthy guide to errors old and new.

272 pages, Hardcover

Published July 16, 2024

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About the author

Athanasius Schneider

51 books74 followers
Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. (Wikipedia)

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Nicholas Ferrucci.
37 reviews3 followers
October 21, 2024
This book offers a lot of insight as to how heresies have come about throughout the centuries. What we're seeing right now is nothing new for the Catholic Church. It's just that this time, heresies are coming from the top.

The most common misconceptions about the faith are tackled in a question and answer format.

In the last part of the book, it does give readers a hope to ask Mary's intercession to protect the Church from all heresies.

The world is in so much confusion nowadays and even Church officials are confused themselves. We have all the right to turn our eyes to God, to the Truth, and not to the Vatican.

This is a very well-written book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has been disappointed with the current standing of the Church, more especially those who are deciding to leave the faith because of it.
Profile Image for Ľudovít Ján Čalfa.
118 reviews4 followers
September 28, 2025
Tradičný katolícky portál Misia Fatima vydal ako svoju prvú knižku slovenský preklad ďalšieho fundovaného diela od biskupa Athanasia Schneidera. Tento kazašský pastier miestej Cirkvi je celosvetovo známy svojou teologickou erudovanosťou, ochotou všetko dôležité láskavo vysvetliť a jasne, pravoverne obhájiť katolícku vieru.

V tejto knihe sa až encyklopedicky zameriava na prehľad všetkých najvýznamnešjích starovekých a moderných omylov, ktoré v priebehu vekov vyvstali.

Najprv podáva vysvetlenie toho, čo to vlastne tá heréza je. A teda nejde len o nejakú nenávistnú nálepku, ktorú v 21. storočí neslobodno používať. Heréza sa dá chápať na viacerých úrovniach, no úplne jednoducho povedané, výraz označuje akýkoľvek blud, či odchýlku od katolíckeho učenia.

Čitateľ dostáva v tlačenej podobe zoznam, akýsi slovníček všetkých týchto nesprávnych učení. Nasleduje katechetická diskusia vo forme otázok a odpovedí. Osobitnú kapitolku dostala aj naša Panna Mária, ničiteľka všetkých heréz!

Biskup Schneider tiež slúži tradičnú svätú omšu. Odporúčam tento rozhovor, kde priamo odpovedá na otázky čitateľov ohľadom tohto klasického rímskeho obradu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OY9j...

Hlavným výstupom z knihy je okrem masívnej, solídnej apologetickej výbavy, ktorú autor aj pre bežného laika ponúka, je uvedomenie si jednej dôležitej skutočnosti – vo svojej podstate žiadna z novodobých heréz nie je úplne nová.

„Z toho sa dozvedáme, že doktrinálny omyl – ako každá iná forma zla v našom padlom svete – je Bohom povolený len na dobrý účel: „Aby vám vaša vyskúšaná viera, omnoho vzácnejšia ako pominuteľné zlato, ktoré sa tiež skúša ohňom, bola na chválu, slávu a česť vtedy, keď sa zjaví Ježiš Kristus“ (1 Pt 1:17).“ (str. 8-9)

„Prečo hovoríme, že Preblahoslavená Panna Mária „zničila všetky herézy“, keď na celom svete stále vidíme bludy? Pretože bola prvou, ktorá explicitne uverila v historickú inkarnáciu Božieho Syna, čo je základný kameň kresťanskej viery; lebo ten, kto verí v pravé božstvo Kristovo, prijme všetko, čo Kristus učí, a podľa toho usporiada svoj život.“ (str. 166)

„V našej dobe sme v skutku svedkami návratu pohanstva, najmä vzostupu rodovej ideológie vo všetkých jej podobách – od feminizmu po hnutie LGBTQ+, transgenderizmus a právne uznanie rôznych tzv. zväzkov ako rovnocenných pravému manželstvu. Spoločné rysy, ktoré tieto javy spájajú, sú duch Antikrista – popieranie Syna Božieho, ktorý prišiel v tele – a sprievodný duch Anti-Márie – odmietnutie našej vlastnej ľudskej prirodzenosti a odmietnutie podriadiť sa Vtelenému Synovi Božiemu v tejto rovnakej prirodzenosti.“ (str. 177)

„Pravé dieťa a pravý služobník Márie bude vždy zachovávať neporušenú a čistú svätú katolícku vieru, uznávajúc, že hriechy proti čistote katolíckej viery znamenajú ohováranie panenskej čistoty Najsvätejšej Panny Márie.“ (str. 182)
Profile Image for cellomerl.
640 reviews1 follower
May 10, 2025
Defines all the famous and obscure heresies in alphabetical order, by century. Includes a question-and-answer style to explain errors of the faith and offers a historical compendium of errors in the appendix. Detailed references to various Vatican publications going back to the early church. Some heresies are rather arcane, subtle theological arguments that might seem plausible and undoubtedly got serious philosophical discussion within the Church when they first appeared, some are just flat wrong, and some are just plain evil. Many of these heresies are still around today, ancient tropes that current intellectuals think they just thought up. Because the presentations and environments of heresies change with time, the book would have been improved if it offered some historical and modern examples of each heresy to make it easier to grasp. As a bonus: the book has such a great title.
Profile Image for Dan Stump.
24 reviews1 follower
December 10, 2025
I found this very instructive. I guess I understood the gospel a lot better than I thought that I did because these all made complete sense to me as to why they are condemned by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
Profile Image for Patrick.
Author 1 book
January 5, 2025
Chronological list of heresy in the Church

Also lists various errors

Concludes with letter from bishops in 2019
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews