A Brief History of Heresy

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 martyr prepared to die for religious 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. Engagingly written, A Brief History of Heresy is enlivened throughout with fascinating examples of individuals and movements.

List of Illustrations viii Preface x 1 The Importance of Being United 1 Forming Consensus 5 The Papacy 10 The Bible in the Hands of Heretics 13 Areas Where Disagreement May be Allowed 20 2 The Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Faith 23 The Apostles’ Creed 24 The Nicene Creed 29 Catechesis 34 Misdirected Worship and Taking the Name of God in Vain 38 Does the Faith ‘Develop’ Through History? 41 The Content of the Creeds and the Question of Orthodoxy 45 3 The Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Order 47 ‘Disorder’ at the Wild Fringes 47 Orderliness 53 Ministry and Order 55 The Rigorist Dispute 57 Schismatics 59 Diaspora 61 Orthopraxis 62 4 Classifying Heresies 65 What Could be Imported from Ancient Philosophy? 66 Incarnation and Christology 67 The Augustinian Trio 70 The Easter Controversy 71 The Doctrine of Transubstantiation 72 1054 and the Schism of East and West 73 From Sect to ‘Confessional Identity’ 76 The Power of a Name 80 Categories of Unbelief 83 Pinning Accusations to Suspected Heretics 86 The Creation of a Critical Literature 88 5 Heresy and Social Challenge 90 Popular Heresy: The Anti–establishment Dissidents Speak up for Themselves 93 The Road to Dissent 98 The Waldensians 99 John Wyclif and the Lollard Movement 106 Jan Hus 110 The Hussite ‘Movement’ 117 Social Consequences After the Middle Ages 119 6 Good and Evil 123 The Mediaeval Dualists 126 7 Dealing with Heresy 134 University Sermons 136 The Preaching of the Heretics Themselves 138 Crusade 141 Inquisition 142 The Change in the Balance of Power 149 Living with Difference 151 Conclusion 157 Notes 166 Further reading 180 Index 186

G. R. Evans is Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge. Her previous publications include Law and Theology in the Middle Ages (2002), The Church and the Churches (1994), Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages (1993), and Problems of Authority in the Reformation Debates (1992). She is also the editor of The Medieval Theologians (Blackwell Publishing, 2000). She was for ten years a prominent member of the Church and Order Advisory Group of the Church of England, and is a former diarist for The Church Times.

"A clear and elegant book." The Guardian "What Gill Evans′s lively and accessible study shows is that if the Church today is to proceed towards a unity truly based upon Christ, we need to distinguish between desirably dissident ‘whistle–blowers’ where the official Church has gotten out of step with its founder, and those voices of dissidence which, on examination, prove clearly contrary to the teaching of Christ. This is accordingly a timely as well as entertaining book, a distillation of wide learning designed for the intelligent common reader." David Lyle Jeffrey, Baylor University "It is an excellent survey of heresy throughout the church′s history. Those who read for information and insight will be abundantly rewarded." Ashland Theological Journal