Early Christian Doctrine and Heresy
Created | Updated Feb 8, 2007
Many people rail against Christianity: its stupidities, inequalities and barbarisms, but what they forget is that Christians rail against them too. Many of these problems are categorised as heresies. The opposite of heresies are doctrines, that is, the things that many intelligent Christians consider good, clever and true.
In general, Christians are discouraged by the "church" from believing and performing heresies. It doesn't stop people believing in them or doing them. In fact any number of cases can be shown of Church leaders teaching them and whole churches doing them. But fortunately, but it does mean that intelligent Christians need not try and defend these practices or ideas as being Christian.
Christianity has a long intellectual tradition. At the time of Christ, the Jews were considered one of the most learned groups around the Mediterranean Sea. They had a rich written history, a complex system of law and a very high level of literacy. From this culture came Christianity and the new Jewish sect began with all of the intellectual hallmarks of Judaism.
Very quickly the church felt the need to determine what was true about God and what wasn't. A lot of people felt that they had the right to lead groups of Christians but they were teaching things that were hurtful or stupid. Ecumenical councils were called of the church leaders who agreed to abide by the meetings. They laid down those principles that were truths that were considered true forever. These were the doctrines of the church. Some other ideas were determined to be false and were termed heresies. Many others ideas were carefully not held to be true or false.
While the church was being persecuted, that is from about 80CE to 320CE, communication was difficult and local traditions and texts were maintained as best they could. At the end of the persecution, a flowering of Christian intellectualism began that quickly attracted the brightest minds in the Roman Empire. As the empire collapsed, Christianity became the only haven of intellectualism in Western Europe until the end of the middle ages. During that time the various churches were very nearly the only safe places for the great thinkers of Europe.
Therefore the questions of Christian doctrine and heresy occupied some very clever people for a lot of their time. Their thoughts are interesting and not easily dismissed.
It is very important not to confuse the practice of the churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, with its doctrinal history! During the dark and middle ages, the Roman church was often run by small minded provincial nobles. The papacy was a prize for any patrician family from the city of Rome hankering after the greatness of a lost empire.
From this culture of government, rather than theology, came the famous burnings of heretics. As the Roman Empire collapsed (it ended in 1454 with the fall of Constantinople), the church took a larger part in the governance of Europe. Its inadvertent monopoly on education meant that it took a natural lead in bureaucratic processes. Naturally with the merging of political interests of leading families with various church positions, the Church switched its focus from God to protecting the interests of the various leading families and even the Church itself. The charge of heresy became an effective political weapon in what was, ostensibly, an apolitical organisation. Consequently the Church engaged in increasing levels of self-deception, deceit, hypocrisy, unrecognised cruelty and other unchristian practices.
All of the major and ancient churches have changed since then, but it is easy to confuse the somewhat more brilliant doctrinal positions of the Orthodox and Catholic churches with their very spotty histories of religious practice.
In general, Christians are discouraged by the "church" from believing and performing heresies. It doesn't stop people believing in them or doing them. In fact any number of cases can be shown of Church leaders teaching them and whole churches doing them. But fortunately, but it does mean that intelligent Christians need not try and defend these practices or ideas as being Christian.
Christianity has a long intellectual tradition. At the time of Christ, the Jews were considered one of the most learned groups around the Mediterranean Sea. They had a rich written history, a complex system of law and a very high level of literacy. From this culture came Christianity and the new Jewish sect began with all of the intellectual hallmarks of Judaism.
Very quickly the church felt the need to determine what was true about God and what wasn't. A lot of people felt that they had the right to lead groups of Christians but they were teaching things that were hurtful or stupid. Ecumenical councils were called of the church leaders who agreed to abide by the meetings. They laid down those principles that were truths that were considered true forever. These were the doctrines of the church. Some other ideas were determined to be false and were termed heresies. Many others ideas were carefully not held to be true or false.
While the church was being persecuted, that is from about 80CE to 320CE, communication was difficult and local traditions and texts were maintained as best they could. At the end of the persecution, a flowering of Christian intellectualism began that quickly attracted the brightest minds in the Roman Empire. As the empire collapsed, Christianity became the only haven of intellectualism in Western Europe until the end of the middle ages. During that time the various churches were very nearly the only safe places for the great thinkers of Europe.
Therefore the questions of Christian doctrine and heresy occupied some very clever people for a lot of their time. Their thoughts are interesting and not easily dismissed.
It is very important not to confuse the practice of the churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, with its doctrinal history! During the dark and middle ages, the Roman church was often run by small minded provincial nobles. The papacy was a prize for any patrician family from the city of Rome hankering after the greatness of a lost empire.
From this culture of government, rather than theology, came the famous burnings of heretics. As the Roman Empire collapsed (it ended in 1454 with the fall of Constantinople), the church took a larger part in the governance of Europe. Its inadvertent monopoly on education meant that it took a natural lead in bureaucratic processes. Naturally with the merging of political interests of leading families with various church positions, the Church switched its focus from God to protecting the interests of the various leading families and even the Church itself. The charge of heresy became an effective political weapon in what was, ostensibly, an apolitical organisation. Consequently the Church engaged in increasing levels of self-deception, deceit, hypocrisy, unrecognised cruelty and other unchristian practices.
All of the major and ancient churches have changed since then, but it is easy to confuse the somewhat more brilliant doctrinal positions of the Orthodox and Catholic churches with their very spotty histories of religious practice.
