Issue 51 Heresy in the Early Church

What's inside

Heresy in the Early Church: Did You Know?

Remarkable or little-known facts about heresy in the early church.

Tony Lane

From the Editor — How to Read This Issue

Not every heresy is covered in depth, and not every teaching is defined thoroughly—there just isn’t space.

Mark Galli

A Hammer Struck at Heresy

What exactly happened at the famous Council of Nicea, when the Roman emperor convened some 250 quarreling Christian bishops?

Robert Payne

The king visits earth

The champion of orthodoxy on why the Word became flesh.

Athanasius

Christian History Infographic — Sifting Through the Christ Controversies

A quick summary of the competing schools of thought.

the Editors

Fine-Tuning the Incarnation

A lot of mistakes were made before the church figured out how best to describe Jesus Christ.

Bruce L. Shelley

The Defining Moment

Key portions of the church’s most important theological statement.

J. Stevenson and Peter L’Huillier

Finding the Truth

How the earliest church decided Marcion and the Gnostics, among others, were wrong.

Justo González, Jr.

Why Bishops Should Be Trusted

When some early Christians said they had secret apostolic teaching, one church father said, “Not likely.”

Irenaus of Lyon

Heresy in the Early Church: A Gallery of Malcontents for Christ

The mixed motives and odd teachings of four notorious heretics.

Stephen Miller

Origen: Model or Heretic?

He created controversy when he tried to explain the gospel in terms his culture could grasp.

Kenneth R. Calvert

Christian History Timeline: Heresy in the Early Church

Chronology of events related to the early church and heresy.

Bradley Nassif

Testing the Prophets

In the Montanist controversy, did the church reject heresy or the Holy Spirit?

Jim Smith

Risky Lifestyles

It wasn’t just what Christians believed but also how they lived that concerned early church teachers.

Robert Krupp

Heresy in the Early Church: Christian History Interview — The Search for the Biblical Jesus

The hard, technical, theological work on Christ was essentially a 400-year Bible study.

Thomas Oden

Heresy in the Early Church: Recommended Resources

More resources for further information on heresy in the early church.

David Wright
Back issues

Subscribe to daily emails

Containing today’s events, devotional, quote and stories