From the Great Schism to the Book of Concord (Heresy History 3: 1054-1580)

In previous posts, I discussed heresies in the church up to the Council of Constantinople in AD 381 and heresies between then and the Great Schism of AD 1054.

• Catharism was around from the 11-13th centuries and had its roots in Paulicanism and Bogomilism.
• Henriciansim was around in the 12th century and refused to recognize any form of worship or liturgy, condemned the sacrifice of the mass, the communion of the saints, Baptism of infants and the Eucharist.
• Medieval Spiritualism sprang up in the Roman Catholic church off and on after the Great Schism throughout the middle ages
• Waldensianism was a 12th century spiritual movement focusing on voluntary poverty
• Free Spiritsim was a 14th and 15th century mystical belief system that taught it is possible to reach perfection on earth through a life of austerity and spiritualism.
• Fraticellism (or Spiritual Franciscanism) taught in the 14th and 15th centuries the extreme rule of Francis of Assisi, with regards to poverty and that wealth is scandalous. They went so far as to say that the wealth of an individual church member invalidates their status.

The Eastern Orthodox Church broke into Country/Language/Ethnic groups almost 400 years after the Great Schism, in 1453, during Fall of Constantinople/ Eastern Roman Empire/ Byzantine Empire and the rise of Russia (called the third Rome). Many of the individual groups began drifting apart theologically after that. The western reformation began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses.

• Antinomianism began very early in the reformation and states that because of the Gospel the law is of no use and we are in no obligation to it. All Gospel, no law.
• Calvinism agreed with Lutheranism on many issues, with the notable exceptions being teaching a spiritual presence only in the Lord's Supper, along with double predestination and other issues regarding the will and election.
• Reformed Churches were the mainland European Calvinists.
• Presbyterianism was started in 1560 in the British Isles and is named after its structure of having a council of presiding elders.
• Arminianism was essentially the opposite of Calvinism and claimed that God offers us salvation and we have free will to accept or reject it. It is similar to Semi-Palagianism, in that it is synergistic, except that God makes the first step.
• Anabaptism (Means rebaptize) was an extreme version of Arminianism in that began in the middle of the 1500s, that had some influences from Waldensianism. They only believed in adult baptism and personal choices to be good. They rejected all civil authority, and were against bearing arms, or any violence.
• Mennenites were the original sub-group of Anabaptists, who focused on their belief in the mission and ministry of Jesus as our example.

With so many denominations popping up, Lutheran wrote and presented the Augsburg Confession on June 25, 1530, to really explain what Lutheran doctrine was, so as to not be confused with the other reformers.

• Anglicanism, or the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1536, although it had been in the works since 1529. It was essentially an issue of King Henry VIII wanting to be the head of the church instead of the Pope.
• Puritanism/Seperatists: In 1558 the puritans separated from Church of England, with a mix of Calvin and Zwingli theology and influences from Anabaptist.
• Osianderism really started in 1550 when a Lutheran theologian Osiander published some documents that argued justification by faith was instilled in humanity due to Christ's divinity inside them. Basically, he taught that we are saved by having Jesus in our heart, which was a mystical union.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession (June 25, 1580), the Lutherans compiled and presentation of the Book of Concord, which was the definitive collection of the confessions of the Lutherans and became the symbols of the faith.

Feast Days and Commemorations

Previously, I listed those who have books of the Bibles named after them, or wrote books of the Bibles, as well as some notables from the Old Testament here. I have also listed the Fathers, Patriarchs, Reformers, and Theologians of note here. However, there are other important people and events in the early Christian Church who have feast days or commemoration, thought that have not been listed, so here they are:

Apostles

Peter/Simon (Jun 29)

Andrew (Nov 30)

James (son of Zebedee) (Jul 25)

John (son of Zebedee) (Dec 27)

Philip (May 1)

Bartholomew (Aug 24)

Thomas (Dec 21)

Matthew (Sep 21)

James (son of Alphaeus) (May 1)

Thaddaeus/Jude (Judas, son of James) (Oct 28)

Simon (Oct 28)

Judas Iscariot

Matthias (replaced Judas Iscariot) (Feb 24)

Jesus’ Family and Friends

Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptizer (Sep 5)
John the Baptizer (Aug 29)
Mary, Mother of Jesus (Aug 15)

Joseph, guardian of our Lord (Mar 19)

James, brother of Jesus (Oct 23)

Mary Magdalene (Jul 22)

Mary, Martha, Lazarus (Jul 29)

Other Notable New Testament Pastors, Deacons, Confessors, Missionaries, Martyrs

Joanna, Mary, and Salome, Myrrhbearers (Aug 3)
Dorcas (Tabitha), Lydia, and Phoebe (Oct 25)
Silas (Feb 10)

Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos (Feb 13)
Stephen Martyr (Dec 26)
Phillip the deacon (Oct 11)
Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs (Mar 7)
Joseph of Arimathea (Jul 31)

Other Early Notables
Justin Martyr [c. 100 – 165 AD] (Jun 1)
Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr [c. 225–258] (Aug 10)
Valentine, Martyr [3^rd century] (Feb 14)
Nicholas [Mar 15, 270 – Dec 6, 343] (Dec 6)
     Signed the Nicene Creed at the First Ecumenical Council 325
Martin of Tours [316 – Nov 8, 397] (Nov 11)
     Student of Hilary
Patrick [5^th century] (Mar 17)

     Missionary to Ireland
Bede, theologian [672/673 – 26 May 735] (May 25)
Boniface Missionary to Germans [c. 7th century – 5 Jun 754] (Jun 5)
Cyrill and Methodius Missionary to Slavics [9^th century] (May 11)
Anselm of Canterbury [c. 1033 - Apr 21, 1109] (Apr 21)

Events/Other
The Birth of Jesus (Dec 25)
The Holy Innocents (Dec 28)
The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus (Jan 1)
Epiphany (Jan 6)
Baptism of Our Lord (Jan 7-13)
The Conversion of Paul (Jan 25)
The Purification of Mary and Presentation of Our Lord (Feb 2)
The Transfiguration (Seven weeks before Easter)
Ash Wednesday (46 days [40 days without Sundays] before Easter)
The Annunciation of Our Lord (Mar 25)
Palm Sunday (One week before Easter)
Maundy Thursday (The Thursday before Easter)
Good Friday - The Crucifixion of our Lord (The Friday before Easter)
Easter - The Resurrection of Our Lord (The first Sunday after the Passover, which is the first full moon after the vernal equinox)
Ascension (Ten days before Pentecost, 39 days after Easter)
Pentecost (Seven weeks after Easter)
The Holy Trinity (Eight weeks after Easter)
Ecumenical Council of Nicaea [325] (Jun 12)
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Jun 25)
Holy Cross Day (Sep 14)
St. Michael and All Angels (Sep 29)
Reformation Day (Oct 31)
All Saints Day (Nov 1)

Church Fathers/Patristics Writings

"The decline of the knowledge and study of patristics in the present generation of theologians threatens to become catastrophic for our theology unless it is somehow checked. A church without patristics becomes a sect." -Herman Sasse

After going through my studies of who the church fathers are here, here is the list of writings that I came up with. I am going to mark off the ones I read in bold to keep track of them.

The Shepherd of Hermas
The Didache
Epistle of Clement (1 Clement)

Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

The Letters of Ignatius of Antioch

Homilies of John Chrysostom

On the Holy Spirit -Basil

Refutation of the Apology of the Impious Eunomius -Basil

On the Incarnation -Athenasius

Against the Gentiles -Athenasius

Against the Arians -Athenasius

Life of Antony -Athenasius

Letters to Serapian -Athenasius

Confessions -Augustine

City of God -Augustine

On Christian Doctrine -Augustine

On the Trinity -Augustine

On Free Choice of the Will -Augustine

De fide ad Gratianum Augustum (On Faith, to Gratian Augustus) -Ambrose

De Officiis Ministrorum (On the Offices of Ministers) -Ambrose

De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Ghost) -Ambrose

De incarnationis Dominicae sacramento (On the Sacrament of the Incarnation) -Ambrose

De mysteriis (On the Mysteries) -Ambrose

Letters against Palagianism and Nestorianism -Jerome of Stridonium

? -Gregory the Great

? -Gregory Nazianzus

Against Heresies -Irenaeus

Against Eunomius -Gregory of Nyssa

Treatise on the Work of the Six Days -Gregory of Nyssa

On the Endowment of Man -Gregory of Nyssa

Life of Moses -Gregory of Nyssa

Great Catechism -Gregory of Nyssa

Becoming Temples of God -Cyril of Alexandria

Second Epistle of Cyril to Nestorius -Cyril of Alexandria

Third Epistle of Cyril to Nestorius (containing the twelve anathemas) -Cyril of Alexandria

The 'Formula of Reunion' between Cyril and John of Antioch -Cyril of Alexandria

Five tomes against Nestorius -Cyril of Alexandria

That Christ is One -Cyril of Alexandria

Scholia on the incarnation of the Only-Begotten  -Cyril of Alexandria

Against Julian the Apostate -Cyril of Alexandria

Fountain of Knowledge or The Fountain of Wisdom -John of Damascus

Against the Jacobites -John of Damascus

Against the Nestorians -John of Damascus

Dialogue against the Manichees -John of Damascus

Elementary Introduction into Dogmas -John of Damascus

Letter on the Thrice-Holy Hymn -John of Damascus

On Right Thinking -John of Damascus

On the Faith, Against the Nestorians -John of Damascus

On the Two Wills in Christ (Against the Monothelites) -John of Damascus

On Dragons and Ghosts -John of Damascus

Ad Donatum -Cyprian of Carthage

De Unitate Ecclesiae -Cyprian of Carthage

De Trinitate -Hilary of Poitiers

De Synodis -Hilary of Poitiers

Patriarchs, Fathers, Reformers, and Theologians

Standing on the shoulders of giants...

• Old Testament Fathers and Patriarchs
• Adam and Eve (Dec 19)
• Noah (Nov 29)
• Abraham (Oct 9) and Sarah (Jan 20)
• Isaac (Aug 16)
• Jacob a.k.a. Israel (Feb 5)
• Apostolic Fathers
• Clement of Rome [?-99] (Nov 23)
• Might be who Paul mentioned in Philippians 4:3, successor to Peter
• Ignatius of Antioch [c.35-110] (Oct 17)
• Talks, emphasizes like John, walks in steps of Paul, quotes Matthew
• Polycarp of Smyrna [c.69–c.155] (Feb 23)
• Student of John, friend of Ignatius
• Author of the “Didache” - The Teaching of the Apostles [c.1^st or 2^nd Cent.]
• Author of the “Shepherd of Hermas” [c.1^st or 2^nd Cent.]
• Considered canonical by some early on
• Eight Doctors of the Church
• Four Great Eastern (Greek) Fathers
• Athanasius of Alexandria [c.293–2 May 373] (May 2)
• Very Trinitarian
• Basil of Caesarea (the Great) [c.329-379] (Jan 10)
• Gregory of Nazianzus [329-c.389] (Jan 10)
• Classically trained orator and philosopher, very Trinitarian
• John Chrysostom [347-407] (Jan 27)
• “Golden Mouth” for giving the best sermons.  Easter one still used
• Four Great Western (Latin) Fathers
• Ambrose of Milan [c. 340 – 4 Apr 397] (Dec 7)
• Coined, “When in Rome”
• Jerome of Stridonium [c.347–Sep 30, 420] (Sep 30)
• Translated the Vulgate
• Augustine of Hippo [13 Nov 354–28 Aug 430] (Aug 28)
• Influenced by Ambrose, mother Monica (Aug 27)
• Gregory (the Great) [540-604, last of the doctors] (Sep 3)
• Liturgy, Gregorian chants, commentaries, sermons, start of medieval church
• Other Greek Fathers
• Irenaeus of Lyons [?-c.202] (Jun 28)
• Disciple of Polycarp
• Clement of Alexandria [c. 150 – c. 215]
• Greek philosopher convert
• Origen of Alexandria  [c.185–c.254]
• Student of Clement of Alexandria, became heretic
• Gregory of Nyssa [c.335 – after 394] (Jan 10)
• Cappadocian Father (along with Gregory Nazianzus and Basil of Caesarea)
• Cyril of Alexandria [c.378–444] (Jun 27)
• Central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431
• Maximus the Confessor [c.580–Aug 13, 662]
• John of Damascus [c.676–Dec 4, 749] (Dec 4)
• Last of the Church Fathers
• Other Latin Fathers
• Tertullian (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus) [c.160–c.225]
• Coined terms trinity, 3 persons 1 substance, old and new testaments, became heretic
• Cyprian of Carthage (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) [?-Sep 14, 258] (Sep 16)
• No salvation outside of the Church, wrong on being rebaptized
• Hilary of Poitiers [c.300 – c.368]
• Isadore of Seville [c.560–4 Apr 636]
• Reformers and Modern Theologians
• Early/Original Reformers
• Martin Luther [Nov 10, 1483 – Feb 18, 1546] (Feb 18)
• Johannes Bugenhagen, reformer [Jun 24, 1485 – Apr 20, 1558] (Apr 20)
• Robert Barnes, English reformer, martyr [c. 1495 – Jul 30, 1540] (Jul 30)
• Philipp Melanchthon [ Feb 16, 1497 – Apr 19, 1560] (Feb 16)
• Gnesio-Lutherans [means genuine] (1546-1580)
• Martin Chemnitz [Nov 9, 1522 – Apr 8, 1586] (Nov 9)
• Compiled the Book of Concord, the Last Reformer
• Orthodox Lutherans (1580-1600)
• Johann Gerhard (Oct 17, 1582 – Aug 17, 1637) (Aug 17)
• Greatest Theologian in Germany during his time
• Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (Sep 6, 1711 – Oct 7, 1787) (Oct 7)
• First Lutheran pastor in America
• Old Lutherans/Neo Lutherans (1830+)
• Charles Porterfield Krauth [Mar 17, 1823 – Jan 2, 1883]
• Carl F.W. Walther [Oct 25, 1811 – May 7, 1887] (May 7)
• Friedrich Wyneken [May 13, 1810 – May 4, 1876] (May 4)
• The Thunder after the lightning, missionary 2^nd LCMS president
• Hermann Sasse [17 Jul 1895 – 9 Aug 1976]

From the Council of Constantinople to the Great Schism (Heresy History 2: 381-1054)

In a previous post, I discussed the heresies in the early Christian church up through the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. They were mostly about the nature of Christ and the trinity.

• Palagianism came about in the late 300s to the early 400s due to the teachings of Palagius. He denied original sin and stated that human nature is not bad, but neutral, so that man's will is capable of choosing good or evil.
• Nestorianism came about between 428 and 431 due to the teachings of Nestorius. He taught that Christ has two separate natures, one divine and one human, that are not united.

In AD 431, First Council of Ephesus, or the third ecumenical council was convened and led to condemning Palagianism as well as Nestorianism. The Nestorianists started their own church called the “Assyrian Church of the East.”

• Semipalagianism tried to soften Palagianism by stating that man makes the first move toward believing in God, but God has to help bring him the rest of the way.
• Monophysitism (or Monophysiticism) began after the council of Ephesus as a backlash against Nestorianism and taught that Jesus has one nature, which is divine. 
• Eutychianism: taught that Jesus was fused into one nature, but the divinity consumes the humanity, or his humanity is absorbed by His divinity.
• Apollinarism taught that Jesus had a human body and lower soul, but a Divine Logos taking place of the “mind”, or higher soul.

In AD 451 the Council of Chalcedon, or the fourth ecumenical council, was convened to response and refute Monophysitism. This resulted in the "Chalcedonian Position" (or Dyophysitism, meaning two natures), which taught that Jesus' human nature and divine nature exist together in one person and are united.

• Miaphysitism attempted to bridge the gap between monophysitism and dyophysitism by stating that Jesus was both divine and human in one nature. 

Shortly thereafter, in AD 476, the Roman Empire (Western Empire) fell. Seventy-seven years later, the Second Council of Constantinople, or the fourth ecumenical council, was convened and rejected Nestorianism again, included Miahpysitism. The people who taught Miahpysitism formed the Oriental Orthodox Church (including who are now the Coptic Christians in Egypt).

• Melchizedekianism or Athinganism emerged around AD 600 and lasted for a few hundred years. They were Monarchians who believed Melchizedek was an incarnation of the Logos.
• Monoenergism (meaning one energy) started around AD 629, teaching that while Christ has two natures in one person he only had one energy.
• Monothelitism (meaning one will) started around the same time, teaching that Christ has two natures in one person, except that he had only one divine will and no human will.

The third council of Constantinople was convened in AD 680 and condemned monenergism and monothelitism, asserted that Jesus had two united energies and two united wills.

• Paulicianism started in the seventh century and had Manichaean-Gnostic and Adoption-Monarchianism roots.
• Bogomils were essentially the Paulicans in bulgaria during the AD 900s
• Iconoclasm began in AD 730 and was characterized by wanted to get rid of all images and icons, stating that using them was idolatry.

The Second Council of Nicaea was convened in AD 787 and condemned Iconoclasm. In AD 1054, 267 years after the Second Council of Nicaea, the Great Schism occurred between the East (Eastern Orthodoxy) and the West (Roman Catholicism) mainly over issues of the Filoque, the primacy of the Pope, celibacy of clergy, geography, and politics.

Filioque on Trinity Sunday

Pentecost was a week ago, and in that previous post, I explored who the person of the Holy Spirit is. Three days ago was the commemoration of the council of Nicaea, and in that last post, I looked into early church history up to it. Today is Trinity Sunday, and with those two posts fresh in my mind, it made sense to looking into the Filioque.

Options

• the Spirit proceeds from the Father
• Clearly taught in Scripture (John 15:26) and everyone agrees. This was the wording of the original Nicene Creed from the first council of Constantinople in 381, but is incomplete and leaves as ambiguous the role of the son.
• the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son
• Used in most Western Churches since at least the 6th century, officially accepted by the Pope in 1014, contributing to the East-West Schism of 1054, both on doctrinal grounds and on the power of the Pope to make official changes.
• During the council of Florence in 1439, it was clarified that the Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son together
• That the Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son separately was rejected by all
• the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone
• Argued from some in the East, but not everyone agreed and it did not address the the role the Son plays, which he obviously does, but is still used by some "rigorists."
• Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son
• Clearly taught in Scripture (Titus 3:4-6) and both the East and West agreed on the wording. The "liberal" view on both sides claims the difference was a miscomunication and a difference in terminology, or difference in theological perspective (theologoumena) with no real difference in doctrine, but others claimed a real difference in meaning.
• The "rigorous" view of the East claimed that the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone as they originally stated, but that the Father sends the Spirit at the intercession of the Son. The Son is therefore an agent only in the procession of the Spirit.
• The West claimed that this meant the Spirit was sent from the Father first and then the Son and since the Spirit goes through the Son, it comes from Him too.

Scripture

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said... -Genesis 1:1-3a

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. -John 1:1-4

• The Father is the Speaker, the Son is the Word, and the Spirit is the Breath.  The Word and the Breath both proceed from the Speaker, so do the Son and the Spirit both proceed from the Father?

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. -John 14:26

• The Father sends the Spirit in the name of the Son.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. -John 14:16-17

• The Son will ask the Father to send the Spirit.

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. -Acts 2:33

• The Father promises to send the Spirit.

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” -Luke 24:49

•  The Son sends the Spirit, but the Spirit is the promise of the Father.

But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. -John 15:26

•  The Son sends the Spirit, but the Spirit is the proceeds from the Father.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. -John 16:7

• The Son sends the Spirit.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. -John 16:13-15

• The Spirit can only take or receive anything from the one he proceeds from. Also, everything the Father has is the Son’s as well, they are consubstantial (of the same substance), so as the Spirit proceeds from the Father, must he also proceed from the Son?

-or-

• The Spirit proceeds from the Father, through the Son.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. -Titus 3:4-6

• The Spirit is given from the Father through the Son

 As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit." -John 20:21b-22

• The Father sent the Son.  The Son sent the Spirit, who was Jesus’ breath. The Spirit can only be sent, or given by the one he proceeds from, the Son. Jesus' breath proceeds from him, so does the Spirit proceeds from the Son?

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” -Galatians 4:6

…for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance… -Philippians 1:19

• The Spirit is Jesus’ Spirit. Is it then, his to give?

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. -Romans 8:9

• The Spirit is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son

The Early Church to the Council of Constantinople (Heresy History 1: up to 381)

Very early in the Christian Church there was much discussion about exactly who Jesus was and what his nature was, along with the nature of the trinity.

• Psilanthropism is the view that Jesus was only a man and not God's Son, which was taught originally by the Jews who did not accept Him. After Jesus Christ's ministry, his followers became known as "followers of the way" and later Christians. Judaism and Christianity eventually split into two separate religions.
• Rabbinic Judaism of today rejects Jesus as the Messiah and has its roots in the the Pharisees of Biblical times.
• Ebionism was a movement of Jews who regarded Jesus as the Messiah, but rejected his divinity.

• Gnosticism was a Greek philosophy that had widely varying teaching and practices, but generally were very strong dualists, who taught that the world and all material substance is so corrupt and bad that they should be shunned. They taught material substance was so bad that a true god could not have created it, so they believed in a demiurge creator. Therefore, they were strong ascetics who believed that a soul needed to be separated from its body before it could be perfect.This Gnostic philosophy affected certain early Christians.
• Valentinianism, Sethianism, Ophitism, Nassenism, Sethianism,  Mandaeism (or Mandaeanism), and Manichaeism, along with its sub-sect Priscillianism were some of the many early sects of Gnostics that taught some very strange stuff. 
• Encratitism, meaning, "self-controlled" was one of the earliest known sects claiming to be Christian. They forbade marrying, drinking alcohol, and eating meat and they rejected St. Paul and his teachings. They are probably who is mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:3. They are also mentioned and condemned by Irenaeus, Clement, and Origen.
• Severianism was a later sect of Encratites that had a small revival under a man named Severus.
• Docetism, which means "to seem", was another Gnostic heresy that was common in early Christianity. The word Docetism has connotations of an apparition or phantom. They taught that Christ only appears to be human and that his human form was an illusion, because flesh is sinful.

• Marcionism taught that Christ was so divine he could not have been human and that God lacked a material body, so Jesus only appeared as flesh and blood and his body was a phantasm.
• Non-Marcionist Docetism taught that Jesus was a man in the flesh, but that Christ is a separate entity who entered Jesus body in the form of a dove at his baptism. That entity, then left his body upon his death on the cross.

• Monarchianism, which is the idea that God is a single person, not a trinity, and was another early large class of heresies.
• Unitarianism teaches that there is one god, who is one person, and Jesus is not him, but the son of God in some other sense.
• Modalism or Sabellianism teaches that God is one person appearing in different modes.
• Patripassianism focused on the teaching that God the Father was incarnate and suffered on the cross.
• Subordinationism taught that the Son and Spirit are subordinate to the father. They claimed the Father was the only one to have full divine nature, trying to be a middle ground between unitarianism and modalism.
• Partialism teaches that God is one person with three different parts that have different functions.
• Dynamic Monarchianism teaches that Jesus is not co-eternal, but granted godhood.
• Adoptionism: Jesus was adopted as God's son at either his baptism, resurrection, or ascension.
• Audianism taught that God (the Father) has a human form (Anthropomorphism)
• Montanism popped up sometime in the second century taught that further revelation was a key component to Christianity and they continued to prophecy, whereas the orthodox Christian Church was strictly bound to the limits of scripture.
• Donatism was a schismatic sect, not in communion with the catholic church and were located in Africa.  They were concerned with church discipline and spiritual authority of clergy.
• Circumcellianism was a militant sect of Donatism that prized martyrdom and and denounced property, slavery, and debt.
• Arianism was founded by Arias (AD 250-336), and taught that Jesus Christ was created by the Father before all worlds (not co-eternal with the Father) and was a kind of demiurge through whom everything else was made.

In AD 313 Constantine and Licinius legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan. In AD 325, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea (also known as the first ecumenical council) to address the heresies and to develop a common doctrine and statement of faith for Christianity. During this time, Arianism was condemned and the first version of the Nicene Creed was written, that stated that the Son is the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. Shortly after the Council of Nicaea, in AD 330, the Roman Empire split and the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire began.

• Arianism declined some places and became more extreme in others after the Council of Nicaea.
• Anomoeanism was an extreme version of Arianism that taught Jesus was not the same substance (heteroousios) as the Father. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus wrote extensively against anomoeanism.
• Semi-Arianism attempted to bride the gap between trinitarianism and Arianism, by teaching that Jesus was neither created nor uncreated in the sense of other beings and was a "like" substance (homoiousios) with the Father, but not the "same" substance .
• Macedonianism was one group of Semi-Arians who also denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit altogether.
• Euchitism or Messalianism was first mentioned in the 370s and mystical materialism. They taught that the essence of the trinity could be perceived by the senses and takes different forms to do so. They also taught one could come to a state of perfection through prayer, and they denounced the sacraments.

In AD 381, the First Council of Constantinople, or second ecumenical council, was called to refute the Macedonians and Arians. They also confirmed first council of Nicaea and modified the Nicene Creed to include the Holy Spirit.