Heresies Of The Early Church

Have you ever wondered where the heresies in today’s cults originated? Many think that cults are a modern day phenomenon but in actual fact they have their roots in very ancient history. Even in the Old Testament man strayed away from the true teaching of God many times. In this series we will briefly look at some of the heresies which were around shortly after the foundation of the early Christian church. Due to space constraints we shall only deal with each one briefly but suggest for further study you may want to look up each major heading on the internet or at the public library.

 Judaising (Works or Legalism)

 From the earliest days of the Church, Satan attacked it through the corruption of true doctrine. In the book of Acts we find the first ‘Church Council’ convened to deal with the question of ‘Judaisers’. These taught that, for a believer to be truly saved, they had to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law. In Acts 15:28 we find the decision of this ‘Council’ of the apostles:

 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Despite this we find Paul repeatedly arguing against this in his epistles. For example, Galatians 3:1-3

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

This heresy has not been laid to rest. It can still be found in some churches today—generally in one of two forms:

1. Salvation is by faith plus something else. eg Baptism, Church membership, tongues, etc.

2. You are saved by faith but once saved you need to do something to maintain your relationship with God. eg. Keep the O.T. Law, keep some set of standards, etc.

This leads to the doctrine that it is possible for born again Christians to loose their salvation.

 Gnosticism

This is the second major heresy that the New Testament Church had to contend with. It also sprang up during Paul's ministry and he deals with it in his epistles (Gal.1:8), though to a lesser degree than "legalism".

Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis (gnosis), meaning knowledge. Simply put, Gnostics believe they possess secret ‘knowledge’ that has been revealed to them by God (and is superior to the Word of God—the Bible).  Two groups that called themselves Gnostics in the early Church were the Valentinians and the Naassenes. Both groups centred on Alexandria.

It is difficult to define common elements among these groups but some things are generally true of the majority and held in common.

• The belief in secret extra-biblical revelation.

• The belief in a radical cosmological dualism. That is, that the material world was created evil and totally separate and in opposition to the Spirit world.

• That God dwells in unapproachable splendour in the spirit world and has no dealings with the world of matter.

• Matter is the creation of inferior beings.

• Only those who hold a divine spark (pneuma), revealed to them through extra revelation (gnosis), have any hope.

• This enlightenment is the work of the ‘divine redeemer’ who is equated with Christ.

Gnosticism was not new in the Apostolic period. It had been present in various forms in both Hellenism and Judaism. But the newness of Christianity and its teaching on the Saviour and the nature of revelation left Christianity open to exploitation by these groups.  Today, Gnosticism is still present within both Christian and non-Christian forms. Free Masonry would be the most common form today found within Christian circles, whilst Zoroastrianism would be an example of a non-Christian form..

Nicolatianism

This particular heresy is mentioned by Christ in the letters he gave John to send to the seven Churches referred to in the Book of Revelation (2:6, 15).

‘But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate ...

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.’

The nature of this heresy can be understood by dividing the word ‘Nicolaitan’ into its components: ‘Nico’ (over) and ‘laitan’ (laity or the common people). Nicolatianism is the sin of ‘lording it over’ the laity. This developed in the early church as the Gospel moved from big centres to smaller ones. The leaders of the larger churches began to reserve for themselves the title ‘Metropolitan’ or ‘Bishop’ and then ‘lorded it over’ the smaller Churches, whilst arguing among themselves for supremacy. This interpretation of the heresy has been strongly contested by individuals who are involved in it. These hold to an alternative interpretation, explaining that the Nicolatians are followers of Nicolas (one of the first deacons Acts 6:8). According to this alternative interpretation, Nicolas’ followers, who sought to work out a compromise between Christianity and paganism, later hardened into a Gnostic sect.                      

(To be continued after the publication of our next journal)

1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NWT)

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