| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ANATHEMA | ANATHEMA – (Gr. suspended) A pronouncement by which the Church declares a person out of her communion, particularly because of the denial of the truths of faith. On the Sunday of Orthodoxy (first Sunday in Lent) in the Orthodox cathedrals during the Pontifiical service the anathema is proclaimed upon all heretics and apostates (GAL. 1:9,… Read More |
| ARIANISM | ARIANISM – The name of a heresy saying which denied the true Divinity of Jesus Christ, so-called after its author, Arius, a presbyter in the Church of Alexandria. This heresy was condemned at the first Ecumenical Council held in Nicea in 325. |
| DOCETISM | DOCETISM – The name of a heresy saying that Jesus was God, but only “appeared” to be human. |
| JUDAIZING | JUDAIZING – The name of a heresy saying Christians should become Jews first or more Jewish. A movement in Novgorod and Moscow (Russia) at the end of the 15th c. that included translations of biblical books only from the Hebrew. The “Judaizers” were led by Zechariah (Slavic: Skharia), probably a Crimean Karaite Jew, who taught… Read More |
| MONTANISM | MONTANISM – The name of a was a heretical movement that originated about 156 and was named after its founder Montanus. The beliefs of Montanism contrasted with Orthodox Christianity in the following ways: The belief that the prophecies of the Montanists superseded and fulfilled the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles. The encouragement of ecstatic prophesying,… Read More |
| MANICHAEISM | MANICHAEISM – A heretical Persian Gnostic religion, highly dualistic. |
| SABELLIANISM | SABELLIANISM – The name of a heresy saying that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are only “modes” or “masks” of one divine Person. |
| DONATISM | DONATISM – The name of a heresy saying that the personal moral unworthiness invalidates the sacraments of clergy (even if repentant). |
| CHILIASM | CHILIASM – The name of a heresy saying that Christ will reign for a literal 1,000 years after the Second Coming. |
| PNEUMATOMACHIANISM | PNEUMATOMACHIANISM – The name of a heresy saying that the Holy Spirit is not divine, but is a creature. |
| PELAGIANISM | PELAGIANISM – The name of a heresy saying that man can save himself without divine grace. |
| APOKATASTAIS | APOKATASTAIS – The name of a heresy saying that all will be saved, even if they reject God. In 543 the doctrine of apokatastasis was condemned by the Synod of Constantinople. |
| ORIGENISM | ORIGENISM – The name of a heresy with a set of Platonized cosmological teachings and speculations of Origen. |
| MONOENERGISM | MONOENERGISM – The name of a heresy saying that Jesus had only one energy, the divine. |
| FILIOQUISM | FILIOQUISM – The name of a heresy saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. |
| BARLAAMISM | BARLAAMISM – Rejection of hesychasm heresy, assertion that highest knowledge is mental/philosophical. |
| ETHNOPHYLETISM | ETHNOPHYLETISM – The name of a heresy saying that Church governance should be based on ethnic divisions, rather than geographic. |