A heretic is who he is in history, definition (grade 6)

Updated July 22, 2021
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Today we are “dissecting a frog” of a special kind, the role of which is the word “heretic”.

This term often sounds like an archaism (what is it?), but is by no means one, since it still remains in our active vocabulary and continues to be used both in its literal and figurative meaning.

And if any of you, as soon as you hear the word “heresy,” begin to imagine a bloodthirsty inquisitor torturing a brave freethinker, this will not be too far from the historical truth.

And it all started in the era of the so-called Classical Middle Ages - then the population of Europe began to increase rapidly, and this, in turn, provoked noticeable changes in the cultural, spiritual and socio-political spheres of society.

By the end of the 15th century. The institutions of the Catholic Church became so strong that they reached almost universal distribution. Not only the whole of Europe came under their influence, but also numerous colonies scattered across six continents.

The priests profited from the religiosity and ignorance of ordinary people, absolving them of their sins only for money (they called it indulgence). Persecution of science became a general rule, and church representatives acted as a “single flank” with local authorities interested in preserving their “extra earnings.”

All this led to the beginning of the Reformation (how is that?) and an increasing manifestation of dissent, which was immediately dubbed heresy.

But what exactly is it? Who were called heretics and what other meanings of this term exist?

Meaning of the concept

Some people have the opinion that the meaning of this concept lies in freedom from any norms and restrictions. True freedom is the absence of committing sin and protection from error. But we should not forget that freedom can become an incentive to commit both good and evil deeds.

But the clergy have their own point of view on this issue. What is heresy in Orthodoxy? They say that this is not simply a misconception that arises from ignorance or poor judgment. It contains quite serious deliberate distortions of Holy Scripture.

People deliberately distort facts and thereby contradict the basic dogmas of religion. The priests say that an ordinary believer is not a seminarian and cannot always correctly express his thoughts or interpret his attitude to certain issues of Orthodoxy. But that's not the point. A large number of very intelligent people rejected church teaching and did so at a high intellectual level.

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The Gospel as the only source of faith

What did the heretics preach and what did they achieve? People who did not recognize the dogmas of the church believed that the Gospel could be considered the only source of true faith. After all, it is there that it is written that people should be united, should help their neighbors who are worse off than themselves. The heretics called on the church to distribute its wealth and lands to the poor in order to make people equal.

Understanding what the heretics preached, it will not be surprising to learn that they themselves often gave away their wealth, gave the last to their neighbors, and themselves ate what good people gave. Heretics believed that eating alms was not a sin, but, on the contrary, a great power, “the reign of justice and equality.”

In Christianity, "heresy" is a false teaching devoid of God's revelation.

In Christianity, the word “heresy” has changed its meaning over the centuries. In the early works of theologians one can observe that this word retains its original, neutral meaning. Heresy is an opinion and nothing more.

But gradually, with the development of theological thought and the strengthening of the position of Christianity, its ideologists are increasingly asking the question of what other teachings are.

Christian self-awareness is becoming more and more clearly formed, according to which only this religion can be true and have received God's revelation.

At the same time, the emphasis is placed not only on the fact that Christianity is the only true religion, but also on what exactly Christianity should be and what it should not be.

An opinion is emerging that not only is a departure from dogma considered heretical, but freethinking regarding church foundations is also considered. For example, failure to comply with the direct instructions of the decrees of the Pope is also heresy.

Catholicism has identified two types of heresy:

Formal heresy:

“Heresy is the persistent denial after baptism of any truth that should be believed by the Divine and Catholic faith, or persistent doubt about it” (Code of Canon Law).

Material heresy.

That is, the heresy of those people who are not in the bosom of the Catholic Church. Gentiles and atheists cannot be true heretics, since they have never delved into Catholic teaching, which means they cannot be condemned in the same way as Catholics.

An important stage was the church schisms, during which each Christian movement retained the right to determine what exactly it considers heresy and what not. In this regard, the concept of heresy in the Christian world is slightly different.

Various measures were also taken against heretics. From simple condemnation to executions and torture. This largely depended on the powers that the church had.

Heretic is...

This was the name given to a person who did not respect the generally accepted canons (how is that?) of the prevailing religious teaching.

Any deviation in the knowledge of God, any approach to dogma (what is this?), different from the categorical teachings of the Catholic Church, was recognized as a deviation from the true faith, and those who understood “in their own way” the very idea of ​​salvation and/or the Savior were branded an apostate and subjected to persecution and severe punishment.

In the end, it all came down to the fact that if a person’s opinion differed in any way from the views of the church , then he was declared a heretic and sent to the Inquisition, which, as a rule, began with the most severe torture in the dark and damp dungeons of the papal committees, and ended - exemplary execution by burning at the stake.

It was a terrible and incredibly painful death , but the “shepherds” convinced the “true believers” that only in this way, through a cleansing fire, can a person be justified before the Lord.

Which people most often fell under the definition of a heretic:

1. agnostic philosophers (who is this?) and materialists;
2. scientists of any kind;
3. healers, self-taught healers and doctors who deviate from traditional methods of treatment;
4. sorcerers, magicians, witches, sorcerers;
5. artists, writers and some other creative personalities who created too realistic (or even downright “seditious”) works of art.

However, in fairness, we note that initially the emergence of heretical ideas was most often associated with attempts to logically understand dogmatic teaching, which believers sought to comprehend through rational conclusions.

And only then, realizing the depth of insoluble contradictions, did the heretics assert themselves in their “retreat” and preferred to die at the stake rather than accept on faith what they did not believe.

The essence and formation of heresy

The early Christian Church carefully ensured that the teaching remained in its original purity, resolutely rejecting various distortions of orthodox knowledge. Therefore, the term “Orthodoxy” appeared, which means “correct knowledge or teaching. Since the 2nd century, this concept has absorbed the strength and faith of the entire Church, and the term “heterodoxy” has since that time been used to designate something other than the words of Truth.

Heresy is complete opposition to the true (orthodox) creed.

E. Smirnov notes that in heretical views distorting the divine teaching of Christ there is a systematized sequence, moving from a general concept to a particular one. This happened because Christianity was accepted by pagans and Jews who were not ready to fully renounce idolatry and Judaism. Accordingly, there was a mixture of orthodox knowledge and those ideas that were in the minds of the newcomers.

This is where all the misconceptions regarding church teaching come from.

The Jewish heretics (Ebionites) sought to merge their own knowledge with Christianity, and soon completely subjugate it. The pagans (Gnostics and Manichaeans) wanted to create a symbiosis of orthodox teaching, Eastern religions and the philosophical system of Greece. After the Church was able to reject the first stream of false teachings, other heresies came to replace them, which gained strength on the basis of Christianity itself. The subject of this deliberate distortion was the dogma of the Holy Trinity, and thus anti-Trinitarians appeared. Further heresies delve into more and more specific issues, for example, the Second Person of the One God. This heresy was called Arianism and appeared at the beginning of the 4th century. On a note! Since the literature of false teaching was destroyed by the ministers of the Church, information can be found in the writings of those who exposed them.

Ardent fighters against the distortion of true doctrine include: Origen, St. Cyprian of Carthage, Clement of Alexandria, St. Augustine, St. Theodoret and many others. The Church also denies other forms of apostasy; it opposes schism and parasynagogue (a private gathering of clergy).

The attitude of the holy fathers to heresy

The Holy Fathers classify heretics as people who deliberately alienate themselves from religion and faith itself. What distinguishes them from true Christians is a worldview that is inconsistent with the orthodox opinion of the Church. In its depths, heresy is a hidden rejection of the teachings of Christ, outright blasphemy.

On a note! Ancient Christian writers consider the biblical character Simon the Magus to be the founder of heresy. The first mention of this man can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. The book indicates that Simon considered himself a grandiose being who performed miracles and the “True Messiah.”

When Peter and John arrived in Jerusalem, the Magus, seeing their divine power of bringing down the Holy Spirit on man, decided to buy this gift. The apostles rejected Simon and denounced him, so the sale and purchase of sacred sacraments began to be called “simony.” From ancient Greek this word is translated as “choice” or “direction”. Heresy was understood as a religious movement or school of philosophy. For example, in the Bible the Pharisees and Sadducees were called such.

Modern representatives of heresy preach views that contradict what is contained in the Bible

The Apostle Peter in his letters predicted the emergence of a movement opposite to Christian teaching. He said that there were false prophets before, and in the future false teachers will come, bringing corrupting and blasphemous knowledge. Peter predicted heretics, as those who had departed from Truth and God, would soon die and put them on a par with idolaters and sorcerers.

• The concept acquires a certain semantic connotation in the letters of the New Testament apostles. Here heresy is considered to be in complete opposition to the true (orthodox) doctrine and gradually turns into a cruel denial of Revelation taught by God. In the New Testament, the concept is already more than just a line of thought; it deliberately seeks to distort the fundamental foundations of Christian teaching.
• From the point of view of the science of asceticism - a section of theology that studies rebirth in the course of asceticism - heresy is an extreme error that does not decrease from the evidence of orthodox teaching and becomes stable. The term combines numerous vicious states of mind (pride, self-will, seduction).
• Saint Basil the Great precisely defined the essence of all heretical teachings. He believed that such trends are alienating from Orthodoxy and distorting the dogmas set forth in the Holy Scriptures. The monk spoke about the great difference in the very way of believing in the Almighty Creator.
• Bishop Nikodim notes: in order to receive the mark of a heretic, it is enough to doubt at least one dogma of the Christian Church, without affecting the foundations of the Orthodox tradition.
• Saint I. Brianchaninov believes that heretical teaching secretly rejects Christianity itself. It arose after idolatry had completely lost its power over the minds of people. Since then, the devil has made every effort to prevent people from being able to fully surrender to saving knowledge. He invented a heresy by means of which he allowed his followers to have the appearance of Christians, but in their souls to blaspheme.

On a note!
Heresies are divided into triadological and Christological. The first include monarchianism and Arianism, teachings that were condemned at the first Ecumenical Councils. This also includes the Sawellians, Photinians, Doukhobors, Anomeans, etc. The categories of Christological heresies include: Nestorianism, Monothelistism and Iconoclasm. During the Reformation comes European rationalism, and after variations of Manichaeism and Nestorianism.

A type of denial of faith

The general word “heresy” has several varieties that are simply combined into a single whole. The list of heresies in Orthodoxy is quite wide, but some need to be known so as not to confuse schism and apostasy with it. The classification is divided into the following categories:

in relation to the main Christian churches; by belonging to national cultures; by the presence or absence of religious faith; by the degree of radicalism; by the nature of syncretism; by the dogmatic problem being solved; by eras of development, etc.

The church is corrupt

Many did not like the obligatory payment of church tithes, the sale of church relics and even positions. Of course, fearing reprisals, persecution and punishment from the Lord, people did not seek to express their opinions, although they had personal views on the behavior of the church. But there were knights, wandering monks and simple priests from small villages who, despite their fear, were able to openly express dissatisfaction with the actions of the church. This will, perhaps, be a more accurate definition of what a heretic is.

This is what they called people who believed that the church had become too corrupted by power and exorbitant wealth. The heretics did not see the benefit and need for too expensive church rites and celebrations. The church and heretics were like two sides of the same coin. Some did not understand the reluctance of people to follow the precepts of the church, while others did not recognize the magnificent church services and called on the church to abandon tithes, wealth and lands.

What is Heresy? - This is a deliberate deviation from religious teachings

Nowadays, the word “heresy” carries a negative connotation, but this was not always the case. During periods of greater religious tolerance, when people could afford their own view of this or that tradition, the word “heresy” was understood by its direct meaning - “current”, “choice”, “alternative”.

Let's say there is a certain Holy Scripture and several interpretations of it. No interpreter has a monopoly on opinion and the right to call only himself an authority. Accordingly, we get two currents, two heresies. From this position, we could call Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy the three heresies of the Christian tradition.

If we call someone heretics, they can call us the same

Although it is preferable to use the word “heresy” not to all directions, but to those that exist outside of the main, orthodox tradition. But at the same time, any other philosophical school, considering itself the truth itself, has the right to call the orthodox movement a heresy. There is nothing offensive here, it is a neutral word.

1. Heretics are adherents of heresy.
2. Heresiarchs are the heads of the heretical movement.

The first Christians are heretics, from the point of view of Judaism (“The Last Supper”, Da Vinci)

Denouncers of heresies

Ancient heretical texts, as a rule, were destroyed, so information about heresies can be gleaned from their denouncers: St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Hippolytus of Rome, Tertullian, Origen, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (he, together with Irenaeus and Hippolytus, is called hereseologists), Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius Pamphilus, bl. Theodoret of Cyrus, bl. Aurelius Augustine, Euthymius Zigabena.

Literature

• Bulgakov S.V. Handbook of heresies, sects and schisms. // Moscow: Sovremennik, 1994.
• Brief information about religions and confessions included in the encyclopedia “Peoples and Religions of the World”
• prot. Ivantsov-Platonov. “Heresies and schisms of the first centuries of Christianity” (Moscow, 1878)
• Henry Charles Lee, Nikolai Osokin, Lev Karsavin and others. History of heresies. - M.: AST, 2007. - 576 p. — ISBN 978-5-17-023677-0
• Heresy, heretics // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.

The failure of the Decembrists’ attempt to change the social system in Russia and the ensuing rampant police reaction weakened the revolutionary sentiments in society, but did not completely destroy them. Contrary to the hopes of the courtiers, social activity gradually revived. Anti-government thought was concentrated in a characteristic organizational form - circles. A few meetings of students, officials, officers and common intellectuals were grouped not only in capitals, but also in provincial cities.

The authorities primarily persecuted representatives of the radical social movement. What distinguished them from liberals was their recognition of the need for revolution. In Moscow and the provinces, the police and gendarmes were not so zealous in looking for opponents of the autocracy, so in the 20-50s of the 19th century. Most of the circles of radical orientation arose there.

Forgiveness of sins

In some settlements there were too many heretics. People did not want to remain silent about the unfair (in their opinion) interpretation of the Bible and the forgetting of apostolic poverty. The struggle of the church against heretics in such places became especially tough. Entire armed detachments were sent to the villages, with only one order: “destroy.” The church explained the murders of thousands as true forgiveness of sins.

According to historians, the inhabitants of medieval France were especially opposed to church dogmas. It is known that at the beginning of the thirteenth century entire cities were destroyed. The Catholic Church and the heretics waged a constant struggle. However, the clergy had two advantages - enormous power and untold wealth. Many knights went to kill heretics not because of any of their beliefs and beliefs, but in the hope of getting a decent sum of money.

The private opinion of theologians is not heresy

There is such a concept - theologumene. This is an opinion expressed by one of the theologians. It is easy to confuse it with heresy, since personal opinion:

1. Not confirmed by Holy Scripture or Tradition.
2. Not mandatory for Christians.

But private opinion has a couple of distinctive features:

1. Does not contradict Holy Scripture and Tradition.
2. Not presented as truth.

The essence of this phenomenon is as follows. There is a certain author, a respected theologian. He discusses important issues of doctrine and comes to a point about which there are no Christian dogmas. For example, he comes to the conclusion that there must be a tenth rank of angels and the Archangel Michael belongs to it.

The theologian must admit, in order not to become a heretic, that he can be wrong

Holy Scripture and tradition say nothing on this matter, so it is impossible to confirm or refute the theologian’s opinion. This distinguishes it from heresy, since heresy comes into direct conflict with dogmas and violates them.

But for a theological opinion to become such, it is necessary

1. so that the author of this statement himself admits that his version is private and cannot be generally accepted.
2. so that the statement fits into information from Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition.

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Residents of Albi

Perhaps the historical story about the Albigensians will continue to inspire horror and cause open hostility for a long time. In one of the richest regions of southern France, centered in the city of Albi, especially many heretics gathered. It was there that punitive detachments of the Catholic Church were sent. People living in the city believed that the church, like the clergy, was the messenger and servant not of the Lord God, but of the Devil.

After the punitive “operation” of the church and the “forgiveness of sins,” a countless number of French cities were destroyed, including Albi. And not just destroyed, but completely destroyed. Soldiers and hired punitive forces robbed houses, killed heretics and their families, including small children and old people, and burned entire neighborhoods.

According to the chronicle, more than twenty thousand people were killed in one of the cities of southern France. Before the campaign, the soldiers asked the pope: “How to distinguish a “good Catholic” from a heretic?” Today the answer would shock many: “Kill everyone who gets in the way. God himself will then figure out in Heaven who was his own and who was a stranger.”

Literature[ | ]

• Bulgakov S.V.
  Handbook of heresies, sects and schisms. (inaccessible link from 03/12/2018 [1225 days]) // Moscow: Sovremennik, 1994.
• Brief information (inaccessible link from 03/12/2018 [1225 days]) about religions and confessions included in the encyclopedia “Peoples and Religions of the World”
• Prot. Ivantsov-Platonov
  . “Heresies and schisms of the first centuries of Christianity” (Moscow, 1878)
• Henry Charles Lee, Nikolai Osokin, Lev Karsavin and others.
  History of heresies. - M.: AST, 2007. - 576 p. — ISBN 978-5-17-023677-0
• Barsov N.I.
  Heresy, heretics // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.

Heresy can give rise to a sect and later to a religious tradition

Heresy distorts traditional teaching and departs from it. It is fair to call heresy those philosophical and religious schools that, while remaining in the bosom of tradition, allow themselves free interpretations of religious doctrine that contradict the canon.

For example, if a priest during a sermon begins to teach that the Queen of Heaven is the female hypostasis of the Supreme God of Christianity, such an opinion will clearly be considered heresy, because:

• contrary to orthodox teaching;
• diverges from Holy Scripture and Tradition;
• it is said with full awareness of the opposition to Christian dogmas.

But any distributor of heresy can repent and renounce his views. If not, then as long as he remains in the bosom of tradition with his views, he is considered a heretic.

A sect arises when a person opposes his teaching to traditional religion and finds adherents. Developing the example above, we can say that if a certain preacher who teaches that the Virgin Mary is a goddess creates an organization that believes in the same thing, it will be considered a sect.

Formally, this is no longer a heresy, since the teaching no longer exists outside of tradition, but adheres to its own, autonomous dogmas. The word “sect” itself also does not carry a negative load, although few people know this at present.

Religion arises on the basis of a sect when it is officially recognized by the state. Let's say, a hypothetical society of believers in the divinity of the Queen of Heaven (from our example) could become a full-fledged religion somewhere in China if it is recognized by the authorities there. But at the same time, it remains a sect in Russia unless the same thing happens here.

Actually, this is exactly the path that Christianity took: from heresy in Judaism it formed a sect and only then, several centuries later, became a recognized religion in the Roman Empire.

In Orthodoxy, heresy must be fought only with arguments and kindness

Orthodoxy, in its true nature, condemns attempts to denigrate other teachings and try to destroy heretical organizations. Archpriest Oleg (Stenyaev) speaks about it this way:

Oleg (Stenyaev)

Archpriest

“You cannot fight sectarians using non-Christian methods, as some missionaries do. Such missionaries put aside the Bible and pick up the Civil or Criminal Code. They are only engaged in collecting incriminating evidence on sect leaders and ordinary sectarians. What can you say about this? Their research, from a religious point of view, is obviously useless, their activities play into the hands of the opponents of Orthodoxy.”

But it is especially useful for an Orthodox person to read what Archbishop John (Shakhovskoy) says:

John (Shakhovskoy)

Archbishop

“It is a mistake to think that all Orthodox are really not sectarians and that all sectarians are really not Orthodox. Not every Orthodox by name is like that in spirit, and not every sectarian by name is like that in spirit, and nowadays in particular one can meet an “Orthodox” - a real sectarian in spirit: fanatical, unloving, rationally narrow, resting on the human point, not hungry, not thirsty for the truth of God, but satiated with his proud truth, strictly judging a person from the top of this imaginary truth of his, outwardly dogmatically right, but devoid of birth in the Spirit.

And vice versa, one can meet a sectarian who clearly does not understand the meaning of Orthodox service to God in Spirit and Truth, who does not recognize this or that expression of church truth, but in fact conceals within himself a lot of what is truly Godly, truly loving in Christ, truly brotherly towards people... Then how among Christians of other faiths there are many who live in the truth of Orthodoxy - in their spirit.

There are sectarians who burn in spirit and with love for God and for their neighbors much more than other Orthodox Christians, and this spirit of burning love for God and for man is a sign of true, vital Orthodoxy. Whoever does not have it among the Orthodox is not truly Orthodox, and whoever has it among the non-Orthodox is truly Orthodox.

Humanly he is mistaken, humanly he does not understand this or that, does not see this or that color in the nature of the world (spiritual color blindness; does not see, for example, the meaning of icons, communication with saints who have departed from this world); but in spirit, in his inner man, he is faithful and true, devoted with unfeigned love to the Living God, the Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, unto death.”

Orthodoxy is the path of kindness, understanding and care for one's neighbor. Therefore, it is permissible to try to reason with the heretic, but if this did not work out in the first couple of conversations, you should leave the person alone:

(Titus 3:10)

“Heretic, after the first and second admonition, turn away”

Chapter 3 of Titus: Heretics, after the first and second admonitions, turn away