Heresies & Their Unveilings

Seeds of Error · The Early Heresies

The Medieval Storms

The Great Sundering · Luther and the Principalities

The Modern Poisons · Ad fabulas autem convertentur

The Masked Apostasy

1. Seeds of Error (Early Heresies)

  • Gnosticism, Arianism, Pelagianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism.

  • Show how each attacked either the divinity of Christ, His humanity, or grace.

  • Emphasis: the Fathers’ refutations.

2. The Medieval Storms

  • Iconoclasm, Catharism, Waldensians, Albigensians, Hussites.

  • Errors arising in the heart of Christendom.

  • Emphasis: Councils, Crusades, and inquisitorial defense.

3. The Great Sundering

  • The Protestant Revolt (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Henry VIII).

  • Radical break from the Church’s authority and sacraments.

  • Emphasis: Council of Trent’s luminous counter.

4. The Modern Poisons

  • Rationalism, Liberalism, Modernism, Communism.

  • Undermining faith by philosophy, politics, and false “science.”

  • Emphasis: papal encyclicals (e.g., Syllabus of Errors, Pascendi).

5. The Masked Apostasy (Contemporary Errors)

  • Vatican II ambiguities, Religious Indifferentism, Ecumenism, “Spirit of Assisi.”

  • Post-conciliar crisis, dissolution of the sacred liturgy.

  • Emphasis: contrast between perennial magisterium and the revolution disguised as continuity.

Major Heresies in the Church’s History

1. Apostolic and Early Church (1st–3rd centuries)

  • Judaizers (1st c.)
    Denied the sufficiency of Christ, insisted Gentile Christians must keep the Mosaic law (circumcision, etc.).
    Condemned by Saint Paul (Galatians).

  • Gnosticism (1st–3rd c.)
    Claimed secret knowledge, dualism (spirit good, matter evil), denied the true Incarnation.
    Opposed by Saint Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses).

  • Docetism (1st–2nd c.)
    Said Christ only “seemed” to have a real human body.
    Condemned by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint John’s epistles.

  • Montanism (2nd c.)
    Claimed continuing new prophecy beyond the Apostles, rigorous legalism.

  • Modalism / Sabellianism (3rd c.)
    Denied the Trinity; said Father, Son, and Spirit are just “modes” of one person.

  • Novatianism (3rd c.)
    Claimed lapsed Christians could never be reconciled.

2. The Christological & Trinitarian Controversies (4th–5th centuries)

  • Arianism (4th c.)
    Denied Christ’s divinity: “There was a time when He was not.”
    Condemned at Nicaea I (325).

  • Apollinarianism (4th c.)
    Said Christ had no human soul, only the Divine Logos.
    Condemned at Constantinople I (381).

  • Nestorianism (5th c.)
    Taught Christ was two persons (divine and human) loosely united; rejected Mary as Theotokos.
    Condemned at Ephesus (431).

  • Monophysitism (5th c.)
    Claimed Christ had only one (divine) nature.
    Condemned at Chalcedon (451).

  • Monothelitism (7th c.)
    Claimed Christ had only one will.
    Condemned at Constantinople III (681).

3. Medieval Heresies (7th–15th centuries)

  • Iconoclasm (8th–9th c.)
    Rejected sacred images.
    Condemned at Nicaea II (787).

  • Bogomilism / Catharism / Albigensianism (10th–13th c.)
    Dualistic, rejected the sacraments, marriage, and material creation as evil.

  • Waldensianism (12th c.)
    Rejected Church hierarchy and sacraments.

  • Lollardy (14th c.) — John Wycliffe’s teachings, rejecting the papacy, transubstantiation, clerical authority.

  • Hussitism (15th c.) — Jan Hus; precursor to Protestant errors.

4. Early Modern Heresies (16th century)

  • Protestantism (from 1517)

    • Lutheranism — “faith alone,” denial of certain sacraments, rejection of papal authority.

    • Calvinism — predestination, rejection of free will in salvation.

    • Anglicanism — national church severed from Rome, later varying doctrines.
      Condemned by Council of Trent (1545–1563).

5. Modern Errors (17th–20th centuries)

  • Jansenism (17th c.)
    Rigorist predestination, denied sufficient grace to all.

  • Gallicanism (17th c.)
    Tried to limit Papal authority in favor of national churches.

  • Modernism (19th–20th c.)
    Condemned by Pope Saint Pius X (Pascendi dominici gregis, 1907). Called the “synthesis of all heresies.”

  • Liberalism / Indifferentism (19th–20th c.)
    Denied the unique truth of Catholicism, promoted equality of all religions. Condemned in Mirari Vos (Gregory XVI), Syllabus of Errors (Pius IX).

6. Post-1958 Crises (Contemporary)

  • False ecumenism (all religions as “paths to God”).

  • Religious liberty as an absolute right (Dignitatis Humanae, Vatican II, condemned by preconciliar Magisterium).

  • Liturgical innovations undermining the Sacrifice of the Mass.

  • Syncretism / indifferentism promoted in Assisi gatherings (John Paul II).

  • Divine Mercy devotion (Faustina, revived by John Paul II) — problematic theology replacing the Sacred Heart.

  • Saint Vincent of Lerins: “What then will the Catholic Christian do if some new contagion seeks to infect not just a small part of the Church, but the whole Church at once? Then he will cleave to antiquity, which can no longer be seduced by any deceit of novelty.”