Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
Abraham, 21, 61, 115, 131
Abu Hamid, al-Ghazali, 228
Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah Islamic sect, 34–35
Alston, William, 186
Ambrose of Milan, 193
antiauthoritarian culture, 2, 3, 8–9
anti-Semitism, 131
anti-Trinitarianism, 185–86, 214
apocryphal writings, 47–49
apologists, 181, 183, 184, 186, 189
apostasy, 155
Appeal (Luther), 209
archaism, 66
Arianism
Athanasius’s critique of, 146–47
Constantine’s involvement in dispute, 149–50, 203–4
Council of Nicaea’s rejection of, 140, 148–49
debate reopened by Constantius, 204–5
as distinguished from Ebionitism, 108–9
endorsement of divine monarchia, 149–50
fundamental themes of, 54, 93, 143–47, 150–52
identity of Jesus in, 144–47, 150–52
impact of, 28–29, 86–87, 186, 219
motives behind, 171
nineteenth-century views on, 175
revival in Anglicanism, 215
similarities to Islam, 87, 144, 150
and social norms, 96, 184
Thalia, 142, 203
use of biblical “proof-texting,” 143–44, 171
Arius, 54, 86, 142–52, 171, 203, 204, 221
Arminian controversy, 214–15
Arminius, Jakob, 214–15
asceticism, 191, 193
assimilation, 84–86, 91, 101, 178, 180–83, 189
Athanasius of Alexandria, 48, 66–67, 86, 87, 146–48, 204, 213
atheism, 2, 233
Augustine of Hippo, 29, 156–60, 162–70, 179, 181–83, 188, 192, 212, 213
authenticity, 27–28, 101–2, 232
authoritarianism, 150, 193, 194, 216
authoritative resources, 46, 47–49
Ayoub, Mahmoud Mustafa, 228
Baigent, Michael, 3–4
Barth, Karl, 108, 185–86
Basilides, 120, 125
Bauer, Walter, 2–3, 56, 73–77, 81, 119, 125, 133, 197, 201, 203
belief, 22
belief system. See framework of beliefs
Benedict of Nursia, 191, 192
Berbers, 95, 153, 155, 187
Berger, Peter, 7–8
Bible
in anti-Trinitarianism, 185, 214
contemporary theories of the, 5
Hebrew Bible, 61, 127, 201
“heresy” in various translations, 37–38
sacred boundaries in the, 6
See also New Testament; Old Testament
biblical interpretation
biblical “proof-texting,” 143–44
the church’s power over, 207–8
difficulties posed to Protestantism, 51–53, 216–17
divergent interpretations of New Testament, 51–54
and doctrinal formulations, 102
Irenaeus on, 124
Luther’s challenge to papal authority, 209, 210–11
Marcion’s biblical canon, 129–30
Milton on, 216–17
problems of Protestant, 51–53
Waldensian literalism, 207
Bossuet, Jacques-Bénigne, 67
Bourdieu, Pierre, 35
Brown, Dan, 3–6, 218
Caecilianus, Bishop, 139, 152–54
Caelestius, 161, 162, 192
Calvin, John, 212
Calvinism, 215
Carlyle, Thomas, 86–87
Cathars, 7, 188, 207
Catholic Church
authority over biblical interpretation, 51, 211
concern over “doctrinal development,” 67
First Vatican Council, 68–69
Inquisition, 103–4, 208, 214
as inventing ideas to secure power, 4–6
reaction to Protestantism, 211–14
Second Vatican Council, 213
suppression of heresy, 3, 6, 7, 74, 104, 203
See also imperial Christianity; medieval church
Cerinthus, 111–12
choice, 7–8
Christian faith
consolidation of, 24–27
as framework for life, 18–19
heresy as threat to, 33–35
as innovative and radical, 10–11
intellectual core of, 17–18, 46, 49–50
Jesus as center of, 17, 43, 90, 92–93
naturalization of, 177–178
the nature of faith, 20–23, 189
preserving the mysteries of, 27–32
quest for authenticity, 27–28, 101–2, 232
sacraments of, 123, 153–55, 157–58
saints and sinners in, 156–58, 167
significance of heresy to contemporary, 231–34
transmutation of the world, 19–20
See also doctrine; early church; imperial Christianity; medieval church; orthodoxy; worship
church of Rome. See Catholic Church; imperial Christianity; medieval church
classic period. See imperial Christianity; Roman empire
clerical authority, 209, 210–11
clerical marriage, 210
closure, 219–20
cognitive science of religion, 176–80
Cohn, Norman, 193–94
Collyridian sect, 225–26
community identity, 32, 187–88
Confessions (Augustine), 159, 160
conspiracy theories, 6
Constantine, Emperor, 5, 46, 55, 138–40, 148–50, 153, 154, 202–4, 211
Constantius, Emperor, 204
contemporary views of heresy
associated with choice, 7–8
as challenge to authority, 8–11
as fashionable, 1–2, 217–21, 232–33
heresy/orthodoxy and power, 2–6, 200, 217–21
as liberating, 7, 191
Council of Chalcedon, 67, 69, 219, 220–21, 226, 228
Council of Constantinople, 204
Council of Nicaea
and the Arian controversy, 140, 148, 204
creation of uniform imperial church, 55
imperial political authority and, 148–50, 203
Luther’s reference to, 211
on nature of Jesus, 4, 26, 29, 151
councils, church’s hold over, 209, 211
creation/creator
in Arianism, 144
church doctrine of, 24–25
in Gnosticism, 119, 120–21
Marcion’s view, 128–29
Pelagius on, 163–64
creeds, 22–23, 28, 89–90, 124
critical realism, 198
crucifixion, 116, 227–28
cultural and intellectual motivations for heresy
accommodations to secular reason, 180, 184–86
assimilation to cultural norms, 85, 164–65, 180, 181–83
and the cognitive science of religion, 176–80
ethical discontent, 180, 190–94
as historically misunderstood, 175–76
naturalization of Christianity, 177–78
and the need for cultural engagement, 180, 194–95
overview of, 175–77, 180
religious contextualization, 180, 189–90
shaping of social identity, 180, 187–88
cultural influences on orthodoxy, 101–2, 179–80
culture, contemporary. See contemporary views of heresy
Cyprian of Carthage, 154–55, 206
Da Vinci Code, The (Brown), 3–6, 218, 236n12
Darwinism, 35, 69,198
Dawkins, Richard, 131
“Death of God” debate, 233
Decian persecution, 55, 137
Decius, Emperor, 136–37
deism, 185, 186
Demetrias, 163, 164
Demiurge (demiurgos; workman), 121–22, 123
democratization of faith, 209–11
depositum fidei (deposit of faith), 46
Diocletian, Emperor, 137, 139, 152
Diocletian persecution, 137, 139
diversity, contemporary religious, 7, 8
diversity of early church
allowing establishment of Marcionism/ Valentinism, 132
crystallization of orthodoxy among, 55–58, 79–80
five factors contributing to, 46
and geographic spread, 43–45
in interpretation of New Testament, 51–54
in New Testament documents, 49–51
uncertainty over authoritative resources, 47–49
unity within, 45–46, 77
in worship, 46, 54–55
divine justice, 182–83
divine revelation, 28, 30, 141, 150, 223–24
Docetism
early accepted presence of, 28
identity of Jesus in, 94, 111–12, 129
influence on Islam, 226, 228
matter as fundamentally evil in, 132
origins of, 112–16
revelatory emphasis in, 141
doctrine
of creation, 24–25
creeds, 22–23, 28, 89–90, 124
development of early, 3, 24–28, 56–57, 66–71, 102
as framework for Christian life, 18–19
heresy and orthodoxy in development of, 65–66, 70–71, 87–91
identity of Jesus, 146–48, 150, 151–52
of Incarnation, 25–26, 142
preserving and protecting the faith, 30–31, 80, 124–25
as quest for authenticity, 27–28, 101–2
of revelation, 28, 30, 141
secondary to faith and commitment, 22 of the Trinity, 95, 123, 150, 184–86, 214, 224–26
Vincent’s checklist of conformity, 53–54
See also grace; salvation
Donatism
challenged by Augustine, 156–59
Constantine’s involvement in dispute, 202, 203–4
heretical aspects of, 158–59
Luther and, 212
parallels to Pelagianism, 167, 170
rigorist stand of, 139, 152–56
as shaping orthodoxy, 171
social identity factor in, 95, 187–88
Donatus the Great, 154
Dryden, John, 52
Dunn, James, 50
early church
creeds of, 22–23, 89–90
development of doctrines, 3, 24–28, 56–57, 66–71, 102
geographic spread of, 43–45, 101, 117
heresy in the, 37–39, 73–74, 201–5, 219, 222
Luther’s continuity with, 212–13
overview on heresies of the, 101–4, 132–33
and political power, 201–5
“received view” on the origins of heresy, 64–66
relationship to Judaism, 43, 44, 61–62, 87–88, 101
Roman persecution of, 44, 55, 84, 136–37, 152
separation from the world, 88–89
texts of the, 45, 47–49
threats to, 84–87, 91
See also diversity of early church
Ebionitism
Christian assimilation to Judaism, 189
early accepted presence of, 28
historical context of, 108–10, 252n10
location of Jesus Christ in, 94, 105–10, 140, 145
recent reemergence of, 110–11
Edict of Decius, 137
Edict of Milan, 55, 138
egalitarianism, 77–78, 233
eidolon (phantom), 114–15
Eleusinian mysteries, 117
“Elixir, The” (poem; Herbert), 20
Engels, Freidrich, 199
Epiphanius of Salamis, 61–63, 225–26
Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Newman), 68
ethical concerns, 180, 190–94
Eutychianism, 93
evangelism, 51–52
Evans, Robert, 160–61
evil, 121, 123, 128, 132, 165–66, 182
faith
consolidation of, 24–27
nature of Christian, 20–23
preserving the mysteries of, 27–32
relational faith, 23
vs. belief, 22
Farrer, Austin, 184
First Vatican Council, 68–69
forgiveness, 158–59
Foucault, Michel, 218–19
Fox, Robin Lane, 76–77, 128–29
fragmentation, 86
framework of beliefs
choice and postmodern, 8
in Christianity, 17–20, 23
ideologies, 199
Judaism’s influence on Christian, 140–41
orthodoxy and heresy in, 33, 35, 96
religious contextualization and, 189
See also doctrine
free will, 163, 165–68
future of heresy, 231–34
Gay, Peter, 1–2
Gemeinde (community), 210
Ghosh, Kantik, 207
Glaerius, Emperor, 137, 138
Gnostic Gospels, 47
Gnosticism
beliefs on the creator, 119, 120–21
Cathars resembling, 207
as challenge to early church, 28
and Christian religious contextualization, 189–90
connection to Marcionism, 129
as conservative, 10–11, 218
contemporary response to, 9, 77–78, 117–18, 232, 233
difficulties in defining, 118–19
forcing clarification of faith, 89
influence on Docetism, 114, 116
influence on Islam, 226–27
Irenaeus’s response to, 118
Sethian, 120, 121, 123, 226–27, 228
two main presuppositions of, 119
See also Valentinism
God
in Arianism, 144–45, 151
core beliefs on, 49–50
divine justice, 182–83
divine revelation, 28, 30, 141, 150, 223–24
in doctrinal development, 70
framework for the experience of, 18, 28, 31
in Gnosticism, 121–22, 123
human nature and grace, 167–69
mysteries of, 29, 30
nature of faith in, 20–23
rejection of Old Testament, 128–29, 131
suffering of, 25
God Delusion (Dawkins), 131
Goldstein, Ronnie, 114, 115
Gore, Charles, 26, 30, 69
Gospel of Judas, 9–10
Gospel of Thomas, 78
grace
in divine justice, 183
healing in, 166–67
medieval church’s compromise of, 212
to restore free will, 165–66
salvation through, 181
as viewed by Pelagianism, 167–69
Greek thought/culture
Arianism’s connection to, 145, 146
Christianity as irrational to, 142, 184
“doubles” of mythological heroes, 114–15
influence on early church, 26, 101
See also Platonism
Green, Garrett, 9
group identity, 32, 39, 82, 180, 187–88
Grundmann, Herbert, 103, 208, 213
Gwatkin, H. M., 175
hairesis/haeresis (act of choosing; heresy), 7, 36–39
Hanson, N. R., 20
Harnack, Adolf von, 131
Hauerwas, Stanley, 18–19
healing, spiritual, 158–59
Hebrew Bible, 61, 127, 201
Helen of Troy, 114–15
Hellenistic culture/philosophy. See Greek thought/culture
Henley, William Ernest, 163
Herberg, Will, 2
Herbert, George, 20
heresies, early classic, 101–4, 132–33. See also Ebionitism; Docetism; Gnosticism; Marcionism; Valentinism
heresies, later classic, 135–36, 171–72. See also Arianism; Donatism; Pelagianism
heresies, medieval, 103–4, 205–8
heresiology, 58
heresy
characteristic features of, 11–12, 31, 33–34, 81–84, 198
as constructed notion, 33, 82
defiling church purity, 31–32
as evaluative notion, 33, 62–63
future of, 231–34
as ideas lost to orthodoxy, 1–3, 12–13, 31, 33, 81–82, 197
incoherence in, 86, 93–96, 148, 198
innovations as, 64, 65
Islam’s view of Christianity influenced by, 224–29
linked to suppressed nationalism, 155–56
medieval notions of, 103–4, 208, 213, 219
present in every worldview, 35–36
Schleiermacher’s model of, 92–96
subscribing to apocryphal sources, 48
threat to the faith, 33–35, 80, 83–84, 198
as Trojan horse, 34, 96
See also contemporary views of heresy; heretics; origins of heresy
“Heresy of the Free Spirit,” 193
heresy-orthodoxy dichotomy appropriation of alternative/ supplementary wisdoms, 179–80
in the Bauer thesis, 73–77, 197, 203
and doctrinal concepts, 79–80, 91, 102, 171
emergence of, 39, 79–80
in every worldview, 35–36
extremes of the theological spectrum, 12–13
importance to modern church life, 231–34
in the Middle Ages, 103–4, 208
politicization of, 139–40, 222
in quest for authenticity, 27–28, 101–2
in “received view,” 64–66
heresy-orthodoxy dichotomy and power
contemporary views, 2–6, 200, 217–21
heresy of Protestantism, 208–13
and the Middle Ages, 205–8
overview on, 197–98, 221–22
in the patristic age, 201–5
postmodernists views, 217–21
problem of heresy to Protestantism, 213–17
sociological approaches, 198–200
Heretical Imperative (Berger), 7–8
heretics
biblical interpretation by, 124
contemporary views of, 2
focus on moral character/motives of, 63, 64, 175–76
as insiders, 35, 58–59, 71–72, 76
Hippolytus of Rome, 85–86, 106, 113
holiness, 157
Holy Blood, Holy Grail (Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln), 3–4
Hooker, Richard, 93
human nature
as flawed, 165–66, 169
and free will in Pelagianism, 163–67, 170
God and grace, 167–69
healing and redemption of, 157–58, 167
New Testament view of, 170
in Schleiermacher’s model of heresy, 94
as sinless, 166–67
Hurtado, Larry, 79
Hussites, 103, 188, 212
Ibn al-Juwayni, 228
identity of Jesus
in Arianism, 144–47, 150–52
contemporary views, 4–5
Council of Chalcedon on, 220–21
in Docetism, 94, 111–16, 129
in Ebionitism, 94, 105–10, 145
in Gnosticism, 122
heresy as misunderstanding, 93–95
and the heritage of Judaism, 125–27, 140–41
influence of Platonism, 141–42
Islamic views of, 226–28
Jesus’s self-proclaimed divinity, 107
in Marcionism, 128–29, 130
in orthodoxy, 146–48, 150, 151–52, 166
in Pelagianism, 163, 168
See also Incarnation
ideologies, 199
Ignatius of Antioch, 112–13
imperial Christianity
Constantine’s impact on, 138–40, 148–50, 202–4
creating unity in, 55, 202–4
early lax moral vision of, 191–92
legalizing the faith, 137–38
overview on heresies of, 135–36, 171–72
persecution preceding, 136–37
Incarnation
in anti-Trinitarianism, 185
Arianism at odds with, 144–47, 150–52
as denial of Gnosticism, 123
Docetism on, 114
emergence of doctrine, 25–26, 142
as incoherent, 184
suffering in, 25
as transformative notion, 218
incoherence, 86, 93–96, 148
Innocent III, Pope, 205
Inquisition, 103–4, 208, 214
intellectual incoherence, 86, 93–96, 148
intellectual pressure. See cultural and intellectual motivations for heresy
interpretation of Bible. See biblical interpretation
“Invictus” (poem; Henley), 163
Irenaeus of Lyons, 16, 47, 51, 53, 58–59, 89, 111, 113, 115, 118, 112–25, 128, 130
Islam
Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah Islamic sect debate, 34–35
Arianism’s similarity to, 87, 144, 150
emergence of political structure, 56
heresy shaping views of Christianity, 224–29
uneasy dynamic with Christianity, 223, 229
See also Qur’an
James, William, 17, 20
Jerome, 31–32, 48
Jesus of Nazareth
center of Christian faith, 17, 43, 49, 90, 92–93
contemporary cultural views of, 4–5
crucifixion accounts, 116, 227–28
and doctrinal development, 31, 70
early Christian beliefs in, 28–29
in the Gospel of Judas, 9–10
nature of faith in, 21–23
New Testament core beliefs, 49–50
sanctifying the church, 157–58
as source of divine revelation, 223–24
See also identity of Jesus
John, Gospel of, 22, 54, 111
Josephus, 37
Jovinian, 193
Judaism
creation doctrine, 24
early Christianity’s relationship to, 43, 44, 87–88, 101
framework for identity of Jesus, 140–41
Gnosticism’s trajectory away from, 125
Hebrew Christians, 110–11
Jesus as fulfillment of, 125–27
Jewish Christology of Ebionitism, 105–6, 109–10, 145
Jewish haireses, 37
the Law in, 126–27
Marcion’s proposed break with, 61–62, 87, 127, 129–31
orthopraxy of, 87
purity beliefs, 31–32
Sethian Gnosticism derived from, 121
threat of Christianity’s assimilation into, 84–85, 91, 189
Julian of Eclanum, 161, 164, 181, 182, 183
justice, 182–83
Justin Martyr, 119, 125–28, 133, 141, 178–79
kerygmata (proclamation), 50
King, Karen, 53, 119
King James Bible, 37–38
Koester, Helmut, 74–75
Kurtz, Lester, 35
Lambert, Malcolm, 96
language, 30, 36
lapsi (lapsed clergy), 139, 153–55
Law of Moses, 161, 168
Lawson, Hilary, 219–20
Leigh, Richard, 3–4
Lewis, C. S., 19, 184
libertarianism, 191, 193, 222
Lincoln, Henry, 3–4
Logos (word), 126, 141, 144, 178
Louth, Andrew, 29–30
Lucian of Samosata, 47
Luke, Gospel of, 129–30
Luther, Martin, 185, 199, 208–13
Marcion of Sinope, 61–63, 85, 105, 127–32, 201
Marcionism
as anti-Semitic, 78
influenced by Stoics, 65, 85
matter as evil in, 132
proposed break with Judaism, 61–62, 87–88, 110, 127–31, 189
as voluntarily heretical, 131–32, 201
Marcus Tullius Cicero, 182, 183
Mark, Gospel of, 21
Mark, Karl, 198–99
Markus, R. A., 88
martyrdom, 152, 153
Marxism, 198–99
Mary, mother of Jesus, 225, 227
matter, as fundamentally evil, 121, 123, 128, 132
McCue, James, 75–76
medieval church
authority of Rome, 7, 103–4, 205–6
clerical authority, 209, 210–11
heresy and power, 205–8
Luther’s challenge to, 208–11
notions of heresy, 103–4, 208, 213, 219
overview on heresies of, 103–4, 205–8
papal authority, 104, 209–11
Melanchthon, Philip, 65
Mensurius, Bishop of Carthage, 152, 153
millennial generation, 206
Milton, John, 216–17
missionary work, 51–52
Mithraic mysteries, 117
monarchia (total cosmological authority), 149–50
monasticism, 192, 193
monotheism, 144, 145, 149
Montanism, 71–72, 78, 192–93, 218, 248n6
morality
and church participation, 154–55, 157–59, 167
as focus of Pelagianism, 162, 167, 170, 191–93
grace to inform, 168
moral discontent with orthodoxy, 190–91
motivations for heresy. See cultural and intellectual motivations for heresy
Muhammad, Prophet, 56, 224, 228, 229
mythology, 7–8, 114–15, 19
Nag Hammadi documents, 5, 73, 75, 116, 120, 228
nationalism, 155–56
natural theology, 186
naturalization of Christian belief, 177–78, 189
negative association, 36–39
Nestorianism, 93
New Testament
Christ healing the paralytic, 169–70
concern about false teachings, 89–90
contemporary cultural views on, 5, 9
creation in, 25
critical of Jewish orthopraxy, 87
disciples faith/trust in Jesus in, 21–22
diversity in early church interpretation of, 46, 51–54
and early church documents, 46, 47, 49–51
haeresis in, 37–39
Islamic interpretation of crucifixion accounts, 228
Jesus as central focus of, 49, 90
message as radical, 11
parables on saints and sinners, 156–57
power and canonization of, 201
salvation by grace/justification by faith, 181
translations of the, 37–38
unity in, 50–51
view of human nature, 170
Newman, John Henry, 68, 171, 175
Newton, Isaac, 186
Nicene Creed, 89
North Africa, 95, 139, 152–56, 158, 187–88
Numidians, 153–54, 187–18
Old Testament
God of the, 128–29, 131
justice of God in, 182
Marcion’s rejection of, 87, 128–29, 130
power and canonization of, 201
Ten Commandments, 161, 163, 168
Origen, 202
original sin, 161, 165
origins of heresy
case of Marcion of Sinope, 61–63
from within the church, 34–35, 58–59, 71–72, 76, 83
and the cognitive science of religion, 176–80
in development of doctrine, 65–66, 70–71
development of the term, 36–39
“essence” of heresy, 82
Pagels’s revisionist account, 77–79
and the quest for authenticity, 101–2
“received view” on the, 64–66
shaped by threats to early Christianity, 84–87
See also cultural and intellectual motivations for heresy
orthodoxy
authority over biblical interpretation, 53, 54
contemporary views of, 2, 3–6, 233
crystallization of, 48, 55–58, 79–80, 171
cultural influences on, 101–2, 179–80
early Christian diversity and, 53, 55–58, 133
as emergent phenomenon, 79–80, 221
heresy as ideas lost to, 1–3, 12–13, 31, 33, 81–82, 197
on identity of Jesus, 146–48, 150, 151, 166
moral discontent with, 190–94
Protestantism as, 212, 213
proto-orthodoxy, 79, 201
and Roman politics, 133–40, 136, 203
and “the other,” 82–83
See also doctrine; heresy-orthodoxy dichotomy
paganism
difficulty with Incarnation concept, 142
as part of heresy, 65, 72, 86
in Rome, 136, 137
worship of Jesus as, 226
Pagels, Elaine, 53, 77–78, 233
papal authority, 104, 209–11
patristic period. See early Church
Paul of Tarsus, 44, 88, 90, 101, 119, 127, 129, 130
Peasant War in Germany (Engels), 199
Pelagianism
as amalgam of ideas, 161–62
as disciplinarian, 78
divine justice in, 182
human nature and free will in, 163–67, 170
ideas advanced by Caelestius, 161
interest in cultural assimilation, 181–83
moral discontent in, 162, 167, 170, 191–93
as shaping orthodoxy, 171
sin and grace in, 94, 166–70
upheld by medieval church, 212
Pelagius, 160–64, 162, 167–70, 181, 191–92
Peterson, Erik, 149
“philosopher’s stone,” 19–20
philosophy, 85, 86, 179
Platonism
Christianity’s engagement with, 28, 65, 71, 85
Demiurge in, 121
Logos in, 126, 141, 178
naturalization of Christianity, 178–79, 189
pleroma (fullness), 120
politics
Christianity and imperial Rome, 136–40, 148–50
in the Donatist debate, 155–56, 158
history of church-state relations, 205–6
monotheism and political authority, 149–50
threat of heretical communities, 34
postmodernist views. See contemporary views of heresy
power. See heresy-orthodoxy dichotomy and power
predestination, 215
priesthood of all believers, 210–11
Protestantism
approach to heresy, 213–17
Catholic Church’s recent attitudes toward, 213
difficulties of biblical interpretation to, 51–53, 216–17
as heresy, 208–13
Reformation, 65, 184–85, 208–13
Reformed Protestantism, 212, 214, 215
proto-orthodoxy, 79, 201
purity, 31–32
quest for authenticity, 27–28, 101–2, 232
Qur’an
codification of the, 56
divinity of Jesus, 226–28
doctrine of the Trinity, 225–26
reflecting heretical Christianity, 224–29
as source of divine revelation, 223–24
view of crucifixion, 227–28
Rahner, Karl, 186, 220–21
rational norms, 180, 184–86
redemption. See salvation
Reformation, 65, 184–85
Reformed Protestantism, 212, 214, 215
“Religio Laici” (poem; Dryden), 52
religious accommodation, 180, 189–90
religious choice, 7–8
religious identity, 187–88
renewal, 158–59
revelation, 28, 30, 141, 150, 223–24
righteousness, 182–83
Roman empire
Christianity’s spread through, 43–45, 101
consonance with Pelagianism, 164, 181–82
criticism of Christian writings, 47
persecution of Christians, 44, 55, 84, 136–37, 152
politics following collapse of, 205
righteousness and justice in, 182–83
social-political forces in North Africa, 95, 139, 152–56, 187–88
Rufinus of Syria, 161, 162, 192
ruling class ideology, 199
sacraments, 123, 153–55, 157–58
salvation
Arianism’s incoherence around, 146–47, 151–52
dependent on Christ, 50, 94, 158–59
“economy of salvation,” 123
in Gnosticism, 119
institutionalization of, 205–6
and the justice of God, 182–83
through grace, 181
Sayers, Dorothy L., 152
schismatic bishops, 153–55
Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst, 92–96
Second Treatise of the Great Seth, 116, 226–27
Second Vatican Council, 213
secularization, 85–86
self-transformation, 164, 170, 232
Sethian Gnosticism, 120, 121, 123, 226–27, 228
sin, 156, 161, 163, 165–67
sinners, 156–58, 167
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell, 224
social factors
in Donatism, 95, 139, 152–56, 158, 187–88
heresy posing social threat, 34
motivating heresy, 95, 96, 180–84, 187–88
sociological approaches to heresy, 198–200
suppression of heresy as social control, 104
Socinianism, 52, 185
sophia (wisdom), 121
Sozzini, Fausto Paolo (Faustus Socinus), 185
spiritual healing, 158–59
Stesichorus, 114, 115
Stoicism, 65, 85
Stroumsa, Guy, 114, 115
suffering, 25, 114
Ten Commandments, 161, 163, 168
Tertullian, 28, 63–65, 71, 85, 86, 89, 128, 130, 175, 189, 193
Thalia (Arius), 142, 203
Theodotus, 122
Torah, 126, 127
traditore (surrenderer), 153–55
transmutation of the world, 19–20
Trinity, 95, 123, 150, 184–86, 214, 224–26
trust, 20–23, 49
Turner, H. E. W., 45–46, 57, 66, 194
Tyndale, William, 37–38
Tyndale Bible, 37–38
Umar, Caliph, 56
unbelief, 33
unity
early Christian, 45–46, 57–58, 75
in early Islam, 56
of God, 144
unity (continued)
in imperial Christianity, 139, 148, 202–4
medieval Catholicism’s enforcement of, 7
Unity of the Catholic Church (Cyprian), 154–55
University of Paris, 211–12
Valdés, Juan de, 207, 214
Valentinism
Christ as redeemer in, 122
Demiurge in, 121–22, 123
Docetist view of Christ, 113
emerging within orthodoxy, 75–76
influence of Gnosticism on, 190
influence on Docetism, 113
Irenaeus’s response to, 122–25
matter as evil in, 132
Tertullian’s response to, 65, 85, 130
views of, 119–23
as voluntarily heretical, 201
See also Gnosticism
Valentinus, 64, 85, 105, 113, 116, 119, 120, 122, 123, 132, 190, 201
Vincent of Lérins, 53–54, 124–25
Virgin Mary, 225, 227
Waldensians, 7, 103, 207
Warfield, B. B., 212
Weber, Max, 201
“Will to Believe, The” (essay; James), 17
Wisdom (sophia), 121
working hypothesis, 17–18, 20
worldview. See framework of beliefs
worship
connection to belief, 74, 146, 147
diversity of early church, 46, 54–55
Jesus at center of early Christian, 90, 91
role of, 17
Wright, N. T., 10–11
Wycliffe, John, 207–8
Yaldabaoth, 121