Heresy

that inactivity in this regard would inexorably result in the application of excommunication; in addition to the threat of excommunication against those who neglected to properly dismember heresy, Pope Innocent III bestowed the indulgences affiliated with embarking on a crusade to individuals who exterminate heresy. The Fourth Council of the Lateran, and Pope Innocent III’s consistent reactions to the emergence of heretical activity, displayed the fundamental procedure at which later variants…

order in 1312. The collapse of the knights Templar began when the third crusade concluded also known as the Battle of Hattin which ended Christian rule of Jerusalem. Also, the charges made by King Phillippe against the order of knights Templar for heresies against their faith eventually dissolved the order. The battle of Hattin is known as the worst defeats in the history of the Knights Templar falling to the Muslims lead by Saladin. The Knights Templar were brutally defeated because of dreadful…

In George Bernard Shaw’s play, Saint Joan, the Inquisitor fiercely orates in an attempt to denounce Joan of Arc for her then crime against European society: heresy. The Inquisitor exploits his audience, the French Clerics, through a riveting pathos-oriented speech, to stimulate their deep religious attachment, with elements of ethos to make him appear authoritative, and a vast use of logical fallacies to warp the situation into his hands, like clay on a pottery wheel, Inquisitor ceramics. The…

Irenaeus was born in second century Smyrna and was a student of Polycarp who in turn was a student of St. John the Evangelist. Eventually made bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, Irenaeus is considered by some to be the Church's first systematic theologian. He primary opponents were the Gnostics who claimed a greater spiritual knowledge and believed the material world to be evil. As such, they asserted that Christ could not have been fully man. Rather, he either only appeared to be or else controlled…

however, to remove from the minds of your Eminences and all faithful Christians this vehement suspicion reasonably conceived against me, I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error, heresy, and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church” (Shea and Artega). Galileo was not thrown in jail but instead had his sentence changed to house arrest. In December 1633 he was allowed to retire to his villa in Arcetri,…

-A.D. 150. Reportedly mystifying teachings of these writings concern odd and peculiar sayings about “sex and the acts carried out by sex.” In antiquity, these writings were mainly deemed as heresy by the church. (In the early Church, ‘heresy’ was considered as ‘other beliefs’ from the mainstream doctrine. Heresy was leveled against a group of believers when their beliefs questioned or were viewed as challenging the church’s…

Tradition is woven into the very fabric of humanity. Every family, nation and society has traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. Even within the church, there are traditions that have been passed down through the centuries. However, the big question becomes: What role does tradition play within theology? The Catholic Church has equated tradition’s authority with Scripture; and great thinkers like John Meyendorff and Don Thorsen affirm tradition, yet lessen its authority…

Docetism There are many Christian heresies; a heresy is something that is false that once was believed to be true. Without evidence people often believe things that with time, and new discovered evidence turn out to be false. Docetism is derived from the Greek dokeo, “to seem”. This Christian heresy first occurred in a letter by Bishop Serapion of Antioch (who later refutes it), he discovered the doctrine in the Gospel of Peter. It teaches that Jesus’ physical body was an illusion, as was his…

The Witches Hammer/Hammer of Witches The Witches Hammer is the English Translation for the Malleus Maleficarum (Latin) or Der Hexenhammer (German) this is the infamous book which was written in 1486 by two monks and theology professors, Heinrich Kramer, an inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and Jacob Sprenger, it was first published in 1487 in Germany. It is now believed by many that Sprenger was not an author of the book, with his input being more symbolic than it was active. The Witches…

prosecute Jacqueline den Carot. The woman in question is brought in “to answer charges of heresy. She was also accused of witchcraft…” The defendant is alleged to have stated that “There will never be another world but this one, and men and women who have died will never rise again.” These sentiments are reinforced by the testimony of multiple witnesses. den Carot eventually confesses to the crimes of heresy and witchcraft, but swears to refrain from spreading such unholy thoughts and actions…