heresy quiz

[didymus]

Maybe one of you who is much better-versed than I could come up with a short quiz to ferret out heretics in out midst

Example: all my life I assumed we could do good of our own free will (pelagianism) until I started hanging out here at CAF. When I was younger I once tried to tell a very nice older lady (Catholic) that Jesus knew what she was going thru because human like us and she basically accused me of blasphemy To her He was God, period (monphysite?)

So I’m wondering how many devout folks, thru no fault of their own, have mistaken ideas that amount to hereesy – I’m also on this track because I’m reading a short histroy of the Churhc which, of course, delves quickly thru all the big ones.

 

[Eucharisted]

Knowledge of truth is better than knowledge of lies, because the former defeats heresies even before you encounter them.

 

[ryanmac]

Here’s one: Heresy Quiz

 

[ryanmac]

And the answers.

It’s in Google Cache, so this may be temporary. Unfortunately it looks like the original site is down.

 

[ryanmac]

Heresy quiz answers [To save for posterity]

1. Docetism

-God is Spirit, not matter, so Jesus’ body was spiritual and only seemed like it was physical
-God cannot co-exist with matter, Jesus only appeared to be fully human
-Created matter is fallen and corrupt, so Jesus did not take on full human nature

Docetism was an error with several variations concerning the nature of Christ. Generally, it taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, “dokeo” = “to seem”). This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer. Therefore, God as the word, could not have become flesh.

1. Apollinarianism

-Jesus’ human nature is lesser than his divine nature.
-Jesus’ mind was divine, not merely human.
-Jesus’ ordinary human soul was overcome by the the divine Logos inside him

Apollinarianism was the heresy taught by Apollinaris the Younger, bishop of Laodicea in Syria about 361. He taught that the Logos of God, which became the divine nature of Christ, took the place of the rational human soul of Jesus and that the body of Christ was a glorified form of human nature. In other words, though Jesus was a man, He did not have a human mind but that the mind of Christ was solely divine. Apollinaris taught that the two natures of Christ could not coexist within one person. His solution was to lessen the human nature of Christ. Apollinarianism was condemned by the Second General Council at Constantinople in 381.

1. Arianism

-Having been the first creation of the Father, the Son then created the Holy Spirit
-The divine Logos replaced Jesus’ human nature in the incarnation
-Only God the Father is eternal, and he produced the Son out of nothing

Arius taught that only God the Father was eternal and too pure and infinite to appear on the earth. Therefore, God produced Christ the Son out of nothing as the first and greatest creation. The Son is then the one who created the universe. Because the Son relationship of the Son to the Father is not one of nature, it is, therefore, adoptive. God adopted Christ as the Son. Though Christ was a creation, because of his great position and authority, he was to be worshipped and even looked upon as God. Some Arians even held that the Holy Spirit was the first and greatest creation of the Son.

1. Adoptionism

-Jesus was raised from the dead and united with God as a reward for his obedience
-‘Son of God’ refers to Jesus’ divine nature only. As man he is simply the ‘firstborn’.
-Jesus was given supernatural powers and made the Son of God at his baptism

Adoptionism is an error concerning Christ that first appeared in the second century. Those who held it denied the preexistence of Christ and, therefore, His deity. Adoptionists taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. As a reward for His great accomplishments and perfect character Jesus was raised from the dead and adopted into the Godhead.

 

[ryanmac]

1. Gnosticism

-Jesus was not really God incarnate, because God cannot indwell corrupted matter
-Salvation will ultimately involve an escape from physical reality
-God is Spirit, and so spirit is good. Matter is bad.

The word “gnosticism” comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “knowledge.” There were many groups that were Gnostic and it isn’t possible to easily describe the nuances of each variant of Gnostic doctrines. However, generally speaking, Gnosticism taught that salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis). This knowledge usually dealt with the individual’s relationship to the transcendent Being.

A more detailed Gnostic theology is as follows. The unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. Therefore, God generated lesser divinities, or emenations. One of these emanations, Wisdom desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring desire the demiurge an evil god was formed and it was this evil god that created the universe. He along with archons kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after the death of the physical bodies. Since, according to the Gnostics, matter is evil, deliverance from material form was attainable only through special knowledge revealed by special Gnostic teachers. Christ was the divine redeemer who descended from the spiritual realm to reveal the knowledge necessary for this redemption. In conclusion, Gnosticism is dualistic. That is, it teaches there is a good and evil, spirit and matter, light and dark, etc. dualism in the universe.

1. Monophysite

• Jesus is God and man in one person
• Jesus’ humanity was absorbed to produce one new divine nature
• Jesus did not have two natures (human and divine) he had one new composite nature

Monophysitism is an error concerning the nature of Christ that asserts Jesus had only one nature, not two as is taught in the correct doctrine of the hypostatic union: Jesus is both God and man in one person. In monophysitism, the single nature was divine, not human. It is sometimes referred to as Eutychianism, after Eutyches 378-452, but there are slight differences. Monophysitism arose out of a reaction against Nestorianism which taught Jesus was two distinct persons instead of one. Its roots can even be traced back to Apollinarianism which taught that the divine nature of Christ overtook and replaced the human one.

1. Modalism

• God is one person, but exists in three forms as Father, Son and Spirit
• The Father, Son, and Spirit all exist, but never at the same time.
• On the cross, God was manifest as the Son. He is now manifest as the Holy Spirit.

Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God. It is a denial of the Trinity which states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms. Thus, God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son. After Jesus’ ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another. Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ.

1. Nestorianism

• Only Jesus’ human nature died on on the cross.
• Jesus is two persons; one human and one divine
• Miracles show Jesus divinity. Hunger shows his humanity.

Nestorianism is the error that Jesus is two distinct persons. The heresy is named after Nestorius, who was born in Syria and died in 451 AD, who advocated this doctrine. Nestorius was a monk who became the Patriarch of Constantinople and he repudiated the Marian title “Mother of God.” He held that Mary was the mother of Christ only in respect to His humanity. The council of Ephesus was convened in 431 to address the issue and pronounced that Jesus was one person in two distinct and inseparable natures: divine and human.

 

[ryanmac]

1. Pelagianism

• We have not inherited original sin from Adam.
• God’s grace is an aid to help people come to him.
• We can obey the commands that God has given us. This is why some people in the OT were righteous.

Pelagius taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God. He denied original sin, the doctrine that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. He said that Adam only hurt himself when he fell and all of his descendents were not affected by Adam’s sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by God. He taught that people can choose God by the exercise of their free will and rational thought. God’s grace, then, is merely an aid to help individuals come to Him.

1. Socianism

• Jesus was not eternally pre-existent, he was rather a deified man
• God exists in singular unity, there can be no human-divine union
• God is a single person with the Holy Spirit as the power of God

A heresy concerning the nature of God. It is derived from two brothers of the surname Sozinni who lived in the 1500’s in Poland. Socinianism denies the doctrine of the Trinity claiming it denies the simplicity of God’s unity. Instead, God is a single person with the Holy Spirit as the power of God. Since it emphasizes the unity of God, there could be no divine and human union in a single person as Christ. Therefore, Socinianism denies the incarnation and deity of Christ as well as Christ’s pre-existence. It teaches that Jesus was only a man. However, as is separate from the unitarians, it taught that Jesus was a deified man and was to be adored as such. Nevertheless, since Jesus is not divine by nature, His sacrifice was not efficacious; that is, it did not result in the redemption of people who would trust in it. Instead it was an example of self sacrifice. The followers of Socinianism also rejected infant baptism, hell, and taught the annihilation of the wicked. The Bible was authoritative but was only properly understood through rationalism.

1. Monarchianism

• The Holy Spirit is the presence of God the Father
• God is the Father, and Jesus is only a man
• There is one God who exists as one person

Monarchianism teaches that God is the Father and that Jesus is only a man, denied the personal subsistence of the Logos and taught that the Holy Spirit was a force or presence of God the Father. Present day groups in this category are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christadelphians, and Unitarians. Additionally, some ancient dynamic monarchianists were also known as Adoptionists who taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. Ancient teachers of dynamic monarchianism were Theodotians, a Tanner in Byzantium around 190 A.D., and Paul of Samosata a bishop of Antioch in Syria around 260 AD.

Modal monarchianism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are just modes of the single person who is God. In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simultaneous and separate persons, but consecutive modes of one person. Praxeas, a priest from Asia Minor, taught this in Rome around 200 AD. Modern groups in this general category are the Oneness Pentecostal groups known as the United Pentecostal and United Apostolic Churches. However, the present day modalists maintain that God’s name is Jesus. They also require baptism “in Jesus’ name” not “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” for salvation.

 

[ryanmac]

1. Albigensian

• Suicide is a good way to get rid of the evil of the body
• All material things were created by Satan
• The body is evil, and so will not be resurrected

A heresy during the middle ages that developed in the town Albi in Southern France. This error taught that there were two gods: the good god of light usually referred to as Jesus in the New Testament and the god of darkness and evil usually associated with Satan and the “God of the Old Testament.” Anything material was considered evil including the body which was created by Satan. The soul, created by the good god, was imprisoned in the evil flesh and salvation was possible only through holy living and doing good works. At death, if the person has been spiritual enough, salvation comes to the believer. But, if the person has not been good enough, he is reincarnated as an animal or another human. The Albigenses denied the resurrection of the body since it was considered evil.

There were two types of Albigenses: believers and Perfects. Believers were Albigenses who had not taken the initiation rite of being a Perfect. Perfects denounced all material possession. They abstained from meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and sexual relations. To become a Perfect a believer had to go through consolamentum, an initiation rite involving the laying on of hands that was supposed to bring the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Infrequently, suicide was practiced as a way to rid oneself of the evil human body.
In 1208, Peter de Castelnau, an official representative of the Pope, was murdered by an Albigenses. Since they had been growing in number, becoming a threat, and would not convert to Christianity, Pope Innocent III ordered them to be wiped out. The persecution was fierce and the movement was stopped.

1. Donatism

• The efficacy of sacraments depend on the moral status of those administering them
• A baptism is invalid if performed by a minister who later renounces his faith
• The Eucharist is not effective if it is administered by a leader who is sinful

Donatism developed as a result of the persecution of Christians ordered by Diocletian in 303 in which all churches and sacred scriptures of the Christians were to be destroyed. In 304 another edict was issued ordering the burning of incense to the idol gods of the Roman empire. Of course, Christians refused, but it did not curtail the increased persecution. Many Christians gave up the sacred texts to the persecutors and even betrayed other Christians to the Romans. These people became known as “traditors,” Christians who betrayed other Christians. (Note: traditor, not traitor)

At the consecration of bishop Caecilian of Carthage in 311, one of the three bishops, Felix, bishop of Aptunga, who consecrated Caecilian, had given copies of the Bible to the Roman persecutors. A group of about 70 bishops formed a synod and declared the consecration of the bishop to be invalid. Great debate arose concerning the validity of the sacraments (baptism, the Lord’s Supper, etc.) by one who had sinned so greatly against other Christians.

The problem with Donatism is that no person is morally pure. The effectiveness of the baptism or administration of the Lord’s supper does not cease to be effective if the moral character of the minister is in question or even demonstrated to be faulty. Rather, the sacraments are powerful because of what they are, visible representations of spiritual realities. God is the one who works in and through them and He is not restricted by the moral state of the administrant.

14. Chalcedon Compliant

• Jesus is at once complete in Godhead and manhood
• Jesus divine and human natures are in no way confused or annulled by their union with each other
• Jesus is of one substance with the Father in his divine nature.

“We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.”

 

[thistle]

Maybe one of you who is much better-versed than I could come up with a short quiz to ferret out heretics in out midst

Example: all my life I assumed we could do good of our own free will (pelagianism) until I started hanging out here at CAF. When I was younger I once tried to tell a very nice older lady (Catholic) that Jesus knew what she was going thru because human like us and she basically accused me of blasphemy To her He was God, period (monphysite?)

So I’m wondering how many devout folks, thru no fault of their own, have mistaken ideas that amount to hereesy – I’m also on this track because I’m reading a short histroy of the Churhc which, of course, delves quickly thru all the big ones.

All the Church teachings (doctrine and discipline) are summarised in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Any Catholic who stubbornly rejects one or more of these is committing heresy.

 

[AmbroseSJ]

• God’s grace is an aid to help people come to him.
• We can obey the commands that God has given us. This is why some people in the OT were righteous.

Supposedly these two answers prove one is a Pelagian

I can see how they are capable of a Pelagian construction, but I can also see how they have an innocent, non-heretical construction too.

-Jesus’ human nature is lesser than his divine nature.

ditto Apollinarian

• Jesus is God and man in one person

ditto Monophysite

• Miracles show Jesus divinity. Hunger shows his humanity.

ditto Nestorianism

Those are my wrong answers BTW. So although I was 100% Chalcedon compliant, I had some heretical streaks in there too.

But an interesting quiz. I don’t know if I would have survived if this quiz was used by the Spanish Inquisition, and the Inquisitor was also suffering from a bad toothache.

 

[DavWan]

Supposedly these two answers prove one is a Pelagian

I can see how they are capable of a Pelagian construction, but I can also see how they have an innocent, non-heretical construction too.

ditto Apollinarian

ditto Monophysite

ditto Nestorianism

Those are my wrong answers BTW. So although I was 100% Chalcedon compliant, I had some heretical streaks in there too.

But an interesting quiz. I don’t know if I would have survived if this quiz was used by the Spanish Inquisition, and the Inquisitor was also suffering from a bad toothache.

I remember that quiz. The problem with it is they identify some statements as “heretical” even if someone views it from an orthodox perspective. The only way to get 100% Chalcedon Compliant and 0% on the others is to answer “Strongly Agree” with the questions the quiz identifies with “Chalcedon” and “Strongly Disagree” with the others.

The problem is when the statement is vague it is easy to think of the Catholic meaning and assume that is what is meant.