Part 1 – What is heresy? Jehovah’s Witnesses are like the Dutch people… You’ll find them all around the world. Please don’t complain about this comparison. I myself am Dutch. And I know, the Dutch mostly go around the world to do business, which can be good, right? The Jehovah’s Witnesses mostly go around to […]
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Heresies all Around us – HomeHeresy may sound like an old-fashioned word. It can easily bring to mind church courts, theological disputes from the first centuries of Christianity, and controversies that seem to belong to a distant past. Yet the questions behind these ancient errors are still highly relevant today.
The history of the Church shows that deviations from biblical faith continually reappear. Sometimes they return in an obvious form, but often the same ideas come back in modern clothing. A different name, different terminology, or a different cultural context does not necessarily change the substance of a teaching.
That is why it is important to know what the Bible teaches about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, humanity, sin, and salvation. After all, if we do not know what the Christian faith actually teaches, it is difficult to recognise when that faith is being distorted.
In this series, we examine a number of errors that have arisen throughout the history of Christianity. We will look not only at what these movements taught, but especially at why the Church has regarded certain teachings as contrary to biblical faith. We will compare these ideas with what the Bible itself teaches.
The purpose is not to use grand words to label others as heretics. Rather, it is about learning to discern. The apostles call Christians to remain watchful and to test everything against the truth of the Gospel.
Some of the errors discussed in this series may initially seem completely outdated. Yet as we work through the material, you may find that some of these ideas are surprisingly familiar. Some can even be found within modern Christian circles.
This series is therefore not merely a lesson in Church history. Above all, it is an invitation to look again at the foundations of the Christian faith and to ask ourselves:
What do we actually believe — and why?
Join us on a journey through the history of the Church and discover how ancient errors may still be all around us today.
Heresies all Around us – Arianism
Part 2 – Arianism ➜ ➜ ➜ PS. Who noticed the mistake at the end of the video? No, it wasn’t a slip of the tongue. It was really in my head…. But what? A Christian believes that salvation cannot come through works or by another created being. We believe that we can only be […]
Heresies all Around us – Antinomianism
Part 3 – Antinomianism Let’s ditch the Old Testament laws! We are no longer under the law, right? Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Still, in many churches, we find the commandments written on banners. What’s more, every Sunday many congregations […]
Heresies all Around us – Modalism
Part 4 – Modalism Jesus is like an uncle, nephew, father, brother, or son… Come on Patrick! Try this: Ask your pastor, youth leader or someone else in your church to explain the trinity! That is a fun question to ask, don’t you think? Many will struggle to give a good answer, and that is […]
Heresies all Around us – Donatism
Part 5 – Donatism Is your baptism invalid if your baptiser was adulterer? Picture this: You decided to become a real follower of Christ. You realised that you needed to be baptist. That is your first step of obedience to Jesus. Your pastor was more than willing to baptise you. But, two weeks later you […]
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Heresies all Around us – Pelagianism
Part 6 – Pelagianism I came to Christ around 1994. In my testimony I often say that I chose to be saved by Jesus. I think you can even hear me saying that in my online testimony.i But, does that mean that I was capable of deciding all one my own? Pelagianism Well, it might […]
Heresies all Around us – Adoptionism
Part 7 – Adoptionism As far back as the second century, several groups already debated Jesus’ preexistence. One such group are called Adoptionists. They denied the preexistence of Jesus and, as a consequence, His deity. Jesus was tested by God According to these teaching, Jesus was just a human like you and I. Adoptionism, says […]
Heresies all Around us – Kenosis
Part 8 – Kenosis Did Jesus empty himself of divinity in the incarnation? In other words, did Jesus give up His deity when He became human? This idea is sometimes called kenotic theology. Confusing This word, kenosis, is confusing at best and misleading at worst. The word kenosis comes from the Greek kenoo, which mean […]
Heresies all around us – Subordinationism
Part 9 – Subordinationism We read in the Bible that Jesus voluntarily placed Himself under the authority of the Father. But could it be that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subordinate in terms of their nature and in essence? This is what we are going to discuss today. Subordinationism Subordinationism teaches that Jesus (and […]
Heresies all around us – Docetism & Gnosticism
Part 10 – Docetism & Gnosticism Some would say that the material world is inherently evil. If that is true, God could not have become flesh like we read in John 1. This teaching is also called ‘Docetism’ and it seems to tight in closely with Gnosticism. Which is Which? Okay, it might be a […]
![Can You Realy Decide to Follow Christ? [About Free Will and Pelagianism]](https://i2.wp.com/www.apologeet.nl/wp-content/uploads/images/studies/heresies-gb-6.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
