As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. Most of the largest cults and heretical sects can be found in one of these categories which have their roots as far back as the founding of the church.
The author presents them as historic events, conflicts that arose in the church, where the true church held the line on pure Biblical doctrine despite popular heresies that tickled the ears of masses. He covers fourteen of these events. Here’s a short list of a few of them from the introduction:
- Marcionism: The God of the Old Testament is not the same God of the New Testament.
- Docetism: Jesus only appeared to be human
- Arius: The Son was a created being of lower order than the Father
- Apollonarius: Jesus’ divine nature/Logos replaced the human rational soul in the incarnation. In other words, Jesus’ “pure”unadulterated nature replaced the “filthy” mind of a typical human.
- Sabellius: Jesus and the father are not distinct but just “modes” of a single being.
- Eutyches: The divinity of Christ overwhelms his humanity.
- Nestorius: Jesus was composed of two seperate persons, one human and one divine
Other heresies covered are Pelagianism, the Judaizers, the Gnostics, Mani, and Socetus. Each chapter has a section that explains the contemporary relevance of these teachings.
These struggles to answer the question Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say I am” have forced the church to study and wrestle with the truth revealed to us. Each of these heretical doctrines gives a different answer to that question that what is taught in Scripture.
This book will help you understand how wrong doctrines invade our churches even today. As a bonus, there are discussion questions and even a video study guide available for purchase to help you think through the issues.
Here is a short video introduction to the book