Classic Heresies

Montanism:

Montanism was an early heresy. The movement was begun by Montanus in the second century, shortly after Montanus' conversion to Christianity. He claimed to have received a series of direct revelations from the Holy Spirit, or the paraklete, and was joined by two women, Prisca and Maximilla. His teachings spread from his native Phrygia, where he proclaimed the village of Pepuza as the site of the New Jerusalem and threatened the church hierarchy. The beliefs of Montanism included the belief that the Trinity consisted of only a single person, similar to Sabellianism. Although the mainstream Christian church prevailed against Montanism within a few generations, inscriptions in the Tembris valley of northern Phrygia, dated between 249 and 279, openly proclaim their allegiance to Montanism. This sect persisted into the eighth century.
The most widely known Montanist was undoubtedy Tertullian, the early Church Father who coined the term "Trinity" but who later rejected Christian orthodoxy.





Ebionitism:

Ebionitism was an early heresy. The Ebionites were a first century Jewish-Christian sect. They emphasized Jewish law and rejected the teachings of the Apostle Paul. Most considered Jesus to be a man, not God.





Eutychianism:

Eutychianism was an early heresy which maintained that Jesus Christ was of one nature only.
The heresy was named after Eutyches of Constantinople, who tried in the year 433 to make the 12 Anathemas of Cyril of Alexandria the standard of orthodoxy and do away with the "inspired man" Christology of Antioch. Another goal was to make Alexandria, instead of Constantinople, the second most powerful see in Christendom (next to Rome).
The view of Eutyches was that Christ had only one nature - a confused mixture of human and divine. Eutycianism is also knownas monophysitism from monos (single) and physis (nature). It assumes that Christ can have only one nature, which is a mixture of divine nature and human natures, such that the human becomes divine and the divine human. This confuses both Christ’s true humanity and his true deity. The view was officially deemed heresy by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE.





Gnosticism:

Gnosticism is a heresy which is made up of a diverse set of beliefs. It is the teaching based on the idea of gnosis (a Koine Greek word meaning "secret knowledge"), or knowledge of transcendence arrived at by way of internal, intuitive means. While Gnosticism thus relies on personal religious experience as its primary authority, early "Christian" Gnostics did adopt their own versions of authoritative Scriptures, such as those found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt.





Marcionism:

Marcionism was an early heresy led by Marcion, who proposed the first canon of Christian texts. The proposed canon consisted of the Gospel of Luke and several of Paul's epistles; however, Marcion edited the writings by deleting any references that appeared to approve of the Old Testament and the creator God of the Jews. Marcionism thus rejected the Old Testament God, claiming that Jesus represented the true sovereign God who was different from the God of the Hebrew people.
Marcion's proposal for a "New Testament" helped to spur others to respond with other canons that retained the Hebrew scriptures and did not reject Christianity's Jewish heritage. Athanasius, in response to Marcionism, recommended that the Church approve the 27 books which comprise the Christian New Testament.



Subordinationism:
Subordinationism is a heretical view that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are not merely relationally subordinate to God the Father, but also subordinate in nature and being. In other words, this view maintains that, within the Trinity, the Son and the Spirit are ontologically inferior to the Father. To the contrary, orthodox doctrine maintains that although there is no autonomous Person of the Trinity, none who is God apart from any other Person, yet each Person is autotheos ("αυτοθεος" -God in and of himself).



Modalism:
Modalism, also called Sabellianism, is the unorthodox belief tat God is one person who has revealed himself in three forms or modes in contrast to the Trinitarian doctrine where God is one being eternally existing in three persons. According to Modalism, during the incarnation, Jesus was simply God acting in one mode or role, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was God acting in a different mode. Thus, God does not exist as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. Rather, He is one person and has merely manifested himself in these three modes at various times. Modalism thus denies the basic distinctiveness and coexistence of the three persons of the Trinity.
Modalism was condemned by Tertullian, (c. 213, Tertullian Against Praxeas 1, in Ante Nicene Fathers, vol. 3). Also known as Sabellianism, it was condemned as heresy by Dionysius, bishop of Rome (c. 262).
Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God (i.e., who God is). "Present day groups that hold to forms of this error are the United Pentecostal and United Apostolic Churches. They deny the Trinity, teach that the name of God is Jesus... modalist churches often accuse Trinitarians of teaching three gods. This is not what the Trinity is. The correct teaching of the Trinity is one God in three eternal coexistent persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."