Heretics for Armchair Theologians

An excellent little book covering the major “heretics” of the first five centuries. The authors do not try to present these men as evil or anti-Christian at all. On the contrary, they were sincere people trying to understand the Christian faith in their own context, asking important questions and seeking to lead others to what they took to be a fuller understanding of the Gospel. The authors eventually describe a “heretic” as a person who carries one truth about God too far, such that it distorts other doctrine. For example, who can comprehend the Trinity? The divine mystery gets out of balance by focusing too heavily on any one aspect.

You’ll see how Marcion’s early ideas shaped Christianity; heretical views did serve a role show more in sharpening Christian theology. You’ll learn how Augustine battled Pelagius. You’ll learn about the Ebionites, Docetists, Gnostics, and Montanists. You’ll learn how Christology developed and the Trinitarian battles, which the authors explain with a cute baseball analogy.

All of this is extremely well-written, informative yet friendly. The book goes into just enough theology as necessary to paint a descriptive picture of each Christian offshoot. Very highly recommended and fun to read.

Westminster John Knox Press, © 2008

ISBN: 978-0-664-23205-4

Reviewed on Logos Bible Software show less

As with most of what I've read by Justo L. González, I enjoyed this book a lot. It is an excellent, though simplified, introduction to Christian heresies from first century Ebionism and Docetism to the Monophysite heresy and the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

As always, González offers a thoroughly readable and engaging discussion of the topics at hand. His comparisons of the ancient heresies with some modern-day sects is not only rather brave on his part but also very informative. And, for the kid in you, there's cartoons too! (Though I have to admit that I didn't find the humor of most of them...)

I recommend this book for someone who doesn't know much about the ancient heresies and wants a basic, simple introduction to begin to broaden show more their knowledge. show less

A good "for dummies”-style summary of the major early Christian heretics: the Gnostics, Montanists, Pelegians etc.

Denna volym om fornkyrkliga heresier är tyvärr inte lika helgjuten som Renicks behandling av Thomas av Aquino (i samma serie). Gonzales ger en motsvarande skicklig ingång till sitt ämne och lyckas också lyfta fram relevansen för den teologiska utvecklingen idag. Vad han däremot saknar är den lätta stil och humoristiska anstrykning som gjorde Renicks bok lysande. Trots flera briljanta illustrationer av Ron Hill lyfter inte texten utan blir helt enkelt en kortfattad introduktion till fornkyrkans kättarrörelser. Som sådan är den definitivt läsvärd, men kombinationen av Renicks texter och Hills bilder har fått mig att vänta mer av den här serien.