Parallel 1YHN 5:5

Early Christian Heresies

The Greek word hairesis, originally meaning “choice,” designates a sect or faction. For example, the Sadducees were a sect within Judaism (Acts 5:17), as were the Pharisees (Acts 15:5). The early believers in Jesus as the Messiah were known as “the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). In each of these verses, the word hairesis denotes nothing more than a sect.

After the church grew and developed, any factious group within a local church was called a hairesis—that is, a sect that held opinions contrary to the truths established by the apostles. This is what Paul meant when he warned the Corinthian church that factious sects would develop among them (1 Cor 11:19).

Eventually, the word heresy came to connote teaching that deviates from the norm and causes individuals to break away from orthodoxy. Thus, Peter warned Christians about false teachers who would try to deceive believers with their heretical teachings (2 Pet 2:1). In the modern era, this is how the word heresy is usually understood; it is unorthodox teaching that damages the faith of some believers and causes divisive factions within the church.

Two heresies were particularly prevalent in the church around the time of John’s writings: Gnosticism and Docetism.

Gnosticism is characterized by claims to obscure and mystical knowledge. Many Gnostics believed in a hierarchy of beings in which there was an eternal god, from whom came a series of emanations of lesser spiritual beings, including the creator god, who was considered evil. This creator god fashioned the material world, including human beings. Thus, bearing similarities with Platonic thought, this strand of Gnostics believed that everything material was evil and that there was a more “real” spiritual realm. The goal for these Gnostics was to discover the spiritual seed within them—through secret knowledge (gnōsis)—which would enable them to leave the physical realm and join the spiritual realm. This generated varied responses to the physical realm, with some Gnostics practicing strict, ascetic avoidance of physical pleasure, while others indulged heavily in the “flesh,” regarding their actions in relation to this world as inconsequential.

Gnosticism developed through the interweaving of Christianity with Greek philosophy and emphasizes the need for additional, special knowledge that redefines the terms and practices of orthodox Christianity into something quite different. The Gnostics often incorporated Christ into their belief system, considering the Christ to be one of the various emanations from the supreme being. According to many Gnostics, this Christ taught some of his followers how to discover the spiritual spark within them and join the spiritual realm.

A significant amount of Christian writings from the first couple of centuries of the church’s existence were penned as a response to Gnostic heresy.

Docetism, a form of Gnosticism, held that Christ only seemed to have a human body with physical birth, death, and resurrection (dokeō is a Greek verb meaning “to seem”). An early Docetist was Cerinthus, who argued that the spiritual “Christ” came upon the human Jesus at his baptism and was present with him during his ministry, but departed prior to his suffering and death. This movement was concerned with protecting the divinity of God from being polluted by the human nature of Jesus. According to early church tradition, John vehemently opposed Cerinthus’s teachings (see Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4; cp. 1 Jn 5:5-8; 2 Jn 1:7).

True Christians believe in the Incarnation—God becoming a real human being with flesh and blood. Jesus’ humanity was not a facade. He was truly human, sharing our flesh and blood, so that he could provide salvation for humanity through his own flesh and blood. Ignatius, a student of the apostle John and later the bishop of Antioch, wrote a series of letters refuting Docetism. Ignatius was the first one outside the New Testament writers to speak of the virgin birth of Jesus. He also emphasized the fact that the apostles touched the body of their risen Lord, and he said it was possible for him to face martyrdom with courage because of the real suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross and his physical resurrection.

Passages for Further Study

Acts 8:9-24; 2 Cor 11:1-15; Col 1:23; 2:6-23; 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Pet 2:1-22; 1 Jn 4:2-3; 5:5-8; 2 Jn 1:7-11; 3 Jn 1:9-12; Rev 2:2, 14-16, 20-25