Brewer's: Heretic

means “one who chooses,” and heresy means simply “a choice.” A heretic is one who chooses his own creed, and does not adopt the creed authorised by the national church. (Greek, hairesis, choice.)

HERETICS OF THE FIRST CENTURY were the Simonians (so called from Simon Magus), Cerinthians (Cerinthus), Ebionites (Ebion), and Nicolaitans (Nicholas, deacon of Antioch).

SECOND CENTURY: The Basilidians (Basilides), Carpocratians (Carpocrates), Valentinians (Valentinus), Gnostics (Knowing Ones), Nazarenes, Millenarians, Cainites (Cain), Sethians (Seth), Quartodecimans (who kept Easter on the fourteenth day of the first month), Cerdonians (Cerdon), Marcionites (Marcion), Montanists (Montanus), Tatianists (Tatian), Alogians (who denied the “Word”), Artotyrites (q.v.), and Angelies (who worshipped angels).

Tatianists belong to the third or fourth century. The Tatian of the second century was a Platonic philosopher who wrote Discourses in good Greek; Tatian the heretic lived in the third or fourth century, and wrote very bad Greek. The two men were widely different in every respect, and the authority of the heretic for “four gospels” is of no worth.

THIRD CENTURY: The Patri-passians, Arabaci, Aquarians, Novatians, Origenists (followers of Origen), Melchisedechians (who believed Melchisedec was the Messiah), Sabellians (from Sabellius), and Manicheans (followers of Mani).

FOURTH CENTURY: The A'rians (from Arius), Colluthians (Colluthus), Macedonians, Agne'tæ, Apollinarians (Apollinaris), Timotheans (Timothy, the apostle), Collyridians (who offered cakes to the Virgin Mary), Seleucians (Seleucius), Priscillians (Priscillian), Anthropomorphites (who ascribed to God a human form), Jovinianists (Jovinian), Messalians, and Bonosians (Bonosus).

FIFTH CENTURY: The Pelagians (Pelagius), Nestorians (Nestorius), Eutychians (Eutychus), Theo-paschites (who said all the three persons of the Trinity suffered on the cross).

SIXTH CENTURY: The Predestinarians, Incorruptibilists (who maintained that the body of Christ was incorruptible), the new Agnoe'tæ (who maintained that Christ did not know when the day of judgment would take place), and the Monothelites (who maintained that Christ had but one will).

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