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A heresy is a belief or doctrine that is considered to be false or erroneous by one or more Christian denominations, i.e. what is believed to be contrary to the teaching of Christianity. Heresies have been a major source of division and conflict within Christendom throughout its history.
[1] Canon 3 of the ecumenical Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215 required secular authorities to "exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics" pointed out by the Catholic Church, [2] resulting in the inquisitor executing certain people accused of heresy. Some laws allowed the civil government to employ punishment.
Heresy in Christianity denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith [1] as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. [2]The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the role of creeds in the definition of orthodox beliefs, since heresy is always defined in relation to orthodoxy.
Protestant theologian and activist John Foxe described "the great persecutions & horrible troubles, the suffering of martyrs, and other such thinges" in his contemporaneously-published Book of Martyrs. Protestants in England and Wales were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against Catholicism.
Another example of the persecution of heretics under Protestant rule was the execution of the Boston martyrs in 1659, 1660, and 1661. These executions resulted from the actions of the Anglican Puritans, who at that time wielded political as well as ecclesiastic control in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. At the time, the colony leaders were ...
Heresy, for Scripture and the early Church, includes the idea of a personal decision against the unity of the Church, and heresy’s characteristic is pertinacia, the obstinacy of him who persists in his own private way. This, however, cannot be regarded as an appropriate description of the spiritual situation of the Protestant Christian.
While persecution makes martyrs, "heresy only apostates" (Prescription Against Heretics 4). In the face of heresies, which may cause a bishop or deacon to "have fallen from the rule (of faith)," the Christian must remain true to the faith, for "no one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end" (Prescription Against Heretics 3).
Protestantism was denounced as heresy, and those supporting these doctrines could be excommunicated as heretics. Thus by canon law and depending on the practice and policies of the particular Catholic country at the time, Protestants could be subject to prosecution and persecution: in those territories, such as Spain, Italy and the Netherlands ...