Right from the beginning, the Early Church was unsettled by a variety of competing teachings. Even Peter and Paul did not always see eye to eye.
But at an early point, much more serious differences arose — differences that undermined the central point of the Christian gospel. And, as Christian leaders responded to these challenges, so they were forced to define more clearly what constituted orthodoxy.

For people who are not Christians, the distinction between orthodoxy and heresy is merely sociological — the difference between winners and losers, dominant and dissenters. And yet, while there is something to be said for this, it can be shown that the 'heresies' were radical departures from what we know about the earliest Christian writings that claim to enshrine the teachings of Jesus.

Here, we examine the story and content of heresies in the Early Church.


00:00 Intro
01:06 Defining Heresy
05:44 Too Jewish or not Jewish enough?
08:54 The Ebionites
14:15 Neoplatonism
19:42 Docetism
24:49 Marcion
29:19 Marcion Doctrine
34:10 Gnosticism
44:35 Valentinus, and the Doctrines of
49:08 The Long Term Effects of Heresies