# Which early Christian heresy are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 29, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314 "2014-07-29T11:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/21 "2014-07-29T18:39:50Z")
Sabellianism. I wasn’t as amused as annoyed by the quiz, but I went in with unrealistic expectations that the Qs would actually have to do with theology. The most relevant Q is why I reject the Council of Chalcedon, altho I actually do affirm Chalcedon. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/22 "2014-07-29T18:58:28Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Pelagianism for me! Me too. I think the math problem did it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/23 "2014-07-29T19:30:02Z")
That was fairly amusing. Docetism for me too. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/24 "2014-07-29T19:36:56Z")
Apparently, I’m the first Nestorian. I had to look that one up, and no… it doesn’t apply to my beliefs at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/25 "2014-07-29T19:42:01Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I wasn’t as amused as annoyed by the quiz, but I went in with unrealistic expectations that the Qs would actually have to do with theology. The most relevant Q is why I reject the Council of Chalcedon, altho I actually do affirm Chalcedon. It’s possible that the point of the quiz is that, at the end of the day, the arguments between the sects were over unanswerable minutiae founded on fantastical topics. Just imagine if you were hunted down and burned as a heretic because you chose to scout your lemon rather than claim it for your country. Many of the early “heretical” beliefs were questions like, “Is there a trinity or a duality?” But what factually ascertainable truth is there to that question which anyone could use to come to a concrete answer? At the end of the day, it’s just navel gazing. And yet, people were assasinated over that question. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/26 "2014-07-29T20:16:30Z")
Pelagianism. Aka, the heresy that didn’t really (semi-) go away except in Calvinism. I only cheated once, and that was to confirm. The one Scandanavian composer whose name looked familiar _was_ the only one I’ve remotely heard of. > [@Claverhouse](#): > > Sabellianism. > An excellent quiz. I have never heard of Sabellius, but I always liked _Finlandia_. How do you feel about former Secretaries of Health and Human Services? I believe in freedom of speech, but you guys probably shouldn’t admit to being Arians. I would have to Constantiusly (at least II times) watch you as I suspect you’re Vandals, and fear that you would destroy Lombard Street if left alone in SF. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/27 "2014-07-29T20:24:12Z")
Docetism??? Pshaw! I’m a patripassianist! How could the quiz be more wrong?! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/28 "2014-07-29T20:34:44Z")
You are Pelagianism! Named after its most famous proponent, the British monk Pelagius, Pelagianism taught that human nature is not compromised by original sin and that the will is therefore capable of choosing to follow the moral good without God’s aid. Pelagius’s fiercest opponent was St Augustine of Hippo, whose writings insisted upon the reality of original sin and the need for divine grace to perform any good works. Augustine’s position won out over that of Pelagius, and Pelagianism was condemned as a heresy by the Council of Carthage in 418, a decision that was confirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Despite this apparent victory for Augustinianism, the precise relationship between grace and free will remained controversial, and a variety of “semi-Pelagian” positions were taught throughout the fifth and early sixth centuries. * * * Of course, now I know where my inherent distrust of hippos come from ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/29 "2014-07-29T23:04:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Antinomianism. It’s a fair cop. Yeah, but I think my heresy is more accurately described as, “If Jesus died for our sins, it would be presumptuous of me to not commit any.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/30 "2014-07-29T23:06:46Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The most relevant Q is why I reject the Council of Chalcedon, altho I actually do affirm Chalcedon. Heretic! ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/31 "2014-07-30T00:06:20Z")
You are Pelagianism! but to be honest I would be honoured to belong to any group that was cast out by the church! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/32 "2014-07-30T00:14:04Z")
Another Monophysite here. > [@](#): > > Monophysitism (literally, “one-nature-ism”) taught that Christ’s human and divine natures were not distinct but dissolved together into a single hybrid nature; it is also known as “Eutychianism” after its most famous proponent, the fifth-century abbot Eutyches. Monophysite beliefs emerged as a reaction against the earlier heresy of Nestorian, which taught that Christ’s divine and human natures remained wholly separate. Eutychian beliefs were condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which embraced a dyophysite position: Christ’s human and divine natures, while remaining distinct, formed an inseparable and indivisible union within a single person and substance (Greek: “hypostasis”). The Chalcedonian belief in a “hypostatic union” of Christ’s two natures is shared by Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant churches, representing a consensus position that denies the extremes of both Monophysite and Nestorian Christology. > > Although Monophysite beliefs were officially condemned at Chalcedon, the Monophysite controversy led to a schism which separated the so-called Oriental Orthodox churches from the remainder of Christendom, including the modern-day Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Syriac, Malankara Syrian, and Armenian churches. While these churches reject the authority of the council of Chalcedon, they deny that their doctrine is formally heretical in the sense taught by Eutyches, and often strongly object to the characterization of their beliefs as “monophysite.” > [@astorian](#): > > Apparently, I’m the first Nestorian. Get with the program, Gramps: Monophysitism is where it’s at. Although “ **astorian** the Nestorian” does have a nice ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/33 "2014-07-30T01:06:18Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Apparently, I’m the first Nestorian. > > I had to look that one up, and no… it doesn’t apply to my beliefs at all. It kind of sort of does to me, even tho I am not a Christian… ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/34 "2014-07-30T01:21:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Sabellianism > > You are Sabellianism! > > Sabellianism, named after the early third-century priest Sabellius, taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three distinct persons within the Godhead, but are merely modes through which the single indivisible God is manifested to humanity. Sabellius’s teaching opposed the emerging Trinitarian consensus of the early church, and so his writings were attacked by leading theologians of the time, including Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome. Sabellius himself was excommunicated by Pope Callistus I in 220, and the Athanasian Christological formula adopted by the council of Nicaea in 325 definively classified Sabellianism as a heresy. It’s funny because I’m pretty sure this is how most modern Christians view it (that the Ghost, Father, and Son are all different forms of the same god rather than distinct entities - I’ve heard the “water, ice, steam” analogy a few times). Polytheists! But anyway, this was the funniest quiz I’ve ever taken. Kudos to the author. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/35 "2014-07-30T02:15:57Z")
Pelagianism, which I’ve never heard of but Augustine of Hippo didn’t like it and that’s cool since Augustine of Hippo is first on my list of historical persons to eliminate if ever I get a time machine. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/36 "2014-07-30T02:33:22Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > You are Pelagianism! but to be honest I would be honoured to belong to any group that was cast out by the church! You have a wide choice. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/37 "2014-07-30T02:51:15Z")
Montanist, which is gratifying in that Tertullian is one of the few early non-apostle Christians with whom I have any familiarity. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/38 "2014-07-30T06:11:55Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > It’s funny because I’m pretty sure this is how most modern Christians view it (that the Ghost, Father, and Son are all different forms of the same god rather than distinct entities - I’ve heard the “water, ice, steam” analogy a few times). Polytheists! > > But anyway, this was the funniest quiz I’ve ever taken. Kudos to the author. What’s your evidence that ‘this is how most modern Christians view it’? All explications of the Trinity fall short, but I rather like Swinburne’s ‘social trinitarianism’: three Persons who love one another so much, and are so interdependent, that they could fairly be described as one. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/39 "2014-07-30T06:26:56Z")
Nestorianism! I’m one of the few people with an actual opinion about the Scandinavian symphonists. Best Internet quiz ever! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314/40 "2014-07-30T06:36:39Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > What’s your evidence that ‘this is how most modern Christians view it’? All anecdotal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-early-christian-heresy-are-you/694314.md?page=3)