Heresy

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Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief.

The study of heresy is heresiology

Heresiology

In theology or the Development of religion , heresiology is the study of heresy. It can be distinguished from heresiography, or the recording of heresy....
. The founder or leader of a heretical movement is called a heresiarch. One who espouses heresy is called a heretic.

word "heresy" comes from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, hairesis (from , haireomai, "choose"), which means either a choice of beliefs or a faction of believers, or a school of thought.

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Encyclopedia

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion

Religion

Heresiology

Etymology

The word "heresy" comes from the Greek

Greek language

Irenaeus

Saint Irenaeus , was a Catholic Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology....
in his tract Contra Haereses
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis

On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis , commonly called Against Heresies , is a five-volume work written by St. Irenaeus in the second century....
(Against Heresies) to describe and discredit his opponents in the early Christian Church. He described his own position as orthodox (from ortho- "straight" + doxa "belief") and his position eventually evolved into the position of the early Christian Church.

Used in this way, the term "heresy" has no purely objective meaning: the category exists only from the point of view of speakers within a group that has previously agreed about what counts as "orthodox". Any nonconformist view within any field may be perceived as "heretical" by others within that field who are convinced that their view is "orthodox"; in the sciences this extension is made tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek is a term used to refer to humor in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its lack of seriousness is subtle....
.

Heretics usually do not define their own beliefs as heretical. Heresy is a value judgment and the expression of a view from within an established belief system. For instance, Roman Catholics held Protestantism as a heresy while some non-Catholics considered Catholicism the "Great Apostasy

Great Apostasy

The Great Apostasy is a term used by some religious groups to allege a general fallen state of traditional Christianity, or especially of Roman Catholic Church, magisterial Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy, that it is not representative of the faith founded by Jesus and promulgated through his twelve Apostles: in short, that these chur...
."

For a heresy to exist there must be an authoritative system of dogma designated as orthodox, such as those proposed by Catholicism

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
. The term orthodox is used in Eastern Orthodoxy, some Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
churches, in Islam

Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
, some Jewish denominations

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, and to a lesser extent in other religion

Religion

Marxism-Leninism

Marxism-Leninism is a communist ideology stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency among the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era....
is described as "right" or "left deviationism." The Church of Scientology

Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology Scientology beliefs and practices....
uses the term "squirreling" to refer to unauthorized alterations of its teachings or methods.

Religious heresy

Christianity

In Christianity, heresy is a "theological or religious opinion or doctrine

Doctrine

Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachers" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system....
maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Roman Catholic or Orthodox

Orthodox Christianity

KAHThe term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* The Eastern Orthodox Church: the Eastern Christianity churches of Byzantine Rite tradition that adhere to the first seven Ecumenical Councils, and are in full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and with each other....
doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. By extension, heresy is an opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc., at variance with those generally accepted as authoritative."

The use of the term "heresy" in the context of Christianity is less common today, with some notable exceptions: see for example Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a Germany theology of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg....
and the "character" of debates over ordination of women

Ordination of women

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which a person is Consecration . The ordination of women is a controversial issue in religions where either the rite of ordination, or the role that an ordained person fulfills, has traditionally been restricted to men because of cultural or theological prohibitions....
and gay priests. Popular imagination relegates "heresy" to the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, when the Church's power in Europe was at its height, but the case of the scholar and humanist Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno , was an Italy philosopher best-known as a proponent of heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe. In addition to his cosmological writings, he also wrote extensive works on the art of memory, a loosely-organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles....
was not the last execution for heresy. Heresy remained an officially punishable offense in Roman Catholic nations until the late 18th century. In Spain, heretics were prosecuted and punished during the Counter-Enlightenment

Counter-Enlightenment

"Counter-Enlightenment" is a term used to refer to a movement that arose in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries in opposition to the eighteenth century Age of Enlightenment....
movement of the restoration of the monarchy there after the Napoleonic Era.

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
considers views on the part of Jews which depart from the traditional Jewish principles of faith

Jewish principles of faith

Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheism principles, Judaism has no formal statement of principles of faith such as a creed that is recognized or accepted by all....
to be heretical. In addition, mainstream Orthodox Judaism holds that all Jews who reject the simple meaning of Maimonides

Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
's 13 principles of Jewish faith are heretics. As such, most of Orthodox Judaism considers Reform

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to the spectrum of beliefs, practices and organizational infrastructure associated with Reform Judaism in Reform Judaism and in Reform Judaism ....
and Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Judaism Jewish denominations based on the ideas of the late Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization....
to be heretical movements, and regards most of Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
as heretical. The liberal wing of Modern Orthodoxy

Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize halakha and Jewish principles of faith with the secular, modern world....
is more tolerant of Conservative Judaism, particularly its right wing, as there is some theological and practical overlap between these groups.

The law "You shall not cut yourselves" (Deuteronomy 14:1) is interpreted by the Rabbis: "You shall not form divisions, but shall form one bond." (Source: Talmud Yevamot 13a, Midrash

Midrash

Midrash is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes ....
Sifre on Deuteronomy 96)

Besides the term "min" for "heretic," the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
uses the words "Hitsonim" (outsiders), "apikoros" (Epicurean),and "kofer ba-Torah" (R. H. 17a), or "kofeir ba-'ikar" (he who denies the fundamentals of faith; Pes. xxiv. 168b). Similar statuses may apply to some of those branded "poresh mi-darke tsibbur" (he who deviates from the customs of the community; Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 5; R. H. 17a). Some authorities opine that all of these are consigned to Gehinnom for all eternity (Tosef., Sanh. l.c.; comp. ib. xii. 9, apparently belonging to xiii. 5: "He who casts off the yoke [of the Law], and he who severs the Abrahamic covenant; he who interprets the Torah against the halakic tradition, and he who pronounces in full the Ineffable Name—all these have no share in the world to come,") or possibly have no afterlife at all.

The Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
says the following have no share in the world to come: "He who denies that the Torah is divinely revealed, and the api?oros." R. Akiba says, "also he who reads heretical books". This is explained in the Talmud (Sanh. 100b) to mean "sifre ?edu?im" (Sadducean writings); but this is an alteration by the censor of "sifre ha-Minim" (books of the Gnostics or Heretics). The Biblical version, "That ye seek not after your own heart" (Num. xv. 39), is explained (Sifre, Num. 115; Ber. 12b) as "Ye shall not turn to heretic views ["minut"] which lead your heart away from God" (see Maimonides, "Yad," 'Akkum, ii. 3).

In summarizing the Talmudic statements concerning heretics in Sanh. 90-103, Maimonides ("Yad," Teshubah, iii. 6-8) says:

"The following have no share in the world to come, but are cut off, and perish, and receive their punishment for all time for their great sin: the minim, the api?oresim, they that deny the belief in the Torah, they that deny the belief in resurrection of the dead and in the coming of the Redeemer, the apostates, they that lead many to sin, they that turn away from the ways of the [Jewish] community... Five are called 'minim': (1) he who says there is no God and the world has no guide; (2) he who says the world has more than one guide; (3) he who ascribes to the Lord of the Universe a body and a figure; (4) he who says that God was not alone and Creator of all things at the world's beginning; (5) he who worships some star or constellation as an intermediating power between himself and the Lord of the World.

"The following three classes are called 'api?oresim': (1) he who says there was no prophecy nor was there any wisdom that came from God and which was attained by the heart of man; (2) he who denies the prophetic power of Moses our master; (3) he who says that God has no knowledge concerning the doings of men.

"The following three are called 'koferim ba-Torah': (1) he who says the Torah is not from God: he is a kofer even if he says a single verse or letter thereof was said by Moses of his own accord; (2) he who denies the traditional interpretation of the Torah and opposes those authorities who declare it to be tradition, as did Zadok

Zadok

# Zadok or Zadoc is a small village about Birjand.# Zadok is a Hebrew name, meaning "righteous"....
and Boethus; and (3) he who says, as do the Nazarenes and the Mohammedans, that the Lord has given a new dispensation instead of the old, and that he has abolished the Law, though it was originally divine."

It is noteworthy, however, that Abraham ben David, in his critical notes, objects to Maimonides characterizing as heretics all those who attribute corporeality to God; and he insinuates that the Kabbalists

Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
(of his time) were not heretics. Similarly, Biblical critics who doubt or deny the Mosaic origin of every portion of the Pentateuch, would protest against this Maimonidean (or Talmudic; see Sanh. 99a) conception of heresy (some ascribe a similar view to Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra was a prominent Jewish family from Spain spanning many centuries.The name ibn Ezra may refer to:* Abraham ibn Ezra , a Rabbi who lived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries...
based on his commentary to Deut. i. 2).

Heresy in Islam

Many in the two main bodies of Islam

Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
-- Sunnis

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the Demographics of Islam Divisions of Islam of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa?l-Jama?ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short....
and the Shi'as

Shi'a Islam

Shia Islam , is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam.Similiar to other branches of Islam, Shi'a Islam is based on the teachings of Islamic holy book, the Qur'an and message of the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad....
-- have regarded the other as heretical. Groups like the Ismaili

Ismaili

Ismailism is a branch of the Islam, and is the second largest part of the Shia Islam community, after the mainstream Twelvers . The Ismaili get their name from their acceptance of Ismail bin Jafar as the divinely appointed spiritual successor to Jafar al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelvers, who accept Musa al-Kazim, younger bro...
s, the Hurufiya, the Alawis, the Bektashi

Bektashi

Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order , considered to be a distinct branch of Twelver Shi'a Islam. It was founded in the 13th century by the Islamic saint Hajji Bektash Wali....
and the even the Sufis have also been regarded as heretical by some. Although Sufism is often accepted as valid by Shi'a and many Sunnis, the relatively recent movement of Wahhabism

Wahhabism

Wahhabi or Wahhabism is a conservative form of Sunni Islam attributed to Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar from what is today known as Saudi Arabia, who advocated a return to the practices of the first three generations of Muslim history....
view it as heretical.

Both the Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya , is a religious missionary movement founded towards the end of the 19th century Originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ....
and the Nation of Islam

Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam is a religious group founded in Detroit, Michigan, Michigan, United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mind, society, and economics condition of the Black people of America....
are regarded by many Muslim

Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
Ulema

Ulema

Ulema refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of Sharia law....
as being apostate, but in the case of the Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya

Ahmadiyya , is a religious missionary movement founded towards the end of the 19th century Originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ....
movement, attitudes towards designating the sect apostatical, heretical or Islamic differ depending on region or Islamic schools of thought. In Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, where most Ahmadis live, the state considers the group to be apostatical; whereas in the neighbouring state of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, the same group is considered to fall within the bounds of Islamic belief. Another example concerning the Ahmadiyya movement is the Al-Azhar Islamic University

Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University in Egypt, founded in 975, is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic studies in the world and the List of oldest universities in continuous operation....
in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, which accepts a certain Ahmadi belief concerning the nature of prophethood in Islam, considered by other schools as being heretical, to fall within Islamic jurisdiction.

Faiths like Druz and Bahá'í although now separate religions, have their roots in Islam and were considered by some Muslims to be heresies when they first appeared since they emerged as alternative currents in Islamic culture, and were founded by people who were considered to be Muslims. Much as Christianty is viewed by some to be a Jewish heresy, or Islam a Christian heresy.

Bid'ah in religious matters

In Islam, bid‘ah (Arabic: ????) or innovation in religion is forbidden. As the prophet Muhammad stated in a hadith

Hadith

Hadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded by all traditional madhab as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah....
:

“Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours [i.e., Islam] that is not a part of it, will have it rejected.” (Sahih al-Bukhari Vol 3, Book 49, 861 ; Sahih Muslim

Sahih Muslim

Sahih Muslim is one of the Six major Hadith collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad....
Book 18, 4266 ) In addition, the Qur'an (which Muslims believe is the word of God) states:

" ..This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (Qur'an 5; 3)

The late Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen

Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen

Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen al-Wuhaibi al-Tamimi was one of the most prominent Islamic scholars of the latter half of the twentieth century....
wrote: "And there is no such thing in Islaam as bid’ah hasanah (good innovation)."

Muslims do not all agree on what constitutes bid`ah - or a new way of worshipping Allah - or whether innovation includes details of clothing, eating, drinking, speech, etc., or only more narrow religious matters. When a religious innovation is committed, it is generally felt that the innovator is assuming that the Sunnah
Sunnah

Sunnah literally means ?trodden path,? and therefore, the sunnah of the prophet means ?the way and the manners of the prophet?. The word ?Sunnah? in Sunni Islam means those religious achievements and manners that were instituted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad during the 23 years of his ministry, which Muslims initially obtained through cons...
is not good enough, that he must resort to something "better." There are some innovations that imply unbelief or shirk
Shirk (polytheism)

Shirk is the Islamic concept of the sin of polytheism specifically, but in a more general way refers to worshipping other than Allah, associating partners with him, giving his characteristics to others beside him, or not believing in his characteristics....
, and there are some that are rejected (even when committed in all sincerity) without casting doubt upon that person's status as a Muslim believer.

Some categories of believers and unbelievers in Islam are:

Mu'min
Mu'min

Mu'min is an Arabic language Islamic term frequently referenced in the Qur'an, meaning "believer", and denoting a Muslim that has complete submission to the will of Allah, and has faith firmly established in his heart....
: A muslim believer.
Fajir
Fajir

In Islamic context, a Fajir is a "wicked evil doer", a sinner . Compare: Kafir External links *, search for "Fajir"...
: A muslim who is wicked or an evil doer, a sinner (by action).
Fasiq
Fasiq

Fasiq is an Arabic language term referring to someone who violates Islamic law. However, it is usually reserved to describe someone guilty of openly and flagrantly violating Islamic law and/or someone whose moral character is corrupt....
: A muslim who openly violates Islamic law.
Munafiq
Munafiq

Munafiq is an Islamic Arabic language term used to describe a religious Hypocrisy, who outwardly practices Islam, while inwardly concealing his disbelief , perhaps even unknowingly....
: A hypocrite, one who does not believe in Islam, but declares as a muslim (mainly used in non religious context).
Kafir
Kafir

Kafir is an Arabic word meaning "rejecter" or "ingrate," also the term "Kuffar" the plural of the word "Kafir" is used to refer to peasants Surah 57 Al-Hadid Ayah 20; as they till earth and "cover up" seeds....
: An unbeliever, an apostate from Islam, a person who hides, denies, or covers the truth.
Zindiq
Zindiq

Zindiq refers to those, who Muslims believe, have strayed so far from mainstream Islamic beliefs. During medieval times, Muslims used to refer to Manichaeans, apostates, pagans, heretics, and those who antagonized Islam.In modern times it is occasionally used to denote members of religions, sects or cults that originated in a Muslim society...
: heretic , A previous muslim who no longer accepts Islam.
Ahl al-Kitâb
People of the Book

In Islam, the People of the Book are non-Muslim peoples who, according to the Qur'an, received scriptures which were revelation to them by God before the time of Muhammad, most notably Christians and Jews....
: "People of the Book", members of the monotheistic religions whose holy books share the Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
's origins, i.e. Jews and Christians

Contemporary heresy

Today, heresy can be without a religious context as the holding of ideas that are in fundamental disagreement with the status quo in any practice and branch of knowledge. Religion is not a necessary component of the term's definition. The revisionist paleontologist Robert T. Bakker

Robert T. Bakker

Robert T. Bakker is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were endothermic ....
, who published his findings as The Dinosaur Heresies, jokingly treated the mainstream view of dinosaurs as dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authority and not to be disputed, doubted or heresy....
.

The term heresy is also used as an ideological pigeonhole

Pigeonholing

Pigeonholing is a term used to describe processes that attempt to classify disparate entities into a small number of categories .The expression usually carries connotations of criticism, implying that the classification scheme referred to inadequately reflects the entities being sorted, or that it is based on stereotype....
for contemporary writers because by definition heresy depends on contrasts with an established orthodoxy

Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek language orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos + Doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion....
. For example, the tongue-in-cheek contemporary usage of heresy, such as to categorize a "Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District, Manhattan....
heresy" or a "Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party . It is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP....
heresy", are metaphor

Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
s which invariably retain a subtext

Subtext

Subtext is content of a book, play, musical work, film, video game or television series which is not announced explicitly by the characters but is implicit or becomes something understood by the observer of the work as the production unfolds....
that links orthodoxies in geology

Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
or biology

Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
or any other field to religion. These expanded metaphoric senses allude to both the difference between the person's views and the mainstream, and the boldness of such a person in propounding these views.

On September 28, 2007, Gaston Hebert, the diocese

Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
administrator (per the July 11 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) stated that 6 Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
nuns were excommunicated for heresy (the first in the diocese's 165-year history). They refused to recant the doctrines of the Community of the Lady of All Nations

Community of the Lady of All Nations

The Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Community of the Lady of All Peoples or the Army of Mary, is a Blessed Virgin Mary sect founded by Marie-Paule Gigu?re....
(Army of Mary). The 6 nuns are members of the Good Shepherd Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs

Hot Springs

Hot Springs may refer to:* Hot Springs, Arkansas* Hot Springs, Montana* Hot Springs, North Carolina* Hot Springs, South Dakota* Hot Springs, Virginia...
. Sister Mary Theresa Dionne, 82, one of 6, said they will still live at the convent

Convent

A convent may refer to a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or it may refer to the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion....
property, which they own. The sect

Sect

In its historical usage in Christendom the term has a pejorative connotation and refers to a movement committed to Christian heresy beliefs and that often deviated from orthodox practices....
believe that its 86-year-old founder, Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation

Reincarnation

Reincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or Metaphysics belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body....
of the Virgin Mary.

Selected quotations

James G. March on the relation between madness
Insanity

Traditionally, insanity or madness is the behavior whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to themselves and others....
, heresy, and genius
Genius

A genius is an individual who successfully applies a previously unknown technique in the production of a work of art, science or calculation, or who masters and personalizes a known technique....
: "... we sometimes find that such heresies have been the foundation for bold and necessary change, but heresy is usually just new ideas that are foolish or dangerous and appropriately rejected or ignored. So while it may be true that great geniuses are usually heretics, heretics are rarely great geniuses."

Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov , was a Russian-born United States author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books....
distinguished between two types of scientific heretic: "Endoheretics are appropriately credentialed scientists. If the person is outside the scientific community or at least outside of his specialty, he is an exoheretic. If a person is an endoheretic, he will be considered as eccentric and incompetent, whereas if the person is an exoheretic, he will be regarded as a crackpot, charlatan, or fraud."

External links

Some quotes and information in this article came from the .
, a non-profit association which uses Canon Law to defend the Faith and Church from Heresy, through lawsuits in Ecclesiastical Court.
Heresy-On video

, Philosophy and History.

(Lutheran)
Inquisitions and Protestant persecutions site.
A Celebration of Heresy Conference: Critical Thinking for Islamic Reform.

Heresy

Etymology

Religious heresy

Christianity

Orthodox Judaism

Heresy in Islam

Bid'ah in religious matters

Contemporary heresy

Selected quotations

See also

External links