Why did issues involving what was or was not heresy become a problem for the Christian Church in the first centuries?

Answer 1

AnswerWe do not know what divisions existed in the very early years of Christianity, but Paul speaks of those who taught a "different Christ". Whatever these differences were, it is clear that Paul was frequently on the defensive against those whom he sarcastically called "super apostles". For Paul, the problem was the potential loss of Christian communities that could transfer allegiance to other apostles.

Some say that the major split in early Christianity was between those who worshipped a Christ in heaven and those who believed that he had lived on earth, in Palestine, and rose to heaven after he was crucified and was resurrected. If so, this reflects very deep divisions in the broader Christian movement and each side must have seen the other as heretics. Christianity had to decide what its most fundamental beliefs and doctrines were.

Another division within the Christian movement was between the branch that formed around a disciplined hierarchy of presbyters and bishops and eventually came to view itself as orthodox Christianity, and the looser, less disciplined branch known today as Gnostic Christianity. Gnostics believed that each person had direct access to knowledge from God, without the need for clergy. This view was both a weakness and a strength for Gnosticism, but was anathema to the proto-Catholic-Orthodox Christians and their powerful clergy.

There were many doctrinal differences between the Gnostic and orthodox Christians, with each side declaring the other heretical. Of great concern to the proto-Catholic-Orthodox Church (a modern designation, as is the term Gnostic) was that Gnostics attended orthodox church services and, by discussing their beliefs, attracted many of its followers to Gnosticism. The Church not only had to counter beliefs that it regarded as heretical, but also remove the influence of Gnosticism on their faithful.

By the fourth century, even the Catholic-Orthodox Church had difficulty maintaining unity. Arius, a popular Libyan priest, declared that Christ, while divine, was not divine in the same way as God the Father. Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, declared heretical the views of Arius and had him and the clergy who supported him, excommunicated. In order to fully exclude Arius, Alexander had the wording that Christ was "of one being with God" adopted at Nicaea. Emperor Constantine saw Christianity as a potential unifying force in the empire and was deeply concerned at these divisions. Despite the Edict of Toleration, the Gnostics were to be deprived of their assets and, as far as Constantine was able, driven out of existence in favour of the Catholic-Orthodox Church.