Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

by Alister McGrath

Overview

Why the Church must defend the truth.

Our ongoing fascination with alternative Christianities is ondisplay every time a never-before-seen gospel text is revealed,an archaeological discovery about Jesus makes front-page news, or anew work of fiction challenges the very foundations of the church.Now, in a timely corrective to this trend, renowned church historianAlister McGrath examines the history of subversive ideas, overturningcommon misconceptions that heresy is somehow more spiritual orliberating than traditional dogma. In so doing, he presents a powerful,compassionate orthodoxy that will equip the church to meet thechallenge from renewed forms of heresy today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061998997
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/02/2010
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Alister E. McGrath is a historian, biochemist, and Christian theologian born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A longtime professor at Oxford University, he now holds the chair in theology, ministry, and education at the University of London. He is the author of several books on theology and history, including Christianity's Dangerous Idea, In the Beginning, and The Twilight of Atheism. He lives in Oxford, England, and lectures regularly in the United States.

Table of Contents

foreword Dr. Rick Warren v

introduction Our Love Affair with Heresy 1

part 1 What is Heresy?

1 Faith, Creeds, and the Christian Gospel 17

2 The Origins of the Idea of Heresy 33

part 2 The Roots of Heresy

3 Diversity: The Background of Early Heresy 43

4 The Early Development of Heresy 61

5 Is There an "Essence" of Heresy? 81

part 3 The Classic Heresies of Christianity

6 Early Classic Heresies: Ebionitism, Docetism, Valentinism 101

7 Later Classic Heresies: Arianism, Donatism, Pelagianism 135

part 4 The Enduring Impact of Heresy

8 Cultural and Intellectual Motivations for Heresy 175

9 Orthodoxy, Heresy, and Power 197

10 Heresy and the Islamic View of Christianity 223

conclusion The Future of Heresy 231

Notes 235

Index 271

What People are Saying About This

Dallas Willard

“Alister McGrath helps us understand what heresy is and why it exercises a powerful attraction upon the human mind. It is full of illuminating historical discussions and insights into the motivations that lead people to adopt heresy as a style of life and a personal demeanor.”

Justo L. Gonzalez

“Not only a riveting story of ancient controversies, but also a much needed and timely correction to the commonly held notion that heretics were mostly free thinkers who challenged a narrow and closed orthodoxy.”

Editorial Reviews

Not only a riveting story of ancient controversies, but also a much needed and timely correction to the commonly held notion that heretics were mostly free thinkers who challenged a narrow and closed orthodoxy.” — Justo L. González, author of The Story of Christianity

“Alister McGrath helps us understand what heresy is and why it exercises a powerful attraction upon the human mind. It is full of illuminating historical discussions and insights into the motivations that lead people to adopt heresy as a style of life and a personal demeanor.” — Dallas Willard, author of Knowing Christ Today

“A penetrating examination by an intellectual powerhouse.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

A penetrating examination by an intellectual powerhouse.

Booklist

Alister McGrath helps us understand what heresy is and why it exercises a powerful attraction upon the human mind. It is full of illuminating historical discussions and insights into the motivations that lead people to adopt heresy as a style of life and a personal demeanor.

Dallas Willard

Not only a riveting story of ancient controversies, but also a much needed and timely correction to the commonly held notion that heretics were mostly free thinkers who challenged a narrow and closed orthodoxy.

Justo L. González

A penetrating examination by an intellectual powerhouse.

Booklist

Not only a riveting story of ancient controversies, but also a much needed and timely correction to the commonly held notion that heretics were mostly free thinkers who challenged a narrow and closed orthodoxy.

Justo L. González

"Not only a riveting story of ancient controversies, but also a much needed and timely correction to the commonly held notion that heretics were mostly free thinkers who challenged a narrow and closed orthodoxy."

Justo L. Gonzalez

McGrath (theology, religion, & culture, King's Coll., Univ. of London; Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century) has written a scholarly synthesis of recent studies on the history of heresy in the Christian church, incorporating social, cultural, and theological aspects. Although he individually examines numerous heresies (mostly from the patristic period), it is primarily to use them as case studies to illustrate salient points about heresy in general. This work is not intended to be a comprehensive history of heresies but a history of the development of the concept of heresy, including its implications for the church today. Throughout, McGrath contrasts his findings with various other perspectives from church history, including the currently fashionable view of heresy as the heroic suppressed victim of history's arbitrary winners, found in many newer works about noncanonical gospels, Gnosticism, or the historical Jesus. VERDICT Although there are sections in which McGrath seems to wander away from the book's principal focus, this is still a useful contribution to the dialog on the nature of heresy from an orthodox Protestant perspective. Recommended for students of theology.—Brian T. Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY

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