Modern British Heresy

Index to theory pages <previous: defining heresy My test for inclusion in this list of alleged heretics has two parts: (a) that heresy has formally been alleged, and    (b) that formal action has followed This formulation is designed to exclude allegations which were not taken seriously at the time, those which arose in the heat of a disagreement and quickly evaporated, and those that were simply ignored  by the church concerned. Even so,  these criteria do show the triviality and ephemeral character of many cases.  The test does encompass a number of people who were found not guilty of heresy, or whose cases remained unresolved. I include these people to give a richer picture of the phenomenon of heresy in practice than would be presented by focusing solely on those who were convicted. Similarly trivial and peripheral cases are included as part of the picture, not merely those which had historical significance. For the most part this dual test has been  sufficient and straightforwa

My working definition of heresy is: Heresy is a judgement, arrived at after due process, that certain specified teaching which purports to be in accord with the teaching and standards of a particular church is in fact incompatible and unacceptable. Heresy in the Roman Catholic Church has a structure and trajectory wholly distinct from that of protestant churches.  A common narrative of heresy begins with the observation that, in the earliest church, haireseis simply meant choice. This changed f rom  Ireneaus  and Tertullian onwards, when heresy came came to be understood as the assertion of teaching which was opposed to, or which undermined, orthodoxy . On this basis heresy is defined as "(the act of having) an opinion or belief that is the opposite of or against what is the official or popular opinion, or an action that shows that you have no respect for the official opinion."  Cambridge Dictionary However this definition narrative feeds a myth of Christianity and therefore