A heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, and a heretic is a proponent of such claims or beliefs[1]. When heresy is used today with reference to Christianity, it denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. It should be distinguished from both apostasy and schism: the former being nearly always total abandonment of the Christian faith after it has been freely accepted, while the latter is a formal and deliberate breach of Christian unity and an offense against charity without being based essentially on doctrine[2].
Bellairs Corpus[]
A Short Guide to Catholic Church History notes that the Church has been plagued by "the gnats of heresy, which have sometimes lain on her shores 'thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks in Vallombrosa'", among these:
Inspiration[]
The "autumnal leaves...in Vallombrosa" is a line from John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667)[3]:
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans’t
Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
In Vallombrosa....
References[]
- ↑ Wikipedia: Heresy
- ↑ Wikipedia: Heresy in Christianity
- ↑ Wikipedia: Vallombrosa Abbey
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