Talk:Heresiarch

Neutrality?
Question: Why is this statement's neutrality disputed?

"The first official heresy of the Christian church, Arianism, was created by heresiarch Arius." [neutrality disputed]

It seems to be an exact fit for the definition:  Arius is the founder of a set of beliefs considered heretical by the group calling itself orthodox. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.148.235.6 (talk) 18:36, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Henry VIII?
The example given seems quite dubious, since Henry VIII was much more of a schismatic than a heretic -- Henry VIII made few doctrinal innovations to traditional Catholicism, and probably wouldn't have split at all if the Pope had given him a divorce... AnonMoos (talk) 23:09, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I agree. Unless a source can be found where Henry VIII is explicitly called that, this sentence should be deleted. --A.Kracher (talk) 06:09, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Orthodox Christian Heresiarchs
Monophysitism (Μονοφυσιτισμός), Nestorianism (Νεστοριανισμός) and their heresiarchs should be covered here. If noone is willing to add them I might do it when I get the chance. In my last edit summary I wrote more "POV", but of course I meant NPOV; i.e., it should be made clear in the article that the concept of heresiarch is a relative one (just as the concept of heresy) and that nowadays it is a term of mainly historical/descriptive importance. Omnipedian (talk) 14:57, 5 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I intend to expand this article very soon, four years after the original debate. I have a good selection of scholarly material on Christian history and the history of dogma; I believe The First Seven Ecumenical Councils by some Jesuit in the "Theology and Life" series (I forget his name, but not the fact that it's Theology and Life Vol 21), and the earlier installments of Jaroslav Pelikan's The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Dogma will make fine sources. St John Chrysostom ΔόξατωΘεώ 20:57, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

Arianism
I cut the paragraph on Arianism, which seems to have been included only to use the word "heresiarch" at the head of a paragraph. It was also untrue. Arianism was the first heresy to be condemned by the whole church all at once in, but there were earlier heresies dealt with piecemeal by local and regional councils that are every bit as "official", seeing as the relevant councils were ratified by later Ecumenical Councils. The third-century Sabellianism is an example. The subject of Against Heresies by Irenaeus of Lyons in the 2nd century is gnosticism, which is certainly a heresy by Orthodox Catholic lights. There may be other examples. 192.35.35.35 (talk) 23:51, 25 October 2012 (UTC)