Heresiarch
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Gustave_Dore_-_Dantes_Inferno_-_ArchHeretics.jpg/220px-Gustave_Dore_-_Dantes_Inferno_-_ArchHeretics.jpg)
In Christian theology, a heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the Oxford English Dictionary; from Greek: αἱρεσιάρχης, hairesiárkhēs via the late Latin haeresiarcha[1]) or arch-heretic, is an originator of heretical doctrine, or the founder of a sect that sustains such a doctrine.[1]
Examples[]
- Marcion, the founder of Marcionism
- Arius, the founder of Arianism
- St. Augustine refers to Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, as a heresiarch.[2]
- Catholics, especially traditionalist Catholics such as Hilaire Belloc, consider Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other leaders of the Protestant Reformation to be arch-heretics.[3]
- Conversely, some fundamentalist Protestants (including Alexander Hislop and Charles Chiniquy) have used the term to refer to the papacy and the members of the Roman Curia.
- Martin of Armenia, the fictional founder of the Old Russian Rite used by the Old Believers
Dante's Inferno[]
In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri represents the heresiarchs as being immured in tombs of fire in the Sixth Circle of Hell. In Cantos IX and X of the Inferno, Virgil describes the suffering these souls experience, saying "Here are the Arch-Heretics, surrounded by every sect their followers... / Like with like is buried, and the monuments are different in degrees of heat."[4] Among the historical figures that Dante specifically lists as arch-heretics are Epicurus, Farinata Degli Uberti, Frederick of Sicily, and Pope Anastasius II.
See also[]
- List of Christian heresies
- Heresy in Christianity
References[]
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Look up heresiarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- ^ Jump up to: a b Cross and Livingstone, Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 1974
- ^ Augustine and Manichaeism, Gillian Clark
- ^ Hilaire Belloc, "What was the Reformation?"
- ^ Dante's Inferno, Canto IX, 125–129
- Heresy in Christianity
- Christian theology stubs