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TOP・UPDATES・FOUR PILLARS・CINEMA/TV・GAMES・MANGA/ANIME・MUSIC・WRITINGS・FAQ・LINKS
Heresy makes its appearance in the Church. It is the effort to break through the petrified authority of the Church. All effort after a living comprehension of the doctrine has been made by heretics. Tertullian, Origen, Augustine, Luther, Hus, Savonarola, Chelčický, and the rest were heretics. It could not be otherwise.
The follower of Christ, whose service means an ever-growing understanding of his teaching, and an ever-closer fulfillment of progress toward perfection, cannot, just because he is a follower of Christ, claim for himself or any other that he understands Christ's teaching fully and fulfills it. Still less can he claim this for any body of men.
Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Ch. 3.68 [1]
The churches as churches are not, as many people suppose, institutions which have Christian principles for their basis, even though they may have strayed little away from the straight path. The churches as churches, as bodies which assert their own infallibility, are institutions opposed to Christianity. There is not only nothing in common between the churches as such and Christianity, except the name, but they represent two principles fundamentally opposed and antagonistic to one another. One represents pride, violence, self-assertion, stagnation, and death; the other, meekness, penitence, humility, progress, and life.
We cannot serve these two masters. We have to choose between them.
Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Ch. 3.68 [1]
The sinister fact about literary censorship in England is that it is largely voluntary. Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban.
George Orwell, "The Freedom of the Press" (proposed preface to Animal Farm) [2]
At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to say this, that or the other, but it is "not done" to say it, just as in mid‐Victorian times it was "not done" to mention trousers in the presence of a lady. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness.
George Orwell, "The Freedom of the Press" (proposed preface to Animal Farm) [2]
Anyone who dares to think in an honest, critical, curious fashion will inevitably be branded a "heretic" by someone. In the past, this has largely been sustained by state authority, and the punishments could be severe. But this has by no means disappeared in our modern times. We normally think of this in terms of "cancel culture" and "de-platforming" these days. When we speak today of someone committing a "heresy" in politics or social sciences, it is by no means just a metaphor. They may not be burned at the stake, but in many ways censorship via social pressure is more insidious and omnipresent. Of course, "cancel culture" is by no means a new phenomena or one limited to any particular political orientation. It has existed since time immemorial. And it has always been wrong. There are many disturbing political power-grabs of Christian nationalists in my country, the United States, and I find it more important than ever to show honor to the heretics who lived through the tyranny of Christian repression in the past.
For this list to be effective, it has to have some sort of delimited scope. So this list has a focus which is admittedly sort of arbitrary. Here are some things to keep in mind about what this list is and why I created it:
＊This list focuses in particular on heretics as labeled and oppressed by Christian authorities. This means that it is mostly focused on Europe. This is because, for my purposes, I think it is most instructive to look at it through the cultural framework that still permeates through much of the western world, so that we can learn to reject its negative effects in modern, secular societies. I see these everywhere today even in today's supposedly irreligious western world.
＊As such, the list contains no entries earlier than 391 AD. What is the significance of this date? It is the year that "pagan" rites were officially outlawed by Theodosius I in the Roman Empire. This was certainly not the beginning of Christian intolerance and suppression. And certainly there were unusual holdouts of syncreticism and religious coexistence long after it. But to me this date represents a signifcant moment of the western world saying goodbye to any pretense of religious pluralism and tolerance once and for all.
＊The "end" of Christian intolerance is even more difficult to set a date for, mostly because it is still present all over the world, even in "civilized" countries like the United States. But if we can find a date where state-enforced punishments for heresy have largely disappeared and where orthodoxy is primarily enforced by social pressures instead, it seems to be around the mid-18th century. The last person to be executed for blasphemy in Great Britain, Thomas Aikenhead, was hanged in 1697. Most other Christian countries in Europe and their colonies had broadly either already abandoned the practice or would do so over the next few decades. So I will not include anyone legally persecuted after 1750 here (namely because this is very rare to find in Christian countries from this point on).
＊Now, I should make it clear that by focusing on heretics under Christian European rule, I in no way intend to imply that the persecution of "heretics" begins and ends with Christianity. I see all the other two major Abrahamic religions (Islam and Judaism) as being far more similar than different to Christianity, and I believe that they have a special intolerance that is endemic to their theological foundations. That said, the intolerance of "heretical" opinions has occurred in all societies around the world, whether the heretics in question are branded as impious, un-patriotic, dangerous, or whatever else. Socrates was made to drink hemlock for "corrupting" the youth with his difficult questions. Qin Shi Huang orchestrated a massive book-burning campaign to root out rival schools of thought. Emperor Wuzong drove foreign religions out of China with a zeal that equalled any pope. Aztec king Itzcoatl burned all historical codices of the Tepanecs before the Europeans ever arrived in Mexico. But my focus here is on what I see as the most obvious, insidious form of it that people in the west must be constantly reminded of.
＊Lastly, I should make it clear that, despite my somewhat tongue-in-cheek title, not all heretics are saints and heroes that we should turn into martyrs. This would be like idolizing Stalin merely for the fact that he deposed Hitler. In fact, if you examine their beliefs honestly, we must admit that a great number of those suppressed as heretics would, in all likelihood, have been even more intolerant, repressive, and hateful than those who persecuted them. But the only way out of this trap is to create a society that is pluralistic and tolerant of differences in thought and expression. Because thought and expression alone can never hurt us. That is why I want to honor and remember and honor the plurality of thought that existed even in the most repressive times in our history.
JAN HUS (c. 1372-1415)
Born in Husinec in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Repulic). Founder of a movement known as the Hussites, which ended up becoming a strong influence on Martin Luther. Like Luther's movement, the Hussites soon split into a number of factions that are hard to keep track of. Moderates believed in the freedom to preach for all people, equal rights and treatment for clergy and laity, and the redistribution of wealth from churches. Radicals denied the doctrine of transubstantiation and believed in pretty much all major Protestant rejections of Catholic teachings. Hus was burned at the stake after refusing to deny his views.
PETR CHELČICKÝ (c. 1390-1460)
Born in Chelčice in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). Very influential to the Anabaptists. Essentially promoted an early form of Christian anarcho-pacifism: All believers should voluntarily live communally with no hierarchies or authority and that Christians should resist all forms of violence, even that which is defensive in nature. Did not believe in conversion by force. Held several other unorthodox theological beliefs. We know little about his life.
BALTHASAR HUBMAIER (1480-1528)
Born in Friedberg, Bavaria in Germany. One of the foundational early Anabaptist thinkers, and a relative moderate. For example, he did not deny the doctrine of the trinity and did not believe that Christians should oppose the state or refuse to serve in the military if so required. His most controversial positions were that baptism should be administered to believers (hence not to infants) and that vernacular preaching and reading of the word of God should be supported. He was burned at the stake and his wife was thrown in the Danube with a stone around her neck.
CASPAR SCHWENCKFELD (1489-1561)
Born in Ossig, Silesia in Germany (modern-day Osiek in Poland). Deeply influenced by Martin Luther, but fell out of favor with him for Luther's comparably moderate views. Believed in pretty much all standard Anabaptist beliefs (believers' baptism, opposition to violence, rejection of real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, etc.). Taught that Christ had both a divine and human nature but became progressively more divine over the course of his life. Died of dysentery and had the details of his death hidden due to the presence of enemies.
MICHAEL SATTLER (1490-1527)
Born in Staufen im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Author of the Schleitheim Confession, the most canonical statement of Anabaptist beliefs. Among its tenets are that Christians are never permitted to use violence and thus should sever themselves from violent institutions like the state, that baptism should only be administered to believers (hence not to infants), that pastors should be allowed to marry, and that no Christian should take an oath to a secular authority. Sattler was tortured and burned at the stake.
SEBASTIAN FRANCK (1499-1543)
Born in Donauwörth, Bavaria in Germany. Freethinking, humanist, idiosyncratic thinker broadly in the Anabaptist tradition. Believed that the "outward" church of Christ has been missing since the death of the apostles and has belonged to the Antichrist. Believed that the entirety of Christianity was spiritual and not external. Believed that the only authentic church was "inward" and only bound by mystical revelation and not by any rituals, rites, laws, or even scripture. Compared all outward rites and regulations in the church to toys given to a child by a father that the child has outgrown.
MICHAEL SERVETUS (1511-1553)
Born in Villanueva de Sigena, Aragon in Spain. Renaissance humanist and polymath versed in many fields. The first European to correctly describe the process of pulmonary circulation. Taught a thoroughly-argued, consistent theology based primarily on a rejection of the concept of the trinity. Believed that Christ was an incarnation of the manifestation of God, the Logos, and thus not an eternal being himself that was co-existent with the Father. Fled to Geneva and was denounced by John Calvin and burned at the stake.
MENOCCHIO aka DOMENICO SCANDELLA (1532-1599)
Born in Montereale Valcellina, Fiuli-Venezia-Giulia in Italy. Subject of an excellent book called The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg. Had an extremely heterodox view with possible influences from ancient pagan traditions preserved by peasants. Argued that all things were born out of a chaotic mass of elements that formed into the material of the world like "cheese out of milk" and that the beings ordained as God and angels materialized out of it like "worms." Reduced many Christian teachings to secular morality, doubting the divine nature of Jesus and Mary and divine authority of the pope. Was arrested twice and ultimately burned at the stake.
GIORDANO BRUNO (1548-1600)
Born in Nola, Napoli in Italy. Esoteric philosopher. Believed in a form of pantheism that equated god with the universe itself, and saw the universe not as a series of fixed, hierarchical spheres but as an infinitely large universe with a number of solar systems that could also contain intelligent life. Disagreed with most traditional Catholic doctrines including the trinity, transubstantiation, and the divinity of Christ. Also believed in metempsychosis (reincarnation) and certain forms of magic. Burned at the stake.
JOHN MILTON (1608-1674)
Born in London, England in the UK. One of the greatest English poets and prose writers. Civil servant under Oliver Cromwell during the Second English Civil War. Believed that god was a spirit, but that spirits like god were a higher form of matter and thus that god's actions were material. Believed in a form of government which, while by no means secular, would be broadly supportive of independence of churches from the state. Did not believe in predestination. Strongly argued for the scriptural justification of divorce. Believed in the idea of "soul sleeping" (that the souls of the dead are not currently in heaven or hell but in a sleep-like state until the Last Judgment). Believed that the Son was not begotten from eternity and thus was, to some degree, dependent on and not in unity with the Father.
ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727)
Born in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, England in the UK. Among the most important figures in the entire history of science. Also a devout Christian, but of a very heterodox variety. Most notably, he was an Arian or non-trinitarian and believed that the Son was begotten at a point in time and did not exist from eternity. Despite establishing non-divine laws like gravity to explain phenomena, he believed that nevertheless the universe existed in a way where god must constantly interfere. Engaged in "occult" studies like the practice of alchemy and numerological, esoteric readings of the bible. Predicted that the world would end in 2060.