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Heresiarch

Christian theological term for someone who propagates heretical doctrine

InChristian 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[edit]

• Marcion, the founder of Marcionism
• Arius, the founder of Arianism
• St. Augustine refers to Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, as a heresiarch.^[2]
• Menocchio, an Italian miller who was burned at the stake in 1599
• 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[edit]

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 I of Sicily, and Pope Anastasius II.

See also[edit]

• List of Christian heresies
• Heresy in Christianity

References[edit]

Look up heresiarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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