In Book 7 of his History of the Church, Eusebius discusses several figures whom he regarded as heretics, among them Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, and Novatian (whom he calls Novatus). Do you agree with Eusebius' evaluation of these men? Are they truly heretics? If so, is false doctrine the central problem, or does something else seem to be involved? What techniques does the church seem to be using in dealing with the divisions caused by such men? Does the "surgery" in each case seem successful or not?
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Eusebius on Heretics and Heresy (Eusebius Book VII)
In Book 7 of his History of the Church, Eusebius discusses several figures whom he regarded as heretics, among them Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, and Novatian (whom he calls Novatus). Do you agree with Eusebius' evaluation of these men? Are they truly heretics? If so, is false doctrine the central problem, or does something else seem to be involved? What techniques does the church seem to be using in dealing with the divisions caused by such men? Does the "surgery" in each case seem successful or not?
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In reading about Novatian, Dionysius truly believe that Novatian was indeed a heretic. He talks about how Novatian divided the church, slandered Christ, doesn't believe in holy baptism, and banished the Holy Spirit. To me, this sounds like a potential problem for the church if there are multiple people like Novatian out there. It is a problem that had to be dealt with and by Dionysius writing these letters, at least the word is getting out about the heretics.
ReplyDeletePaul of Samosata was not a very nice guy. I believe, like the people of this time believed, that this Paul was in fact a heretic. He taught a lot of false doctrine and became very rich through manipulation and blackmail. These are all signs of a heretic and really rotten dude. He was supposed to be a church leader, but instead he used his powers for evil rather than good.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that he was successfully excommunicated, I believe that this was a successful and much needed way to get rid of such a person.
I agree with Nate. After reading about Paul of Samosata it became obvious that a he was only looking out for himself spreading false teachings for his own gain, not to mention being unwilling to even help injured people unless they could pay him something. The Churches response to this was to excommunicate him, cut out the cancer if you will, which seemed to work. But Paul didn't give up without a fight as he refused to give up the church building before being forcefully removed by the secular authorities.
ReplyDeleteThe quote about the heresy of Sabellius made it very unclear to me whether he did or did not commit heresy. "For concerning th doctrine now agitated in Ptolemais of Pentapolis,-which is impious and marked by great blasphemy against the Almighty God, the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and contains much unbelief respecting his only Begotten Son and the first-born of every creature, the Word which became man, and a want of perception of the holy Spirit-as there came to me communications from both sides and brethren discussing the matter I wrote certain letters treating the subject as instructively as, by the help of God, I was able. Of these I send you copies" This quote is very difficult for me to understand because it does not specifically mention what Sabellius did. Therefore it is really hard to say whether he was truly a heretic or not.
ReplyDeleteDionysius truthfully believes that Novation is a heretic. He claims that Novation split the church, slandered Jesus' name, and completely ignores holy baptism, among other things. He even goes as far as dismissing belief in the Holy Spirit, even when there could be a chance he comes back. This isn’t good for the church to have people dismissing the holiest of holy spirits, and, like Danny said, writing this letter is good because it gets the word about the heretics out there.
ReplyDeleteKent Johnsen
ReplyDeleteIt seems clear that Novation is a heretic based on rejection of baptism and what he says about Jesus, among others. It was evident that the Church had to get him handled immediately. Along with this, Paul of Samosata started his own spread of beliefs contrary to the Church, and his excommunication was necessary. Overall, the Church handled both effectively to prevent further division.
I think Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, and Novatian were all heretics. They all taught false teachings about Christ. I think it is false doctrine problems. I think these people wanted power which most of them did. So they saw an opportunity and took it. The church banned them. I think the surgery goes ok but it still makes people uneasy because pretty much anyone in power could try to change the belief and take more power.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Paul of Samosata was a heretic. He was going against the true teachings of the church, blatantly, in order to serve his own greed in the quest for power. Paul is eventually excommunicated for his heresies, and the church was able to successfully rule him a heretic in a few different ways. First, they assembled together to meet and discuss the case. Bishops and other church officials met, and ruled unanimously, that Paul was guilty of heresy. They went back to the teachings of the original apostolic churches as well for some insight on how to rule over this case.
ReplyDeletePaul of Samosata, Sabellius, and Novatian were all heretics. I believe that they all taught false teachings about Christ. I think it is more of false doctrine problems than anything. I would say this is a PR night mare for the church having people teaching wrong things about the religion
ReplyDeletePaul of Samosata does definitely seem to be a heretic. He was teaching things that were believed by most to be false. That doesn't seem to be the only problem though. Paul of Samosata sounds like he wasn't very good person. The reading talks about him making money from the suffering of other people. It was probably, because of all of the things he did, including the false teaching, a good idea to remove him from the church.
ReplyDeleteMallory Schlechter