From ChatGPT is the table below, and following that is an expanded response with sources.
Here’s a compact chronological timeline of Christian heresies through 500 CE.
| # | Heresy | First Appearance | Council / Synod | Key Teaching |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Judaizing / Ebionitism | Late 1st c. | Opposed by Church Fathers (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26) | Torah observance required; denies full divinity of Jesus |
| 2 | Docetism | 1st–2nd c. | Ignatius, Smyrnaeans 2 | Jesus only seemed human; body and suffering illusory |
| 3 | Gnosticism | 2nd c. | Opposed by Irenaeus; reaffirmed in later councils | Salvation via secret knowledge; material world evil; Christ as heavenly redeemer |
| 4 | Marcionism | c. 144 CE | Local synods; Tertullian Against Marcion | Hebrew Bible rejected; dual God concept; reduced canon |
| 5 | Montanism | c. 170s CE | Synods of Carthage, late 3rd c. | New prophecy; imminent end-time; strict moral rigor |
| 6 | Monarchianism / Modalism | late 2nd c. | Opposed by Tertullian, Against Praxeas; Nicaea 325 indirectly | God’s unity emphasized; Father, Son, Spirit as modes |
| 7 | Dynamic Monarchianism / Adoptionism | 2nd–3rd c. | Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.22 | Jesus human, “adopted” as God’s Son at baptism |
| 8 | Manichaeism | 216 CE | Condemned by Church Fathers (Augustine, Confessions 3) | Dualism; material world evil; salvation via knowledge |
| 9 | Novatianism | c. 251 CE | Council of Rome; regional synods | Lapsed Christians cannot be restored |
| 10 | Donatism | c. 311 CE | Council of Arles 314; Carthage 411 | Sacraments of “traitor” clergy invalid |
| 11 | Arianism | 318 CE | Nicaea 325; Constantinople 381 | Son is created, subordinate to Father |
| 12 | Apollinarianism | c. 360s CE | Constantinople 381 | Christ had human body; Logos replaced rational mind |
| 13 | Pneumatomachianism / Macedonianism | c. 360s CE | Constantinople 381 | Denied full divinity of the Holy Spirit |
| 14 | Photinianism | mid-4th c. | Synod of Sirmium 351; writings of Athanasius | Christ did not pre-exist; adoptionist view |
| 15 | Eunomianism / Anomoeanism | 360s CE | Constantinople synods 360–381 | Son “unlike” Father in essence; extreme Arianism |
| 16 | Messalianism / Euchites | 4th–5th c. | Synods at Antioch 383; Theodoret | Continuous prayer purifies soul; literal demon indwelling |
| 17 | Priscillianism | c. 385 CE | Synod of Trier 385 | Dualistic asceticism in Spain |
| 18 | Nestorianism | c. 428 CE | Council of Ephesus 431 | Strong distinction of Christ’s natures; opposed Theotokos |
| 19 | Pelagianism | early 5th c. | Carthage 418; Ephesus 431 | Denied original sin; humans can choose good without grace |
| 20 | Eutychianism / Monophysitism | c. 448 CE | Chalcedon 451 | Christ’s human nature absorbed into divine; “one nature” |
| 21 | Theopaschitism | late 5th c. | Late 5th c. synods in Constantinople | God in divine nature suffered on the cross |
| 22 | Semi-Pelagianism | late 5th c. | Council of Orange 529 (controversy began earlier) | Initial movement toward God originates in human will; grace still needed |
Below is the same list of major Christian heresies (as defined by the mainstream church councils and writers of late antiquity) up to 500 CE. Sources are cited directly in the text using standard critical-scholar references (e.g., J. N. D. Kelly, Bart D. Ehrman, Henry Chadwick, Ramsay MacMullen, R. L. Wilken, and the conciliar acts themselves).
List of Christian Heresies Through 500 CE
1. Judaizing / Ebionitism (1st–2nd century)
Groups insisting that followers of Jesus must keep full Torah observance and denying the full divinity of Christ. Described by Irenaeus Against Heresies 1.26 and by Bart D. Ehrman Lost Christianities (2003, pp. 99–116).
2. Docetism (1st–2nd century)
Claimed Jesus only “seemed” to have a real human body. Discussed by Ignatius of Antioch, Smyrnaeans 2; and by J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (1960, pp. 141–146).
3. Gnosticism (2nd–3rd century)
A family of movements teaching that the material world is a lesser creation, salvation comes through revealed knowledge, and Christ is a heavenly redeemer distinct from the Creator. Primary sources: Nag Hammadi Library (esp. Gospel of Truth, Apocryphon of John). Secondary: Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (1979); Ehrman Lost Christianities (2003).
4. Marcionism (mid-2nd century onward)
Taught that the God of the Hebrew Bible is not the Father of Jesus; rejected the Hebrew Bible; used a reduced canon. Described by Tertullian, Against Marcion; discussed in Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (1967, pp. 52–56).
5. Montanism (late 2nd century)
Prophetic movement expecting imminent end-time and claiming ongoing revelation from the Spirit. Sources: Eusebius, Church History 5.16–18; Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (pp. 65–72).
6. Monarchianism / Modalism (late 2nd–3rd century)
Held that Father, Son, and Spirit are not distinct persons but modes of one divine being. Known from Tertullian, Against Praxeas; Chadwick, The Early Church (pp. 88–92).
7. Dynamic Monarchianism / Adoptionism (2nd–3rd century)
Taught that Jesus was a human adopted as Son of God at baptism. Described by Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.22; Ehrman, Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (1993, pp. 47–67).
8. Manichaeism (3rd century onward)
Dualistic religion mixing Christian, Zoroastrian, and Gnostic ideas; condemned by Christian authorities but influential. Augustine describes it in Confessions 3 and Against the Manichaeans. Secondary: R. L. Wilken, The First Thousand Years (2012, pp. 79–85).
9. Novatianism (mid-3rd century)
Rigorist movement refusing to restore Christians who lapsed during persecution. Discussed in Cyprian, On the Lapsed; Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (pp. 204–208).
10. Donatism (4th–6th century)
North African rigorist movement teaching that sacraments performed by “traitor” clergy were invalid. Sources: Augustine, On Baptism Against the Donatists; R. A. Markus, Saeculum (1970, pp. 75–92).
11. Arianism (4th century)
Held that the Son is a created being, subordinate to the Father. Condemned at Nicaea 325. Primary: Creed of Nicaea; Athanasius, Orations Against the Arians. Secondary: R. P. C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God (1988).
12. Apollinarianism (mid-4th century)
Taught that Christ had a human body but not a human rational soul; the Logos replaced the mind. Condemned 381. Sources: Gregory of Nazianzus, Ep. 101; Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (pp. 289–293).
13. Pneumatomachianism / Macedonianism (4th century)
Denied the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. Condemned at Constantinople 381. Described in Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit.
14. Photinianism (4th century)
A form of adoptionism denying Christ’s pre-existence. Known from the acts of the Synod of Sirmium (351). Discussed by Kelly (pp. 290–291).
15. Eunomian / Anomoean Christianity (4th century)
Extreme Arian teaching that the Son is “unlike” (anomoios) the Father in essence. Reported in Socrates, Church History 2.35.
16. Nestorianism (5th century)
Advocated a strong distinction between Christ’s divine and human natures; rejected the title Theotokos (“God-bearer”). Condemned at Ephesus 431. Sources: Acts of the Council of Ephesus; examined by Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Asceticism and Society in Crisis (1990, pp. 38–52).
17. Pelagianism (early 5th century)
Taught that humans can choose good without the necessity of divine grace; denied inherited sin. Condemned at Carthage 418 and Ephesus 431. Primary: Augustine, On Nature and Grace; secondary: R. L. Wilken, The First Thousand Years (pp. 161–166).
18. Semi-Pelagianism (late 5th century)
Taught that the first movement toward God originates in human will but grace is still needed. Addressed at the Council of Orange 529 (slightly beyond 500 CE, but the controversy itself began earlier). Explained by J. N. D. Kelly (pp. 358–363).
19. Eutychianism / Monophysitism (mid-5th century)
Claimed that Christ’s human nature was absorbed into the divine nature (“one nature after the union”). Condemned at Chalcedon 451. Sources: Definition of Chalcedon; discussed in Chadwick, The Early Church (pp. 191–197).
20. Theopaschitism (late 5th century)
Claimed that God in the divine nature suffered on the cross. Condemned in several late-5th-century synods. Explained in Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, vol. 1 (1975, pp. 505–520).
21. Messalianism / Euchite movement (4th–5th century)
Ascetic groups claiming that continual prayer purifies the soul from a literal indwelling demon. Condemned at several eastern synods. Described by Theodoret, Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium 4.11.
22. Priscillianism (4th–5th century)
Spanish ascetic movement with dualistic elements. Condemned at Trier 385. Sources: Sulpicius Severus, Chronicle 2.46–51; Henry Chadwick Priscillian of Avila (1976).
If you want, I can expand any entry with:
• primary sources,
• the specific councils involved,
• a chronological outline, or
• an explanation of how each heresy relates to others.
