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Doctrine rejected as false by religious authorities. In
Christianity, the orthodox theology of the church is thought to
be based on divine revelation, and heretics are viewed as
perversely rejecting the guidance of the church. Numerous
Christian heresies appeared from the 2nd century onwards. Early
heresies included Arianism, the Monophysite heresy, Pelagianism,
and Donatism. Some heresies, such as Montanism, expressed faith
in a new prophet who added to the body of Christian revelation.
Some types of Gnosticism were heretical branches of
Christianity. The major means of combating heretics in the early
church was excommunication. In the 12th–13th century, the
Inquisition was established to combat heresy, and heretics who
refused to recant were often executed. In the 16th century the
Protestant Reformation brought an end to the doctrinal unity of
Western Christendom, and the concept of heresy became less
important in the various Christian churches