
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


'Heresy' sells. Maybe it's because it's mysterious, dangerous, or entertaining. But the idea of ancient 'Christian heresies' is misleading. The tendency to make ideas 'right' or 'wrong' confuses the issues. Strong early Christian women, such as Mary Magdalene, Thecla, and Perpetua, posed a threat to the developing male hierarchy, but their words seem to be consistent with the words of the men. Heresy, then, is not a natural category; it is more about who the power brokers were.
By Early Christian Texts4.5
2626 ratings
'Heresy' sells. Maybe it's because it's mysterious, dangerous, or entertaining. But the idea of ancient 'Christian heresies' is misleading. The tendency to make ideas 'right' or 'wrong' confuses the issues. Strong early Christian women, such as Mary Magdalene, Thecla, and Perpetua, posed a threat to the developing male hierarchy, but their words seem to be consistent with the words of the men. Heresy, then, is not a natural category; it is more about who the power brokers were.

90,951 Listeners

580 Listeners

4,832 Listeners

614 Listeners

113,521 Listeners

340 Listeners

4,204 Listeners

1,670 Listeners

66,667 Listeners

3,375 Listeners

16,427 Listeners

131 Listeners

693 Listeners

222 Listeners

1,461 Listeners