The Birth of Heresiology

Abstract

Abstract Justin Martyr marks a decisive shift in the history of heresiography. Although Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch had criticized dissension in Christian circles in the early second century, Justin adopts and transforms the Greek habit of designating sects as αἱρέσεις. He argues that such sects, which he deems something other than Christian, are not merely the result of private choice, but rather stem from teachings that have demonic origins and are passed down in lines of human succession. Hegesippus, who must have known Justin’s Syntagma, as is evident from the similarity of their lists of heresies, argues in contrast to Justin that Christian heresies derive from Jewish heresies. We find that Justin Martyr is effectively the inventor of heresiological discourse, but that its forms and arguments shift already within the first few years after Justin writes.