Despite this, Christianity has raised the suppression of "heresy" (a word which comes from a Greek term meaning "to declare, to claim, to assert") to an artform. This is because of early Christianity's strict adherence to written doctrines, and the fear that not living up to them might cause "believers" not to be saved.

I'll describe here some of the more important heresies, which (either positively or negatively) influenced the developing Christian Church.