heresies
Beliefs deemed unorthodox
Heresies are beliefs or opinions that contradict established doctrine, especially religious orthodoxy.
The word implies not just disagreement but deviation from what authorities consider fundamental truth.
Historically, heresies could bring severe punishment from religious institutions.
The term extends to any unorthodox view in a field with established consensus: His economic heresies got him fired from the think tank.
Renunciation of former beliefs
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- excommunicationFormal barring from sacraments
- anathemaIntensely detested thing
- inquisitionSustained, probing investigation
orthodoxy · dogma · doctrine · creed · theology · canon · ecclesiastical · papacy
Prejudiced loyalty to subgroups
- denominationNamed religious group
- riftCrack or estrangement
- splitSeparation into parts
- reformationProcess of improving institutions
dissent · nonconformity · separatism · factionalism · breakaway · disunity · iconoclasm · doctrinal
Departure from accepted belief
- freethinkingIntellectually independent reasoning
- dissidenceOpposition to prevailing views
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- contrarianismOpposing prevailing views systematically
subversion · radicalism · revisionism · skepticism · questioning · challenge · taboo · forbidden
Departing from standard practice
- maverickIndependent-minded rule-breaker
- trailblazingBeing the first through
- disruptionForceful interruption of process
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
provocation · avant-garde · transgression · defiance · rebellion · pioneering · revolutionary
apostasy
Renunciation of former beliefs
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- excommunicationFormal barring from sacraments
- anathemaIntensely detested thing
inquisition · orthodoxy · dogma · doctrine · creed · theology · canon · ecclesiastical · papacy · councils
sectarianism
Prejudiced loyalty to subgroups
- denominationNamed religious group
- riftCrack or estrangement
- splitSeparation into parts
reformation · dissent · nonconformity · separatism · factionalism · breakaway · disunity · iconoclasm · doctrinal · papal
unorthodoxy
Departure from accepted belief
- freethinkingIntellectually independent reasoning
- dissidenceOpposition to prevailing views
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
contrarianism · subversion · radicalism · revisionism · skepticism · questioning · challenge · taboo · forbidden · censorship
unconventional
Departing from standard practice
- maverickIndependent-minded rule-breaker
- trailblazingBeing the first through
- disruptionForceful interruption of process
iconoclast · provocation · avant-garde · transgression · defiance · rebellion · pioneering · revolutionary
- early churchapostles, early church, Church Fathers, apostolic fathers, Acts of the Apostles
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- church historychurch history, apostles, Protestant Reformation, Christian history, baptism
- Medieval Religionmonasticism, papacy, popes, Catholic, Catholicism
- ByzantiumByzantine Empire, Constantinople, Hagia Sophia, Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium
- Late AntiquityConstantine, Theodosius I, Constantinople, fall of Rome, Roman Empire
heresiesorthodoxies
Widely accepted established beliefs
dogmas · doctrines · creeds · articles of faith · catechisms
heresiestruths
Accurate statements about reality
verities · certainties · axioms · conventional wisdom · received wisdom
heresy, heretic, heretical, heterodox, heterodoxy, heretically