ORIGINS CHART

Where They Came From

A chronological and geographic view of the places, periods, and figures associated with each teaching.

How to read this: Some teachings arose as broad currents rather than at one precise location. The place shown is the strongest historical association in the supplied overview.

#	Teaching	Period	Origin / Region	Figure
1	Arianism	Early 4th century, Alexandria	Alexandria, Egypt	Arius
2	Sabellianism / Modalism	2nd–3rd centuries	Rome and the early Mediterranean church	Praxeas; Sabellius
3	Adoptionism	2nd–3rd centuries; later 8th-century Spain	Early Mediterranean churches and Spain	Ebionite and Dynamic Monarchian groups; Elipandus of Toledo
4	Docetism	1st–2nd centuries	Eastern Mediterranean and early Gnostic circles	No single founder
5	Gnosticism	1st–2nd centuries	Mediterranean world	Valentinus; Basilides; others
6	Marcionism	2nd century	Rome; Marcion came from Pontus	Marcion of Pontus
7	Ebionism / Judaizing Christology	1st–2nd centuries	Jewish-Christian communities in Palestine and surrounding regions	No clear single founder
8	Montanism	2nd century	Phrygia, Asia Minor	Montanus; Prisca/Priscilla; Maximilla
9	Macedonianism / Pneumatomachianism	4th century	Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire	Associated with followers of Macedonius
10	Apollinarianism	4th century	Laodicea and the Eastern Roman Empire	Apollinaris of Laodicea
11	Nestorianism	5th century	Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire	Nestorius
12	Eutychianism / Monophysitism	5th century	Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire	Eutyches
13	Monothelitism	7th century	Byzantine Empire	Sergius of Constantinople and others
14	Pelagianism	5th century	Rome and North Africa; Pelagius was British	Pelagius
15	Semi-Pelagianism	5th century	Southern Gaul	Often associated with John Cassian, though that label is debated
16	Donatism	Early 4th century	North Africa, especially Carthage	Donatus; controversy surrounding Caecilian
17	Novatianism	3rd century	Rome	Novatian
18	Manichaeism	3rd century	Persia	Mani
19	Catharism / Albigensianism	Medieval period	Southern France and parts of Europe	No single founder; Cathar communities and “perfects”
20	Socinianism / Unitarianism	16th century Radical Reformation	Poland, Transylvania, and Europe	Fausto Sozzini / Faustus Socinus
21	Liberal “Demythologized” Christianity	18th–20th centuries	Europe and North America	Schleiermacher; Ritschl; Harnack; Bultmann; others
22	Prosperity Gospel / Word of Faith Extremes	20th century	United States, later global	E. W. Kenyon; Kenneth Hagin; later prosperity preachers
23	Antinomianism	New Testament era and recurring later forms	Recurring across Christian history	No single founder
24	Legalism / Galatianism / Judaizing	Apostolic era	Galatia and early Gentile churches	Judaizers opposed by Paul
25	Universalism, in its heretical form	Ancient and modern forms	Various regions and periods	Various; sometimes associated with disputed readings of Origen
26	Religious Pluralism / Indifferentism	Modern interfaith liberalism, with older parallels	Modern global religious culture	No single founder
27	Syncretism	A recurring temptation in every era	Global	No single founder
28	Latter-day Saint Theology: A Nicene Christian Assessment	19th century	United States	Joseph Smith
29	Jehovah’s Witness Christology: A Nicene Christian Assessment	19th-century Bible Student movement	United States	Charles Taze Russell; later Joseph Rutherford
30	“Christless Christianity”	A recurring drift rather than one movement	Churches in many modern cultures	No single founder