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In the middle of the 2nd century, three unorthodox groups of Christians adhered to a range of doctrines that divided the Christian communities of Rome: the teacher [[Marcion]], the pentecostal outpourings of ecstatic Christian prophets of a continuing revelation, in a movement called "[[Montanism]]" because it had been initiated by [[Montanus]] and his female disciples, and the [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] teachings of Valentinus. Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of [[Tertullian]]'s ''Prescription Against Heretics'' (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of [[Irenaeus of Lyons|Irenaeus]]' ''Against Heresies'' (''ca'' 180, in five volumes), written in Lyon after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of [[Ignatius of Antioch]] and [[Polycarp of Smyrna]] to various churches warned against false teachers, and the ''[[Epistle of Barnabas]]'' accepted by many Christians as part of Scripture in the 2nd century, warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity, as did other writers, leading to decisions reached in the [[First Ecumenical Council]], which was convoked by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, in response to further disruptive polemical controversy within the Christian community, in that case [[Arianism|Arian]] disputes over the nature of the Trinity.
Irenaeus was the first to argue that the "proto-orthodox" position was the same faith that [[Jesus]] gave to the [[apostle]]s, and that the identity of the apostles, their successors, and the teachings of the same were all well known public knowledge. This was therefore an earlier argument on the basis of [[Apostolic succession|Apostolic Succession]]. Irenaeus' opponents claimed to have received secret teachings from Jesus via other apostles which were not publicly known. ([[Gnosticism]] is predicated on the existence of hidden knowledge, but brief references to private teachings of Jesus have also survived in the canonic Scripture.) Irenaeus' opponents also claimed that the wellsprings of divine inspiration were not dried up, the doctrines of continuing revelation.
Before 325 AD, the "heretical" nature of some beliefs was a matter of much debate within the churches. In the early church, heresies were sometimes determined by a selected council of bishops, or [[ecumenical council]], such as the [[First Ecumenical Council|First Council of Nicaea]]. After 325 AD, some opinion was formulated as dogma through the ''canons'' promulgated by the councils. Each phrase in the [[Nicene Creed]], which was hammered out at the Council of Nicaea, addresses some aspect that had been under passionate discussion and closes the books on the argument, with the weight of the agreement of over 300 carefully selected bishops from around the empire. However, that did not prevent the [[Arianism|Arians]] who were defeated at the council of 325 from dominating most of the church for the greater part of the fourth century, often with the aid of Roman emperors who favored them. In the East, the successful party of [[Cyril of Jerusalem|Cyril]] cast out [[Nestorius]] and his followers as heretics and collected and burned his writings.
