异端(heresy)
指经教会当局判为谬误的神学教义。在基督教中，教会的正统神学被认为是根据神授启示而来的，异端被视为顽固拒绝教会的引导。西元2世纪起出现了许多基督教异端，早期的异端包括阿里乌主义、基督一性论派、贝拉基主义和多纳图斯主义。一些异端（如孟他努斯主义）表现了信仰一位新的先知，其被基督圣灵所附身。诺斯底派的某些形式是基督教的异端支派。早期教会用以打击异端的主要手段是处以绝罚。12～13世纪时，教会成立异端裁判所来打击异端。经审讯後异端分子若仍不肯放弃其信仰，则通常加以处决。16世纪时，新教的宗教改革运动瓦解了西方基督教国家先前已统一的教义。在基督教各派教会中，异端的概念虽仍存在，但已不再那麽受到重视了。在犹太教、佛教、印度教和伊斯兰教中也存在着异端概念。
English version：
heresy
Doctrine rejected as false by religious authorities. In Christianity, the orthodox theology of the church is thought to be based on divine revelation, and heretics are viewed as perversely rejecting the guidance of the church. Numerous Christian heresies appeared from the 2nd century onwards. Early heresies included Arianism, the Monophysite heresy, Pelagianism, and Donatism. Some heresies, such as Montanism, expressed faith in a new prophet who added to the body of Christian revelation. Some types of Gnosticism were heretical branches of Christianity. The major means of combating heretics in the early church was excommunication. In the 12th-13th century, the Inquisition was established to combat heresy, and heretics who refused to recant were often executed. In the 16th century the Protestant Reformation brought an end to the doctrinal unity of Western Christendom, and the concept of heresy became less important in the various Christian churches, though it continues to exist. The concept of heresy also exists in Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.