Heresy, Genesis, and the Fathers

“The fourth-century Fathers were beginning to realize that in the literal sense of the creation story they had a strong defense against a number of heresies which had sprung up over the doctrine of creation. Marcionism, Manichaeism, and a number of brands of Gnosticism all taught doctrines of creation quite at odds with Genesis. In fact, John [Chrysostom] mentions these errors at the beginning of his series . . . . The fact that a grammatical-historical interpretation of Genesis was so useful in refuting so many of these heresies may well explain why Genesis so frequently found a place in the preaching of the Church during the weeks when the catechumens were being prepared for baptism. It was important to get the catechumens straight on these matters. The precision of Scripture needed to be respected if heresy was to be avoided” (Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, 2:186).