Book excerpt: A scholarly review of early Christian history and its policies against heresy and lessons for today’s church leaders and reformers Ancient heresies have modern expressions that influence our churches and culture, creating cruel dilemmas for today’s Christian in the form of error, sin, and various distortions on orthodox faith. In The Cruelty of Heresy, Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison captures the drama and relevance of the Councils of the fourth and fifth centuries and shows how the remarkable achievements of these early struggles provide valuable guidelines for believers today. “Bishop Allison has combined a lifetime of scholarship and pastoral experience in this remarkable, readable work. . . . He vividly describes how the two human tendencies toward self-centeredness and escape from the difficulties of life—both very popular today—always distort the gospel. . . . Invaluable reading for any minister of the gospel, those who are preparing for Christian ministry, and all who seek a deeper understanding of authentic Christian orthodoxy.”—Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago (1982–1996)