A Different Christianity in the Roman Empire

I am looking for another major break point in a sort-of-timeline I am working on (Ancient Jewish Refuge in Madagascar), but this is not my area of expertise. With a POD after the death of Jesus, and preferably mid 2nd Century or within the folowing 50-100 years, have different sects/traditions of Christianity other than the Chalcedonian variety become dominant in either the ERE, the WRE or the whole Empire.
 
This early, the most likely thing you`d get is a powerful gnostic Christian group. Have some important persons in, say, Asia Minor back it, and you`ll have a thriving brand of Christianity which shows some anti-scriptural tendencies as well as syncretisms with Hellenist secret cults and Buddhism. Basically the ground on which Manichaeism thrived. Could pretty well have been a more Christian group.
 

fi11222

Banned
I am looking for another major break point in a sort-of-timeline I am working on (Ancient Jewish Refuge in Madagascar), but this is not my area of expertise. With a POD after the death of Jesus, and preferably mid 2nd Century or within the folowing 50-100 years, have different sects/traditions of Christianity other than the Chalcedonian variety become dominant in either the ERE, the WRE or the whole Empire.
I believe that an interesting variety of Christianity to look at would be Marcionism. It is a form of Gnosticism but not one of the weirdest (which would have little chance of becoming mainstream). It seems to me that if Marcionism were to become the dominant form of Christianity in the IInd century, it might later on merge with Mithraism and / or Manichaeism, which would be interesting in both cases.

Other possible PODs, though later, would be to have Arianism, Nestorianism or Monophysitism become the orthodox variants of Christianity in the IVth and the Vth centuries.
 
I am looking for another major break point in a sort-of-timeline I am working on (Ancient Jewish Refuge in Madagascar), but this is not my area of expertise. With a POD after the death of Jesus, and preferably mid 2nd Century or within the folowing 50-100 years, have different sects/traditions of Christianity other than the Chalcedonian variety become dominant in either the ERE, the WRE or the whole Empire.

well, the most obvious is the Arians. considering your username.

the Goths build a successful state in Italy, and the WRE remnants go whichever way. Ireland may or may not keep a Celtic form of Christianity.

let's see...

well, there's also the possibility of non-Chalcedonian Nicenes (Nestorians?) gaining power in the east.

I believe that an interesting variety of Christianity to look at would be Marcionism. It is a form of Gnosticism but not one of the weirdest (which would have little chance of becoming mainstream). It seems to me that if Marcionism were to become the dominant form of Christianity in the IInd century, it might later on merge with Mithraism and / or Manichaeism, which would be interesting in both cases.

Other possible PODs, though later, would be to have Arianism, Nestorianism or Monophysitism become the orthodox variants of Christianity in the IVth and the Vth centuries.

in the case of Marcion, you might have to get rid of the enforced celibacy. or at least have it evolve into something only a select few do.
 
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I've always been a big fan of the Paulicians.

What about a more succesful Paulician revolt? You would have no clergy anymore, disappearance of the cross in worship...
 
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