One of the earliest unofficial outlines of church doctrine, The Didache, made it clear that Christians should not practice abortion or expose newly born infants to die. In explaining what it meant to love one’s neighbor, it said, “Commit no murder, adultery, sodomy, fornication, or theft. Practice no magic, sorcery, abortion or infanticide.” On these ethical issues, Christians were unanimous.

But other practical issues caused division in the church or required church discipline. When we think of heresy in the early church, we usually think of lofty theological debates over the Trinity and the deity of Christ, but pastors also had to draw lines on a number of practical concerns.

Some monks and nuns in the early church believed they could live together. Monks wanted to be free of housekeeping duties, which nuns (whom they called “spiritual sisters”) could perform; the monks could then spend more time in contemplation and in service to others. Because of their ...

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