Heresy of the Week: Johannism

Very few heresies have survived intact today and are still practiced openly under their name.  This week's heresy is one of those few.

Johannism is a very early Gnosticism heresy which suggested that John the Baptist, rather than Jesus, was the true Savior. They died out fairly quickly, and are considered the predecessors of Mandaeism sect. It was revived in 19th century France by Priest Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat and called “The Johannite Church of Primitive Christians”. In the year 2000, a man named James Foster claimed to be a member of this church (which many had believed to have died out by then) and expanded its reach to several other countries, renaming it the “Apostolic Johannite Church”.