The Great Schism And The Separation Of Christianity

The religious schism began because of the making of Protestantism. The Catholic Church was corrupted in many ways, for example, the selling of

Although it is widely accepted that the Schism of 1054 was caused by religious differences in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, or Latin Christian, cultural differences and political tensions played an equally important role is the separation of the Christian Church in Europe.

The Great Schism of 1054 The Great Schism of 1054 was the separation of what is now the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Western Roman Catholic Churches. In the book, The Orthodox Church, Timothy Ware explains several reasons that influence the separation of these two churches. Ware explains how the Great Schism happened gradually over time, where Catholicism would slowly branch away from the Eastern Side.

One of the assigned readings that struck me was “The Great Schism”. It describes how and why Christianity split into Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Roman Catholicism branches. The main reasons that the East-West schism occurred were cultural, political and geographical. It corrected my misunderstanding concerning the situations that led to the split between the Eastern and Western Christendom. I was surprised to learn about some reasons that could play such a big role in diving the two branches.

It is believed that the Pope is in a direct line from St Peter who

After the 4th century when Constantinople emerged as a great capital and church center, tensions sometimes arose between its leaders and the bishop of Rome. After the fall of Rome to Germanic invaders in 476, the Roman pope was the only guardian of Christian universalism in the West. He began more explicitly to attribute his dominance to Rome's being the burial place of Saint Peter, whom Jesus had called the "rock" on which the church was to be built. The Eastern Christians respected that tradition and recognized the Roman patriarch to a measure of honorable authority. But they never believed that this authority allowed the papacy to overrule another church or that it made the pope into a universally reliable figure within the larger

The Great Schism of 1054, also called the East-West Schism, divided the church into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The split did not just occur randomly; it was a series of long tensions that had been brewing for years. When the tensions reached the climax in 1054, Pope Leo IX sent delegates to the ecumenical patriarch, Michael Cerulias, and excommunicated him and his associates. In return, Michael excommunicated the Pope and his delegates too. The split was done and there would be no coming back.

There have been many disputes over religious rights and freedoms throughout history, the effects of which we still see to this day. Even with these disputes, there are common threads in all religions which are the basic concepts of prayer and worship. However, it is not as simple as it sounds. There are many details to be considered; for instance, who will be in charge of teaching religious doctrine; how will the messages be relayed; who or what will be worshipped and for what purpose? These questions have been asked, answered, changed and debated for centuries. Many of these discussions resulted in blood being shed, wars being waged and countries being divided. None perhaps is as famous as the Schism of 1054 wherein the division between Eastern and Western Christianity was clearly defined and remains to this day . Although there were many points which led to the split; three key points that played significant roles were idolatry, the Coronation of Charlemagne and papal supremacy.

Additionally the great schism did the same thing in splitting up society. The great schism was a huge split within the Christian church. It was between western and eastern Christian church's. According

During the late 14th century and the early 15th century there was a great division in the Catholic Church. The Papacy was becoming blurred. The center of the Roman Catholic Church had been moved from Rome to the city of Avignon during the reign of Pope Clement V; and there was now a movement to return the center of power back to Rome. This movement was first truly seen under Pope Gregory XI and his successor Pope Urban VI. Earlier Pope Urban V had moved the center to Rome but it had been proven to be no more than a temporary idea; he had gone back to Avignon to die and there his replacement, Pope Gregory XI was elected . This along with other political problems and circumstances created a split in the loyalty among

Christianity began its succession into the most dominant worldwide religion after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days build another made without hands.” Upon Jesus’ death and resurrection, he completed this task setting forth the development of Christianity. Since Jesus left no formal authoritative power, organization, or agreed upon scriptures, a wide variety of sects gained popularity in the development of Christianity. Most of these sects were later deemed as heretic, one of the most notable being Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a dualist religion believing the material world evil and the invisible spirit realm good. This belief obligated Gnosticism to follow Docetic interpretations. Docetism is the belief that Jesus was never truly man but rather a divine from the spirit world. All forms of Christianity, however, believe Jesus is son of God sent as humanity’s savior from damnation. Docetism, along with other aspects of Gnosticism, drove other Christians condemn Gnosticism as heresy. Gnosticism, however, is more comparable to Canonical Christians than realized. Specifically, the distinction between Docetism and strict Canonical belief is not only insignificant but also justifiable due to Canonical contradictions surrounding Jesus’ existence.

Before the Sixteenth century ‘mission’ was used to describe relationships within the holy Trinity. It was not used to describe an aspect of church life. The word ‘missio’ in Latin means ‘to send’, it was used to describe the sending of the Son by the Father, and also the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son. 1.

The single most important aspect of European empires, beginning just prior to the fall of Rome, is the spread of Christianity to all areas of the continent in as little as a few hundred years. Many theologians state that Christianities spread is the indirect influence of God and the adoration of people to one true faith. Though it is true that Christianity has brought about people that even atheists could call saints, it is unquestionable that Christianity was so monumental because it united larger groups of people and its spread is contributed to adherence to local customs and its lack of new ideas in comparison to other religions of the day.

The Great Papal Schism is also known as the Western Schism that lasted from 1378 – 1417, during which the papacy (the position itself) was in great divide between three popes in the Roman Catholic Church. This political upheaval within the Roman Catholic Church caused distrust of the western civilization towards the church. It began after the Avignon Papacy or the more commonly referred to, “Babylonian captivity of the papacy” which was when the papal court was moved to France and French cardinals who later became popes from 1309-1378 resided in Avignon, France (a total of seven French popes by the papal names Clement V all the way to Gregory XI, who moved the court back to Rome) while being heavily influenced by the French kings; this also resulted to the decline of the papal power and authority (Miller, Study.com).

The schisms of the Catholic Church is instrumental in creating a platform that sparks the Reformation and eventually establishes the Protestant Church. Because of the stronghold Christianity has and its ability to permeate within the confines of the Roman Empire, leaders decide to befriend Christians and seek their support. With this in mind, believers are tolerated and eventually, Theodosius I make Christianity the state religion of the Empire and forbids the worship of pagan gods. After Theodosius’ rule the Empire split, but the church maintains its relevance in both the West and the East (Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Von Laue, 2013, p. 172).