Schism in Christianity

For other uses, see Schism (disambiguation).

In Christianity, a schism occurs when a single religious body divides and becomes two separate religious bodies. The split can be violent or nonviolent but results in at least one of the two newly created bodies considering itself distinct from the other. This article covers schisms in Christianity.

In the early Christian church, the formation of a distinction between the concepts of "heresy" and "schism" began. In ecclesiastical usage, the term "heresy" refers to a serious confrontation based on disagreements over fundamental issues of faith or morality, while the term "schism" usually means a lesser form of disunity caused by organizational or less important ideological differences. ^[1] Heresy is rejection of a doctrine that a Church considered to be essential. Schism is a rejection of communion with the authorities of a Church.

Definition

In Christian theology, the concept of the unity of the Church was developed by the Apostles, Holy Fathers and apologists. The greatest contribution to the doctrine of church unity was made by the apostles Peter and Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Cyprian of Carthage, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and John of Damascus. Christian ecclesiology insists on the statement that unity and the Church are synonymous, as John Chrysostom wrote: "the name of the Church is not one of separation but of unity and harmony". ^{[2] [3]}

Canon 751 of the Latin Church's 1983 Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983, defines schism as the following: "schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him". ^[4] This definition is reused in the Catechism of the Catholic Church . ^[5]

List of Christian schisms

Major denominational families in Christianity:

This box:

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Western Christianity

Eastern Christianity

Protestantism

Anabaptism

Anglicanism

Lutheranism

Reformed

(Latin Church)

Catholic Church

(Eastern Catholic Churches)

Eastern Orthodox Church

Oriental Orthodox Churches

Church of the East

Schism (1552)

Assyrian Church of the East

Ancient Church of the East

Protestant Reformation

(16th century)

Great Schism (1054)

Nestorian Schism (431)

Chalcedonian Schism (451)

Early Christianity

Great Church

(Full communion)

(Not shown are ante-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and restorationist denominations.)

Pre-12th century Christian schisms

See also: Proto-orthodox Christianity, Great Church, and Diversity in early Christian theology

Since the early days of Christianity, many disputes have arisen between members of the Church.

The following instances of denominations are considered as schisms of Early Christianity by the current mainstream Christian denominations:

Name of schism	Original location of schism	Start date	Schism resolved	Original Church body	Resulting Church bodies or schismatic bodies	Notes
Marcionian schism	Roma, Italia, Roman Empire	144	c. 10th century	Great Church	Marcionites	The schism started after the excommunication of Marcion of Sinope, who was influenced by Gnosticism and taught that the teachings of Christ is incompatible with the actions of the God of the Old Testament. [6]
Montanian schism	Ardabau, Mysia, Asia, Roman Empire	c. 157	c. 9th century		Montanists	The schism started after the excommunication of Montanus, along with Prisca and Maximilla, who taught that the Holy Spirit enables new prophecies after Jesus Christ. [7]
Sabellian schism	Roma, Italia, Roman Empire	220	–		Sabellians Patripassians	The schism started after Pope Callixtus I excommunicated Sabellius, who taught that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one God, rather than three distinct persons in God Himself. [8]
Novatian schism	Roma, Italia, Roman Empire	251	8th century		Novatianists	The schism started after Novatian was consecrated bishop by three bishops of Italy and declared himself to be the true Pope in opposition to Pope Cornelius. He held that lapsed Christians, who had not maintained their confession of faith under persecution, may not be received again into communion with the church. [9]
Donatian schism	Carthago, Africa Proconsularis, Roman Empire	313	c. 7th century		Donatists	The schism started when a commission appointed by Pope Miltiades condemned the Donatists, who denied the validity of sacraments administered by priests and bishops who had been traditores under the Diocletianic persecution. [10]
Arian schism	Nicaea, Asia, Roman Empire	325	7th century		Arians	[11]
Quartodeciman schism	–	325	–		Quartodecimans	[12]
Pneumatomachian schism	–	342	–		Pneumatomachians	[13]
Luciferian schism	–	362	–		Luciferians	Lucifer of Cagliari might have been excommunicated, as is hinted in the writings of Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo, as well as Jerome, who refers to his followers as Luciferians. [14]
Meletian schism	Antiochia, Syria, Roman Empire	361	415		Meletians Eustathians	The schism originated when Patriarch Meletius of Antioch was opposed by those faithful to the memory of Eustathius of Antioch, due to the unclarity of his theological position.
Collyridian schism	-	c. 376	-		Collyridians	The existence of this sect is seen as doubtful by many scholars. [15]
Monarchian schism	–	381	–		Monarchians Adoptionists Modalistic monarchianism	Monarchianism first developed in the 2nd century, but was only considered heresy after the 4th century. [16]
Appolinarian schism	Laodicea, Syria, Roman Empire	381	late 4th century		Appolinarians	[17]
Nestorian schism	Ephesus, Asia, Roman Empire	431	-		Nestorians	The Church of the East, independent since 410, refused to condemn Nestorius, leading to broken communion with the Great Church. [18]
Monophysite schism	Chalcedon, Bithynia, Roman Empire	451	–		Monophysites	[19]
Acacian schism	–	484	519		Acacians	[20]
Schism of the Three Chapters	Aquileia, Italia, Eastern Roman Empire	553	581 (Milan) 606 (Grado) 698 (Aquileia)		Patriarchate of Aquileia, dioceses in Liguria, Aemilia, Milan, and the Istrian peninsula	Part of the larger Three-Chapter Controversy. [13]
Armenian schism	Dvin, Armenia, Sasanian Empire	607	-		Armenian Apostolic Church	The Armenian Church adopted Miaphysitism, and broke communion with the Georgian Church. [21]
Monothelite schism	–	629	–		Monothelites	[22]
First Iconoclasm	–	c. 726	13 October 787		Iconoclasts	[23]
Second Iconoclasm	–	815	843		Iconoclasts	[23]
East–West Schism	Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire	16 July 1054	–		Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church	The validity of the Western legates' act is doubtful because Pope Leo IX had died and Ecumenical Patriarch Michael I Cerularius' excommunication only applied to the legates personally. In 1965, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I nullified the anathemas of 1054. The efforts of the ecumenical patriarchs towards reconciliation with the Catholic Church have often been the target of sharp internal criticism. [23]

12th–15th century Christian schisms

Name of schism	Original location of schism	Start date	Schism resolved	Original Church body	Resulting Church bodies or Schismatic bodies	Notes
Double papal election of 1130	Roma, Papal States	14 February 1130	29 May 1138	Catholic Church	Innocent II Anacletus II	Anacletus II died in 25 January 1138 and was succeeded by Victor IV until his submission to Innocent II on 29 May 1138.
Cathar schism	–	1147	–		Cathars	–
Waldensian schism	–	1215	–		Waldensians	–
Bosnian schism	–	1252	–		Bosnian Church	–
Arsenite schism	–	May 1265	1315	Eastern Orthodox Church	Arsenites, Josephists	–
Western schism	Fondi, County of Fondi, Kingdom of Naples	20 September 1378	11 November 1417	Catholic Church	Urban VI Clement VII	[24]
Bohemian Reformation	–	6 July 1415	–		Hussites	[25]
Baselian schism	Basel, Prince-Bishopric of Basel, Holy Roman Empire	5 November 1439	7 April 1449		Eugene IV Felix V	–
First Moscow–Constantinople schism	Moskva, Grand Principality of Moscow	c. 1467	1560	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople	Metropolis of Moscow and all Rus'	It started de facto in 15 December 1448 when Jonah of Moscow was elected as the metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus', then headquartered in Moscow, without the consent of the patriarch of Constantinople. His title was then changed unilaterally to metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus'. It became de jure schism when Dionysius I of Constantinople demanded that all the hierarchs of Muscovy submit to Gregory the Bulgarian, who was recognized by both Rome and Constantinople as the metropolitan of Kyiv, but was rejected by Ivan III of Russia who declared a complete rupture of relations with Constantinople. Relations were gradually restored and in 1560, the Patriarch of Constantinople considered the metropolitan of Moscow to be his exarch.

16th–17th century Christian schisms

Name of schism	Original location of schism	Start date	Schism resolved	Original Church body	Resulting Church bodies or Schismatic bodies	Notes
Reformation in Zürich	Zürich, Republic of Zurich, Swiss Confederacy, Holy Roman Empire	1523	–	Catholic Church	Zwinglians	Initially sparked during the Affair of the Sausages by Huldrych Zwingli in 1522, his ideas gained the support of the magistrates of the city of Zürich and Katharina von Zimmern, the princess-abbes of Fraumünster. One of the earliest episodes of the Reformation in Switzerland. [26]
Radical Reformation	Zürich, Republic of Zurich, Swiss Confederacy, Holy Roman Empire	1525	–	Zwinglians	Anabaptists	Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. [27]
Reformation in Geneva	Genève, Republic of Geneva, Holy Roman Empire	21 May 1536	–	Catholic Church	Calvinists	Part of the Reformation in Switzerland.
English Reformation	Westminster, Middlesex, Kingdom of England	3 November 1534	–		Church of England	Originally started as an attempt by King Henry VIII of England to circumvent his inability to obtain a papal-sanctioned annulment from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In 1531, Henry created the title Supreme Head of the Church of England for himself, which was put into law by the 1534 Act of Supremacy. The parliament of Ireland followed suit in 1537, but most of the Irish population remained Catholic. The schism was formally ended when Mary I reunited the English Church with the Roman Catholic Church, but it was reignited by the excommunication of Elizabeth I. [28]
Schism of 1552	Mosul, Sanjak of Mosul, Baghdad Eyalet, Ottoman Empire	1552	–	Church of the East	Shemon VII Ishoyahb, Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa
Scottish Reformation	Edinburgh, Edinburghshire, Kingdom of Scotland	August 1560	–	Catholic Church	Church of Scotland	[29]
Brownist schism	London, City of London, Kingdom of England	March 1566	–	Church of England	London underground church	The forerunners of the Pilgrims and modern Congregationalism.

18th–19th century Christian schisms

• Melkite–Orthodox Schism  [ ru ] 1724
• Anglican–Methodist schism (1784–)
• Orthodox Reformation 19th century
• Restorationist movement (c.1850–)
• Bulgarian schism (23 May 1872–1945)
• Old Catholic Church schism (1879–)
• Holiness movement schisms (c.1890–)

20th century Christian schisms

• Philippine Independent schism (1902–)
• Liberal Catholic schism (1913–)
  • Liberal Catholic internal schism (1916–)
• Watch Tower Society schism (June 1917–)
• True Orthodox movement (c.1920–)
  • Old Calendarism schisms (1923–)
• Fundamentalist–modernist controversy (c.1920–)
• Church of the East schism (1964–)
• Montaner Schism (1967–1969)
• Continuing Anglican schisms (1977–)
• Society of Saint Pius X schism (1988–)
• Apostolic Catholic Church schism (1992–)
• Second Moscow–Constantinople schism (23 February 1996–16 May 1996)

21st century Christian schisms

• Anglican realignment schisms (2002–)
  • The separation of the Anglican Church in North America from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada 2009 ^[30]
• Community of the Lady of All Peoples Quebec (April 2007–) ^[31]
• North American Lutheran Church, founded in 2010 by congregations that left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
• Third Moscow–Constantinople schism 2018
• United Methodist-Global Methodist schism 2022
• Diocese of the Southern Cross formed by Conservative Anglicans who left the Anglican Church of Australia 2022
• Anglican Communion-GAFCON schism (2025–)

See also

• Ecclesiastical separatism
• Old and New Lights

References

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2. In 1 Cor 1.1 as quoted in Thomas P Halton, The Church, (Wilmington, Del.: M. Glazier, 1985), 56
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15. Block, Corrie (2013). The Qur'an in Christian-Muslim Dialogue : Historical and Modern Interpretations. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN   9781135014056. OCLC   860626008.
16. "Monarchianism | Christianity". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
17. Kubiński, Tadeusz (December 1975). "Mcinerny R. M.. Language. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 8, pp. 365–376. Hirschberger J.. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm von. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 8, pp. 620–621. Carlo W. E.. Methodology (physical sciences). New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 9, pp. 747–750. Maziarz E. A.. Number. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 10, pp. 561–566. Ladrière J. A.. Verification. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 14, pp. 615–616. Stokes W. E.. Whitehead, Alfred North. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 14, pp. 896–897. McGuinness B. F.. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. New Catholic encyclopedia, prepared by an editorial staff at the Catholic University of America, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York etc. 1967, vol. 14, pp. 983–984. Stahl G.. Un développement de la logique des questions. Revue philosophique de la France et de l'Etranger, vol. 153 (1963), pp. 293–301". The Journal of Symbolic Logic. 40 (4): 599–600. doi:10.2307/2271807. ISSN   0022-4812. JSTOR   2271807.
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22. Bury, Tracy (May 1995). "The Development of the CSP Research Strategy". Physiotherapy. 81 (5): 251–252. doi:10.1016/s0031-9406(05)66817-4. ISSN   0031-9406.
23. Reese, Alan W. (August 2000). "A History of the Byzantine State and Society, by Warren Treadgold. A History of the Byzantine State and Society, by Warren Treadgold. Stanford California, Stanford University Press, 1997. xxiii, 1019 pp. $79.50 U.S. (cloth), $34.95 U.S. (paper)". Canadian Journal of History. 35 (2): 300–301. doi:10.3138/cjh.35.2.300. ISSN   0008-4107.
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Sources

• Hovorun, Cyril (2014). "Ecclesiological foundations for Ecumenism". Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Thomas Fitzgerald, Cyril Hovorun, Aikaterini Pekridou, Nikolaos Asproulis, Guy Liagre, Dietrich Werner (1st ed.). Oxford: Regnum book international. pp. 77–85. ISBN   978-1-908355-44-7.
• McGuckin, Fr. John (2014). "The Role of Orthodoxy in World Christianity Today – Historical, Demographic and Theological Perspectives – An Introduction". Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Thomas Fitzgerald, Cyril Hovorun, Aikaterini Pekridou, Nikolaos Asproulis, Guy Liagre, Dietrich Werner (1st ed.). Oxford: Regnum book international. pp. 3–9. ISBN   978-1-908355-44-7.

Further reading

• Ionita, Fr. Viorel (2014). "Bilateral Theological Dialogues of Orthodox Churches – a General Introduction". Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Thomas Fitzgerald, Cyril Hovorun, Aikaterini Pekridou, Nikolaos Asproulis, Guy Liagre, Dietrich Werner (1st ed.). Oxford: Regnum book international. pp. 457–472. ISBN   978-1-908355-44-7.
• Kalaitzidis, Pantelis (2014). "Theological, historical, and cultural reasons for anti-ecumenical movements in Eastern Orthodoxy". Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Thomas Fitzgerald, Cyril Hovorun, Aikaterini Pekridou, Nikolaos Asproulis, Guy Liagre, Dietrich Werner (1st ed.). Oxford: Regnum book international. pp. 134–152. ISBN   978-1-908355-44-7.
• Christine Chaillot, Alexander Belopopsky (1998). Towards Unity. The Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Geneva: Inter-Orthodox Dialogue. ISBN   9788390695846.
• Dvornik F. (2008). The Photian Schism: History and Legend. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521101769.
• W. H. C. Frend (2000). The Donatist Church: A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0198264088.
• Gary L. Ward (1990). Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Omnigraphics Inc. ISBN   978-1558883079.