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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.
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]
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 | End date | Original Church body | Resulting Church bodies or Schismatic bodies | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monarchian schism | – | early 2nd century | – | Great Church | Monarchians | [6] |
Marcionian schism | Roma, Italia, Roman Empire | 144 AD | 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. [7] |
Montanian schism | Ardabau, Mysia, Asia, Roman Empire | c.157 AD | c.9th century | Great Church | 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. [8] |
Sabellian schism | Roma, Italia, Roman Empire | 220 AD | – | Great Church | 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. [9] |
Novatian schism | Roma, Italia, Roman Empire | 251 AD | 8th century | Great Church | 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. [10] |
Donatian schism | Carthago, Africa Proconsularis, Roman Empire | 313 AD | c.7th century | Great Church | 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. [11] |
Arian schism | Nicaea, Asia, Roman Empire | 325 AD | 7th century | Great Church | Arians | [12] |
Quartodeciman schism | – | 325 AD | – | Great Church | Quartodecimans | [13] |
Pneumatomachian schism | – | 342 AD | – | Great Church | Pneumatomachians | [14] |
Luciferian schism | – | 362 AD | – | Great Church | 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. [15] |
Meletian schism | Antiochia, Syria, Roman Empire | 361 AD | 415 AD | Great Church | 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 AD | - | Great Church | Collyridians | The existence of this sect is seen as doubtful by many scholars. [16] |
Appolinarian schism | Laodicea, Syria, Roman Empire | 381 AD | late 4th century | Great Church | Appolinarians | [17] |
Nestorian schism | Ephesus, Asia, Roman Empire | 431 AD | - | Great Church | 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 AD | – | Great Church | Monophysites | [19] |
Acacian schism | – | 484 AD | 519 AD | Great Church | Acacians | [20] |
Schism of the Three Chapters | Aquileia, Italia, Eastern Roman Empire | 553 AD | 698 AD / 715 AD | Great Church | Patriarchate of Aquileia, dioceses of Liguria, Aemilia, Milan, and the Istrian peninsula | Part of the larger Three-Chapter Controversy [14] |
Armenian schism | Dvin, Armenia, Sasanian Empire | 607 AD | - | Great Church | Armenian Apostolic Church | The Armenian Church adopted Miaphysitism, and broke communion with the Georgian Church. [21] |
Monothelite schism | – | 629 AD | – | Great Church | Monothelites | [22] |
First Iconoclasm | – | c.726 AD | 13 October 787 AD | Great Church | Iconoclasts | [23] |
Second Iconoclasm | – | 815 AD | 843 AD | Great Church | Iconoclasts | [23] |
East–West Schism | Kōnstăntīnoúpolĭs, Eastern Roman Empire | 16 July 1054 AD | – | Great Church | 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] |
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