Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Schism
Bailey Herrera
Summary-
Christianity had spread throughout the mediterranean after its legalization by Constantine. However, due to the spread of Islam, Christianity was heavily reduced and left only in Rome and Constantinople. Movements started with outbreaks after Iconoclasm was started with Emperor Leo 3 in 726 when he ordered people to destroy religious icons in churches. This upsetter many lay people during the time and caused religious tension within the church. Religious and Political issues divided the church into Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations. Even simple reasons such as miswording of religious texts caused tension. Eventually, through excommunication, each pope disregarded each others religion to be true in 1054 C.E.
Theological Reasons-
Christianity had spread throughout the mediterranean after its legalization by Constantine. However, due to the spread of Islam, Christianity was heavily reduced and left only in Rome and Constantinople. Movements started with outbreaks after Iconoclasm was started with Emperor Leo 3 in 726 when he ordered people to destroy religious icons in churches. This upsetter many lay people during the time and caused religious tension within the church. Religious and Political issues divided the church into Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations. Even simple reasons such as miswording of religious texts caused tension. Eventually, through excommunication, each pope disregarded each others religion to be true in 1054 C.E.
Theological Reasons-
- Iconoclastic Movement- Movement destroying Idols in the church by the Eastern Orthodox which angered the Roman Catholics who believed in having religious Idols
- Rituals and Texts of the churches were not fully correlated although heavily similar
- Rejected ideas of having beards (Eastern Orthodox) vs not having beards (Roman Catholic) and leavened bread (Eastern Orthodox) vs unleavened bread (Roman Catholic)
- Precise relationship of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit which determined the main theological basis for christianity as a religion
- Eastern theology heavily influenced by greek philosophy while West was affected by Roman belief
- Eastern Popes could be married while Roman Catholic Popes were to remain Celibate
Political Reasons-
- Patriarchs and Popes argued about their specific rights and powers in government due to the previously established theocracy (Pope Leo XI claimed full authority over the four eastern popes)
- Argued about land jurisdictions and where prime cities for Christianity should be located such as Roman Catholics wanting Rome and Eastern Orthodox wanting to establish religious stronghold around Constantinople
- Finally rejected each others ideas in 1054 C.E and were called the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church split for good. Split between churches still exists
SELF CREATED IMAGE DEPICTING REASONS FOR SCHISM
East-west schism video
Works Cited
@CraigCons. "Reclaiming the Beard on Behalf of Christianity." Dr Craig Considine. N.p., 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
"The East West Schism." Youtube. Youtube, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
"Iconoclasm (Byzantine)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
"What Are the Benefits of Unleavened Bread?" LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 09 June 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
@CraigCons. "Reclaiming the Beard on Behalf of Christianity." Dr Craig Considine. N.p., 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
"The East West Schism." Youtube. Youtube, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
"Iconoclasm (Byzantine)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.
"What Are the Benefits of Unleavened Bread?" LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 09 June 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.