While the Bible calls Christians to unity, there are many cracks, splinters, divisions and schisms in the Christian family. I have previously reviewed the earliest creeds that Christians used to define their beliefs and unify the community of believers: Who is a Christian?
This post will look at five schisms that have divided Christian believers.
1. Great East-West Schism
The Nicene Creed was written in the 4th century and affirms the three persons of the Holy Trinity are equal persons. The 4th century Nicene creed says the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father. In the 6th century, the Western church started using a version of the Nicene Creed that states that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Adding this clause was said to trigger the East-West Schism that divided Orthodox and Roman churches in 1053, but the break was about more than that. The Bishop of Rome (the Pope) had added the clause 'and the Son' without consulting the other four Bishops of the Pentarchy. The schism was largely about whether the Bishop of Rome had primacy over the four Eastern Bishops. Did they each have jurisdiction over their area or were they subject to the Pope's authority? The Pope claims primacy under the succession of Peter, possibly the 'greatest disciple'. It may have been the old debate about 'who's the greatest' and men seeking power.
The Apostle's Creed is based on a variety of Bible verses. The Apostles' Creed is a statement of faith that may be the result of questions asked to new believers; answered in the affirmative, these become statements of faith. It affirms the holy, universal church and may have been used as early as the 4th century, but it was not acknowledged as an official statement of faith of the western church until the 12th century (after the Great Schism). The Eastern Orthodox churches do not accept the authority of the Apostle's Creed because it was never approved by a major ecumenical Council.
Both East and West claim to be the true, orthodox, universal church, with the other one being the break-away group. Since Protestants broke away from the Roman Catholic tradition, Protestants who use the Nicene Creed use the Roman Catholic version, and may also use the Apostles' Creed.
The western church excommunicated the eastern church in 1054. The eastern church retaliated by excommunicating the Roman Catholic church.
The Western and Eastern branches of Christianity lifted their mutual ex-communications in 1965.
2. Protestant - Roman Catholic Schism
The Protestant Reformation began as a movement to Reform the Roman Catholic Church. After the Reformation, Roman Catholics had a counter-reformation and changed many of these practices, but retained certain rituals, sacraments, art, incense, and other practices that help guide and support believers. While Protestants and Catholics share the beliefs of the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, most Reformers left the Catholic Church and formed Protestant churches.
In the 1500s, some theologians protested certain practices in the Catholic Church. I give the "Five Solas" to illustrate the main Reform principles:
Indulgences. While the Roman Catholic church teaches salvation is only available by God's grace and is unmerited by works, at that time it had a practice of asking people to make payments to the church to receive forgiveness (these payments were called indulgences). Reformers affirmed "sola gratia", meaning we are saved by God's grace alone, not by payments to the church, and not by earning it by what we do.
Salvation. Catholic priests accepted members' confessions, assigned penance, and seemed to pardon sin, and assure salvation. Reformers affirmed sola fide, which means salvation through faith alone. It is not through faith in combination with any other requirements of the church.
Prayers through Saints. The Church encouraged praying through saints as intermediaries, while Reformers said the way to God is by Christ alone. Reformers affirmed "solus Christus", meaning only through Christ comes forgiveness and salvation. They opposed the idea of saints as mediaries.
Church vs the Bible. The Catholic Church encouraged the illiterate population to listen to the church teachings and biblical interpretations. It often taught that believers needed to believe both the Bible and the Church doctrines. Reformers said believers should read the Bible, which had become more widely available since the use of the printing press in 1450. Reformers said "sola Scriptura", making the Bible a higher authority than the church.
Church and Government. The Catholic Church controlled both government and religion in many European countries. It was able to strengthen political control by punishing anyone who they judged to be a heretic. Reformers said "soli Deo Gloria" meaning they wanted glory not for the church or the nation but for God alone.
Some Protestants use the Nicene and Apostle's Creeds while others do not. Many Protestant churches developed creeds or confessions of faith, statements of doctrinal beliefs or approved biblical interpretations. Charismatics, Quakers, and Pentecostals tend to avoid creeds, allowing for the work of the Holy Spirit as members work out their own beliefs. Most Baptists avoid creeds, referring to the authority of Scripture as primary, and using distinctive statements of beliefs as secondary, allowing local church autonomy and personal Christian freedom to interpret the Bible. While creeds and statements of belief can have a unifying impact, they can also be a way to divide, disaffiliate, or dissociate with those who may question biblical interpretations and beliefs. Some churches will not permit full membership, voting, or leadership privileges unless you confess belief in their church's statement of beliefs.
Even early Reformers opposed the Catholic Church for enforcing its biblical interpretations or doctrines on the congregation, Reformers insisted that Protestants obey the Reformers' doctrines. They thought they understood the true meaning of God's word and in adding to the five solas of the reformation, they condemned those who did not agree with their views.
John Calvin thought that speaking against Calvin's view of God were blasphemers who deserved the death penalty:
And what crime was it of mine if our Council, at my exhortation, indeed, but in conformity with the opinion of several Churches, took vengeance on his execrable blasphemies?” - John Calvin
Some Protestant churches now encourage following church teachings as a better way to understand the biblical teachings. There are now thousands of Protestant denominations, some separated by geography, language, and style of worship. They may agree on the biblical definition of a Christian or the ancient Creeds or they may not. Some Protestant denominations broke away over schisms on biblical interpretation or doctrine. Or maybe they formed because of the old debate about 'who's the greatest' and men seeking power.
3. Schisms over Race
Several denominations broke into distinct denominations based on their positions regarding slavery and segregation.
John Wesley, a founder of the Methodist movement, soundly judged anyone who tolerated slavery in his 1774 document, “Thoughts Upon Slavery”. In 1785, the first Book of Discipline published by the Methodists included legislation that any church member who buys or sells slaves is to be expelled from membership unless they free them. However, a few months later, Methodists suspended the rule banning membership to slaveowners because it limited the expansion of the church in the South. The pro-abolition side said slave-owners would lose their salvation for not respecting both Jew and Gentile as made in God's image.
The pro-slavery side said abolitionists may lose their salvation:
“We know that on the Bible argument the abolition party will be driven to unveil their true infidel tendencies. The Bible being bound to stand on our side, they have to come out and array themselves against the Bible.” Robert Lewis Dabney
“The parties in the conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans... Christianity and Atheism the combatants" - James Henley Thornwell
As emancipation and desegregation were argued, it was left to the local congregations to set policies on slaveholding or segregation. In many cases, Blacks were required to sit in segregated areas or meet at separate times for prayer and preaching.
Methodists divided in 1844:
In response to the unequal treatment, Richard Allen, a former slave, formed Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1794 and in 1799 he became the first ordained African-American Methodist pastor in the U.S. Allowing each local area to interpret slavery in their own way came to a crisis came in 1844. Bishop J. O. Andrew of Georgia became a slaveowner through marriage, and the Methodist Episcopal Church was divided into two denominations, those who opposed or affirmed slavery. The two Methodist denominations reunited in 1939.
Presbyterians divided in1837:
The Old School Presbyterians called for conservative, traditional Calvinist doctrines. Presbyterian theologian James Henley Thornwell stated that abolitionists were atheists:
“The parties in the conflict are not merely abolitionists and slaveholders. They are atheists, socialists, communists, red republicans, Jacobins on the one side, and friends of order and regulated freedom on the other." The New School Presbyterians reinterpreted Calvinism and supported Congregationalist theologians, revivals and social reform, including the abolition of slavery.
Baptists divided in 1845
The Baptists who believed abolitionists were opposing the word of God formed a separate denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. This denomination stated their support of slavery and segregation was based on the Bible and that those who opposed slavery were heretics. "As the Baptist minister and author Thornton Stringfellow noted in his influential Biblical Defense of Slavery, “men from the north” demonstrated “palpable ignorance of the divine will.”
Pentecostals divided in 1914:
The Charismatic movement began as interracial in 1901 but formed separate denominations by race from 1914 until 1994. This does not appear to be related to slavery and abolition, but related to segregation by race and different worship styles.
Were the slaveowners really concerned about the salvation of abolitionists? What about Christian debates about indigenous peoples, apartheid and mixed-race marriages? Were divisions due to biblical interpretation, greed for slave labour, or the old debate about 'who's the greatest' and white men seeking power? While the church is no longer divided officially to separate white churches from those with people of colour, there seem to be informal differences that discourage interracial worship.
4. Schisms over Sex
Several denominations have developed distinct denominations based on their interpretation of the Bible's view on women in offices such as elders, deacons, and pastors. Protestant denominations vary widely in their policies of women being ordained as clergy, elders, or deacons. Quakers and Salvation Army denominations were among the first to accept women in leadership.
Anglican churches have ordained women since the 1970s, particularly in its Episcopal group, but disputes over the ordination of women have triggered conservative separatist movements. The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) began to ordain women in 1995, but some congregations split away and formed the United Reformed Churches in North America, which does not ordain women. The Presbyterian Church (USA) ordains women but the Presbyterian Church in America does not ordain women. Several Methodist denominations ordain women while others set various limits on whether a woman may hold the office of elder, deacon, or ordained clergy. The United Church of Canada was formed by a merging of Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists, who had different policies on women in leadership. The United Church ordained its first woman minister, Rev. Lydia Emelie Gruchy in 1936 but it was 1966 when the Presbyterian Church in Canada began to ordain women.
However, even as many Protestant denominations ordain women, it is left to the local congregation whether or not they call a woman to a role as pastor, elder, or deacon. In many cases, churches either prohibit women from these roles, or limit them to teaching in segregated areas, to women or children only, or on foreign mission fields. Sometimes women clergy switch to more progressive or liberal churches. After 25 years of women's ordination, the CRCNA has close to 1,000 churches and just 172 women ordained in active ministry. After 75 years of women's ordination, the United Church of Canada ordained ministers include 1,990 men/1,375 women.
Canadian Baptists affiliated with the Canadian Baptist Federation all permit the ordination of women, yet allow congregations local autonomy on hiring. The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada passed a motion in 1997 to restrict women from certain leadership roles but allowed individual congregations autonomy. In 2003 the Fellowship Baptists proposed a more restrictive motion to enforce gender roles in its churches, which was narrowly defeated.
Women who pastor, women who preach in a church are a disgrace, and they openly reflect opposition to the clear command of the Word of God. This is flagrant disobedience. - John MacArthur (Pastor who covered up sexual and child abuse and financial impropriety in his church.
I’ve heard [John] Piper’s arguments before, on how women cannot be pastors, on how they should not teach men who want to be pastors. Women, according to Piper’s mindset, cannot have spiritual authority over men.... Quite frankly, Piper idolizes men in power, and utilizes a static theological paradigm that supports such power structures. His comments reveal a theology intending to maintain power and status quo. -Kate Hanch
John Piper now serves as pastor emeritus at Bethlehem Baptist Church, where several pastors have resigned. Bryan Pickering explains why: "There’s unethical behaviour. There’s domineering. There’s bullying. . . . cultural, damaging behaviour that’s being done, and has been done, for a long time.”
Many Baptist groups in the US ordain women. However, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the US, increased its prohibition on women's ordination in the year 2000 by adding to its Baptist Faith and Message that the office of pastor is limited to men. Adding this restriction to roles women previously performed shows that the church believes it has the true meaning of God's word and that those who opposed their biblical interpretation are disobeying the Bible.
Each SBC is autonomous, but congregations that have called women as pastors have been cut off from affiliation with the denomination. For example, the Middle Tennessee Baptist association voted to withdraw fellowship from a congregation that called a woman as pastor citing that they did not adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message. Likewise, the Georgia Baptist Convention cut off fellowship with First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia, over their decision to hire a woman as senior pastor.
Then in 2021, Saddleback Church, led by best-selling author Rick Warren and having an attendance of over 28,000, ordained three women pastors. Saddleback is one of the largest congregations of the SBC and calls to cut its affiliation were referred to the SBC Credentials Committee, which came back in 2022 to announce that it is delaying a decision on Saddleback's standing. They are debating whether the Baptist Faith and Message refers to all pastors or only the office of a senior pastor.
Meanwhile, the SBC policy seems to have given men privilege and entitlement and women roles that were subservient and not equal. Church congregations were disaffiliated for ordaining women, but no congregation was disaffiliated when a woman reported abuse by a male pastor or leader. A 2022 report by Guidepost Solutions detailed 700 cases of abuse by pastors, ministers, church teachers, camp counsellors, music ministers and others.
For the biblical rationale for patriarchy vs egalitarian perspectives, check out my book: The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman’s Role. One has to ask: are these disputes due to differences in biblical interpretation or are they actually due to the old debate about 'who's the greatest' and men seeking power and privilege?
5. Schisms over Morality
Church denominations also have developed distinct beliefs on their interpretation of the Bible's view on what is immoral or unchaste. Traditionally, this was related to working on Sunday, playing cards, dancing, drinking, and gambling. Some denominations define morality in their approved confessions of faith, which provide commentary or doctrines on the meaning of the Bible and explain how biblical commands are to be lived out. In fact, many churches seem to say that salvation hinges not only on faith, but also on becoming straight. They threaten gay people with the loss of salvation based on their interpretation of the Bible, and may continue to offer forms of prayer or conversion therapy. Many churches limit the participation or roles of LGBTQ+ Christians.
The CRCNA affirms three confessions—the Belgic Confession (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Canons of Dort (in 1619). The Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 108 says that the seventh commandment 'Thou shalt not commit adultery" means that God forbids all unchastity. The CRCNA has gone further, defining unchastity to include homosexuality.
A CRCNA congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, ordained a person in a same-sex marriage to the office of deacon. Since 1973, CRC has encouraged communities to accept those of same-sex orientation and allow opportunities to serve within the offices of the church regardless of their orientation, but that the practice of homosexual sex is incompatible with Scripture. Previous synods declared that homosexuality was a matter of 'pastoral advice', which meant local congregations had autonomy in their policies. Allowing a deacon who is in a practicing same-sex relationship triggered the Human Sexuality Report (HSR) which was debated at the CRC Synod Meeting in June 2022.
Calvin University, affiliated with CRCNA, worried if the approval of the HSR report would mean firing its LGBTQ faculty or limiting a faculty's ability to be promoted part-time or contract work. Calvin wonders if the decision will mean putting into question their academic independence, losing LGBTQ students or allies, or losing CRCNA funding and scholarships. The Center for Social Research this year became independent from Calvin University, in part to be more diverse and inclusive.
Opponents filed a minority report to Synod, arguing that the HSR:
“interpretations of key texts (namely Gen. 1-2 and Matt. 19) are not the only or even the most compelling or faithful way to interpret these texts.” The minority report states that those who hold to a high view of Scripture could come to different conclusions about the biblical interpretations of God's word on human relationships. Homosexuality is treated the same as sexual sins partly based on an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
The HSR presents procreation as the reason for marriage and a reason to oppose same-sex practices; it does not discuss marriage being created as an expression of love, human unity, or emotional intimacy; further, it does not acknowledge heterosexual sex that is not done for procreation (such as with impotent, infertile or menopausal couples or couples using contraception).
The minority report expressed concerns about the HSR’s position on divorce, specifically that it might encourage abused spouses to stay in dangerous relationships.
In discussions about the high rates of gay suicides, one delegate opposing the report was silenced after refusing to take back his statement that "our theology around this issue has caused there to be blood on our hands, and there will continue to be blood on our hands because of it".
The 2022 Synod approved the report that recommended adding homosexual sex to the list of unchaste actions that the church won't tolerate, together with adultery, premarital sex, common-law relationships, extra-marital sex, polyamory, and pornography. However, the church does list other unchaste actions from the same passage: human trafficking, prostitution, sexual abuse, child abuse, idolatry, stealing, coveting, drunkenness, and extortion. We discipline LGBTQ for sexual sins while ignoring the sins of the dominant culture: gluttony, greed, jealousy, envy, slander, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and lack of self-control.
Raising homosexuality from 'pastoral advice' at the local level to 'confessional status' means the North American denomination calls homosexual sex a 'grave sin that endangers a person’s salvation and requires church discipline, up to and including excommunication'.
Is this really the best way to show you care about the salvation of others? Or is it the best way to posture that you are superior? Is it adding to the word of God and putting heavy loads on people's shoulders? Is the move actually due to the old debate about 'who's the greatest', and the dominant culture exercising power? I have written other articles on affirming views of the biblical passages historically used to exclude LGBTQ+.
Conclusion
Are we using our Christian statements of faith to unite us or to judge, exclude, and divide?
Is it possible that today's creeds and confessions can be compared to the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages, or the Oral Traditions of Jesus's day? Are we falling into the same trap: adding man-made requirements?
In Acts 15, the early church decides not to impose Jewish rules on Gentile believers. The disciples decide not to place too many burdens on these new believers.
Similarly, the Protestant Reformers spoke against the Catholic church of the 1500s for putting on too many burdens, imposing obedience to the church rules, penance, and indulgences in addition to obedience to the Bible.
Today, Protestant churches often enforce their interpretations of the Bible on their congregants. The church seems to judge which sins are grave and who is saved, rather than leaving that to God. We glorify the fame and power of influential pastors to the point that discipline for abuse in their church is covered up in an effort to save the reputation of the church. We focus on the speck in our brother or sister's eye instead of the log in our own eye.
Jesus told his followers not to do what the Pharisees do because they do not practice what they preach (Matthew 23:2-4). Yet some leaders today allow domestic and spiritual abuse even though they preach against immorality. Jesus criticized the Oral Law that gave a commentary on the meaning of the Scripture, explained how biblical commands are to be lived out and added to the burden of care. Yet churches today have lifted up biblical interpretations and commentaries on the meaning of Scripture, creating detailed legal creeds and confessions about how to live out the biblical commands.
Paul wrote that even those who say believers must follow their laws cannot themselves follow all of their own law; what counts is the new creation (Galatians 6:13-16). In the same way, few of those who say believers must obey the confessions of their church can actually do it. We cannot end greed, divorce, pornography, and abuse by a legal decree. What counts is becoming a new creation, a new person. Being a new spiritual person does not change our race, gender, or sexual orientation. These are not our choices. These are how God made us. But in Christ, these differences are unimportant. Being a new spiritual person means following God's guidance in our choices.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1
The Sword A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role
Because She Was Called: from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church, imagines Mary Magdalene's trip to testify before the emperor
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience
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