70: Why So Many Churches?: The Day Christianity Split in Two – Part 4

In 1054, the Christian church split for the first time—East and West divided by theology, culture, and power. In this episode, we explore what led to the Great Schism, why it still matters, and what it teaches us about unity, leadership, and handling conflict in the church today.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
(Music)
Welcome to the Ready for Eternity
podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to
inquisitive Bible students exploring
biblical truths that might not be fully
explored in typical
sermons or Bible studies.

(00:20):
My name is Eddie Lawrence.
In 1054 AD, one act inside a grand
cathedral shattered a
thousand years of church unity.
Today, we explore the first church split.

(00:42):
July 16th, 1054 AD started like any other
day in Constantinople.
By evening, Christianity had officially
split for the first time in its
thousand-year history.
A Roman church representative walked into
the Hagia Sophia, the magnificent

(01:02):
cathedral of the Eastern Church.
He placed a letter of excommunication on
the altar, then walked out.
The letter condemned the patriarch of
Constantinople and
anyone who followed him.
One thousand years of Christian unity
ended with a piece of parchment.
How did it come to this and what does

(01:24):
this ancient split teach us about
handling disagreement
in our churches today?
The division didn't happen overnight.
For centuries, Eastern and Western
Christianity had been drifting apart like
continents slowly separating.
Geography played a role.

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Rome anchored the Western churches.
Constantinople, which is modern-day
Istanbul, led the Eastern churches.
These cities set over 800 miles apart in
an age when communication
traveled at the speed of horses.
Language also created barriers.
Western churches spoke Latin while

(02:06):
Eastern churches spoke Greek.
Western Christianity developed a more
legal, organized approach.
Eastern Christianity
emphasized mystery and contemplation.
Different cultures produced different
ways of following Jesus.
But the real problem was power.

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Who had authority over
the entire Christian church?
After the Roman Empire collapsed in the
West, the Pope filled the power vacuum.
He claimed authority over
all Christians everywhere.
This made sense to Western Christians who
had watched their bishops provide
leadership when the governments failed.

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But Eastern Christians disagreed.
They had their own bishops, their own
emperor, their own thriving civilization.
Why should a bishop in distant Rome tell
them how to run their churches?
The Eastern church operated more like a
family of equal siblings.
Major bishops held equal authority in

(03:10):
their regions, and important decisions
required consensus among these leaders.
The Western church
developed more like a corporation.
The Pope served as CEO with
other bishops reporting to him.
This provided clear leadership, but
concentrated enormous
power in one person.

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By 1054, specific disagreements and
rivalries made the
underlying tensions explosive.
According to Philip Schaff in History of
the Christian Church, there were three
primary causes of east-west division.
1.
Political and ecclesiastical rivalry.

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The Patriarch of Constantinople, who was
backed by the Byzantine Empire,
and the Bishop of Rome, who was connected
to the new German Empire, competed for
supremacy and influence.
2.
Growing papal centralization.
As the Roman church centralized more

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power through the papacy, its overbearing
conduct alienated Eastern churches.
3.
Divergent development paths.
The Greek or Eastern church maintained
traditional theology and claimed
perfection in their existing creed.

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The Roman church became progressive and
dynamic, developing new theological ideas
and expanding into new territories.
Schaff also lists several factors which
contributed to the wedge being driven
between east and west.
One was the filioque controversy.
Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the

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Father alone, or from
the Father and the Son?
Western churches had added the words "and
the Son" which is the
word "filioque" in Latin,
to the Nicene Creed without
consulting Eastern churches.
Eastern leaders saw this as both
theologically wrong and

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procedurally arrogant.
Another contributing
factor was priestly marriage.
Eastern churches allowed
married men to become priests.
Western churches required celibacy.
A third factor was liturgical practices.
Rome withdrew the communion cup from

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laypeople, while the East continued
giving both bread and wine.
4.
Immaculate conception of Mary.
Rome adopted the idea that Mary was free
of original sin and
remained free of personal sin.
The Eastern church rejected this.

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Add political pressure, cultural pride,
and centuries of growing mistrust, along
with theological difference, and all
these became weapons of war, so to speak.
The final crisis began when the Pope
claimed authority over churches in
southern Italy that had traditionally
followed Eastern practices.

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The Patriarch of
Constantinople protested.
The Pope sent representatives to resolve
the dispute, but instead of negotiating,
the papal
representatives issued ultimatums.
They demanded the Eastern church submit
to Roman authority and
adopt Western practices.

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When Eastern leaders refused, the
representatives excommunicated them.
For the first time in Christian history,
major church leaders formally declared
each other outside the faith.
The church that had
survived Roman persecution,
barbarian invasions, and theological

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controversies finally split apart.
So what are the lessons for today?
The great schism reveals patterns that
still affect churches today.
For example, communication breakdown
leads to conflict escalation.
When Eastern and Western leaders stopped

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talking, misunderstandings multiplied.
When they finally did communicate, they
spoke past each other
instead of listening.
Another is that cultural differences can
create theological tensions.
Different cultures naturally emphasize
different aspects of biblical truth.

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This diversity can enrich the church, but
it can also create division when people
assume their cultural approach is the
only biblical approach.
Power struggles corrupt
spiritual discussions.
The great schism wasn't really about
communion practices or the
marriage status of priests.

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It was about who controlled
Christianity's future.
When spiritual discussions become power
contests, everybody loses.
And finally, small issues become major
conflicts without wise leadership.
Patient dialogue and mutual respect could

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have resolved many of the specific
agreements, but leaders on both sides
chose confrontation over the
priorities of God's kingdom.
Today's churches face similar tensions,
splitting over worship styles, leadership
structures, and
theological interpretations.

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The great schism offers
both warning and wisdom.
Pride, power, and poor communication
destroyed unity over issues largely
absent from New Testament teaching.
Much of what divided East and West,
clerical celibacy, papal supremacy,

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liturgical language,
and the filioque clause
represented traditions developed
centuries after the
apostles, not biblical mandates.
These disputes elevated human customs to
the level of divine command, claiming
authority that belongs only to God.

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Paul asks the
Corinthians, "Is Christ divided?"
This question still challenges us.
When Christians fight over non-essential
traditions rather than biblical truth,
the world watches and the gospel's
credibility suffers.
The New Testament records

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plenty of Christian conflict.
The challenge is distinguishing between
essential doctrine and secondary issues,
handling disagreements in ways that honor
Christ while maintaining spiritual unity.
The great schism reminds us how much

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damage we can do when we teach as
doctrine the precepts of men.
Thanks for listening to the podcast.
We hope this episode has deepened your
understanding of scripture.
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That's all for now.
Keep studying your Bible, growing closer

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to God, and getting ready for eternity.
See you next time.