The Great Schism

We talked a little bit about the Great Schism today in class and I thought I'd read more into what made this event perhaps the most significant split in history.

This Great Schism was also known as the East-West Schism and was primarily the split that became the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Something that was new to me, was that before the Great Schism, the religion is known as Chalcedonian Christianity. I guess almost one thousand years later, that word doesn't come up anymore...

The more I look into the reasons for this split, the more I think how petty the whole thing was. In the long run, clearly the differences were matters of identity. And as a whole, these were fundamental reasons that defined the sect, yet when I read about it, it almost seems silly to me that there were arguments about such silly things. Is it worth splitting the church over unleavened bread? Maybe not by itself, but when seen as one dividing characteristic among many, it makes more sense that two different churches would emerge. Because in the same way, the idea of universal jurisdiction was a topic that couldn't be agreed upon. And the authority of the Pope is definitely a pretty big topic that would be a possible reason to split.

Anyway, it's an interesting and comprehensive topic. It's fun learning about it, and all the complications that accompany the history of Christianity.