Schism

{{religion}}
{{cquote|'''Brian''': Are you the Judean People's Front?<BR>
'''Reg''': Fuck off!<BR>
'''Brian''': What?<BR>
'''Reg''': Judean People's Front. We're the People's Front of Judea! Judean People's Front. Cawk.<BR>
'''Francis''': [[Masturbation|Wankers]].|||''[[Life of Brian]]''}}
In the context of [[religion]], a '''schism''' indicates a split between two or more movements or organizations within a larger religious body; the motivations for such a split are not necessarily any major differences of [[dogma|doctrine]]. In the development of religious practice as a part of {{wpl|cultural evolution||,}} schisms offer an analog of [[speciation]] in biological [[evolution]].<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Eller | first1 = Jack David | chapter = 7: Religious Change and New Religious Movements | title = Introducing Anthropology of Religion: Culture to the Ultimate | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KjZWBQAAQBAJ | edition = 2 | location = London | publisher = Routledge | publication-date = 2014 | page = 152 | isbn = 9781317579144 | accessdate = 2016-10-28 | quote = [...] the consequence of religious processes may be schism or fission, the speciation or proliferation of religions as branches from prior beliefs and traditions, leading to '“sects' and 'denominations' and ultimately entire religions; a classic example would be the Christian schism of Protestantism from Catholicism.}}</ref>

Generally, one can distinguish schisms from [[apostasy]] and [[heresy]] because the resultant shards remain part of the larger, (though unofficial) body of the [[religion]].

==Christianity==
[[File:Protestant_branches.svg|thumb|left|100px|An overview of the [[evolution]]ary tree of Protestantism]]
The word schism has been used most in the context of [[Christianity]]. During the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> centuries, various churches were vying for the right to be ''the'' Christian [[Church]]. None could really be said to be schisms of another. However, once [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul's]] church got off and running as the church of the [[Roman Empire]], schisms would define its future. In 431, the Assyrians broke off to form their own church; in 451, the Oriental Orthodox Church formed; the [[Great Schism]] of the 11<sup>th</sup> century brought the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], and the [[Roman Catholic]] Church; in the [[Protestant Reformation]] in the 1500s, [[Martin Luther]] broke away to form the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches, while Henry VIII started the [[Church of England]], and they have spent the last 500 years splintering into further [[denomination]]s and [[sect]]s (starting with [[Calvinism]]).

Some sects seem prone to schism ([[Anabaptists]], most notoriously), while others manage to remain intact. Certain churches, like [[Anglicanism]], can tolerate a wide variety of dissent without schism, while others punish minor doctrinal difference. In practice, schism almost always involves political and economic as well as doctrinal reasons: clergymen are reluctant to leave a church if it means losing their job and livelihood, unless a rich backer can be found. Hence the Great Schism, which initially seemed a minor [[theological]] disagreement, was exacerbated by a trade dispute between [[Italian]] states and the [[Byzantine Empire]] and political differences that culminated in the [[Crusades#Fourth Crusade|Fourth Crusade]] and sacking of Constantinople (1204 [[CE]]).<ref>{{wpa|East–West Schism}}</ref> The northern European [[Reformation]] in the 16<sup>th</sup> century was closely linked to political struggles, with [[Dutch]] merchants, [[German]] dukes and princes, the English monarch, and [[Scottish]] landowners funding their various Reformations and stealing lots of church property. In contrast, in a low Protestant sect with non-professional preachers and few assets, it is trivial to set up a new church, needing little more than a new church sign.

===Heresy vs. schism===
In Christian theology, there exists some disagreement on the relationship between heresy and schism. While most Christians accept that heresy can lead to schism, beyond that opinion on the matter tends to differ between denominations. For example, Catholic doctrine holds that all heresy is accompanied by schism, because the heretic has by his beliefs severed himself from the Body of Christ, even if he has never in any way indicated those views to anyone save himself (well, himself and [[God|Skydaddy]]). The canons also take a somewhat murky position on those raised in certain other Christian churches, treating them not as schismatic but rather as something less than full members of the Church. On the opposite end, some denominations hold that any act of schism is heretical, as it wrongfully divides the Body of Christ, and yet others hold that all Christians are in [[communion]] with all other Christians. To add further complications, the growing trend of [[ecumenism]] has a habit of relabeling as schisms splits formerly considered (also) heresies.

Some [[Apologetics|apologists]] have claimed that there are actually no schisms and all Christians except presumably those with extreme doctrinal differences, such as the [[Mormons]] or the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], are in the same church under the leadership of [[Jesus Christ]], no matter their denomination, even if they're conveniently silent against the too many to count times where blood has been spilled just because of differences in [[dogma]].

==Islam==
Because the [[Qu'ran]] states that a Muslim is a person who has submitted to [[God]], the [[Islam|Islamic]] faith does not formally recognize any schisms as more than just political or human distinctions. There is one primary schism that arose out of the mystical tradition in the late 7<sup>th</sup> century CE, the [[Shi'a]] claiming that God does not give political power. The Shi'a do not recognize the religious and political leadership found in the [[Sunni]] traditions.

==Buddhism==
[[File:Buddhist Sangha Lineages.png|thumb|right|300px|Chart of the major Buddhist schisms]]
There have been many schisms in [[Buddhism]], including the major split from the strict Theravada Buddhism by the more welcoming Mahayana Buddhism. Though the date of this split is not agreed upon, it is thought to have happened between 100 [[BCE]] and 100 CE. From there, the Great Schools represent further schisms within Buddhism. Today there are hundreds of schools, following one of the two major paths, but each holding different views and seeing themselves as separate but complementary to the others.

==Religions that encourage schisms==
Some particularly mischievous religions actually ''encourage'' schisms. Two examples of this are [[Discordianism]] and theistic (traditional) [[Satanist]]s, both of which refer to forming "cabals". Discordians (who arguably follow a [[parody religion]]) seem to take a more humorous approach to this,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/principiadiscord0000mala "Principia Discordia, or, How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her: The Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger, wherein is explained absolutely everything worth knowing about absolutely anything"]. ''Loompanics Unlimited''.</ref> as with anything, yet on the other hand traditional Satanists are serious about it. [[Satan|Their guy]] is pretty well known for causing a big schism of his own, after all.

==See also==
* [[Denomination]]
* [[Protestant Reformation]]
* [[Sect]]
* [[Church of Scotland]] for its history of splits, including the Great Disruption of 1843

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Religious terms]]

Categories: Religious terms