Schism

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Schism (religious)
)
For other uses, see Schism (disambiguation).

A schism (/ˈsɪzəm/ SIZ-əm, /ˈskɪzəm/, SKIZ-əm or, less commonly, /ˈʃɪzəm/ SHIZ-əm)[1] is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, such as the Great East–West Schism or the Western Schism. It is also used of a split within a non-religious organization or movement or, more broadly, of a separation between two or more people, be it brothers, friends, lovers, etc.

A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group. Schismatic as an adjective means pertaining to a schism or schisms, or to those ideas, policies, etc. that are thought to lead towards or promote schism.

In religion, the charge of schism is distinguished from that of heresy, since the offence of schism concerns not differences of belief or doctrine but promotion of, or the state of division,[2] especially among groups with differing pastoral jurisdictions and authority. However, schisms frequently involve mutual accusations of heresy, and also that of the Great Apostasy. In Roman Catholic teaching, every heresy is a schism, while there may be some schisms free of the added guilt of heresy.[3] Liberal Protestantism, however, has often preferred heresy over schism. Presbyterian scholar James I. McCord (quoted with approval by the Episcopalian Bishop of Virginia, Peter Lee) drew a distinction between them, teaching: "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy. As a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ. Choose heresy every time."[4]

Etymology

The word schism comes from the Greek word σχίσμα which means "cleft, division".

Buddhism

Main article: Schools of Buddhism
The historical development of major Buddhist Lineages

In

Drukpa school centred in Bhutan perhaps remains in a state of schism (since 1616) from the other Tibetan schools.[citation needed
]

Christianity

See also: Schism in Christianity, Ecclesiastical separatism, and Bosnian Church
Major denominational families in Christianity:
This box:
Schism (1552)
(16th century)
(11th century)
(Not shown are ante-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and restorationist denominations.)

The words schism and schismatic are used to denote splits within a church, denomination or religious body. In this context, "schismatic", as a noun, denotes a person who creates or incites schism in a church or a person who is a member of a splinter Church; as an adjective, "schismatic" refers to ideas and activities that are thought to lead to or constitute schism, and ultimately to departure from what the user of the word considers to be the true Christian Church. These words have been used to denote both the phenomenon of Christian group-splintering in general, and certain significant historical splits in particular.

One can make a distinction

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens in 2004.[6]
However, when for any reason people withdraw from communion, two distinct ecclesiastical entities may result, each of which, or at least some members thereof, may then accuse the other(s) of heresy.

In

canon law, an act of schism, like an act of apostasy or heresy, automatically brings the penalty of excommunication on the individual who commits it.[7] As stated in canon 1312 §1 1° of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, this penalty is intended to be medicinal, so as to lead to restoration of unity. Roman Catholic theology considers formal schismatics to be outside the Church, understanding by "formal schismatics" "persons who, knowing the true nature of the Church, have personally and deliberately committed the sin of schism".[8] The situation, for instance, of those who have been brought up from childhood within a group not in full communion with Rome, but who have orthodox faith, is different: these are considered to be imperfectly, though not fully, related to the Church.[8] This nuanced view applies especially to the Churches of Eastern Christianity, more particularly still to the Eastern Orthodox Church.[8] While they don't possess "full communion" (communio in sacris) with the Catholic Church, they are still considered much more linked to it than the Protestant ecclesial communities, which have markedly different theological beliefs and rejected the concept of apostolic succession
(with the exception of the Anglicans, which, however, are viewed by the Catholic Church as not having a valid priesthood).

The

Meletius of Lycopolis
, considering their quarrel to be a matter of discipline, not of faith.

The divisions that came to a head at the Councils of

Oriental Orthodoxy regard each other as heretical, not orthodox, because of the Oriental Orthodox Church's rejection and the Eastern Orthodox Church's acceptance of the Confession of Chalcedon about the two natures (human and divine) of Christ. However, this view has been challenged in the recent Ecumenical discussion
between these two groups, classifying the matter of Chalcedon as a matter of schism, not of heresy.

In its extended and final form (possibly derived from the

Protestant Churches believe that they also represent the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and consider the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to be in error, while others do not expect a union of all Christian churches on earth. See also One true church and Great Apostasy
.

Protestant groups, lacking the stronger traditional authority-structures of (say) Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, and often riven by politico-national divides (sometimes resulting from cuius regio, eius religio), show a high degree of fissibility, which ecumenical efforts may only intensify.[10]

Schisms have occurred particularly frequently among

Anabaptists, to the extent that divisions over even minute details of doctrine and theology are common and scholars have dubbed the phenomenon Täuferkrankheit or "The Anabaptist Disease".[11] Emphasizing fully voluntary membership in the church, and without an established authority of hierarchical structure, Anabaptists, especially Mennonites
have experienced dozens of schisms, resulting in the establishment of dozens of various unaffiliated Mennonite churches.

A current dispute with an acknowledged risk of schism for the

responses to homosexuality
.

In 2018 Eastern Orthodoxy suffered a schism, the 2018 Moscow-Constantinople schism between the primatial See of Eastern Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church over the issue of Constantinople granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Hinduism

The Sringeri Matha, also called the 'Tunga Sringeri Math' diverged after a schism with the Koodli Sringeri Matha during the 16th century after which the Tunga Math gained prominence.[1]

The Kanchi Math was originally established as the Kumbakonam Mutt in 1821 by the Maratha king of Tanjore, Serfoji II Bhonsle, as a branch of the Sringeri Mutt, one of the four cardinal Shankaracharya Maths of the mainstream Smarta denomination. It became a schismatic institution when Tanjore and the Wodeyars of Mysore went to war against each other. It is on record that in 1839 the Kumbakonam Mutt applied for permission to the English Collector of Arcot to perform the “kumbhabhishekham” of the Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram

In 1842, the East India Company headquartered at Fort William, Calcutta appointed the head of the mutt as the sole trustee of the Kamakshi temple. The protests of the traditional priests of the Kamakshi temple are well documented and preserved. Incidentally, Fort William is also the first Freemason lodge of India.[12] Since then, the Math has maintained cordial relations with the British Raj though the main math at Sringeri fell sour with the colonial power[13]

Thus, the Kanchi Mutt can at best claim its origin to be in 1842.[14][15]

Islam

Further information:
Shia–Sunni divide

After the death of the Islamic prophet

Sahaba (his companions) asked him which group that would be, whereupon he replied, "It is the one to which I and my companions belong" (reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhi
Hadith No. 171).

Uthman Ibn Affan, and Ali (Ali ibn Abu Talib) – as the al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn or "Rashidun" (The Rightly Guided Caliphs). Sunnis believe that the position of Caliph may be democratically chosen, but after the first four Rightly Guided Caliphs the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule. There has not been another widely recognized Caliph since the fall of the Ottoman Empire
in 1923.

Fatimah
and Ali's descendants.

Tariqah
(Sufi Order).

Mu'awiya during the 7th Century Islamic civil war (First Fitna).[citation needed
] Their complaint was that the Imam must be spiritually pure, whereas Ali's compromise with Mu'awiya was a compromise of his spiritual purity and therefore of his legitimacy as Imam or Caliph. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.

Dates:

Jainism

Main article: Jain schools and branches
Picture showing a diagrammatic view of the schisms in Jainism along with the timeline

The first schism in Jainism happened around the fourth century BCE, leading to rise of two major sects,

Svetambara, which were later subdivided in further sub-sects.[19]

Judaism

Main article: Jewish schisms
See also:
Jewish views of religious pluralism, Relationships between Jewish religious movements, and Heresy in Judaism

Major

Jewish denominations are Orthodox Judaism and non-Orthodox: Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist
. In early
Babylonian Exile (6th Century BCE). Schisms in Judaism included the emergence of Christianity and Mandaeism
.

Dates:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. (2000) notes in The Free Dictionary that "The word schism, which was originally spelled scisme in English, is traditionally pronounced (sĭ′zəm). However, in the 16th century the word was respelled with an initial sch in order to conform to its Latin and Greek forms. From this spelling arose the pronunciation (skĭ′zəm). Long regarded as incorrect, it became so common in both British and American English that it gained acceptability as a standard variant. Evidence indicates, however, that it is now the preferred pronunciation, at least in American English. In a recent survey 61 percent of the Usage Panel indicated that they use (skĭ′zəm), while 31 percent said they use (sĭ′zəm). A smaller number, 8 percent, preferred a third pronunciation, (shĭ′zəm)."
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Schism" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 327.
  3. ^ Forget, Jacques (1912). "Schism" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. ^ "Heresy better idea than schism?". Washington Times. 2004-01-31. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
  5. ^ Catechism of the Eastern Orthodox Church, p. 42; The Concordia Cyclopedia quoted in Unionism and Syncretism – and PLI; Orthodox Practice – Choosing God-parents; Code of Canon Law, canon 751
  6. ^ "Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople Broke Eucharistic Communion with Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens » News » OrthodoxEurope.org". orthodoxeurope.org.
  7. ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 1364
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-58617-282-4
  9. ^ Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Creeds Longmans 1960 pp. 296,7; 305–331
  10. ^
    ISBN 9781493405831
    . Retrieved 20 March 2020. The causes of church division are complex, and the effects can be paradoxical. In a study of American Protestant schisms between 1890 and 1990, John Sutton and Mark Chaves conclude that churches do not divide for purely doctrinal reasons but rather 'in response to attempts by denominational elites to achieve organizational consolidation.' [...] Ironically, 'mergers and foundings sharply raise the likelihood of schism.' Efforts to reunite the church can go wrong and sow further and deeper divisions. Ironically again, schism can reduce the chance of schism, though only briefly: 'one year after a founding or merger, rates of schism are five times higher than they are one year after a schism.'
  11. ^ Schisms "Schisms". gameo.rg. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  12. ISSN 1638-1718
    .
  13. ^ "Sringeri temple attack and the genocide of Karnataka's Hindus by the Maratha Empire (1791)". History of Islam. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  14. ^ Guruswamy, Mohan (2021-11-30). "Mohan Guruswamy | The Kumbakonam of the Kanchi Shankaracharya". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  15. ^ "ஆதி சங்கரர் நிறுவியதா காஞ்சி சங்கரமடம்? – முரண்படும் தகவல்கள்". BBC News தமிழ் (in Tamil). 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  16. ^ Editor. "Islam News Room – Quran 'Miracle 19' is A Lie?". www.islamnewsroom.com. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ Why are Muslims divided into different Sects/Schools of Thought Archived 2008-09-15 at the Wayback Machine by Zakir Naik on IRF.net
  18. ^ Trimingham (1998), p.1
  19. ^ Clarke & Beyer 2009, p. 326.
  20. ^ "And sixty thousand Nasoraeans abandoned the Sign of the Seven and entered the Median Hills, a place where we were free from domination by all other races." Karen L. King, What is Gnosticism?, 2005, Page 140
  21. ISBN 9781451416640
    .(pp94-111). Minneapolis: Fortress Press

References

External links

Look up schism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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