UNITY and DIVISION Within the CHURCH

 In the East the power of the pope was not accepted and was controlled by the state.

 In the fourth century, Eastern Church, which came known as the Orthodox Church-
(Orthodox means right opinion), disagreed with the Western Christian Church. The
quarrel was partly over the use of: 1.statues, symbols and icons (religious paintings and
images.

2. There was also disagreement over the exact texts of what we call now- The Nicene Creed –
The statement of what Christians believe about the Blessed Trinity.

 The disagreement split the two Churches apart.

As time went on even the languages of the two churches differed –For the Western Church
used Latin for its services and the Eastern Church used Greek

In 527 A.D, Justinian- Became emperor and he began the task of strengthening the Byzantine
Empire and uniting the Churches within it. But at the time of his death in 565, Justinian had still
not succeeded in uniting the Churches.

 The Advent of Islam

A few years after the death of Justinian, there came an event that caused a severe set-back to
the Christian religion both in the East and in the West. In the year 597, a young man named
Mohammed preached in Arabia that “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is a prophet.”
This new religion was called Islam, (means submission to God’s will), for Mohammed people
were the slaves of Allah and must accept whatever Allah decided for them.

These beliefs and teachings of Mohammed are written in Koran, the bible of his followers.
Mohammed followers are called Muslims or Moslems also called Mohammedans.

In 632 Mohammed died - The new religion had taken firm root among the Arabs. The faith
spread, Christian cities and lands were conquered by the armies of Islam.

They would have gone on to France, but in 732, Charles Martel, King of the Franks –managed
to defeat them.

 Pepin and Charlemagne

Pepin- the son of Charles Martel, helped to strengthen the power of Christianity in France. He
believed that political power was a Christian responsibility.

As a King, he used his authority to make church more powerful. He insisted that Sundays be
days of rest, that marriages were sacred, that Church members should pay their tithes regularly
for the upkeep of the church.

- Charlemagne (Charles the Great) - Pippin’s son was also a strong supporter of the Church.

- He asked England for scholars to help him in his plans to extend the work and teaching of the
Church.

- Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the Pope in Rome.

- After his death his empire began to crumble.

- There was conflict between the Pope and the Frankish kings, with each one claiming to
be more powerful.
  The protestants - Martin Luther

It was Martin Luther – who began the revolt that split the Church. Luther grew up in a Christian
home and believed in the reality of heaven, hell, the angels, the saints and the Demons.

As a monk in training he gave himself entirely to life of prayer, fasting and study that training
involved. As his guide, Luther used the phrase “the just shall live by faith ( Rom. 1:16,17). This
meant to him that a faith in righteous and merciful God, not in the rules and regulations and
ceremonies that had controlled his Christian life for so many years.

Luther lived during the period when some Church leaders were not doing what Jesus had meant
them to do to serve humankind. Some of them gave indulgences (pardon or forgiveness of
sins ) to people who paid for them. He did not like this practice of buying freedom from torment.

He wrote out a list of ninety-five arguments (theses) against these irregularities and nailed them
to the door of the Church in Wittenberg. Luther also sent out pamphlets, telling the people to
break with the rule of the pope and work together for a “true religion”

Many people followed Luther’s lead. They refused to pay the pope’s taxes, and would not go to
church. They ignored masses and other special services..etc.

Luther – had protested against the rule and power of the Pope so he and his followers were
called - Protestants

 The Anglican Church -

In England – a man named William Tyndale- worked at translating the Bible to English.

The Bishop of London refused the translated Bible. Copies that were found were piled in a huge
bonfire on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. But the People could not be stopped from reading
the Bible. In 1539 three years after his death, Tyndale was rewarded.

The bishops of England agreed with the King, Henry Vlll, that the Bible translated into English
should be placed in every parish church throughout England.

Soon after, Henry Vlll – broke the Pope when the Pope said Henry must not divorce his wife,
Catherine of Aragon.

Henry made himself Head of the Church of England which later known as the – Anglican
Church.

- Henry – Knew the treasure and wealth of the monasteries and decided to seize them for
himself.

- In 1535 the monasteries were destroyed ruthlessly and the monks and nuns were turned
out. Their lands were taken over by the king.

- A law was passed declaring that all money previously paid to the Pope were to be
received by the King.

- The clergy were to be obedient to the King of England only.

 The Presbyterians - England now became a country with constant wars between the
Catholics and Protestants.

But another group was coming up. The members wanted to be free of the Pope but they were
willing to keep the familiar ceremonies and ritual of the Roman Catholic Church.

This third group was headed by John Calvin – who taught that nothing could change what God
had ordained for each person.
Calvin believed that people should judge no one but they should do their best to serve and obey
God while on earth. Calvin had many followers for they welcomed his challenge to Rome that
the Church should be governed as it was in the early Church

By its own members and not by bishops appointed by the Pope. The governing members of
Calvin’s Church were called “presbyters” so the group became known as Presbyterian.

 The Puritans - When Queen Elizabeth l – came to the throne she tried to steer a middle
course between the Catholics and the Protestants.

Although a Protestant, she allowed Catholics to worship when and where they pleased. But
many did not agree with what the queen was doing. They wanted to make the Church
absolutely free of the Pope. These “Purifiers” of the church were the first of the sect that
became known as Puritans. They had great faith in the power of the Bible.

They believed that they had no need for either Church or Clergy, for they had the Word of God.
They were honest, temperate, clean living and strong of their faith but their religion lacked the
joy and happiness of the Christians of the early Church.

Theirs was a religion of strictness and narrowness. Many of them were like the Pharisees of
Jesus’ time. The Puritans and Anglicans continued to quarrel, especially, over the authority of
the state in their worship.

In 1620 – a band of Puritans ,tired of the fighting and persecution, decided to leave England and
start new lives in another land. Some went to Holland, others settled to America, where at last
they found peace and freedom to worship as they pleased. They also brought the message of
Jesus to America. Many other sects were formed after Reformation.

There was so called- Congregationalists - (They believed that people should be allowed to
govern their own church and to worship as they pleased.)

 Another sect – Society of friends or Quakers – who taught that every person had within
the self a Light that help him or her to know God’s will and to do it.
 For them there is no need to go to church since the ordinary form of worship could not
improve upon this power that every man possessed.
 Methodists – they are called so, because the members were very devoted to their
method of living. A strict form of worship consisting of attending services ,having
communion, keeping the usual church facts, reading the Bible, and helping the poor
 Because they do not sufficient clergy, their leader chose some of his best helpers to do
the work.
 Lay Preachers – They became lay preachers by making ministers of men untrained for
the clergy, the sect leader ran counter to the Anglican rule that only Bishops could
appoint Clergy.
 Because of this, the Methodists became separate from the Church of England.
 Christianity, in the early days, belonged to small areas within the Roman Empire. It
began as a simple group of believers in the Risen Lord.
 Today it has spread to all corners of the world and is a Church of many groups and sect-
Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican,
Lutheran and many others, including the more recent Iglesia ni Cristo and Born –Again.
The Church had grown rich and powerful but it was plagued with internal dissensions and
contradictions.
The protestants and assaults of Luther and other reformers damaged the Roman Church but it
also began Her age of renewal.
An interior and spiritual renewal occurred within the Catholic Church during the 16th century and
made it at once again a vital center of moral-spiritual energy in the world.