Change in continuity for christianity essay sample

During the postclassical era, 325 to 1100 ce, Christianity grew widely throughout Rome. It was a threat to other religions especially in the Byzantine Empire. The various changes the occurred during this era all lead up to the Great Schism, which ultimately divided Christianity into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Although there was a major separation both churches remain committed to the 10 commandments. The changes in Christianity began in 325 in the Byzantine Empire. In 325, Constantine created a Council called Nicaea. This Council was created to debate about how the Arians viewed Jesus and how Christian theologians viewed Jesus. Arians saw Jesus as a human being that was a creation of God instead of a human being that had manifestation of God and had developed fully human and fully divine natures. During the 5th century, Christianity became the dominant religion in the community of the Byzantine Empire. Also during the 5th century, in 528 Emperor Justinian created a campaign to have all pagans convert to Christian baptism, in 529 he forbad anyone from worshiping pagan religion in Athens and made life difficult for anyone disobeyed him.

In 726 Emperor Leo III create the policy of Iconoclasm (“ The breaking of Icon”), which is the act of destroying religious images or art pieces that are found in churches. This policy was one of the major breaking points for the Eastern and Western churches. Western theologians continued to believe that religious images were acceptable artworks that could be displayed in the church. Another difference in the Eastern and Western community was the theological teaching which was minor but help lead up to the split in the Christian community. In 1054 ce The Byzantine patriarchs and Roman popes could not agree on Christian jurisdictions and power/authority. Patriarchs wanted freedom for Christian jurisdictions, while the popes wanted Rome to assume full control as the head of authority. The relationship between the two became so bad that it led to each church refusing to recognize each other. This brought upon what is known as “ The Great Schism”.

The Great Schism divided the Eastern and the Western churches, but they both remain committed to many of the same beliefs. Some examples of continuity were that both continued to uphold the 10 commandments and the belief in the father, son, Holy Spirit working as one. They also continued to read from the same bible and remained committed to upholding Christian values. In conclusion, the Iconoclasm and theological teaching led to “ The Great Schism” which created the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Although the changes made a large impact on Christianity, the beliefs remained the same.