The Great Schism of 1054

 Introduction

The Great Schism happened in the one and whole Christian church on 16 July 1054 AD, was the separation of the church in the Eastern Roman Empire and the church in the Western part of the Empire. It is also known as the East-West Schism of 1054. The decisive incident in the Schism was the excommunication of Michael I Cerularius, the Patriarch of Constantinople by the Roman Catholic Pope St. Leo IX. In turn Cerularius excommunicated the legates of the Pope on 20 July 1054. This incident was not the beginning of the schism, neither was it the end of it. The result of this schism was the separation of the single Christian church into two major branches: the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Though the Schism was fueled by political ambition in the East, there were cultural, theological and ecclesiastical reasons behind the Schism. The Church in the Western Roman Empire and the other half in the Eastern Roman Empire was influenced by different philosophies that developed different approaches to theological and ecclesiastical doctrines. They understood the same scripture in two different level. All these led the Christian Church to the Great Schism.

Signs of the Last Days According to Jesus

Bible is a book of revelations about the restoration of the Kingdom of God. Bible contains many prophesies about future events. These prophesies are recorded in the Bible by different authors at different periods of time. These prophesies are God’s revelation about His ultimate plan for humans. The disciples of Jesus who followed Him while He was alive on this earth, believed that He was the Jewish Messiah who came to re-establish the Jewish Kingdom forever. Their perception changed only when they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. When they received more revelations from the Holy Spirit, their concept about the Jewish Messiah was replaced by a spiritual Kingdom. They suddenly understood that Jesus is the “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 - NKJV). This is a fundamental change to their concept of Jesus that happened on the Pentecost day. If this revelation was not achieved, they would not go beyond the Jewish community. But Jesus’ intention was to send them to Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They were entrusted by our Lord with a great mission unto the end of the world.

History of the Jewish Temple

 Tabernacle of Moses

The history of the Jewish Temple is as old as the wandering days of the Israel in the desert. Israelites were marching from Egyptian slavery towards freedom and the land of Canaan. On the way, Moses went up the Mount Sinai to meet God. The incident is recorded in Exodus 25. On the Mount Sinai, Moses received the two Tables of the Law. He also received instructions to construct the Tabernacle. Chapters 35 to 40 of the same book record the execution of the work and at its completion.

Tabernacle is called in Hebrew Mishkan, meaning “dwelling”. The Tabernacle of Moses was a simple tent within which, God manifested his presence and communicated his will. It was considered to be the earthly dwelling place of God; a visible emblem of God's presence in the midst of Israel. It represented God's throne on the earth and typified God dwelling in His people. Wherever the people went, the Tabernacle went with them. It was dismantled as they moved and re-erected at the new camp.

New Testament Message

 Let me pose a question: what is the true New Testament Message? Or what is the New Covenant message to us?

Please note that we are not thinking what the New Covenant is, but simply what is the New Testament message, and how it is different from the Old covenant message.

Surely the New Testament message was spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ to all humans, in all nations and in all ages. It is an ageless, timeless message without any barrier of race and nations.

At the same time, we know that Jesus, primarily talked to the Jews living in Judea. Jesus lived and served as a Jewish rabbi, talking in their language, in a different culture and religious background.

That was God’s perfect plan. We read in Romans 1: 16 : “… it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (NKJV)

The mystery of choice in the redemptive plan

Choice is an important topic in the Bible. The first choice made by human beings is recorded in the Garden of Eden. We read the story in Genesis 3. In this video, we are going to spend some time to understand the spiritual mystery of that choice.

The chapters from Genesis 1 to 11 is a quick introduction to the plan of God to restore the Kingdom of God. It informs us in brief, how the Kingdom of God was lost and the plan of God to restore it. Since it is a speedy record, many details are missing.

Genesis 1 to 3 describes how humans fell into sin and the slavery of satan and thus how he lost the Kingdom of God.

These chapters reveal us that sin and slavery to satan was a choice of early humans. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, to reject the holiness of God and they chose the slavery to sin and satan. This incident reveals that choice is very important to us in deciding our future eternal life.