The history of Western civilization began in 1054 A.D.
The cultural forces which not only gave rise to but necessarily followed from the Great Schism have culminated in the world which we inhabit today in the modern West. The philosophical and spiritual ethos of modern Western man has its roots in the Great Schism. Everything that happens today, even–at the risk of forever dating this essay to September 2020–outbreaks of supposedly dangerous viruses as well as BLM protests–is in some way an outgrowth of this momentous occasion in the history of Christianity.
In 1054 the Latin speaking churches in western Christendom, by order of the Pope, excommunicated the Greek speaking churches in the east. The division between the two halves of Christendom had been slowly developing for several centuries prior to 1054 A.D. and the Schism ultimately occurred for two main reasons.
The first reason was the filioque. At the first council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. the Holy Fathers completed what we today call the Nicene Creed. These Fathers declared: “And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father.” These same Holy Fathers decreed that no one was to add or subtract from the words of the Creed as formulated by the council which, importantly, had the status of ecumenical. To say that the First Council of Constantinople was ecumenical is to say that it was a universally accepted council. The entire Christian world agreed that the Creed as formulated by the Fathers of the first council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. emerged out of and gave words to true Christian faith and was thus not to be altered in any way.
The Holy Fathers of the Council of Nicaea with Saint Constantine holding the Nicene Creed
Despite this universal understanding of the Creed, western Christendom eventually grew accustomed to reciting the Creed as follows: “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” In Latin, filioque translates to “and the Son” and thus represents this later addition to the Creed.
The second reason the western churches broke away from the eastern churches was the former’s novel understanding of the Pope. Since the earliest days of the Church, the Pope was understood to hold an office of extremely high honor, given the connection of the city with the first enthroned of the apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul. The Pope was always understood as the first among equals. And yet all of the the bishops were understood to be just that: equals. This understanding that began to take root in the west of the Pope as supreme pontiff was a novelty and thus it was rejected by the eastern hierarchs of the Church.
At this point it is important to highlight that both disagreements which ultimately led to the Schism between east and west were the result of novelties that developed in the west without the consent of the universal Church. Neither the filioque nor the western churches’ understanding of the bishop of Rome can be found among the early church fathers.
By adopting these two positions and clinging to them despite reproach from the eastern Fathers, the western half of the Church began the process which culminated in the Great Schism. After this event the western half of Christendom became a schismatic body and was thus cut off from the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church confessed in the Creed.
The subsequent unfolding of western history, from the rise of Scholasticism in the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance, to the Protestant Reformation, to the so-called Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution, to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Liberalism and Democracy, to the various revolutions of the 19th century, to the Bolshevik Revolution and the two World Wars of the 20th century, to the Civil Rights Movement and sexual liberation of the 1960s, to the rise of Neo-Conservatism, to the September 11th attacks, to the rise of “woke” Progressivism in the last two decades–all of this has unfolded in the broader context of the West’s estrangement from the true Church of Christ and must be understood in this broader context.
Put another way, the western world exists and has existed for nearly the last millennium in a state of apostasy.
The honest Christian student of history is forced to make a decision when confronted with the Great Schism. Given that the Church is “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic”, we must decide which of the two bodies laying claim to this tradition is indeed the true Church which our Lord founded. Either the Latin speaking body in the west, now known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Greek speaking body in the east, now known as the Eastern Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It cannot be both due to the fact that these two bodies are no longer in communion with one another.
If, like me, you conclude that the Church which Christ founded remained in the east and that the west entered into apostasy in 1054 A.D. then all of western history must be viewed through the lens of this important ecclesiological reality.
garret menges blog 