By this time, the period of time is 1054. You can see that great turn on “The Path to Apostasy” in Lesson 6A. This is where the division comes between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox, or Greek Orthodox, Church. We have been considering some external things, which have affected these ones, but this is a strife which occurs internally.

There were many theological differences that would end up causing this division, but it was not only theological differences. It was also political and cultural differences, as well. We’re talking about the political and cultural differences East to West.

Those in the East—the Mediterranean, the Mid-East to some degree—but those in the East had the Greek language, and they had a very much different culture and way of thinking than those who were in the West—those in Western- and Mid-Europe. The Grecian mind was very much oriented toward philosophy, and very much capable of shading various things. In other words, it wasn’t so much black and white; it was various shades of gray, perhaps. The West, on the other hand, their culture was very much different. They had the practical mind—the Roman way—of looking at life. And they were very much a black and white look at life itself and of theology.

Well, these differing outlooks on life, and the growing political and cultural isolation that these two groups had, one from another, eventually would cause this schism to take place. That would eventually lead to this divide between what was then the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church [also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church].

This break wasn’t a sudden break. It was something that gradually took place over a lengthy period of time—in fact, a couple of hundred years. But, over the years many differences arose. Many of them were rather minor in nature, but they had a cumulative effect. For example, just a few of the differences that I thought were interesting: Marriage was forbidden by this time to clergymen in the West, while in the East, clergymen below the rank of “bishop” could marry; priests in the West were shaved, while those in the East grew beards; the Western version of the Nicene Creed had the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son—the East disagreed. And there was also a difference in the way they viewed icons, or images. The East rigidly forbade images, and they, rather, were more interested not in images—they considered them to be pagan in nature—but in pictures and reliefs, while the West by this time had grown quite fond of various statues and various types of graven images. So, the traditional date for this break is 1054 AD.

During this period of time, as well, there was a great bit of activity in the area of what was referred to as “missions.” There were those who were being sent out purposely by the Roman Catholic Church to spread the Catholic doctrine into other areas. There were some who went out on their own. But nevertheless, we see during this period of time that a number of those who were categorized, classified, as “missionaries” crossed the English Channel into Britain. We see the rise in interest in contact among the Scandinavian people, and among the Russians in places like Poland. We also see, interestingly enough, missionaries in Spain. Spain had been overrun by the Arabs in the 7^th Century, but it would be in the latter part of this period—the latter part of this period of the early Middle Ages—when Mohammedanism would slowly begin to recede as more and more missionaries came in professing a form of Christianity.

This is maybe instructive for us, or at least interesting for us, to see where and when, and perhaps how to some extent, some of the religious practices that endure even to this day had their beginnings. One of the practices that we see rise during this time in the Catholic Church is the doctrine of transubstantiation. Now, probably most of us know that the doctrine of transubstantiation has to do with the Lord’s Supper. It became the belief in the Roman Catholic Church that the bread and the wine (the fruit of the vine, as we call it) would literally and actually become—no, not just a representation of the body and blood of the Lord—but would become the literal body and blood of the Lord during their procedural practice. And of course, we know that that belief continues to this time to be the practice of the Roman Catholic Church, and it had its origin here these many years ago.

We spoke about one of the differences between the East and the West, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, being the idea of images. Well, it would be during this period of time that we would see the rise in the use and the affection, if you will, of images in the West—in the Roman Catholic Church. But in the Eastern Church, they would resist this. And you may have heard this word, the iconoclastic controversy. Well, an iconoclast means “an image breaker,” and it was during this period of time that there were a number of attempts to keep out images—statues and the like—that we see that are so prevalent today. And in the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the way, you will not find the kind of images, statues, and the like, and that continues to this day in the Roman Catholic Church. But what you will find are more pictures and low reliefs [the projection of sculptured forms from a flat surface]. And that practice has its origin back these many years ago.

Well, there was another aspect that became prevalent during this time, and that was that there were many pagans who were, if you will, “converted,” converted to Catholicism. And when they came into the Catholic Church, many of them brought their superstitions and much of their pagan religion along with them. And, too often, it seemed, that the worship of pagan gods was transferred over to the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and to those that they refer to as “saints.” It was during this period of time that something called “the cult of Mary” had its origin and grew rapidly in popularity.

Also, during this time there were a number of new festivals which were added. A penance system developed during this time, as well. That is a practice that continues even today in the Catholic Church, where for one’s sins, you perform a certain “penance” to have that sin forgiven. The “penance” is usually prescribed by a “priest.”

And so, we see these things which are familiar to us, not because we practice them, but because we have friends and neighbors who do, and we have heard about these things.

There was something else that grew in popularity during this time. It was the growth of monasticism. It was during this period on the Middle Ages—the early part to the mid part of the Middle Ages—when individuals found it “fashionable”, I guess—I don’t know whether that’s the right word, or not—but people would go off into some isolated area—walk into the mountains; walk into the desert—and live in isolation. And they would sometimes go off individually, or go off in groups. And it was during this period of time that hundreds of monasteries and nunneries would be established and spring up all over the continent of Europe and elsewhere.

This is the period of time, then, that is known as the Early Middle Ages, from about 590 (the end of the 6^th Century) to 1054 AD. The next section of time that we want to look at is the period of time known as the Latter Middle Ages. We’ll be looking at the period from 1054 to about the middle part of the 16^th Century—so, from the middle part of the 11^th Century to the middle part of the 16^th Century. It’s during this period of time that we’re going to see, perhaps, even more things that will be familiar to us in the way of the beginning of various practices. For example, we mentioned that during the latter period, we saw the rise of the papacy, and then the decline of the papacy, and then they were going to “clean things up” and bring some respect back to that particular office. And it will be during this period of time that we’re going to look at next [see Lesson 7] where we see the real power struggle that will come about and be played out over a period of a number of years between the pope and the emperor as well as the kings of other countries, like France and England, and so on. That’s how far the influence and the power of the pope will be seen. We’ll also be looking at the crusades, which took place during this time. And so, there will be a number of things that I know will be interesting to you that we will be looking at in our next Lesson [Lesson 7].