What led to splits in the Christian church?

Answer 1

It is not correct to speak of "split" as applied to the Church. We know from Revelation and Scripture (see Acts 9:1-5, 1 Cor 12:12-14; Eph 5:23, etc.) that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and His spouse. As His Mystical Body, of which He is the Head, is only one, and He can't split up His Body, nor is He a bigamist, the Church is One, as we say in the Creed each week: I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. You may speak of people who left the Church to form their own, but you may not speak of the Church split like an amoeba. Our Blessed Lord guaranteed that the Church would be here - whole and entire - and guided by the Holy Spirit, until the end of the world, and we dare not question the word of God, Himself. For a more complete explanation, see the second link below: The Church; The Mystical Body of Christ.

Answer 2

• The excommunication of Arius in 318 CE, resulting in the breakaway Arian Church
• The split of the Coptic Church from the Catholic-Orthodox Church in 451 CE.
• The Great Schism of 1054, that separated the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches
• The Western Schism of the fourteenth century
• The Protestant Reformation, beginning with Martin Luther's objections
• Various splits among the Protestant Churches. For example, the Church of England gave way to a number of splinter denominations.

Answer 3

It is not correct to speak of "split" as applied to the Church. We know from Revelation and Scripture (see Acts 9:1-5, 1 Cor 12:12-14; Eph 5:23, etc.) that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and His spouse. As His Mystical Body, of which He is the Head, is only one, and He can't split up His Body, nor is He a bigamist, the Church is One, as we say in the Creed each week: I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

You may speak of people who left the Church to form their own, but you may not speak of the Church split like an amoeba. Our Blessed Lord guaranteed that the Church would be here - whole and entire - and guided by the Holy Spirit, until the end of the world, and we dare not question the word of God, Himself. For a more complete explanation, see The Church the Mystical Body of Christ.