From the very beginning, Christianity struggled with internal tensions. These tensions were not merely personal disagreements but reflected deep differences in how people understood Jesus, his message, and the path forward. One of the earliest and most influential sources of this divergence was the gospel preached by Paul.
1. Early Rifts: Paul’s Gospel vs. the Jerusalem Apostles
Paul’s proclamation of the gospel differed significantly from the message taught by the apostles who had walked with Jesus. While Jesus preached the coming of God’s reign, ethical transformation, and fidelity to Israel’s God, Paul proclaimed a crucified and risen Christ whose death and resurrection were central to salvation.
This difference created friction:
Acts 15 reveals a major conflict over Gentile inclusion and Torah observance.
Galatians shows Paul defending himself against “certain men from James”.
The Jerusalem leaders appear to have been suspicious of Paul’s radical re-interpretation of the Jesus movement.
The tension was not minor—it concerned the core identity of the new movement.
2. The Corinthian Example: Multiple Gospels and Multiple Leaders
By the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, the church was already fragmenting:
“I follow Paul,” “I follow Peter,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Christ.”
This division did not arise randomly.
Each of these leaders represented a different understanding of the gospel:
Peter (Cephas) represented the original, Jewish, Jesus-centered teaching.
Apollos, likely from Alexandria, had an intellectual, philosophical approach.
Paul represented the Gentile-focused message centered on the cross and grace.
The “Christ” party may have insisted on bypassing all apostolic teachers and returning directly to Jesus.
Thus, the Corinthians reflect the earliest theological fractures within Christianity—fractures arising from conflicting interpretations of who Jesus was and what he meant.
3. After the Apostolic Era: Expansion of the Rift
As Christianity spread geographically, these early differences were magnified by culture, language, and empire.
A. The Latin West
Heavily shaped by Paul’s categories—sin, grace, justification, original sin.
Legal, systematic, and Roman in character.
Augustine later tightened Paul’s ideas, making the divide deeper.
B. The Greek East
Held to a more philosophical, mystical understanding.
Emphasised Jesus’ teachings, incarnation, and spiritual transformation (theosis).
Less driven by Paul’s judicial framework.
C. The Syriac East
Conserved older, Semitic, Jewish-Christian streams of thought.
More focused on Jesus as a teacher, healer, and righteous man anointed by God.
Contained traditions less influenced by Paul, sometimes preserving echoes of early “Jewish Christianity”.
These three streams—Latin, Greek, and Syriac—did not simply drift apart.
They were shaped by the fault lines originally created by differing understandings of Jesus, amplified by Paul’s reinterpretation.
4. Councils and Creeds: Attempts to Unify, but Actually Deepening Divisions
As theological differences grew, church councils were convened to produce unity. Paradoxically, these councils often reaffirmed one side and alienated the others.
The Council of Nicaea (325) centered heavily on Christology influenced by Greek theology.
The Council of Chalcedon (451) caused permanent break with the Oriental Orthodox (Syriac, Coptic, Armenian).
Later, the Great Schism of 1054 split Latin and Greek Christianity.
Behind these splits were different ways of interpreting Jesus—rooted in the earliest Pauline vs. Jerusalem tensions.
5. The Reformation: Paul Once Again at the Center
In the 16th century, Paul again became the dividing line:
Martin Luther based his theology almost entirely on Paul—Romans and Galatians.
Luther attacked the Catholic Church using Paul’s framework of faith vs. works.
The Catholic response leaned on tradition, sacraments, and centuries of development influenced by the Greek and Latin worlds.
Thus, the Protestant–Catholic split is another chapter in the long history of Christian division stemming from which “gospel” is primary: Jesus’ kingdom message or Paul’s salvation-by-faith message.
6. The Modern Landscape: A Christianity Fragmented by Its Interpretive Foundations
Today Christianity is not one religion but thousands of denominations, each shaped by the theological heritage they inherited:
Evangelicals emphasize Paul.
Eastern Orthodoxy emphasizes the early apostles and fathers.
Catholicism blends Pauline and traditional interpretations.
Liberal/progressive Christianity tries to return to the ethics of Jesus.
Some modern scholars call for a “Return to the Historical Jesus,” bypassing the Pauline lens altogether.
The history of Christian division can be traced back to that first moment in Corinth when believers said:
“I follow Paul,” “I follow Peter,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Christ.”
The seeds of fragmentation were sown early—largely because Christianity inherited multiple and sometimes incompatible interpretations of Jesus. Paul’s powerful theological system, while brilliant, created a version of the gospel that often overshadowed Jesus’ own teaching and divided the movement into rival visions of faith.
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