While it's unclear if disagreements among Episcopalians over ordaining an openly gay priest and blessing same-sex unions will end in schism, it would hardly be the first time a church has divided over a matter of conscience, says Duke University church historian David Steinmetz.

"Schism happens because there are issues that are intensely important to people, who follow their conscience in ways that may seem odd to outsiders," says Steinmetz, Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of the History of Christianity in Duke's Divinity School.

The role of gays and lesbians in church life is just the latest in a long line of issues that various churches have argued, fought and, sometimes, even divided over, Steinmetz says. In many ways, schism has been one of the most powerful forces shaping the church throughout history.

Churches have split over all manner of issues, from seemingly trivial squabbles to profound doctrinal disagreements, Steinmetz says. For example, a reformed church in the Netherlands once divided over the question of whether the snake in the Garden of Eden actually talked to Eve as reported in Genesis.

Also, the African Methodist Episcopal Church split from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816 to protest racially segregated seating during worship. And 20 years before the Civil War, Methodists in the U.S. divided between North and South because a Methodist bishop married a woman who owned slaves.

To outsiders, the issues that divide churches may sometimes seem unimportant and even silly, says Steinmetz. "But my job as a church historian is to see things from the perspective of the people involved, and inevitably these divisions happen for reasons that weren't quite as silly as they may first appear to us."

Over the past 50 years or so, "schism" has taken on a largely negative connotation, particularly among ecumenically minded Protestants who favor taking positive steps to overcome all divisions from the past, including divisions between Protestants and Catholics. "But the older view was that conscience must be served, whatever the consequences," Steinmetz says.

Schism may seem, in certain circumstances, the only honorable choice. Indeed, some Protestants once contended that disagreements and divisions were a sign of a lively and vital church. "An old Dutch-American saying was 'Dead wood don't split,'" Steinmetz notes.

Steinmetz may be reached for additional comment at (919) 660-3438 (office), (919) 945-0698 (home) or by e-mail at steinmtz@acpub.duke.edu.