A schism ( /ˈskɪzəm/ or /ˈsɪzəm/; Greek: σχίσμα, skhísma, from σχίζω, skhízō, "to tear, to split") is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within some other religion. It is also used of a split within a non-religious organization or movement or, more broadly, of a separation between two or more people, be it brothers, friends, lovers, etc.

A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group. Schismatic as an adjective means pertaining to a schism or schisms, or to those ideas, policies, etc. that are thought to lead towards or promote schism.

In religion, the charge of schism is distinguished from that of heresy, since the offence of schism concerns not differences of belief or doctrine but promotion of, or the state of, division, but schisms frequently involve mutual accusations of heresy. In Roman Catholic teaching, every heresy is a schism. However, the Presbyterian scholar James I. McCord (quoted with approval by the Episcopalian bishop of Virginia Peter Lee) drew a distinction between them, teaching: "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy. As a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ. Choose heresy every time."

Schism may refer to:

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect^{[citation needed]}. Many religions have organized behaviors, clergy, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services for the purposes of veneration of a deity or for prayer, holy places (either natural or architectural), and/or scriptures. The practice of a religion may also include sermons, commemoration of the activities of a god or gods, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. However, there are examples of religions for which some or many of these aspects of structure, belief, or practices are absent.

Phillip "Phil" Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer and animator known for creating the computer-animated video series VeggieTales with partner and friend Mike Nawrocki. He is famous for providing the voice of Bob the Tomato in the series.

Phil Vischer was born June 16, 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa and grew-up in Chicago, Illinois.

He attended St. Paul Bible College and got involved with the puppet ministry where he met Mike Nawrocki. Vischer originally wanted to go to film school after bible college but never made it. He ended up working for Amoco and Montgomery Ward as a truckdriver afterwards.

Vischer founded GRAFx Studios 1989 after buying an animation software, the company that dedicated in animating commercials and logos. That same year he animated and directed Mr. Cuke's Screen Test featuring Larry the Cucumber. In early 1993 he teamed up with Mike Nawrocki and started Big Idea Productions (now Big Idea Entertainment).

From 1993 to 2002, Vischer led the company as lead director and writer. In 2003 (after the release of Jonah) Big Idea went bankrupt and Vischer sold the company to Classic Media and left the company.

William Sanford "Bill" Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the Disney/PBS children's science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.

William Sanford Nye was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jacqueline (née Jenkins; c. 1920–2000), a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (died 1997), also a World War II veteran whose experience in a Japanese prisoner of war camp led him to become a sundial enthusiast. Nye is a fourth-generation Washington, D.C. resident on his father's side of the family. After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted to the private Sidwell Friends School on a partial scholarship, graduating in 1973. He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, where one of his professors was Carl Sagan, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1977. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Johns Hopkins University in May 2008. In May 2011, Nye was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Willamette University where he was the keynote speaker for that year's commencement exercises.