AOCI Bible Training Institute (ABTI) — History of Christianity — From Pentecost to Official Roman Empire Religion

Timeline of Christianity
by Dr. Linda Smallwood, BBS, M.Min., D.Min.

For the most part, this timeline involves only Christianity from its roots to the present. There are a few places, however, where I've included some significant events in world history.

c. 4 B.C.	Birth of Jesus.
c. 26 A.D.	John the Baptist begins his ministry.
c. 27 A.D.	Jesus begins His ministry.
c. 30 A.D.	Jesus gives His life for our sins.
c. 30 A.D.	Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
c. 33 A.D.	Stephen is martyred (Acts 7:54-60).
c. 35	Saul of Tarsus converted and becomes the Apostle Paul.
c. 44	James, brother of John, is martyred (Acts 12:2).
c. 45	James, the half-brother of Jesus, writes his epistle to the Church, at large.
c. 46-48	Paul's first missionary journey.
c. 49	Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).
c. 49	Hebrew Christians accept Hellenist and Gentile Christians.
c. 50-52	Paul's second missionary journey.
c. 51-52	Paul writes two epistles to the Thessalonians.
c. 53-57	Paul's third missionary journey.
c. 56-57br>	Paul writes two letters to the Corinthians.
c. 57	Paul writes his letter to the Romans.
c. 59-62	Paul imprisoned in Rome.
c. 60	Andrew is martyred by crucifixion in Achaia (Greece).
c. 60-63	Paul writes letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon.
c. 62	James, the half-brother of Jesus, is martyred.
c. 62-66	Paul writes his first letter to Timothy.
c. 65	The book of Hebrews written [possibly by Priscilla (Acts 18:2-26). Peter writes his first epistles to the Church.
c. 63-66	Paul writes letter to Titus.
c. 66-67	Paul writes his second letter to Timothy.
c. 67	Peter writes his second epistle to the Church.
c. 67-73	Jude [Judas, not Iscariot], half-brother of Jesus, writes his epistle to the Church, at large.
c. 68	Peter and Paul are martyred under the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.
70	Roman Empire destroys Jerusalem and the Temple.
c. 85	John writes his first epistle to believers in Ephesus.
c. 85-90	John writes his second epistle.
c. 90	John writes his Gospel record and his third epistle.
c. 90-95	John exiled on the island of Patmos.
c. 95	John writes the book of Revelation.
161-180	Widespread persecution of Christians under Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
202-210	Christians persecuted under Emperor Septimus Severus.
211-221	Christians tolerated under Emperor Antoninus Caracalla.
222-234	Christians favored by Emperor Alexander Severus.
235-237	Christians persecuted under Emperor Maximin the Thracian.
238-243	Christians tolerated under Emperor Gordian III.
244-250	Christians favored under Emperor Philip the Arabian.
251-253	Cyprian's Unity of the Catholic Church.
254	Apostolic Father Origen dies.
301	Armenia becomes the world's first country to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion.
303	Emperor Diocletian orders burning of Christian books and churches.
312	Emperor Constantine receives a vision of a flaming cross with the words 'In hoc signo vinces' — "By this sign conquer." He defeats rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
313	Constantine issues the Edict of Milan to establish official toleration of Christianity.
325	Constantine calls the first Ecumenical Council at Nicea. The council refutes Arian heresy, which declared Christ as a created being, they write the Nicene Creed, declaring Christ to be "...Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father..."
336	Constantine dies.
367	Athanasius lists all 27 books of what he believes should be the New Testament canon.
380	Christianity becomes official religion of the Roman Empire.
381	Ecumenical Council at Constantinople revises the Nicene creed to its current form.
382	Apostolic Father Jerome begins translating the Bible into Latin.
386	Emperor Augustine converts to Christianity.
397	Synod at Carthage ratifies the 27 books of the New Testament as sacred Scripture.
c. 400	Jerome completes the Vulgate [translation of the Greek Bible into Latin].
411	Council of Carthage condemns Donatists.¹
431	Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism.²
420	Jerome dies.
430	Emperor Augustine dies.
431	Ecumenical Council at Ephesus refutes Nestorianism [doctrine that Christ was two persons (one human, the other divine) in one body]; declares Mary is Theotokos ["God-bearer" or more commonly, "Mother of God"].
449	Pope Leo I delivers his "Tome", defending orthodox Christian belief, to Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople, about Eutyches.
451	Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon affirms Christ as having two distinct natures united in one Person [known as the 'Hypostatic Union'].
553	Ecumenical Council at Constantinople affirms agreements and beliefs of previous councils.
589	The filioque [Latin: 'and the son'] clause added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed at a council in Toledo.
597	Benedictine Monk Augustine becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
680-681	Ecumenical Council at Constantinople rejects Monothelitism³ as heretical.
787	Second Ecumenical Council at Nicea ends the controversy over the use of icons in worship.
800	Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
950	Olga of Russia converts to Christianity.
988	Prince Vladimir converts to Christianity, enabling the growth of Christiainity throughout Russia.
1054	Great Schism between East and West. The Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches separate.
1095	Pope Urban II authorizes the first Crusade to recover the Holy Land from Muslims.
1098	Crusaders take Antioch from Turks.
1099	Crusaders recapture Jerusalem from Turks.
1122	Concordat of Worms.⁴
1187	Muslims recapture Jerusalem.
1189	Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart of England.
1204	Sack of Constantinople during the fourth Crusade.
1215	Fourth Lateran [in Rome] Council.
1216/1223	Pope approves the Dominican and Franciscan mendicant [begging] orders.
1266-1273	Thomas Aquinas writes "Summa Theologiae" ["Systematic Theology'⁵].
1305	Papacy moves to Avignon following a dispute with Philip IV of France.
1337	Beginning of the Hundred Years' War [until 1453].
c. 1376	John Wycliffe writes "Civil Dominion", arguing for reform of the Church.
1378	Following the return of the Papacy to Rome, rival "Antipopes" emerge. The dispute ends in 1417 with the election of Pope Martin V.
c. 1380	John Wycliffe translates the Bible into Middle English — that is, the dominant spoken language for many parts of England during the Middle Ages.
1378	Great Western Schism (until 1423).
1409	Council of Pisa.
1414	Lollard rebellion [or Oldcastle Revolt]⁶.
1415	Council of Constance. Martyrdom of Jan Hus [he questioned the infallibility of the Catholic Church, was excommunicated in 1409 and later burned at the stake].
1420	Crusade against Hussites [followers of the religious reformer John Huss].
1431	Martyrdom of Joan of Arc [French heroine inspired by religious visions to organize French resistance to the English and to have Charles VII crowned king; she was tried for heresy and burned at the stake].
1453	Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks.
1478	Spanish Inquisition founded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
1483	Birth of Martin Luther.
1492	Expulsion of Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella.
1505	Martin Luther becomes a Monk.
1517	Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Wittenburg, Germany; beginning the Protestant Reformation.
1521	Luther's final breach with the Catholic church during the "Diet of Worms" [meaning "Assembly" at Worms, Germany]. Luther is excommunicated.
1525	William Tyndale completes his translation of the Bible into English.
1530	Augsburg Confession⁷ written and approved at a Diet in Augsburg, Germany.
1534	Ignatius of Loyola founds the Jesuits.
1534	King Henry VIII passes Act of Supremacy in which he becomes the Head of the English Church.
1536	John Calvin publishes "Institutes of the Christian Religion".
1545-1563	Council of Trent.
1549	Thomas Cranmer publishes the "Book of Common Prayer" in England (later revised in 1662).
1555	"Peace of Augsburg" ends religious wars in Germany.
1559	Queen Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity.⁸
1590	Michelangelo completes his painting of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
1609	John Smyth founds the Baptist Church.
1611	Publication of the King James (Authorized) Version of the Bible.
1618-1648	Thirty Years' War between the Protestants and Catholics in Germany.
1661	English Parliament approves Act of Uniformity for the Church of England.
1730-1760	The first "Great Awakening", a revival movement among Protestants in America.
1738	John and Charles Wesley convert, lead an Evangelical revival in England, and form the Methodist Church.
1775-1783	American Wars of Independence from England.
1797	Second "Great Awakening" begins.
1798	French military holds Pope Pius VI prisoner.
1801	Cane Ridge Revival.
1804	Napoleon becomes Emperor of France.
1808	French military occupies Rome.
1812	Beginning of the "War of 1812" when the United States declares war on Great Britain.
1814	The Jesuits reorganize.
1816	American Bible Society established.
1822	Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768–1834) writes "Der christliche Glaube" [The Christian Faith].
1826	American Society for the Promotion of Temperance founded.
1830	Joseph Smith produces "Book of Mormon" and founds the Church of Latter Day Saints [Mormons].
1834	Spanish Inquisition officially abolished.
1838	Abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean.
1841	David Livingstone, Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary, goes to Africa.
1845	Methodists and Baptists split over the issue of slavery.
1854	Dogma⁹ of the Immaculate conception of Mary proclaimed by the Roman Catholic church.
1859	Darwin publishes "Origin of the Species".
1861-1865	American Civil War/War between the States.
1861	Presbyterians divide over the issue of slavery.
1869-1870	First Vatican council. Dogma of Papal infallibility proclaimed.
1872	Dwight L. Moody begins preaching and goes on later to found the Moody Church, the Northfield Mount Hermon School, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers. Charles Taze Russel founds the "Zion's Watch Tower Society", later renamed to "Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society", the group from which the Jehovah's Witnesses cult would be birthed.
1875	Mary Baker Eddy writes "Science and Health" and founds the Christian Science cult.
1882	Friedrich Neitzsche, 19th-century German philosopher who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality, declares, "God is dead."
1895	The "Five Fundamentals"¹⁰ affirmed, the naming of which gave rise to the term "Fundamentalist".
1900	Freud publishes "Interpretation of Dreams".
1906	Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, which marks the beginning of the Pentecostal movement.
1908	Henry Ford introduces the Model T automobile.
1910	World mission/missionary conference held in Edinburgh.
1914	Assemblies of God founded.
1914-1918	World War I.
1917	Russian Revolution.
1918	Billy Graham born. Later becomes one of the most prominent evangelists in Christian history.
1919	Prohibition [prohibiting the selling of alcoholic beverages] passed into law.
1925	Scopes "Monkey" Trial.¹¹.
1931	Under the leadership of Joseph Rutherford, the "Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society" adopts the name "Jehovah's Witnesses".
1939	Hitler invades Poland and sparks World War II.
1945	Nag Hammadi library¹² discovered in Egypt.
1945	U.S. drops atomic bombs on Japan.
1947	India wins independence from the U.K.
1948	World Council of Churches founded.
1950	Dogma of the Assumption of Mary¹³ proclaimed by the Roman Cathlic Church.
1956	First issue of Christianity Today magazine.
1960	Birth control pill approved by the FDA of the U.S.
1961	First human in space.
1962-1965	Second Vatican Council during which major reforms in the Roman Catholic church are initiated. The anathemas¹⁴ of 1054 between Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches lifted.
1963	Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
1968	Pope Paul VI issues an encyclical [letter] Humanae Vitae, regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the continuing proscription [banning] of most forms of birth control. Martin Luther King, Jr. shot and killed.
1969	First man on the moon.
1971	Intel introduces the microprocessor.
1973	United States Supreme Court affirms a woman's right to choose abortion in the highly-publicized court decision of Roe vs. Wade.
1987-1988	Televangelist scandals.
1989	First woman ordained in an apostolic-succession church (the Protestant Episcopal church).
1989	The Berlin Wall torn down.
1997	Birth of the internet.

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¹ Donatists — n. the Donatist controversy of the late fourth and early fifth century posed orthodox Christians against more zealous Christians in North Africa. Named for Bishop Donatus Magnus, the Donatists were members of a divisive church not in communion with the churches of the Catholic tradition. Donatism was an indirect outcome of Diocletian's persecutions. The governor of Africa had been lenient toward the large Christian minority under his rule during the persecutions. He was satisfied if Christians handed over their Scriptures as a token repudiation of their faith. Some Christians acceded to this convenient action. When the persecutions came to an end, however, they were branded traditores, "those who handed (the holy things) over" by the zealous, mostly from the poorer classes. ["Donatism", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 4 July 2012. Web. 18 July 2012. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatist>]

² Palagianism — n. the theological doctrine put forward by Pelagius which denied original sin and affirmed the ability of humans to be righteous.

³ Monothelitism — n. The theological doctrine that Christ had only one will even though he had two natures (human and divine); condemned as heretical in the Third Council of Constantinople.

⁴ Concordat of Worms — n. compromise arranged in 1122 between Pope Calixtus II and the Holy Roman emperor Henry V settling the Investiture Controversy, a struggle between the Empire and the Papacy over the control of Church offices.

⁵ Systematic Theology — n. a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs. Systematic Theology draws on the foundational sacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, science, and ethics.

⁶ Lollard Rebellion — n. also known as the Oldcastle [from Sir John Oldcastle (1378-1417) ]Revolt, was a result of a medieval reform movement known as Lollard [or Lollardy] largely based on the writings and teachings of John Wycliff [or Wycliffe]. Some have referred to the movement as a mini Reformation. Read more at "English Dissenters — Lollards".

⁷ Augsburg Confession — n. the primary confession of faith used in the Lutheran church.

⁸ Act of Uniformity — n. documents prescribing the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the established Church of England.

⁹ dogma — n. religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof.

¹⁰ Five Fundamentals — n. a list of five core beliefs agreed upon by a coalition of interdenominational brethren, following a number of conferences, united around the five 'fundamentals' of the faith. They are:
1. The inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture
2. The deity of Jesus Christ
3. The virgin birth of Christ
4. The substitutionary, atoning work of Christ on the cross
5. The physical resurrection and the personal bodily return of Christ to the earth.

¹¹ Scopes "Monkey" Trial — n. formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, was a landmark American legal case in 1925 in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was both a theological contest as well as a trial on the factual accuracy of modern science regarding the creation-evolution controversy.

¹² Nag Hammadi Library — n. a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.

¹³ Assumption of Mary — n. according to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, this was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life, whether by death or just prior to death.

¹⁴ anathemas — n. a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication.

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