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This article is about the timeline of Christianity beginning with Jesus. For the timeline of the Bible, see
Biblical chronology. For the history of Christianity, see
History of Christianity. For the timeline of the Roman
Catholic Church, see Timeline of the Roman Catholic
Church.
The purpose of this timeline is to give a detailed account of Christianity from the beginning of the current
era (AD) to the present. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates.
Main article: Chronology of Jesus
The year one is the rst year in the Christian calendar
(there is no year zero), which is the calendar presently
used (in unison with the Gregorian calendar) almost everywhere in the world. Traditionally, this was held to be
the year Jesus was born; however, most modern scholars
argue for an earlier or later date, the most agreed upon
being between 6 BC and 4 BC.
6 Herod Archelaus deposed by Augustus; Samaria,
Judea and Idumea annexed as Iudaea Province under
direct Roman administration,[1] capital at Caesarea,
Quirinius became Legate (Governor) of Syria, conducted Census of Quirinius, opposed by Zealots
(JA18, Luke 2:13, Acts 5:37)
1 Apostolic Age
1
open break between Rome and the Jews[5]
before 44 Epistle of James if written by James the
Great
44? Saint James the Great: According to ancient
local tradition, on 2 January of the year AD 40, the
Virgin Mary appeared to James on a pillar on the
bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he
was preaching the Gospel in Spain. Following that
vision, St James returned to Judea, where he was
beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44
during a Passover (Nisan 15) (Acts 12:1-3).
APOSTOLIC AGE
3
in their deaths they were made the subjects of sport;
for they were wrapped in the hides of wild beasts
and torn to pieces by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or
set on re, and when day declined, were burned
to serve for nocturnal lights. (Annals (Tacitus)
XV.44)
64/67(?)76/79(?) Pope Linus succeeds Peter as
Episcopus Romanus (Bishop of Rome)
64 Epistle to the Hebrews written
65? Q document, a hypothetical Greek text thought
by many critical scholars to have been used in writing of Matthew and Luke
66-73 Great Jewish Revolt:
destruction of
Herods Temple and end of Judaism according to
Supersessionism, Qumran community (site of Dead
Sea Scrolls found in 1947)destroyed
70(+/10)? Gospel of Mark, written in Rome, by
Peters interpreter (1 Peter 5:13), original ending apparently lost, endings added c. 400, see Mark 16
70? Signs Gospel written, hypothetical Greek text
used in Gospel of John to prove Jesus is the Messiah
70-100? Additional Pauline Epistles
70-200? Gospel of Thomas, Jewish Christian
Gospels: Gospel of the Ebionites, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Nazarenes
72, July 3 Martyrdom of St. Thomas the Apostle at
Chinnamala, Mylapore, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
76/79(?)88 Pope Anacletus: rst Greek Pope,
who succeeds Linus as Episcopus Romanus (Bishop
of Rome)
80(+/20) Didache written
80(+/20)? Gospel of Matthew, based on Mark
and Q, most popular in Early Christianity
80(+/20)? Gospel of Luke, based on Mark and Q,
also Acts of the Apostles by same author
80(+/20)? Pastoral Epistles written (possible
post-Pauline authorship)
88-101? Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome: wrote
Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians (Apostolic
Fathers)
90? Council of Jamnia of Judaism (disputed),
Domitian applies the Fiscus Judaicus tax even to
those who merely lived like Jews[14]
90(+/10)? late date for writing of 1 Peter (associate of Peter as author)
2 Ante-Nicene Period
Main article: Ante-Nicene Period
100-150? Apocryphon of James, Gospel of Mary
Magdalene, Gospel of James, Infancy Gospel of
Thomas, Secret Gospel of Mark (Complete Gospels,
published by Jesus Seminar)
110-130? Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, writes Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord, lost, widely
quoted (Apostolic Fathers)
110-160? Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, Letter to the
Philippians, (Apostolic Fathers)
120?
Rabbi Tarfon advocates burning the
Gospels[16]
125(+/5)? 2 Peter written, widely accepted into
canon by the early 4th century
125? Rylands Library Papyrus P52, oldest extant
NT fragment, p. 1935, parts of Jn18:31-33,37-38
130-250? Christian Apologists writings against
Roman religion: Justin Martyr, Athenagoras,
Apology of Aristides, Theophilus of Antioch,
Tatian, Quadratus, Melito of Sardis, Apollinaris
Claudius, Marcus Minucius Felix, Arnobius, Epistle
to Diognetus
2
132-135 Bar Kokhbas revolt: nal Jewish revolt,
Judea and Jerusalem erased from maps, region renamed Syria Palstina (the term Palestine was originally coined by Herodotus), Jerusalem renamed
Aelia Capitolina
142-144? Marcion of Sinope: bishop according to
Catholic Encyclopedia, goes to Rome, possibly to
buy the bishopric of Rome, upon rejection forms his
own church in Rome, later called Marcionism, rejected Old Testament, decreed canon of one Gospel,
one Apostolicon (10 Letters of Paul) and one Antithesis[17] which contrasted the Old Testament with the
New Testament, cited Western text-type, see also
Expounding of the Law#Antithesis of the Law
150? Western Revisor adds/subtracts from original Acts to produce Western version which is 10%
larger and found in Papyrus P29,38,48 and Codex
Bezae (D)
150? Valentinius (most famous Christian Gnostic,
according to Tertullian) narrowly loses election for
Bishop of Rome
ANTE-NICENE PERIOD
218-258 Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, cited Western NT text-type, claimed Christians were freely
forging his letters to discredit him (Ante-Nicene Fathers)
5
248-264 Dionysius, Patriarch of Alexandria see also
List of Patriarchs of Alexandria
317? Lactantius
276 Mani (prophet), crucied, founder of the dualistic Manichaean sect in Persia
282-300? Theonas, bishop of Alexandria (AnteNicene Fathers)
360 Julian the Apostate becomes the last nonChristian Roman Emperor
363-364 Council of Laodicea: Canon 29 decreed
anathema for Christians who rest on the Sabbath,
disputed Canon 60 named 26 NT books (excluded
Revelation)
366-367 Antipope Ursicinus, rival to Pope Damasus
I
367-403 Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, wrote Panarion against heresies
370-379 Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea
370? Doctrine of Addai at Edessa proclaims 17
book NT canon using Diatessaron (instead of the
4 Gospels) + Acts + 15 Pauline Epistles (inc. 3
Corinthians) Syriac Orthodox Church
370 (d. ca.) Optatus of Milevis, who in his conict with the sectarian Donatists stressed unity and
catholicity as marks of the Church over and above
holiness, and also that the sacraments derived their
validity from God, not from the priest
372-394 Gregory, Bishop Of Nyssa
373 Ephrem the Syrian, cited Western Acts
374-397 Ambrose, governor of Milan until 374,
then made Bishop of Milan
375-395 Ausonius, Christian governor of Gaul
350? Codex Sinaiticus(), Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209(B): earliest Christian Bibles, Alexandrian
text-type
350? Ullas, Arian, apostle to the Goths, translates
Greek NT to Gothic
350? Comma Johanneum 1Jn5:7b-8a(KJV)
350? Atius, Arian, Syntagmation": God is agennetos (unbegotten)", founder of Anomoeanism
350? School of Nisibis founded
353-367 Hilary, bishop of Poitiers
355-365 Antipope Felix II, Arian, supported by
Constantius II, consecrated by Acacius of Caesarea
7
386 Cyril of Jerusalem: wrote compellingly of
catholicity of the Church
449 Second Council of Ephesus, Monophysite: Jesus was divine but not human
390? Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, believed Jesus had human body but divine spirit
450? Codex Alexandrinus(A): Alexandrian texttype; Codex Bezae(D): Greek/Latin Gospels + Acts;
Codex Washingtonianus(W): Greek Gospels; both
of Western text-type
391: The Theodosian decrees outlaw most pagan rituals still practiced in Rome
396-430 Augustine, bishop of Hippo, considered the founder of formalized Christian theology
(Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers)
397? Saint Ninian evangelizes Picts in Scotland
398-404 John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, see also List of Patriarchs of Constantinople, (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers)
400: Jerome's Vulgate (Latin edition and translation
of the Bible) is published
400? Ethiopic Bible: in Ge'ez, 81 books, standard
Ethiopian Orthodox Bible
5th
9
750? Tower added to St Peters Basilica at the front
of the atrium
997-998 Antipope John XVI, deposed by Pope Gregory V and his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Otto III
Middle Ages
879-880 Orthodox Fourth Council of Constantinople restores Photius, condemns Pope Nicholas I and
Filioque (rejected by Catholics)
1073-1085 Pope Gregory VII: Investiture Controversy with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, proponent of clerical celibacy, opponent of simony,
concubinage, Antipope Clement III
897, January Cadaver Synod: Pope Stephen VI conducts trial against dead Pope Formosus, public uprising against Stephen leads to his imprisonment and
strangulation
909 Abbey of Cluny, Benedictine monastery,
founded in France
966 Duke Mieszko I of Poland baptised; Poland becomes a Christian country
984 Antipope Boniface VII, murdered Pope John
XIV, alleged to have murdered Pope Benedict VI in
974
988? Christianization of Kievan Rus
10
5 RENAISSANCE
1215 Catholic Fourth Lateran Council decrees special dress for Jews and Muslims, and declares
Waldensians, founded by Peter Waldo, as heretics.
One of the goals is the elimination of the heresy of
the Cathars
1219 Francis of Assisi crosses enemy lines during
the Fifth Crusade to speak to Sultan al-Kamil; the
meeting ends with a meal. James of Vitry writes
that Muslim soldiers returned Francis and another
friar, Illuminato, with signs of honor.[32]
1220-1263 St Alexander Nevsky, holy patron of
Russia
1260 Date at which a 1988 Vatican sponsored scientic study places the origin of the Shroud of Turin
1263, July 2024 The Disputation of Barcelona is
held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in
the presence of the King, his court, and many prominent ecclesiastical dignitaries and knights, between
a convert from Judaism to Christianity Dominican
Friar Pablo Christiani and Rabbi Nachmanides
1274 Summa Theologiae, written by Thomas
Aquinas, theologian and philosopher, landmark
systematic theology which later becomes ocial
Catholic doctrine
5 Renaissance
11
1308-1321 Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), by
Dante Alighieri; most consensual dates are: Inferno
written between 13071308, Purgatorio from 13071308 to 1313-1314 and last the Paradiso from 13131314 to 1321 (year of Dantes death)
1307 The arrest of many of the Knights Templar,
beginning conscation of their property and extraction of confessions under torture
1305-1378 Avignon Papacy, Popes reside in Avignon, France
1311-1312 Catholic Council of Vienne disbands
Knights Templar
1313 Foundation of the legendary Order of the Rose
Cross (Rosicrucian Order), a mystic Christian fraternity for the rst time expounded in the major Christian literary work The Divine Comedy[33][34][35][36]
the
6 Reformation
1414-1418 Catholic Council of Constance asks Gregory XII, Benedict XIII, Pisan Pope John XXIII to
See also: Protestant Reformation
resign their papal claims, then elects Pope Martin V;
condemns John Wyclie and Jan Hus, who is burned
at the stake
1517 95 Theses of Martin Luther begins German
1423-1424 Council of Siena
Protestant Reformation
12
REFORMATION
13
1541 John Calvin returns to Geneva
1582 Rheims New Testament published - it later became part of the 1610 DouayRheims Bible
1560 Geneva Bible, NT a revision of Matthews version of Tyndale with use of Theodore Beza's NT
(1556), OT a thorough revision of Great Bible, appointed to be read in Scotland (but not England), at
least 140 editions, rst Bible with chapter and verse
numbers
1588 Spanish Armada defeated in its eorts to reconquer England for Catholicism
14
7 17TH CENTURY
17th century
15
1666 Paul Gerhardt, Lutheran pastor and hymnwriter, is removed from his position as a pastor in
Nikolaikirche in Berlin, when he refuses to accept
syncretistic edict of the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm
I of Brandenburg
1721 Peter the Great substitutes Moscow Patriarchate with the Holy Synod
1768 Reimarus dies without publishing his radical critic work distinguishing Historical Jesus versus
Christ of Faith
18th century
16
9 19TH CENTURY
19th century
promotes
17
1848 Epistle to the Easterners and Encyclical of the
Eastern Patriarchs response
1886 Onesimos Nesib begins translation of the entire Bible into the Oromo language
10 20th century
1903 First group baptism at Sattelberg Mission Station under Christian Keyser in New Guinea paves
way for mass conversions during the following years
1904 Welsh revival
1904 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil - Igreja
Evanglica Luterana do Brasil - is founded in Juni
24, in So Pedro do Sul city, State Rio Grande do
Sul
1905 French law on the separation of Church and
State
1906 Albert Schweitzer publishes The Quest of the
Historical Jesus (English translation 1910)
1906 Biblia Hebraica
18
10 20TH CENTURY
1918 Execution of Holy Martyrs of Russia, including the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife, Alexandra
Feodorovna, by the Communists
1919 Karl Barth's Commentary on Romans is published, critiquing Liberal Christianity and beginning
the neo-orthodox movement
1920 The Ecclesia, an Esoteric Christian Temple, is
erected and dedicated on Christmas Day (December
25)
1921 Oxford Group founded at Oxford
1923 Aimee Semple McPherson builds Angelus
Temple
1924 First religious radio station in the U.S., KFUO
(AM), founded
1925 Scopes Trial causes division among Fundamentalists
1925 United Church of Canada formed
1925 St. Therese of Lisieux canonized
1925 The World Conference of Life and Work is held
in Stockholm, Sweden
1926 Father Charles Coughlin's rst radio broadcast
1926-1929 Cristero War in Mexico: The Constitution of 1917 brings persecution of Christian practices and anti-clerical laws - approximately 4,000
Catholic priests are expelled, assassinated or executed
1929 Lateran Treaty signed, containing three agreements between kingdom of Italy and the papacy
1929 Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly dies
1929 Voice of Prophecy radio ministry founded by
Seventh-day Adventist pastor H.M.S. Richards Sr.
1930 Rastafari movement founded
1930 Old American Lutheran Church founded
1930 The Lutheran Hour begins with Walter A.
Maier as speaker
19
1931 Jehovahs Witnesses formally separate from
the Bible Student movement
1931 Christ the Redeemer (statue) built in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
1947 Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism by Carl F. H. Henry, a landmark of Evangelicalism versus Fundamentalism in US
1947 Oral Roberts founds Evangelistic Association
1932 Franz Pieper's A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod adopted by the
LCMS
20
10 20TH CENTURY
21
1973, June 12- Near the city of Akita, Our Lady
appeared to Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa. Three messages were given to her over a period 5 months Our
Lady of Akita.[42]
1973 The Apostle in the End-Time called[43] Arsenio Tan Ferriol (Pentecostal Missionary Church of
Christ in the 4th WATCH) Philippines
1976 Anneliese Michel, Bavarian woman, undergoes exorcism against demon possession
1976 Suicide by self-immolation of East German
pastor Oskar Brsewitz, leads to mass protests
against communism
1977 New Perspective on Paul
1977 Focus on the Family founded by James Dobson
1978-2005 Pope John Paul II: rearmed moral traditions (The Splendor of Truth)
1991 John P. Meiers series A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, v. 1
1979-1982? New King James Version, complete revision of 1611 AV, updates archaisms while retaining style
1980 Glacier View Conference: Seventh-day Adventist pastor and professor Desmond Ford is defrocked for questioning the sanctuary doctrine of the
church, in a 1979 lecture at Pacic Union College
1981 Kibeho, Rwanda reported that Our Lady appeared to several teenagers telling them to pray to
avoid rivers of blood (Marian apparitions)[44]
1981 Mother Angelica launches EWTN; it grows to
become one of the largest television networks in the
world; the operation expands to radio in 1992
1981 Institute on Religion and Democracy is
founded
22
11 21ST CENTURY
2006 The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism, signed by several Christian denominations in
the Middle East, criticizes the doctrine as associating the Gospel with imperialism and militarism
1999, October 31- signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justication between the
Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church
1999 Gospel of Jesus Christ - An Evangelical Celebration; a consensus Gospel endorsed by various evangelical leaders including J.I. Packer, John
Ankerberg, Jerry Falwell, Thomas C. Oden, R.C.
Sproul, Wayne Grudem, Charles Swindoll, et al.
2007, May 17- The Russian Orthodox Church is reunied after 80 years of schism
2009, August 21- The Minneapolis Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA passes four ministry policy resolutions that will permit clergy in committed homosexual partnerships to be rostered leaders within the
ELCA
11
21st century
23
2013, March- Pope Francis, an Argentinean, becomes the rst non-European pope in modern times
12
Sources
13
See also
14
External links
Christian History Project Online Version of the 12Volume Popular History Series 'The Christians :
Their First Two Thousand Years, Sponsored by the
Society to Explore and Record Christian History
OrthodoxWiki: Timeline of Church History (from
the Orthodox POV)
St. Ignatius Church: Timeline (from the Orthodox
POV)
Catholic Encyclopedia: Jerusalem (Before A.D. 71)
Missions time line - Important events, locations,
people and movements in World Evangelism
15
Footnotes
24
15 FOOTNOTES
25
[34] Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, XXX: Knight Kadosh,
p. 822, 1872
[35] Ren Gunon, El Esoterismo de Dante, p. 5-6, 14, 15-16,
18-23, 1925
[36] Manly Palmer Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages: The
Fraternity of The Rose Cross, p. 139, 1928
[37] NOMBRE DE DIOS Mission in Spanish La Florida.
Retrieved 14 March 2015.
[38] (What think you, loving people, and how seem you affected, seeing that you now understand and know, that
we acknowledge ourselves truly and sincerely to profess
Christ, condemn the Pope, addict ourselves to the true
Philosophy, lead a Christian life (...)".
[39] CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Evangelical Church.
Retrieved 14 March 2015.
[40] Beauraing 1932. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
[41] The Lady of All Nations - Family of Mary. Retrieved
14 March 2015.
[42] Messages of Our Lady at Akita Japan. Retrieved 14
March 2015.
[43] PMCC 4th Watch - Pentecostal Missionary CHURCH
OF CHRIST (4th Watch)". PMCC (4th Watch). Retrieved
14 March 2015.
[44] APPROVED APPARITIONS: Our Lady of Kibeho This
was an ominious foreshadowing of the Rwanda Genocide
of 1994.
[45] Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
March 2015.
Retrieved 14
26
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