the time line of christian history

Time Line of Christian History

Compiled by:

M. M. Ninan

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The Time Line of

Christian History5509 The starting point for the apo ktiseos kosmou (AKK) or anno mundi (AM) chronological system commonly employed by East Roman (Byzantine) scholars from about the fifth century.

In this system, then, 1 A.D. corresponds to the year of the world 5509/5510. 2000 A.D. is thus 7508/7509. East Roman year began with 1 September.

Dionysus Exiguus In the sixth century (A.D.), this monk and scholar was asked by the Pope to work out when Jesus Christ was born, so that a calendar or dating system could be introduced which placed events according to the number of years they occurred either before or after the birth of Christ. This system came to be used in Christendom, instead of using the founding of Rome (753 B.C.) as the reference point, or "year zero."

Dionysus made 2 mistakes:1. He got the date of Christ’s birth wrong 2. He didn’t include a year for the first year of Christ’s life- there should really have been a "year zero", between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.

Much of his life was spent in Rome, where he governed a monastery as abbot. His industry was translating standard works from Greek into Latin. He translated the "Life of St. Pachomius", the "Instruction of St. Proclus of Constantinople" for the Armenians,and the "De opificio hominis" of St. Gregory of Nyssa. He died around 544 AD

The Alexandrian era attributed to the fifth century monk Panodorus, began on August 29, 5493 B.C.

5199 In the Anno Mundi chronological system attributed to Eusebius and common in the West before the adoption of the Anno Domini system, this year was the starting point.

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4004 BC The year of the creation according to Bishop Ussher (1581-1656), an Anglo-Irish (Protestant) priest.

Even though when the calendar was made so that the birth of Jesus was to be the starting point of the year, the real dates are not exactly at that point. So the 0 is not exactly the birth year of Jesus. The Calendar was actually made after over 300 years. Year calculations were complex because the year was not exactly defined. Some made it 12 x 30 others 365 and adjustments were made to compensate for solar year.

According to my own calculation based on Scripture alone the Birth of Christ was on 25th December 6 BC

BC

First year in Christian calendar, (A.D. = Anno Domini). In an attempt secularize this Calendar, it is used as Common Era or C.E. by some. The Period Before Christ is written as B.C which is secularized as B.C.E.

BC 6: Herod Archelaus deposed by Augustus of Rome; Samaria, Judea and Idumea annexed as province Iudaea under direct Roman administration, capital. Caesarea

Caesar Augustus

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"When I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title Augustus by decree of the senate"

The House of Herod ruled Palestinian area in three parts at that time. The Herod family included Archelaus, Antipas and Phillip.

Coin of Herod Archelaus

Coin of Herod Antipas

Coin of Philip son of Herodthe Great and Cleopatra.

7 BC 21 Tishri 3755 = 14 Oct 7 BC Zachariah’s Vision – Day of Atonement 3 Nissan 3755 = 20 Mar 6 BC Annunciation to Mary Six months later 15 Av 3755 = 28 July 6 Birth of John the Baptist

6 BC: Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c.45 BCE - 21 CE): Roman senator, famous as governor of Syria. 1st Roman tax census of Iudaea. Birth of Jesus must have been during this period.

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Birth of Jesus 25 December, 6 BC16 Tevet 3756 25 Dec 6 BC

AD

6-9 AD: In 6 AD., Herod Archelaus, son of Herod the Great, was deposed and banished to Gaul by Augustus. Archelaus' part of his father's kingdom (including Judea, Samaria, Idumea and Archelais) was (except for Archelais) organized as a Roman Procuratorial Province. Coponius: Roman Prefect of Iudaea 6-15: Ananus ben Seth: High Priest of Jerusalem Temple, appointed by Quirinius

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6: Zealot's tax revolt: Judah of Gamala & Saddok the Pharisee [JA18.4,JW2.118]

Judah of Gamala was a Nazir Israelite King-Priest (a direct descendant of the Royal Davidian king line), and also the head of the Nazir Israelite Canaanite movement (of which the Greeks called the Zealots), who made their first strike during the census. In the beginning the Nazir Israelite Canaanites gained ground, during what is known as the "Revolution of Census", but at the end, the whole operation ended with a blood bath -ACTS 5: 37.

Zealot Symbo7-26: Brief period of peace, free of revolt and bloodshed in Iudaea & Galilee

30 BC - Hillel the Elder from Babylonia.- contemperory of Jesus.

"greatest Torah sage of Second Temple period", founder of Bet Hillel Torah school. Hillel was recognized as the highest authority among the Pharisees (predecessors to rabbinic Judaism).

42BC-37AD: Tiberius: Roman emperor.

Tiberius

59BC-17AD: Livy, (Titus Livius) Roman historian: " History of Rome” Of the original 142 books of the work (published in sections) 35 are extant (Books I–X, XXI–XLV). There are fragments of some others

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Titus Livius

18-36: Joseph Caiaphas: High Priest of Jerusalem Temple, appointed by V.Gratus

A Sadducee, son-in-law of Annas. According to the Gospels, he presided at the council that condemned Jesus to death. Later, he joined in the examination of Peter and John. Mat. 26.57–68; John 11.47–54; 18.24; Acts 4.6.

Ossuary of Caiaphas found in 1990

19: Tiberius expels Septuagint missionaries from Rome, but they soon returned.

202BC-220AD: Han dynasty in China

63 BC-24AD: Strabo, Greek geographer, historian, and philosopher

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Strabo’s World

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Reconstruction of what Jesus may have looked like according to the Discovery Channel

An ancient Roman depiction of Jesus8


http://www.historywiz.com/christianity.htm

26-36: Pontius Pilate: Roman Prefect of Iudaea (Samaria, Judea, and Idumea). Crucifixion of Jesus must have been during this period.

Pontius Pilate , Roman prefect of Judaea (A.D. 26–36 ). He was supposedly a ruthless governor, and he was removed at the complaint of Samaritans, among whom he engineered a massacre. His attempt to evade responsibility in the trial of Jesus was caused by his fear of the high priests' power and his difficult responsibility for the peace of Palestine. According to tradition he committed suicide at Rome. He is attested in the works of Josephus and Eusebius. The Acts of Pilate, one of the Pseudepigrapha (part of the Gospel of Nicodemus) tell of him as a Christian. In the Coptic and Ethiopic churches, Pilate has been canonized. Legend connects him with Mt. Pilatus.

Pontius Pilate, (26-37 AD) Limestone82.0 cm H, 65.0 cm W Building Dedication 4 Lines of Writing (Latin) Date of Discovery: 1961 Israel Museum (Jerusalem) AE 1963 no. 104

Inscription by Pontius Pilate

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http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0839030.html

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0840375.html


27-29 : John the Baptist begins ministry [Luke 3:1-2: 15th year of Tiberius]

27-30 : Jesus baptized in Jordan by John the Baptist, [Mk1:4-11]

10BC- : Marcus Manilius, Roman poet, wrote: Astronomica in 30 AD

50 BC-30AD: Shammai the Elder, founder of Bet Shammai Torah school.

"Shammai HaZaken, , c.50 B.C. c.A.D. 30, Jewish sage known for his opposition to the liberal teachings of Hillel. He and his school interpreted the Law extremely rigorously, emphasizing deed rather than intent.

AD 30 –100 THE PERIOD OF SOWING –APOSTOLIC AGE

30-100 Clement of Rome. Clement must have been alive during the ministry of Jesus.

28-30 : John the Baptist arrested/killed by Herod Antipas [Lk3:19-20,Josephus]

27-30 : Jesus' ministry, foundation years of Christianity,

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30 : Jesus crucified, Friday, Nisan 14th, March 30th, Last Supper would have been Thursday evening.

( Possible Friday 14 Nisan crucifixion dates are 7 Apr 30, 3 Apr 33 or 30 Mar 36. )

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New Covenant Era Starts

30 Resurrection of Jesus

36 Agrippa I (36 - 37) in Rome. Jonathan appointed Jerusalem High Priest (36 - 37) by Syrian Legate Vitellius.

30 -65 : period of oral tradition in Christianity Between Jesus and the Gospel of Mark

1) (Simon) Peter as leader 2) James , 3) John , 4) Andrew, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9)James son of Alpheus, 10) Thaddeus, 11) Simon the Revolutionary (or Zealot),

Judas the betrayer commits "suicide" [Ac1:18-19], Matthias voted in as his replacement [Ac1:23-26],

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Peter’s Pentecost Sermon - 3000 new converts in one day [Ac2:41],

Peter and John jailed for one night for causing riots, Number of converts increases to 5000 [Ac3],

Ananias and Sapphira die under mysterious circumstances after cheating the Assembly[Ac5], Aramaic [Ac1:19] and Greek [Ac6:1] in use early on,

34 Martyrdom of Stephen

7 Greeks added to 12 Apostles: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicolaus [Ac6],

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CHURCH AGE STARTS

37-62 Paul of Tarsus (37, Saul converts to Paul "The Apostle to the Gentiles" “The Architect and Builder of the Church”

Paul, the world's first missionary, missionary to the Gentiles

"...a man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace. For sometimes he seemed like a man, and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel." Acts of Paul and Thecla", Ante-Nicene Fathers

The Apostle Paul (c. 3 - c. 66), whose birth name was Saul, was a Christian missionary, martyr, saint, and author. The son of a Pharisee and Roman citizen, he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia. There is a general consensus that Paul was also a Roman citizen. He is often referred to by other names, including Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul the Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, Saint Paul, and Saul

Activity of Christianity shifts from the Hellenic-Jewish-Christians of Judea Samaria, and Galilee (Nazarenes "of Nazareth" and Ebionites "poor ones") to the Gentile-Christians led by Paul and centered in the church of Corinth ...

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37-41: Gaius Caligula: b.12, Emperor of Rome, declared himself god.

37-40: Herod Agrippa I: king of tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias

37: Paul of Tarsus' conversion, [Acts9], (a Roman citizen & tentmaker)

38: anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria [Philo: Flaccus 41-54, E-to-G 132-137]

39-40: anti-Jewish riots in Antioch [Malalas Chronographia 10.315]

39: Herod Antipas exiled to Gaul on charges of secret alliance with Parthians

40: Paul goes to Jerusalem to get aquainted (consult ) with Peter [Gal1:18-20]

40: Caligula adds tetrarchy of Herod Antipas (Galilee) to Herod Agrippa I

40 : 4 Maccabees, written in Greek in Alexandria (Septuagint)

41 Jerusalem expanded. New city walls were built, bringing the site of Jesus’ crucifixion within the city.

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41-44: Claudius adds Judea and Samaria to kingdom of Herod Agrippa I

42: James brother of John (James the Greater) executed by Herod Agrippa I [Acts12:1-3]

43 Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch (Acts 11.25-26).

44 Death of Herod Agrippa I, King of Judea and Samaria (Acts 12.23).

44: Fadus beheads Theudas for magically parting the Jordan R.[JA20.97,Ac5:36]

45 The church in Antioch sent famine relief to the Christians of Judea by the hands of Saul and Barnabas (Acts 11.29).

30 BC- 45AD: Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, b.30bce, Jewish philosopher and hellenizer, tried to unify Greek and Hebrew philosophy

(from André Thevet, Les Vrais Pourtraits et Vies Hommes Illustres, 1584)

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Philo was a theologian who sought to harmonize Jewish theology with Greek (largely Platonic) philosophy. Many ideas found in later Christian theology are present in Philo, though sometimes in a form unacceptable to the Church. Philo taught that Greek philosophy had been plagiarized from Moses. He believed that the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint, dating from the third century BC) was divinely inspired. Philo referred to the Logos (the residence of the Platonic Ideas) as the first-begotten Son of God - though, in his view, the Logos was definitely below God, distinct from the Godhead. He interpreted the theophanies of the Old Testament as appearances of the Logos (as for the Fathers they were Christophanies). He stressed the allegorical interpretation of scripture, though this must be balanced. With the later Eastern mystical theologians, Philo discussed the incomprehensibility of God in essence, and how knowledge of God can be attained in an ecstatic state.

45 : Fadus crucifies Jacob and Simon sons of Judah of Gamala (6) [JA20.5.2]

46-48: Tiberius Julius Alexander: Roman Procurator of Iudaea, an apostate Jew

47-59: Ananias ben Nedebaeus: H. P. of Jerus. Temple, app. by Herod of Chalcis

47-49 First missionary journey of Saul and Barnabas (Acts 13-14). Paul and Barnabas on Cyprus [Acts13:4-12]

48-93: Agrippa II: King of Judea, ruled from Chalcis 48-52 and from Iturea 52-93

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http://www.geocities.com/r_grant_jones/Rick/Septuagint/spindex.htm


48-49: The First Council of Apostles and Elders, [Ac15,Gal2.1f ] The participants adopted the missionary principle of St. Paul, which stressed the universal scope of salvation. Incident at Antioch [Gal 2.11-18] where Paul publicly condemned Peter.

48-62: Pauline Epistles: Gal,1Th , Rom, 1Cor, 2Cor, Phi

50 Paul’s second missionary journey began, with Silas (Acts 15.40).

Paul and Silas visited Philippi (Acts 16.11-40), meeting Lydia, the seller of purple, and being rescued from prison, with the consequent conversion of the Philippian jailor (Acts 16.33); Thessalonica, where there was a riot on their behalf (Acts 17.5); Boroea, where the Jews willingly examined the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah (Acts 17.11); Athens, where Paul preached in the Areopagus (Acts 17.22-31); Corinth, where he met Aquila and Priscilla, refugees because of Claudius’ expulsion of the Jews from Rome (Acts 18.2); and Ephesus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem before returning to Antioch (Acts 18.22). Paul in Corinth, the center of his mission to the Gentiles [Acts18]

49-54: Claudius expels Septuagint missionaries from Rome: {Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus {{Christ }}, he expelled them from Rome.} [Suetonius, de Vita Caesarum, Claudius XXV.4, Loeb]

50: Jewish riot in Jerusalem, 20-30,000 killed

50 : Peshitta translation begun, Hebrew OT. Syriac Aramaic

50 : Ascension of Isaiah, original written in Hebrew (Ethiopic Bible)

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50 : Barthelemy Greek Minor Prophets, R943, pb.1953, unknown translation type

52 -72 Ministry of Thomas in India Thomas Churches all over India - Church of Malankara (Kerala)

Seven Kerala Churches

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Ministry of Thomas

54-68: Nero: b. 37, Emperor of Rome

55 : Felix kills Egyptian prophet planning to take Jerusalem [Ac21,Josephus]

50 The early Gnostics, Simon Magnus of Samaria, Simonianism; Nicolaus of Antioch, Nicolaitans; Menander disciple of Simon Magus, Basilides of Alexandria, Satorninus of Antioch and disciples of Menander

51 Paul wrote the epistles to the Thessalonians, from Corinth.

53 Paul’s epistle to the Galatians written from Antioch ( ). Beginning of the third missionary journey. Paul in Ephesus, 53-55/56. (Acts 19)

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54 – 58 Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

55 Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, from Ephesus.

55/56 Paul departed Ephesus (Acts 20.1), visiting Macedonia and Corinth. 2Corinthians written from Macedonia.

57 Paul wrote Romans from Corinth. Departed Greece (Acts 20.3), and after passing through Troas (Acts 20.7-12), and preaching to the presbyters of the church in Ephesus (Acts 20.18-35), came to Jerusalem (Acts 21.17), ending the third missionary journey.

57-59 Paul imprisoned in Caesarea (Acts 23.33-26.32), under Felix and Festus.

59 Paul’s Fourth Journey in chains

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60 Paul arrived at Rome (Acts 28.16).

61/62 Paul wrote the epistles entitled Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians

58: Ming-Ti, emperor of China, introduces Buddhism to China

58 : Felix crushes Jewish revolt in Caesarea60 -62: Porcius Festus: Roman Procurator of Iudaea

60: Paul imprisoned in Rome [Acts28:16]

62: Paul martyred for treason in Rome

62 Tradition has it that Bartholomew was martyred in Kalyan, a city state on the west coast of India, near modern-day Bombay. Bartholomew was skinned alive and crucified.

62 James the Just, "the Lord's Brother," martyred. Ananus, called a "sanhedrin" and brought into it the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah, James by name, and some others. He made the accusation that they had transgressed the law, and he handed them over to be stoned. [JA20.9.1]

According to tradition, James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem, was killed in the temple by an angry mob, apparently struck in the head with a sledgehammer

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This inscription on the bone box reads: "Yaakov bar Yoseph akhui d'Yeshua." James was martyred in AD 62. The story of his martyrdom can be found in Eusebius of Caesarea's work, Church History (AD 325), Book II, Chapter 23: The Martyrdom of James, who was called the Brother of the Lord62: Jesus the Rustic, proclaims "... a voice against Jerusalem ..." [Josephus]

64: In Rome, persecution of early Christians begins under Emperor Nero Great Fire of Rome: Nero accused and persecuted the Christians: [Tacitus Annals 15.44;Marginal Jew;Meier;p.89-90]

63-66 Paul traveled to Macedonia, Asia Minor, Crete, and possibly Spain. 1 Timothy and Titus written.

64 1st Persecution of Christians, under Nero.

64 Simon Magus (Acts 8.9-24) and St. Peter had confrontations in Rome.

Simon, wishing to gain an advantage over Peter and to impress Claudius with his ability to fly, fell to his death from the top of the Roman Forum.

64 The church in Alexandria founded by St. Mark, the disciple of Peter.

64 Herod’s temple in Jerusalem completed.- Third Temple.

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In 63 BC, Romans incorporated Judah (what is now Palestine) into their empire as Judea and placed the Jewish lands under kings. Appointed to these kingships was the Herod dynasty, a family of Jews who gained favor with the Romans. The Herodian family ruled over the Palestinian area from 40 BC until around AD 100. The most significant member of this family was Herod the Great, who ruled from 37 to 4 BC. Herod rebuilt many fortresses in the land and temples in Gentile territories. He rebuilt Stato's Tower, renamed Caesarea, and in 24 BC he built for himself a royal palace in Jerusalem. But his most notable achievement was the building a temple in Jerusalem, which was begun in 20/19 BC and finished in 63 AD, long after his death in 4 BC. Herod the Great’s expansion project began around 19 BC. The renovation by Herod began with the building of giant underground vaults upon which the temple would be built so it could be larger than the small flat area on top of Mount Moriah.This was known as the Third Temple. This was the temple standing at the time of Jesus, This temple was destroyed in AD 70.

65-150: Didache: Instructions of the Apostles, pub. 1883 (Apostolic Fathers)

Didache ( [Gr.,=teaching], early Christian work written in Greek, called also The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Dates for its composition suggested by scholars have ranged from A.D. 50 to A.D. 150. Discovered in 1875 by

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Bryennios, Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Nicomedia, it is an invaluable primary source for the primitive church. The first part is a collection of moral precepts, perhaps based on rabbinical teachings (there are many quotations from the Old Testament); the second portion gives directions for baptism and the Eucharist; the third contains directions for bishops and deacons. The Didache may be of composite authorship. Didache indicates worship was on Sunday: “Assemble on the Lord’s day, and break bread and offer the eucharist; but first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one.”

65-150: Dialogue of the Savior, Gospel of Peter (Complete Gospels)

65-150: Gospel redaction and compilation stage of Christianity, Post-Paul, center of Christianity shifts to Antioch and Rome - "New Babylon" of 1Pet5:13

65 : Q (German:Quelle:Source), hypothetical Greek text used in Matt & Luke

65-150: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1224 fragments: pub. 1914

65-350: "Jewish-Christian Gospels": 7 fragments of Gospel of the Ebionites and

7 fragments of Gospel of the Hebrews in Greek; 36 fragments of Gospel of the Nazarenes in Aramaic.

.64-66: Gessius Florus: Roman Procurator of Iudaea a Greek from Asia Minor, raids Temple setting off Jewish rebellion of 66-70

67: General Vespasian of Rome conquers Galilee

66-70: Roman-Jewish War:

66 Jewish rebellion began and war between the Romans and Jews ensued.

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70: Jerusalem was taken in and destroyed, as was the Second Temple (Herod's Temple) under General Titus, Vespasian's eldest son,

Coin with the legend "Freedom of Zion". Minted 67-68

67 Paul’s second trial in Rome. 2 Timothy written. St. Paul martyred on the road from Rome to Ostia. Beheaded by the sword.

67: Peter, martyred (crucified ) in Rome

The tradition that he was crucified on an inverted cross is first found in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History 2.25.5-8. St. Jerome further records the tradition that this was Peter's requestEusebius in his book entitled Ecclesiastical History (written AD 325)

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In the first century Rome's Christians did not have their own cemeteries.If they owned land, they buried their relatives there,. They used common cemeteries. That is why Peter and Paul were buried in "necropolis" ("city of the dead")

67-78: Linus becomes second (first ) Pope: 2Tm4:21 Pope from 64 -76 (but Esubius gives 67-79)

68: Nero commits suicide & resurrects as "Nero redivivus" (Revelation's 666 )

68: Qumran (Essenes ) (Dead Sea Scrolls - 1949) community destroyed by Rome

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69 According to tradition, St. Andrew was crucified in Patrae, on the Peloponnesus peninsula.

69: Galba(6/68-1/69), Otho(1-4), Vitellius(6-12), emperors in series of Rome

69-79-81-96: Flavian Dynasty of Rome: Vespasian - Titus – Domitian

69-79: Vespasian emperor of Rome, quells unrest in Rome and Jerusalem

70-640: Sanhedrin (High Court) period of Judaism, rise of house of Hillel

70-132: Sanhedrin (High Court) of Judaism regularly held in Jabneh (Jamnia), begun by Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai to 'perform commandments and teach Torah'

70 : Gospel of Mark, Peter's interpreter [1Pt5:13], written in Rome , ends unexpectedly at Mk16:8, original ending apparently lost, endings added ~400

73: Jewish fortress at Masada falls to Rome, residents commit mass suicide

74 : Publius Annius Florus, Roman historian

79: Pliny the Elder, b.23, Roman scholar, vyesictim of Vesuvius eruption, wrote of Essenes.

79-81: Titus: Emperor of Rome, eldest son of Vespasian

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79-91: Pope Anacletus: "blameless ", Titus 1:7

79 According to tradition, Jude and Simon were torn apart by a Persian mob after this date. Simon had joined forces with Jude after a trip to Britain. Jude had been in Armenia.

80 : Gospel of Matthew, most popular in early church, based on Mark and Q

80/90 : "Council of Jamnia" said to have canonized Jewish Scripture.

The Jewish Synod of Jamnia established the Hebrew canon, the modern Protestant Old Testament. Esther, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and Ezekiel were nearly left out of the canon, while Sirach was a strong but unsuccessful contender for inclusion. Rabbis at Jamnia also articulated the theory that every letter in the Hebrew has a meaning.

The language of the early church was Greek, and the version of the Old Testament in use among both Christians and Jews of the diaspora was the Septuagint. The Septuagint contains books (sometimes termed “the Apocrypha”) not included in the Jamnian canon. As the Septuagint’s prophecies of the Messiah frequently were used polemically by Christians, the translation fell out of favor among the Jews. In time, non-Palestinian Jews accepted the decisions of Jamnia. New translations of the Old Testament scriptures were made based on the Jamnian standard text.

81-96: Domitian: emperor of Rome, son of Vespasian, "Nero redivivus "

90 : Gospel of Luke, based on Mark & Q, also Acts - same author, style of LXX

90 According to tradition, Philip was crucified upside down (like Peter) in Hierapolis, Asia Minor

90 According to Hippolytus, Matthew died a natural death, in Hierees, Persia.

91-101: Pope Clement I: Phil 4:3 , wrote to Corinth in 95: "1 Clement"

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93 2nd Persecution of Christians, under Domitian (81-96). The apostle John banished to Patmos.

37 – 100 Josephus :

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Josephus, Flavius, A.D. 37–c.A.D. 100, Jewish historian and soldier, b. Jerusalem. Josephus' historical works are among the most valuable sources for the study of early Judaism and early Christianity. Having studied the tenets of the three main sects of Judaism—Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees—he became a Pharisee. At the beginning of the war between the Romans and Jews, he was made commander of Galilee, despite the fact that he had opposed the uprising. He surrendered to the Romans instead of committing suicide when the stronghold was taken. He won the favor of the Roman general Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus) and took his name, Flavius. He lived in Rome under imperial patronage, where he wrote the Greek-language historical works for which he is renowned. He wrote The Jewish War; the famous Antiquities of the Jews, a history of the Jews from creation to the war with Rome; Against Apion, an exalted defense of the Jews; and his autobiography, or apologia. Josephus claims exactly 22 Jewish (OT) books: 5 Law, 13 History, 4 Hymns

96-98: Nerva: Emperor of Rome

98-116: Trajan: emperor of Rome, Roman empire reaches maximum size

100 : Gospel of John

Odes of Solomon, written in Greek or Syriac, ref by John (Apocrypha) Epistle of Barnabas, Christian exegesis of LXX 2 Clement, an old sermon but not by Clement 2 Esdras (Vg:4 Esdras), Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch:Syriac, 3 Baruch:Greek) (Peshitta)Paralipomena of Jeremiah (4 Baruch), written in Hebrew (Ethiopic Bible)Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Aramaic and Hebrew fragments found at Qumran Caves 1,4 (Armenian Bible) Masoretes at Tiberias compile Masora (MT), standard Jewish ScripturesSecret Book (Apocryphon) of James, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, InfancyGospels of Thomas and James, Secret Gospel (of Mark) (Complete Gospels)

100 Cerinthus

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Around this time the heretic Cerinthus flourished. His teachings were an offshot of the Ebionites yet similar to Gnosticism. He taught that the visible world and heavens were not made by the supreme being, but by a lesser power (Demiurge) distinct from him. Not Jehovah but the angels have made the world and given the law. These creator-angels were ignorant of the existence of the Supreme God.

He also claimed that Jesus was simply the natural son of Joseph and Mary, and that a separate supernatural being, the Christ, came upon Jesus at his baptism and departed at his crucifixion. According to the third century bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, “the doctrine he taught was this: that the kingdom of Christ will be an earthly one.” Cerinthus “was himself devoted to the pleasures of the body and altogether sensual in his nature.” In Dionysius’ day, some claimed that Cerinthus wrote the book of Revelation.

End of Apostolic Era

AD 100 –--

105-165 Justin Martyr Christian apologist, called also Justin the Philosopher. Born in Samaria of pagan parents, he studied philosophy, and after his conversion in Ephesus to Christianity at about the age of 38, he went from place to place trying to convert men of learning by philosophical argument. He opened a school of Christian philosophy at Rome, where he and some disciples were finally martyred under Marcus Aurelius. Of his writings (in Greek), only two undisputed works remain, the Apology (with an appendix called the Second Apology) and the Dialogue. The Apology is a learned defense of Christians against charges of atheism and sedition in the Roman state; it contains an exposition of Christian ethics and invaluable records of the customs and practices of 2d-century Christianity. The Dialogue sets forth in the form of an argument with Trypho (or Tryphon) the Jew a philosophic defense of Christian beliefs,

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particularly with reference to Jewish writings; it has references to the Gospels that have been of much interest to students of the Bible

107 3rd Persecution of Christians, under Trajan (98-117).

110: "Letters of Ignatius", bishop of Antioch, martyred in Rome, his letters were subjected to heavy Christian forgery esp. 4th cent. (Apostolic Fathers)

Ignatius of Antioch, d. c.107, bishop of Antioch and Christian martyr, called Theophorus [Gr.,= God-bearer]. He was probably a convert and a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. On his way to Rome to be martyred by the wild beasts of the amphitheater, he wrote the important letters to the churches in Rome and in Asia Minor, and to St. Polycarp. The seven epistles are an

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invaluable testimony to the beliefs and internal organization of the early Christians. St. Ignatius is the first writer to stress the virgin birth. He firmly denounced Docetism and viewed the mystery of the Trinity as an assumed doctrine of faith. The only guarantee against heresy, he taught, is the church united under a bishop. St. Ignatius is the first in Christian literature to use the word Catholic.

61-114 Pliny the Younger, Roman consul

115: Lucian of Samosata Gk satirist. Lucian wrote a satire called The Passing of Peregrinus, in which the lead character, Peregrinus, takes advantage of the generosity and gullibility of Christians. This is one of the earliest surviving pagan perceptions of Christianity.

115-117: Kitos War in Jerusalem, provoked by Roman Procurator Lucius Quietus

125 - 225 Proliference of Gnostic writings.

125: Papyrus 52: oldest extant NT fragment, p.1935, parts of Jn18:31-33,37-38 Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome.

130-200: "Christian Apologists" writings against Roman Paganism

130: "Gospel of Basilides", a 24 book commentary , lost

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, wrote: "Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord", lost, widely quoted, see Eusebius (340)

Papias fl. A.D. 130, early Christian theologian said to have been bishop of Hieropolis and a friend of St. Polycarp. Papias' five-volume work, Oracles; or, Explanations of the Sayings of the Lord, survives only in fragments quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea and St. Irenaeus. These are valuable sources for the history of the church.

130 : Aquila of Pontus, Roman convert to Christianity then to Judaism,

Aquila of Pontus Translator of the canonical Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. He was by birth a Gentile from Pontus, and is said by Epiphanius to have been a connection by marriage of the emperor Hadrian and to have been appointed by him about the year 128 to an office concerned with the rebuilding of Jerusalem as "Ælia Capitolina." At some unknown age he joined the Christians, but afterward left them and became a proselyte to Judaism.

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According to Jerome he was a disciple of Rabbi Akiba. The Talmud states that he finished his translations under the influence of R. Akiba and that his other teachers were Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah. It is certain, however, that Aquila's translation had appeared before the publication of Irenæus' "Adversus Hæreses"; i.e., before 177.

Not to be confused with Aquila and Priscilla.

132-135: Bar Kokhba Revolt

Bar Kocbha Coin

The final Jewish revolt, Judea and Jerusalem erased from maps, all of southern Syria and renamed Palestine (coined by Herodotus)

50 -135: R. Akiva ben Joseph of Judea, executed by the Romans for teaching Torah in public after revolt, flesh was torn from his body with iron combs, coined "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" as 1st principle of Torah

138-161: Antoninus Pius: emperor of Rome138-165: Sanhedrin (High Court) of Judaism regularly held in Usha, Galilee 140- 160 Letters of Marcion, produces his own canon without OT and using only a heavily edited Luke + 10 Pauline Epistles, cites "Western" Gospel text-type. Valentius and Marcion were Gnostics of the period. 150 Gnostic “Gospel of Thomas”

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Marcion c.85–c.160, early Christian bishop, founder of the Marcionites, one of the first great Christian heresies to rival Catholic Christianity. He was born in Sinope. He taught in Asia Minor, then went (c.135) to Rome, where he perfected his theory. In 144 he was excommunicated from the church. He then formed a church of his own, which became widespread and powerful. Marcion taught that there were two gods, proclaiming that the stern, lawgiving, creator God of the Old Testament, and the good, merciful God of the New Testament were different. He considered the creator god the inferior of the two. Marcion also rejected the real incarnation of Christ, claiming that he was a manifestation of the Father. Though generally seen as one of the most important leaders of the somewhat loosely defined movement known as Gnosticism, he did not share some of the main premises of other Gnostic sects. He believed in salvation by faith rather than by gnosis; he rejected the Gnostic emanation theory; and he sought truth in his own truncated version of the New Testament, which included only 10 of the so-called Pauline Epistles and an edited version of St. Luke.

He completely rejected the Old Testament. He explained in his Antitheses that since Jewish law was often opposed to St. Paul, all passages in the Bible that suggested the Jewish foundation of Christianity should be suppressed, even including such statements by St. Paul. Marcionism emphasized asceticism and influenced the developments of Manichaeism, by which it was later absorbed. Its effect on orthodox Christianity was to cause a canonical New Testament to be assembled and promulgated and the fulfillment of the Old Law in the New Law to be clearly enounced.

135-160 Valentius

Valentinus c.135–c.160, founder of the Valentinians,

the most celebrated of the Gnostic sects (see Gnosticism) of the 2d cent. The little that is known of his life is found in the works of early Christian theologians who refuted him, such as St. Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. Probably

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born in Egypt, Valentinus received his education in Alexandria and after c.135 t aught in Rome, where he attracted brilliant converts.

Valentinus viewed ultimate reality as a procession of aeons, 33 in all, issuing in pairs from the primal aeons, abyss and silence. From these came mind and truth, in turn engendering word (logos) and life. The thirtieth aeon, Sophia, by her inordinate desire to penetrate the abyss, caused great disorder within the pleroma (divine realm). Her passion was banished to a formless existence outside the pleroma. It is for the restoration of order and the salvation of the progeny issuing from the expelled passion that the last three aeons are produced—Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus the Savior, who is the “common fruit” of the pleroma. Ruler of the outcast world is the proud Demiurge, identified with the deity of the Old Testament, who created the forms of life by which man is ensnared. Jesus appears in the world to reveal the knowledge (gnosis) that will restore man to the divine order. Valentinus wrote letters, homilies, and psalms, of which fragments survive. The recently discovered Coptic manuscript “Gospel of Truth” may be by Valentinus. Valentinus was the founder of Roman and Alexandrian schools of Gnosticism, an eclectic, dualistic system of religious doctrines postulating the evil origin of matter and the revelatory enlightenment, or gnosis, of an elite. Valentinus flourished 136-165 CE in Rome and Alexandria. Valentinian communities, by their expansion and long standing, provided a major challenge to 2nd and 3rd century Christian theology.

140 Apocalypse of Peter, written in Greek

150 Justin Martyr's "Dialogue with Trypho" fictional Christian-Jewish debateGospel of the Egyptians, Coptic translation of orig. Greek (Nag Hammadi)Papyrus P29,38,48 & Codex Bezae (D)Papyrus Chester Beatty 6: R963

155 : Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, martyred at age 86:

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http://www.tparents.org/Library/Religion/Christian/NT-Canon/places.htm#Alexandria

http://www.tparents.org/Library/Religion/Christian/NT-Canon/places.htm#Rome


Polycarp, Saint c.A.D. 70–A.D. 160 , Greek bishop of Smyrna, Father of the Church. He was a disciple of St. John, who appointed him bishop. Thus he linked the apostles and such 2d-century Christian expositors as St. Irenaeus. St. Polycarp was a close friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch. As a very old man, Polycarp went to Rome to discuss the problem of dating Easter. He died a martyr in Smyrna. His one surviving work is the Epistle to the Philippians. Irenaeus wrote, “Polycarp also was not only instructed by the Apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also by Apostles in Asia, ordained Bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, having always taught the things which he had learned from the Apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true.”

164-180: Great Plague in Roman empire

165: Letters of Justin Martyr, cites "Acts of Pilate", debates Trypho the Jew

165-180: Sanhedrin (High Court) of Judaism regularly held in Shefaram, Galilee

166-174: Pope Soter: moved Easter from Nisan 14 to following Sunday

125 – 202 Irenaeus, (130- 200) bishop of Lyons

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Irenaeus, c.125–c.202, Greek theologian, bishop of Lyons, then called Lugdunum, in Gaul, and one of the Fathers of the Church. Born in Asia Minor, he was a disciple of St. Polycarp. Irenaeus went to Rome to plead for leniency toward the Montanists and for those Eastern Christians who were threatened with excommunication because they did not observe the Roman date for Easter. He remained in the West and died in Gaul. Irenaeus was the earliest Father of the Church to systematize those Christian beliefs that would later be accepted as orthodox doctrine and is cited frequently by later theologians. Only two of his works survive—neither in the original Greek. The five-volume Against Heresies establishes Christian doctrine against the Gnostics and incidentally supplies much information on Gnosticism. The Epideixix is a concise exposition of Christian doctrine. 177

Irenaeus believed that the plan of the new covenant is the “recapitulation” of the original creation: by Adam’s sin, the likeness to God had been lost, but the image had been retained. By faith in Christ, man may recover the lost likeness. For him, the history of salvation is a progressive education in which God has gradually brought man forward in a long process by the gospel.

Irenaeus, like Justin Martyr, believed that Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years, and he vehemently protested against attempts to allegorize away the millenarian proof texts.

Irenaeus argued against the Gnostic doctrine of a secret teaching by appealing to apostolic succession -- if there had been such a teaching, the apostles would have passed it on to their successors. The apostles, he claimed, taught the Rule of Faith (very similar to our Apostles’ Creed). Irenaeus wrote, “The tradition of the Apostles is manifest throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were, by the Apostles, ordained bishops in the churches, and the succession of those men to our own time. If the Apostles had known hidden mysteries, they would have delivered them, especially to those to whom they were committing the churches themselves. For they were desirous those men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men.”

Irenaeus viewed baptism as the seal of eternal life and new birth unto God, through which the Holy Spirit is imparted. He wrote, “... he came to save all

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persons himself; all, I mean, who by him are regenerated unto God: infants and little ones and children and youths and older persons.” (Since infants are said to be born again, this seems to be a reference to infant baptism.)

For Irenaeus the eucharist was the “new oblation of the new covenant” offered to God throughout the world. Irenaeus associated the eucharist not closely with Christ’s passion, as Justin did, but sees it primarily as an offering of first fruits. But Irenaeus did identify the bread and wine with Christ’s body and blood. Irenaeus held that Mary was not sinless. He is the earliest source for the church’s observance of Pentecost as a special feast day. He does state that Peter had been in Rome, and that Linus had been the first bishop there, having been jointly ordained by Peter and Paul.

Irenaeus mentioned a group of Gnostics who honored images, giving the impression that the use of images was relatively unknown in the Church in his location and time. He affirmed that the charismata were still active in his day, noting that demons were expelled, the future predicted, and the dead raised by members of the Church. In refuting one of the Gnostics' peculiar interpretations of scripture, Irenaeus related the tradition he had received from those who had known John (and other apostles) to the effect that Jesus had been nearly fifty years old when he was crucified.

170: Christian council on Montanist sect in Asia Minor

170 : Symmachus, an Ebionite, writes an entirely new Greek OT translation.

Ebionites [Aramaic,=poor], Jewish-Christian sect of rural Palestine, of the first centuries after Jesus. There were two groups, according to Origen. The Judaic Ebionites held closely to Mosaic law and regarded Jesus as a miracle-working prophet and St. Paul as an apostate. Gnostic Ebionites believed Christ to be a spirit, invisible to men, giving him the title “Prophet of the Truth.”

175: Acts of Paul (inc. 3 Cor.), in Greek [NT Apocrypha]

177 5th Persecution of the church, under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180). About this time also Gnostic heretics disturbed the churches of the Rhone valley. These churches were largely Greek, having close connections with the churches of Asia Minor. The Gnostics provoked much of the work of Irenaeus of Lyons.

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Marcus Aurelius Antonius (121-180 AD)Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher.

178: Celsus writes "True Discourse", a pro-Pagan/anti-Christian polemic, lost

154=222 179 Conversion of Bardesanes (154-222) to Christianity.

Bardesanes was instrumental in the introduction of Christianity into the region of Edessa, and was considered heretical by the Christians who came after him. He was influenced by Gnostic thought, denying the immediate creation by God of the universe and Satan, introducing a series of intermediate beings instead. Bardesanes thus became a leading figure in Syrian Gnosticism. Christian philosopher and poet of Syria, missionary among the Armenians. Conflicting traditions report him both as defender of the faith against various Gnostic sects and as a heretic and founder of Bardesanism.

When twenty-five years old, he heard the preaching of the bishop Hystapes and converted to Christianity. He soon converted his friend king Abgar IX of Edessa (179-216 e.v.), who established Bardesanian Christianity as the Edessan state religion. When Edessa was conquered by the Roman Emperor Caracalla in 216 e.v., Bardesanes fled to Armenia, where he continued his teachings.

180-192: Commodus: Emperor of Rome

180-210: Sanhedrin (High Court) of Judaism regularly held in Beth-shearim

185-350: Canon Muratorian: first extant for NT written in Rome by Hippolytus

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Rejected all Old Testaments. Excluded -Hebrews, James, 1-2Pt, 3Jn; Included: Wisdom of Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter

189-198: Pope Victor I: first Latin Pope, excommunicated Eastern churches that continued to observe Easter on Nisan 14 "Quartodeciman"

190: Christian council to determine "official" date of Easter

197 Quartodeciman Easter controversy

193-211: Septimius Severus: emperor of Rome

200: Mishnah, Torah teachings, Halakhah (Oral Law), by Hillel/Akiva/Meir/Judah

200-300: period of Neo-Platonism: developed in Alexandria, last of Greek philosophies

200: Papyrus 66; Papyrus 75: Papyrus 46; Papyrus 32: Papyrus 64 (+67):

Old Syriac (Aramaic) Gospels, Syr(s) & Syr(c), of "Western" text-type

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200 Mara Bar-Serapion (died ~211), eighth bishop of Antioch, wrote that the Gospel of Peter should be rejected on the grounds that it had not been "handed down to us." Bishop of Antioch (190-211). Known principally through his theological writings.

200 : Latin Bible translations begun in Carthage , originals no longer extant Sahidic Coptic cop(sa) Bible translations written in Alexendria Theodotion, Greek convert to Judaism, makes revision of LXX (Septuagint)

160–c.230 215 Tertullian becomes Montanist.

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Tertullian (Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus), c.160–c.230, Roman theologian and Christian apologist, b. Carthage. He was the son of a centurion and was well educated, especially in law. Converted to Christianity c.197, he became the most formidable defender of the faith in his day. His Latin is vigorous and effective and reflects his juridical training. Sentences of his that have become proverbial are “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church,” and “It is certain because it is impossible”. Some of Tertullian's opinions differed from the main stream of Christian thought, particularly his more rigorous view of sin and its forgiveness. After long defending the Montanists, he left the church to join them; he later established his own sect, known as Tertullianists. Tertullian's most important writings are Apologeticus, Ad Nationes, and De Praescriptione.

202 Martyrdom of Perpetua, Felicitas, and their companions

150-220 : Clement of Alexandria, bishop, cites "Alexandrian" NT text-type & Secret Gospel of Mark & Gospel of the Egyptians; wrote: "Exhortations to the Greeks";"Rich Man's Salutation";"To the Newly Baptized"

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Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), d. c.215, Greek theologian. Born in Athens, he traveled widely and was converted to Christianity. He studied and taught at the catechetical school in Alexandria until the persecution of 202. Origen was his pupil there. He probably died in Caesarea, Cappadocia. Clement was one of the first to attempt a synthesis of Platonic and Christian thought; in this his successors in the Alexandrian school were more successful. Only a few works survive. The Address to the Greeks (Protrepticus) sets forth the inferiority of Greek thought to Christianity. Appended to the Tutor (Pedagogus) are two hymns, among the earliest Christian poems. His homily, Who Is the Rich Man Who Is Saved is a well-written fragment. The Miscellanies (Stromateis) is a collection of notes on Gnosticism. He attacked Gnosticism, but he himself has been called a Christian Gnostic. Although Clement remained entirely orthodox, in his writing he strove to state the faith in terms of contemporary thought. He was long venerated as a saint, but Photius, in the 9th cent., regarded Clement as a heretic. Because of Photius's contentions the name of Clement was removed from the Roman martyrology.

2nd C : Catacombs were used as burial places for believers. It started as family tombs.

Crypt of St.Cecilia

210-240: Sanhedrin (High Court) of Judaism regularly held in Sepphoris Galilee

212-217: Geta and Caracalla: Emperors of Rome

212: "Civis Romanus sum!", Roman citizenship for every free born subject

217: Judah Ha-Nasi, "Rabbi", codified Mishnah (200)

218-222: Heliogabalus: emperor of Rome

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222 Julius Africanus the Chronologist

Julius Africanus went on an embassy to the emperor Severus to gain his support for the building of Nicopolis in Palestine (formerly Emmaus). Africanus is best known for his chronology, in which he states that the time from Adam to the sixteenth year of Tiberius (29/30 A.D.) is 5531 years. It would thus seem that 1 A.D. is year of the world 5501 in Julius’ chronology. Nevertheless, the chronographer George Synkellos (see 808-10) stated that Africanus dated the creation of the world to 1 A.M. (anno mundi, year of the world -- 5501 B.C.), the Flood to 2262 A.M. (3240 B.C.), the Exodus to 3707 A.M. (1795 B.C.), the Incarnation to 5500 A.M. (2 B.C.), and the crucifixion to 5531 A.M. (30 A.D.). Africanus was also architect for the library Severus built in the Pantheon in Rome, completed in around 227, and he corresponded with Origen, arguing that the book of Susanna (included in the Septuagint text of Daniel) was spurious.

222-235: Alexander Severus: emperor of Rome

225 : Papyrus 45: Papyrus 967: ~Codex Vaticanus

230-250: Christian council of Rome, Demetrius bishop of Alex. condemns Origen

231 A private house in the city of Dura-Europas on the Euphrates was adapted for Christian worship. This is the earliest known example of a church with religious pictures on the walls. The art appears to have been influenced by similar work in a synagogue in the same city. Depicted on frescoes are Adam and Eve, the Good Shepherd and his flock, the Samaritan woman at the well, Christ walking on the water, the raising of Lazarus, the resurrection of Christ, the healing of the paralytic and David’s victory over Goliath.

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The baptistry in the Christian Church at Dura-Europos.

235 Persecution under the emperor Maximin (235-238). 236-238: Maximinus: emperor of Rome, ends Christian schism in Rome by deporting Pope Pontian and anti-Pope Hippolytus to Sardinia where they soon die

238-244: Gordian I, II, Balbinus, Pupienus, Gordian III: emperors of Rome

249 In around this year, a council in Smyrna determined that heretics must be rebaptized before they could enter the Church. This is what was reversed in the Council of Nicea.

249-51 7th Persecution of the Church, under the emperor Decius (249-251).

251: Christian council of Carthage.

244-249: Philip the Arabian: Emperor of Rome.

249-251: Decius: emperor of Rome

250: Letters of Methodius, Pistis Sophia, Porphyry Tyrius; church fathers

250: Rome steps up persecution of Christians, martyrs revered as saints

250: Diophantus of Alexandria, first book of algebra

250 : Mandeans (followers of John the Baptist) begin compilation of "Ginza"

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Mandaeans or Mandeans, a small religious sect in Iran and S Iraq, who maintain an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, Nasoraeans, Sabians, and Subbi. A few Mandaeans survive, some near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, others in the area of Shushtar, Iran, and in cities of Asia Minor. Their customs and writings indicate early Christian, perhaps pre-Christian, origin. Their system of astrology resembles those of ancient Babylonia and the cults of the Magi in the last centuries B.C. Their emanation system and their dualism suggest a Gnostic origin, but unlike the Gnostics, they abhor asceticism and emphasize fertility. Although some of their practices were influenced by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, they reject all three. The Mandaeans respect St. John the

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Baptist because of his baptizing, since their principal concern is ritual cleanliness and their chief rite is frequent baptism. The custom, which antedated the baptisms of St. John, stems from the belief that living water is the principle of life. They have a communion sacrament, which is offered for the remembrance of the dead and resembles Parsi ritual meals. The origin of the Mandaeans is not known; it is conjectured that they came from a mountainous region N of Babylonia and Persia, where they settled in ancient times; however, more recent scholarship places their origin in Palestine or Syria. Their chief holy book, the Ginza Rba, like their other books, is a compendium of cosmology, cosmogony, prayers, legends, and rituals, written at various times and often contradictory.

250 : Papyrus 72: Papyrus Chester Beatty:

251-253: Gallus: emperor of Rome

251-258: anti-Pope Novatian: decreed no forgiveness for sins after baptism

253-260: Valerian: emperor of Rome, executes all Bishops, Priests and Deacons

254-257: Pope Stephen I: major schism over rebaptizing heretics and apostates

254: Origen,

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b.185 , coined "homoousios" or Jesus and God of one substance, adopted at Council of Nicaea in 325, compiled "Hexapla": 6 versions of LXX side by side: Hebrew, Hebrew transliterated in Greek, Aquila's Greek trans., Symmachus' Greek trans., Origen's revised LXX Greek trans., Theodotion's revised LXX; Quinta/Sexta/Septima trans., Tetragrammaton in square Hebrew script; cites "Alexandrian" & "Caesarean" NT text-types; Eusebius claimed Or. castrated himself for Christ due to Mt19:12

Origen “Adamantius” became head of the catechetical school in Alexandria. He left the school in 232 or 233. Born in Alexandria around 185, Origen had been taught by Ammonius Saccas, the same person who later taught Plotinus (see 244 below). Many speculate that Ammonius was the originator of Neoplatonism. Later, Origen had been instructed by Clement of Alexandria. Origen died in Tyre in 253 or 254. His death was largely due to the harsh treatment he received in prison in Tyre during the Decian persecutions (from about 249).

Origin compiled the Hexapla, six translations of the Old Testament in parallel columns including the Hebrew, a transliteration of the Hebrew into Greek, and the four main Greek versions. His method of interpreting scriptures was largely allegorical and conveyed spiritual truth -- the literal sense was of little moment to him. Like Clement, he rejected a literal millennium.

He believed that all souls existed before they united with the flesh. All souls but one fell away from God; and it was this one faithful soul that God chose to unite with his Logos to form the Son of Man. Origen believed in the freedom of the will, and did not exclude the possibility that the redeemed may fall away, even in heaven. On the other hand, Origen held that the devil himself will be saved. Many of his views, particularly on the pre-existence of souls and universal redemption, were condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553.

Origen was opposed to Monarchianism, either in its modalistic form, or in the view that the Son was simply a holy man filled to a unique degree with the Spirit. He taught that while the Father and the Son are one in power and will, they are two distinct realities (similar to Justin’s Logos theology). They are distinct as the archetype and the flawless image. But, in Origen, the Son is lower in being than the Father and is subordinate to him. The Son is begotten, not made, and his generation is eternal, not in time. He is the mediator between the created world and the Supreme Father.

Origen insisted Mary needed redemption from her sins, like all other humans. Unlike Tertullian, he believed Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life. He believed Jesus’ brothers are Joseph’s sons, not hers. . In his Commentary on Romans, written between 233 and 244, Origen wrote, “It is also due to this

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[hereditary sin] that the church has a tradition from the apostles to give baptism even to infants.”

In Mt 16.17-18 Origen saw the Rock as Christ (1 Cor 10.4), and all who have faith in Christ like Peter as ‘rocks.’ According to Ep 2.2, all the apostles (and the prophets) are the foundation on which the church is built.

Origen died in 254 after torture.

200 - 258: Letters of Thascius Caecilus Cyprianus (Cyprian) , bishop of Carthage, cites "Western" NT text-type, claims Christians are freely forging his letters to discredit him. Martyred in 258.

260-268: Gallienus: emperor of Rome, reverses Valerian, restores Roman church

260-272: Christian council on Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, founder of Adoptionism: Jesus was human until Holy Spirit descended at his baptism

Paul of Samosata Syrian Christian theologian, heretical patriarch of Antioch. He was a friend and high official of Zenobia of Palmyra. Paul enounced a dynamic monarchianism, denying the three Persons of the Trinity. He taught that the Logos came to dwell in Jesus at baptism, but that Jesus possessed no extraordinary nature above other men, the Logos being entirely an attribute of God. Paul was repeatedly challenged and finally excommunicated (269), but he continued to function as bishop under Zenobia's protection until the Romans took Palmyra (272). Arius may have been his pupil and his influence on Nestorius was considerable, but his connection with the Paulicians is disputed. See adoptionism.

According to Simeon of Beit Arsam, Paul had said, “I too, if I wish, shall be Christ since I and Christ are of one and the same nature.” Theodore of Mopsuestia quoted Paul as follows: “I do not envy Christ because he has been made God. For what he was made, I was made, since it is in my nature.” It was reported that at Antioch psalms were sung in praise of Paul rather than of God.

Paul was condemned by a synod in Antioch in 268 (264 )

190 -264: Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria

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268: Goths sack Athens, Sparta, Corinth

268-270: Claudius II: emperor of Rome

275: Papyrus 47: 3rd Chester Beatty, ~Sinaiticus, Rv9:10-11:3,5-16:15,17- 17:2

276-282: Marcus Aurelius Probus: emperor of Rome

276: Mani, b.215, crucified,

Founder of Manichaean Christian sect in Persia - Gnostic Mani visits China and India. Mani converts Inner Indian Churches into Gnostic groups which grew into present day “Hinduism”.Persecution of Christians in Central India. Introduction of idols in Indian Churches which was strongly objected by the Malankara Churches.

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Mani was born in southern Babylon sometime around the year 215 or 216 CE and received his first revelation at the age of 12. Around the age of 20 he seems to have completed his system of thought and began missionary work around the year 240. Although he found some support early on from Persian rulers, he and his followers were eventually persecuted and he appears to have died in prison in 276. His beliefs had, however, spread as far as Egypt and attracted a great many scholars, including Augustine.

Manicheism, the belief system named after him, is an extreme form of dualistic gnosticism. It is gnostic because it promises salvation through the attainment of special knowledge of spiritual truths. It is dualistic because it argues that the foundation of the universe is the opposition of two principles, good and evil, each equal in relative power.

284-305: Diocletian: emperor of Rome, notorious persecutor of Christians

285: Roman empire partitioned into Western and Eastern empires

296-304: Pope Marcellinus: apostate, offered pagan sacrifice for Diocletian

300: Bohairic Coptic cop(bo) Bible translations written in AlexandriaHesychius of Alex., martyr, translates Hebrew OT to Greek, lost [Jerome]Papyrus Berlin Codex of Greek Genesis; Papyrus Bodmer 24 of Greek Psalms; Codex Freer of Greek Minor Prophets

300 St. Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III of Armenia to the Christian faith. Armenia thus became a Christian nation. During the following century, the liturgy was translated into and conducted in Armenian.

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300 The Apostolic Constitutions

Canon 85 gave the following list of the canon of Scripture: “Let the following books be esteemed venerable and holy by you, both of the clergy and laity. Of the Old Covenant: the five books of Moses-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; one of Joshua the son of Nun, one of the Judges, one of Ruth, four of the Kings, two of the Chronicles, two of Ezra, one of Esther, one of Judith, three of the Maccabees, one of Job, one hundred and fifty psalms; three books of Solomon-Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; sixteen prophets. And besides these, take care that your young persons learn the Wisdom of the very learned Sirach. But our sacred books, that is, those of the New Covenant, are these: the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the fourteen Epistles of Paul; two Epistles of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude; two Epistles of Clement; and the Constitutions dedicated to you the bishops by me Clement, in eight books; which it is not fit to publish before all, because of the mysteries contained in them; and the Acts of us the Apostles.” [Note that Revelation is absent from the New Testament canon.]

The Apostolic Constitutions also contain clear evidence that infant communion was practiced in the church.

301 Under King Tiridate, Armenia adopted Christianity as the state religion.

303 The council of Elvira (Illiberis, near Granada). Nineteen bishops and 24 priests met at this first council of the Church in Spain. The council adopted 81 canons, 34 of them dealing with marriage and sexual misconduct.

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306-337: Emperor Constantine the Great: converts to Christianity on deathbed

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus

Constantine I came to the throne when his father, Constantius, died in 306. After defeating his rivals, Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324, and is credited with social and economic reforms that significantly influenced medieval society. In 313 his Edict of Milan legally ended pagan persecution of Christians, and in 325 he used imperial power to bring unity to the church at the Council of Nicea. He also moved the capital of his empire to Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople in 330. Constantine's embrace of Christianity eventually led him to be baptized in 337.

306-312: Maxentius: emperor of Western Roman Empire

306-308: Pope Marcellus I: tried removing prior Pope Marcellinus from official records for apostasy, exiled from Rome by Maxentius for disturbing the peace

306: Synod of Elvira prohibits eating, marriage, sex between Christians & Jews

312: Lucian, founded Exegetical School of Antioch, revised LXX, martyred

312: Constantine defeats Maxentius at Milvian Bridge, reunites Roman Empire

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313: Edict of Milan

Constantine establishes toleration of Christianity. Edict of Milan gives Christians equal rights. It was issued by Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East, but Licinius soon withdrew it. But in 324 Constantine defeated Licinius and becomes Emperor of both East and West.

313: Miltiades excommunicates Donatus for requiring rebaptism of apostates

Donatism, schismatic movement among Christians of N Africa (fl. 4th cent.), led by Donatus, bishop of Casae Nigrae (fl. 313), and the theologian Donatus the Great or Donatus Magnus (d. 355). Could a priest guilty of apostasy confer baptism/absolution The schism arose when certain Christians protested the election of the bishop of Carthage, charging that his consecration by Felix, bishop of Aptunga, was invalid because Felix was considered a traditor (i.e., one who turns over sacred books and relics to the civil authorities during a persecution). Condemnation was extended to all in communion with Felix. Behind their objection lay the heresy, familiar to Montanism and Novatian, that only those living a blameless life belonged in the church, and, further, that the validity of any sacrament depended upon the personal worthiness of the priest administering it. The Donatist practice of rebaptizing was particularly abhorrent to the orthodox. Condemned by the Synod of Arles (314) and also by the Roman emperor, Constantine I, the Donatists seceded (316) and set up their own hierarchy. By 350 they outnumbered the orthodox Christians in Africa, and each city had its opposing orthodox and Donatist bishops. It was the teaching of St. Augustine, as presented in his writings and at the debate between orthodox and Donatist bishops at Carthage (411), that turned the tide against Donatism. Strong state suppression and ascetic excesses among some of their own members further reduced their number.

The remnants of the schismatic movement had vanished along with African Christianity before the advent of the Islamic invaders.

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314: Council of Arles, called by Constantine against Donatist (Donatus) schism321: Constantine decrees SUN-day as official Roman-Christian day of rest

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Arius (250-336) A parish priest in Alexandria, he advanced the doctrine famous as Arianism and was excommunicated locally (321). He was declared orthodox in Asia Minor, where he had fled (323), but he was anathematized by the Council of Nicaea (see Nicaea, First Council of) and banished by Roman Emperor Constantine (325). But in the reaction after Nicaea, he came into imperial favor. The emperor had ordered the Athanasians at Alexandria to receive him at communion when he suddenly died.

"‘If,’ said he, ‘the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a beginning of existence: and from this it is evident, that there was a time when the Son was not. It therefore necessarily follows, that he had his substance from nothing.’"

Arius formulated the following doctrines about Jesus Christ:1. that the Logos and the Father were not of the same essence (ousia); 2. that the Son was a created being (ktisma or poiema); and 3. that though He was the creator of the worlds, and must therefore have existed before them and before all time, there was - Arius refused to use such terms as cronos or aion - when He did not exist.

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Athanasius (297-373) –

He was born in Alexandria about the year 297 He was a student in the "Didascaleion," or famous "catechetical school " of Alexandria, which included amongst its already illustrious teachers the names of Clement and Origen. In his youth, as secretary to Bishop Alexander, he took part in the christological debate against Arius at the Council of Nicaea, and thereafter became chief protagonist for Nicene orthodoxy in the long struggle for its acceptance in the East. He defended the homoousion formula . Made bishop of Alexandria upon the death of his superior, he faced a conspiracy led by Eusebius of Nicomedia to return the condemned Arius to Egypt. When Athanasius refused to yield, a pro-Arian council held at Tyre (335) found him guilty of sacrilege, the practice of magic, dishonest grain dealings, and even murder. Athanasius appealed to Constantine who demanded a retrial, then unaccountably ordered Athanasius into exile—the first of five. Reinstated (337) and exiled again (339), he fled to the West where, under Pope Julius I, the Council of Sardica vindicated him (343) bishop of Alexandria remembered as the "father of orthodoxy" for defending the essential Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Christ's Incarnation. He was a fiery, disciplined preacher who emphasized the presence of God in history. He also opposed the speculations of Origen, considering the Bible sufficient for theology. The Athanasian Creed is named after him. Titles: Against the Gentiles; Defense Against the Arians; On the Incarnation of the Word. 328 Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria and ruled for 46 years

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325: Council of Nicaea, called by Constantine against Arianism (336), called "1st great Christian council" by Jerome, 1st ecumenical, 318 bishops attended Arius of Alexandria, taught that Christ was the first created being, that there was a time when He was not. The council declared that Jesus was begotten, not made, and that He is Homoousios, of the same substance as the Father. Athanasius was the chief proponent of Homoousis theory. 325: Fayyumic Coptic cop(mf) translation fragment of John 6:11-15:11

329 — Basil the Great of Cappadocia,

330–379 the monk who created the basic Rule for the Eastern Orthodox monks that is still in use today. Basil taught communal monasticism that serves the poor, sick, and needy. One immediate effect of the disappearance of persecution is the rise of monasticism to replace the old martyr witness Greek prelate, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church and one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church. He was a brother of St. Gregory of Nyssa. In his student days at Athens he knew Julian, later Roman emperor, and began his lifelong friendship with St. Gregory Nazianzen Converted to the religious life by his sister, St. Macrina, he withdrew (c.357) to a retreat in Pontus. There he wrote much of the Longer Rule and of the Shorter Rule; on these the life of the Basilian monks is based. Through his rules Basil was a spiritual ancestor of St. Benedict. As counselor (365) and successor (370) of

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Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea and head of most of the church in Asia Minor, Basil established Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East. His revision of the liturgy is occasionally used in the Byzantine rite. His works On the Holy Ghost and Against Eunomius are elegant, acute defenses of the Catholic system. In the West his feast is June 14.

325-900: Teotihuacan, ancient Mexican city

331: seat of Roman empire moved to Constantinople (former Greek Byzantium)334-365: Codex Hermogenianus: compilation of Roman Law

337-350: Roman Empire splits again: Constans emperor of West until 350

337-361: Roman Empire splits again: Constantius II emperor of East until 361

338: Jewish calender modified with different year lengths to correct to Solar year.

340: Eusebius of Caesarea, theologian & church historian. Author of History of the Church, Life of Constantine, The Martyrs of Palestine

Eusebius of Caesarea or Eusebius Pamphili , c.263–339 , Greek apologist and church historian, b. Palestine. He was bishop of Caesarea, Palestine (314 –339). In the controversy over Arianism, Eusebius favored the semi-Arian views of Eusebius of Nicomedia, and he once gave refuge to Arius. A simple baptismal creed submitted by Eusebius at the First Council of Nicaea (325)

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formed the basis of what became known as the Nicean Creed; it was amended with the Greek word homoousios [consubstantial, of the same substance] to define the Son's relationship with the Father. Eusebius considered this addition to the creed as reflecting the ideas of Sabellius, which he opposed. Although he signed the formulary, he later did not support it. His works include a universal history entitled the Chronicle, the Ecclesiastical History, and the apologetic works Praeparatio Evangelica and Demonstratio Evangelica

340- Eustasthiu of Antioch - Arians destroyed all his writings.

342 Council of Sardica. 200 bishops attended. The council was presided over again by the now aged Hosius, bishop of Cordoba, Spain, assisted by two representatives of Pope Julius, the priests Archidamus and Philoxenus. There were slightly fewer bishops from the East, perhaps 75 or 80 being Arian. They were headed by Stephen, who had succeeded to the see of Antioch, and Acacius who had succeeded Eusebius of Caesarea,.

John Chrysostom or John of Constantinople [Gr.,=golden-mouth], c.347–407,

Doctor of the Church, one of the greatest of the Greek Fathers. He was born in Antioch and studied Greek classics there. As a young man he became an anchorite monk (374), a deacon (c.381) and a priest (386). Under Flavian of Antioch he preached brilliantly in the cathedral for 12 years, winning wide recognition. In 398 he was suddenly made patriarch of Constantinople, where he soon gained the admiration of the people by his eloquence, his ascetic life, and his charity. He was a bold and reforming preacher, who used the Historical-grammatical method of exegesis. This was unusual, because exegetes had been looking at the allegorical interpretation ever since Clement of Alexandria and Origen His grammatical interpretation of Scripture would later be the model for Luther and Calvin. Chrysostom emphasizes reverence in church services. His attempts to reform the clergy, however, alienated many monks and priests, and the court of the Roman emperor of the East came to resent his denunciation of their ways. He lost favor when he demanded mercy for the dishonored Eutropius and when he refused to condemn without a hearing certain monks accused of heresy. Empress Eudoxia and Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, succeeded in having St. John condemned (403) by an illegal synod on false charges. The indignation of the people was reinforced by an opportune earthquake, and the superstitious Eudoxia had St. John recalled. He continued to attack the immorality of the court, and Emperor Arcadius exiled him to Cucusus in Armenia. In 438, St. John's body was returned to Constantinople, and Emperor Theodosius II did penance for his parents' offenses.

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John Chrysostom347 — Jerome: Bible Scholar and translator, author of Vulgate Version of Bible.

Also Known As Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius; Girolamo; Hieronymus; Man of the Bible

Born to a rich pagan family, he led a misspent youth. Studied in Rome. Lawyer. Converted in theory, and baptised in 365, he began his study of theology, and had a true conversion. Monk. Lived for years as a hermit in the Syrian deserts. Reported to have drawn a thorn from a lion's paw; the animal stayed loyally at

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his side for years. Priest. Student of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. Secretary to Pope Damasus I who commissioned him to revise the Latin text of the Bible. The result of his 30 years of work was the Vulgate translation, which is still in use. Friend and teacher of Saint Paula, Saint Marcella, and Saint Eustochium, an association that led to so much gossip, Jerome left Rome to return to the desert solitude. Lived his last 34 years in the Holy Land as a semi-recluse. Wrote translations of Origen, histories, biographies, and much more.

350: Codex Sinaiticus : Codex Vaticanus (B): earliest Christian Bibles Papyrus Antinoopolis of Book of Proverbs in Greek, published in 1950 Papyrus Chester Beatty: Papyrus Bodmer 45-46:

350: Canon Cheltenham: 24NT books (excludes James, Jude, Hebrews) = Akhmimic cop(ac) & Sub-Akhmimic cop(ac2) Coptic translations of John == Ulfilas, apostle to the Goths (Germans), translates Greek NT to Gothic. Ulfilas converted to Arian Christianity. He takes it to the Germanic tribes, gives them an alphabet, and translates the Bible into their language. Most of the Germanic tribes became Arian Christians.

350 : Avesta (Zoroastrian texts back to 1,000 bce) compiled in Persia

351 Cyril of Jerusalem is most famous for his Catechesis (instructions before Baptism).

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353 Emperor Consantius releases his pro-Arian campaign and drives Athanasius from Alexandria

Pelagius (c.355–c.425).

Pelagianism, Christian heretical sect that rose in the 5th cent. challenging St. Augustine's conceptions of grace and predestination. The doctrine was advanced by the celebrated monk and theologian Pelagius (c.355–c.425). He was probably born in Britain. After studying Roman law and rhetoric and later theology in England and Rome, he preached in Africa and Palestine, attracting able followers, such as Celestius and Julian of Eclannum. Pelagius thought that St. Augustine was excessively pessimistic in his view that humanity is sinful by nature and must rely totally upon grace for salvation. Pelagius rejected the doctrine of original sin; he taught that children are born innocent of the sin of Adam. The law as well as the gospel can lead one to heaven and that pagans had been able to enter heaven by virtue of their moral actions before the coming of Christ. Pelagianism was condemned by East and West at the Council of Ephesus (431). A compromise doctrine,

Semi-Pelagianism, became popular in the 5th and 6th cent. in France, Britain, and Ireland. Semi-Pelagians taught that although grace was necessary for salvation, men could, apart from grace, desire the gift of salvation, and that they could, of themselves, freely accept and persevere in grace. Semi-Pelagians also rejected the Augustinian doctrine of predestination and held that God willed the salvation of all men equally. At the instance of St. Caesarius of Arles, Semi-Pelagianism was condemned at the Council of Orange (529).

By the end of the 6th cent., Pelagianism disappeared as an organized heresy, but the questions of free will, predestination, and grace raised by Pelagianism have been the subject of theological controversy ever since

355-365: anti-Pope Felix II: Arianism (336), supported by Constantius II

360: Huns invade Europe, scrolls begin to be replaced by books (Codex)

361-363: Emperor Julian the Apostate was converted from Christianity to paganism and restored paganism in Rome . He removed the restrictions against Donatists.

363: Letters of Marius Victorinus, Acacius of Caesarea; early church fathers

363: Council of Laodicea names 26NT books (excludes Revelations)

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366-384: Pope Damasus I: hired thugs to massacre rival Ursinians (Liberians)

364: Council of Laodicea decrees death for Christians who keep 7th day Sabbath

367: Letters of Hilary of Poitiers, Lucifer of Calaris; early church fathers

370: Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, Cyprus; cites 27NT + Wisdom of Solomon

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)

373: Letters of Ephraem Syrus, cites "Western" Acts text-type

379-395: Theodosius the Great: last emperor of united empire.

380: Feb 27, Christianity declared official state religion by Theodosius

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Theodosius

378: Letters of Titus of Bostra, Ambrosiaster, Priscillian; church fathers

Gregory of Nazianzus (325-389) - poet and bishop of Nazianzus; one of the three chief defenders of the Trinity against Arius. Gregory's tender personality led him to be overcautious in his assertions, but he was nevertheless persecuted by Arians.

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http://faith.propadeutic.com/authors/preref.html#arius

http://faith.propadeutic.com/authors/g.html#trinity


379 : St. Basil the Great, Greek Christian writer.

Basil the Great c.330–379,

Greek prelate, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church and one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church. He was a brother of St. Gregory of Nyssa. In his student days at Athens he knew Julian, later Roman emperor, and began his lifelong friendship with St. Gregory Nazianzen. Converted to the religious life by his sister, St. Macrina, he withdrew (c.357) to a retreat in Pontus. There he wrote much of the Longer Rule and of the Shorter Rule; on these the life of the Basilian monks is based. Through his rules Basil was a spiritual ancestor of St. Benedict. As counselor (365) and successor (370) of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea and head of most of the church in Asia Minor, Basil established Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East. His revision of the liturgy is occasionally used in the Byzantine rite. His works On the Holy Ghost and Against Eunomius are elegant, acute defenses of the Catholic system. In the West his feast is June 14.

381 Council of Constantinople. The Nicene position becomes dominant again, and the legal religion of the Empire. Jesus Christ is truly human, contrary to Apollinarianism, which held that Jesus had a human body but a divine mind. The Great Cappadocians are the inspiration behind the defeat of Arianism at this council. They are St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Gregory of Nyassa.

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First Council of Constantinople:Held between May and July in 384, and called by emperor Theodosius I, the First Council of Constantinople was the second ecumenical church council in Christianity. All 186 bishops who attended were from the East - none from the West and no representatives of Pope Damasus I were there.

Theodosius' purpose in calling this council was to deal with the threat of the Arian controversy and the council's final decisions included: the Holy Spirit is divine, Jesus Christ is fully human, and Jesus Christ is co-equal with God.

Second Council of Constantinople:Meeting from May 5 through June 2 of 553, the Second Council of Constantinople was the fifth ecumenical council of Christianity. It was called by emperor Justinian I, primarily to deal with the heresy of Nestorianism. Almost all of the bishops who attended from the East and for a while Pope Virgilius was forced to accept Justinian's condemnations.

Third Council of Constantinople:Held between November 7, 680 and September 6, 681, the Third Council of Constantinople was the sixth ecumenical council in Christianity. It was called by emperor Constantine IV because of the recent decision at a synod convened by Pope Agatho which had declared that Jesus Christ had two wills, contradicting the teachings of Monotheletism. The bishops meeting at Constantinople agreed with Agatho and reiterated the decisions made at the earlier Council of Chalcedon that Christ had two wills - one human and one divine - which work together harmoniously.

Fourth Council of Constantinople:Held between October 5, 869 and February 28, 870, the Fourth Council of Constantinople was the eight ecumenical council according to the Roman Catholic Church. It was used to condemn the teachings of Photius, the former patriarch of Constantinople who opposed the inclusion of filioque in the Nicene Creed.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, however, does not recognize the authority of this council. Instead, it recognizes the authority of a separate council held in Constantinople between 879 and 880 which approved of Photius and which also rejected the use of filioque, annulling the decision made at the other council.

382 A council in Rome recognizes the present books of New Testament as canon.

382: Pope Damasus I has Jerome begin revision & unification of Latin Bibles

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383: Roman legions begin to evacuate Britain

384: Jerome presents Pope Damasus I with new Latin Gospels, originals lost

385: Tao-an, b.312, Chinese Buddhist philosopher

386: Letters of Cyril of Jerusalem, cites "Caesarean" NT text-type

389- -. St. Patrick. He was a British Romanized Christian who established Christianity in Ireland

390: Apollinaris of Laodicea, b.310, Jesus had human body but divine spirit390: Letters of Tyconius, Gregory of Nyssa, Didymus of Alex.; church fathers391 : Ammianus Marcellinus, b.330, Christian historian, wrote: "Res gestae"

Augustine of Hippo

Aurelius Augustinus

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Augustine was born in a Roman province (Modern day Algeria) in 13 November 354 and educated at Carthage. As a young man he became interested in philosophy. Augustine of Hippo was the most influential theologian of Latin Christianity. Early in his life he was inspired by the works of Cicero to devote his life to the pursuit of truth. He started this pursuit as a Rhetorician, then he became a Manichaean, and later a Skeptic. He eventually got converted to Roman Catholicism in 386. In 391, he was almost forcibly ordained presbyter at Hippo, and from 395 to 430, he served as bishop. He wrote many treatises among which we find the celebrated Confessions, The City of God and On the Trinity. Many of his writings were directed against heresies, particularly Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism. By 396 he had become bishop of Hippo, and his sermons and writings gained fame, notably his Confessions and the treatise City of God.

His notions of God's grace, free will and Original Sin had a great influence on Christian theology.

386 Augustine was converted in a garden in Milan after hearing a child saying, “Take up and Read”. He took the Bible and got Romans 13:13-14

387 Augustine was baptized by Ambrose of Milan. 391 Augustine was ordained in Hippo, North Africa.

395 Agustine becoms bishop of Hippo.

397-401 Augustine writes Confessions

393 AD Council of Hippo cites exactly 27NT books as canon.

397 The Council of Carthage agrees with the Council of Hippo

395: Theodosius prohibits practice of Pagan rituals including Olympic Games

310-395: Ausonius, Christian governor of Gaul;

396: Alaric, king of the Visigoths, plunders Athens

333-397: Ambrose, bishop & governor of Milan, wrote: "de Fide" ...

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397: Ling-pao ching writes "Book of the Sacred Jewel", Taoist philosophy

400-600: era of "aggressive forgeries" in Christian texts [Grant,J.T.S.,1960]

400 : Vulgate Bible (Hebrew OT; Latin, Greek NT:Latin), by Jerome

(340 -420) Originals lost, Vulgate Latin Text becomes standard Western Christian Bible

400 : Codex Vercellensis it(a): Latin Gospels, of "European" text-typePeshitta Bible, Syriac (Aramaic) Vulgate, Syr(p), OT + 22 NT, excludes: 2Pt, 2-3Jn, Jude, Rev; Peshitta becomes standard Syrian Christian BiblePalestinian Talmud (Mishnah (Oral Law) + Gemara (Mishnah commentary)) Pericope of the Adulteress, John 7:53-8:11, added to Bible [Jerome,(D)]Codex Bobiensis

401-417: Pope Innocent I: decreed Roman custom the norm for Christianity

401: Visigoths invade Italy

403: Letters of Epiphanius of Constantia, John Chrysostom; church fathers

348-405 : Prudentius, greatest Christian Latin poet.

410: beginnings of Alchemy

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413: Kumarajira, b.334, Chinese Buddhist philosopher

414: Letters of Nicetas of Remesiana, Orosius; early Christian church fathers

414: Seng-chao, b.384, Chinese Buddhist philosopher, "Book of Chao"

Cyril of Alexandria (375-444) - bishop of Alexandria who opposed Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus.

Cyril upheld the biblical teaching that Christ was fully divine from eternity and that in His Incarnation He was one person with two natures. Cyril also opposed Novatianism. He is remembered for his letters to Nestorius and for his commentary on the Gospel of Luke.415: Bishop Cyril of Alexandria. (444) expels Jews, kills Hypatia with oyster shells

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Cyril of Alexandria

416: Visigoths take Spain

423: Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, notes Tatian's Harmony (170) in heavy use

427 : Ashi, head of Sura Yeshiva, "Rabbana", began compilation of Bab. Talmud

430: St. Augustine, b.354, origin of "Original Sin," church father & philo-sopher, wrote: "The City of God", "Confessions";

430: Letters of Marcus Eremita, Nilus of Ancyra; Christian church fathers

431: Council of Ephesus: 3d ecumenical;decreed Mary: Mother of God (Theotokos)

431: Letters of Nonnus of Panopolis, John Cassian; Christian church fathers

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431: Syrian Christianity splits into East (Nestorian) and West (Jacobites)

432: St. Patrick begins mission in Ireland

433-453: Attila the Hun: b.406 , "Scourge of the Gods"

444: Letters of Cyril of Alexandria, Arnobius the Younger; church fathers

449 The Latrocinium (Robber's) Council. Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, presided. This Council declared Eutychianism, which held. The council deposed Flavian, the orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople

Eutychianism was a heresy in the 4th and 5th centuries begun by a monk named Eutychus (378-452, AD). He lived in Constantinople. Eutychus taught that Christ's humanity was absorbed in his divinity. It taught that Christ had only one nature and His humanity was not like ours. This the opponents argued would make redemption impossible.

He was condemned and deposed from the Monestary in A.D. 448 and then finally exiled at the council of Chalcedon in 451.

450 : Codex Alexandrinus (A) : Codex Bezae (D): Codex Washingtonianus (W): Codex Ephraemi Syri rescriptus (C): Codex Marchalianus (Q): Codex Ambrosianus (F): Codex Freer: Codex Colberto-Sarravianus: Codex Palatinus: Codex Veronensis : Syr(pal), Palestinian Syriac (Aramaic) Gospels: std. Aramaic Targums, T. Onkelos of Torah, T. Jonathan of Prophe

451 Nestorius of Constantinople.

Nestorians said that Mary was the bearer of Christ (christokos), but not the bearer of God (theotokos).

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Nestorius

Nestorius was consecrated bishop of Constantinople on April 10th, 428. His elevation to this influential position had profound repercussions for the church. A firm opponent of the Arian heresy.

Arians taught that Christ was a created being. To refute this and other points, Nestorius argued that the Godhead joined with the human rather as a man enters a tent or puts on clothes. Instead of depicting Christ as one unified person, Nestorius saw him as a conjunction of two natures so distinct as to be different persons who had merged.

Nestorius refused to call Mary the "Mother of God." -“Theokotos” and forsaw the danger of Mary being deified. Mariolatorers were always part of the Roman church. Her baby was very human, he said. Jesus' human acts and sufferings were of his human nature, not his Godhead. To say Mary was Mother of God was to say God had once been a few hours old. "God is not a baby two or three months old," he argued.

He never denied that Christ was divine. On the contrary, it was to protect his divinity that he argued as he did, lest it be lost in worship of the human child. The divine nature could not be born of a woman. Nestorius' refusal to use the term "theotokus," Mother of God, led to a big argument. He pointed out that the apostles and early church fathers never employed the word. But he could not resolve the issue so as to bring into focus the Jesus we know from scripture who is completely and truly both God and man.

Nestorian churches appeared in Arabia, India, Tibet, Malabar, Turkostan and Cyprus. Many exist to this day, especially in Iraq. Some units reunited with the

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Roman Catholic church around the sixteenth century. The Kerala Churches were Nestorian untill they were forced into the Roman Catholic Church when the Portugese colonized India.

In 1895, the book the “Bazaar of Heracleides”, written towards the end of his life, he explicitly denies the heresy for which he was condemned, instead, affirming of Christ "the same one is twofold"

451: Council of Chalcedon: 4th ecumenical.

Eutychianism is condemned, Dioscorus is deposed, The Tome of Leo is confirmed. Jesus Christ is "two natures, the Divine of the same substance as the Father (against Arianism), the human of the same substance as us (against Eutychianism), which are united unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably (against Nestorianism)." The church remains divided over these issues for the next 200 years

451: Letters of Hesychius, Quodvultdeus; early Christian church fathers

454: Eutyches of Constantinople, Monophysites: Jesus was divine but not human

455: Vandals sack Rome

457-474: Pope Leo I becomes emperor of remaining (eastern) Roman empire

463: Letters of Prosper of Aquitaine, early Christian church father

466: Letters of Shenute of Atripe, Theodoret of Cyrrhus; early church fathers

470: flowering of Mayan city culture in southern Mexico

474-491: Zeno: eastern Roman emperor

476: official end of western Roman empire, last emperor Romulus Augustulus.

484-519: Acacian schism: over "Henoticon" divides Western and Eastern churches

484: Letters of Vigilius of Thapsus, early Christian church father

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489: Zeno destroys Nestorian (451) school at Edessa, erects Church of St.Simeon

491: Armenian Church secedes from East (Byzantium) and West (Rome) churches

491-518: Anastasius I: eastern Roman emperor

492-496: Pope Gelasius I (1st 'Vicar of Christ')

498: Nestorians (451) settle in Nisibis, Persia and India 498-506: anti-Pope Lawrence: Lawrentian schism

500: incense introduced in Christian church service, first plans of Vatican

500: Tamo brings tea from India to China

500 : Codex Sangallensis : Codex Argenteus (got): earliest nearly complete Gothic (German), Gospels: Codex Cottonianus: Greek Genesis

502: Narsai of Mealletha, Syrian poet, heads Nestorian school in Nisibis(498)

518-527: Justin I: emperor of Byzantine (former eastern Roman) empire

480-524: Boethius, Roman Christian philosopher, wrote: "Theological Tractates", "Consolation of Philosophy"; (Loeb Classics) (Latin)

525: Dionysius Exiguus sets Christian calendar (a.d.) & Jesus birth as 23 Dec 1ce

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483-565 Justinian I Byzantine emperor (527–65), nephew and successor of Justin I.

527: Letters of Fabius Claudius Gordianus Fulgentius, early Christian church father

Roman senatorial family. Well educated. Lieutenant governor of Byzacena. Monk, led to the religious life by the writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose work remained a touchstone for him the rest of his life. Abbot.

Bishop of Ruspe (modern Kudiat Rosfa, Tunisia) in 508. Exiled with 60 other

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bishops to Sardinia during the invasion of the Arian Vandals led by Thrasimund. There they built a monastery, and continued to write, pray, and study.

Returned to Carthage in 515 to debate with Arians; that he was exiled again in 518. King Hilderic succeeded Thrasimund in 523, and permitted the exiles to return.

529: Justinian closes 1000yr Athen's School of Philosophy, declared Paganistic

529 The Council of Orange approves the Augustinian doctrine of sin and grace, but without absolute predestination.

529-534: "Corpus Juris Civilis", a compilation of Roman law by Tribonian

533: N. Africa captured by Belisarius from Vandals, becomes Byzantine province

534-870: Malta becomes Byzantine province

535: Synod of Clermont excludes Jews from public office

537-555: Pope Vigilius: involved in death of Pope Silverius, conspired with Justinian and Theodora, excommunicated by N. African bishops in 550 ... 538: 3d Synod of Orleans requires Jews to remain indoors during "Passion Week"

539-562: war between Byzantine Empire and Persia

541-546: Codex Fuldensis vg(F): Latin Vulgate, 27NT + Epistle to Laodiceans

542: plague in Constantinople from Egyptian and Syrian rats, spreads to Europe

543: Justinian condemns Origen (254), disastrous earthquakes hit the world544: Justinian condemns the "3 Chapters" of Theodore of Mopsuestia (d.428)

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http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/define43.htm


and other writings of "2-natures" Christology of Council of Chalcedon (451)

547: Pope Vigilius issues "Iudicatum" supporting Justinian's anti- "2-natures"

548: Letters of Apringius Pacensis, early Christian church father

550-1453: Medieval Greek of Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes standard Greek

550: Byzantine Greek Text, standard Eastern Bible

550: St. David converts Wales to Christianity, crucifix becomes Christian icon

550 : Codex Claromontanus (Dp): Codex Mediolanensis vg(M): Latin Vulgate Gospels: Codex Veronensis: Greek & Old Latin Psalms

552: Emperor Shotoko Taishi introduces Buddhism into Japan

552: Justinian sends Christian missionaries to China & Ceylon to get silkworm

553: silk industry monopoly established in Byzantine empire

555: 2nd Council of Constantinople: 5th ecumenical, called by Justinian

556-561: Pope Pelagius I: selected by Justianian, endorsed "Iudicatum" (547)

565-578: Justin II: Byzantine emperor

567: Letters of Primasius, Cassiodorus; early Christian church fathers

572-628: war between Byzantine Empire and Persia

560 b. Isidore of Seville, whose Book of Sentences was the key book of theology until the twelfth century

578-582: Tiberius II: Byzantine emperor

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582-602: Maurice: Byzantine emperor

587: Visigoths of Spain converted to Christianity

589: Lombards of Italy converted to Christianity

590: plague in Rome

590-604: Pope Gregory I.

575: Gregory was a highly educated public official, held the highest public office obtainable in Rome (presided over the Roman Senate) turned his house into a monastery, founded six more monasteries on family land in Sicily579: re-emerged as public figure when called to Constantinople to be a papal representative586: by popular acclaim chosen as pope He was a very effective and popular pope during a time when the government was weak. He fed the peasants and protected farms and villages from Lombard invasion. His development of the doctrine of purgatory was instrumental in establishing the medieval Roman Catholic sacramental system. 602 Through Gregory's influence and his baptism of a Lombard King's child, the Lombards begin converting from Arianism to Orthodoxy .

595: 1st authenticated record of decimal number system (0-9) appears in India

596: St. Augustine of Canterbury sent to convert Britain to Christianity

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600: Babylonian Talmud (Mishnah(Oral Law) + Gemara(Mishnah commentary)); Ashi

600: Pope Gregory "strives" to convert the Jews to Christianity

600: book printing in China

600 : Codex Harleianus vg(Z): Latin Vulgate Gospels: Codex Philoxenian/Harclean Syr(ph/h): Syriac 27NT, "Western" text-type

602-610: Phocas: kills Maurice, becomes Byzantine emperor

609: Roman Pantheon (a Pagan Temple) renamed Church of Santa Maria Rotonda

610-641: Heraclius: kills Phocas, becomes Byzantine emperor

610: Muhammad's vision on Mount Hira

614: Persians take Damascus and Jerusalem and "Holy Cross of Christ"

615: earliest records of some of Muhammad's teachings

616: Persians take Egypt

618-907: T'ang dynasty of China

619-625: Pope Boniface V: authorized by Heraclius

622: first year in Muslim calendar, The Hegira, 1a.h., (a.h. = anno hegirae). Islamic years are also called Hijra years because the first year was the year during which the Hijra occurred—Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina. Thus each numbered year is designated either H or AH, the latter being the initials of the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

622-680: Monothelite controversy: condemned at 6th Ecum. Council of Const.

624: Muhammad marries Aisha, daughter of Abu Bekr

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625: Paulinus of Rome comes to convert Northumbria to Christianity

625: Muhammad begins dictation of Qur'an (Koran) to his scribe

625: Brahmagupta, mathematician of India, teaches at Ujjain

626: King Edwin of Northumbria founds Edinburgh and begins Christianization

627: Byzantines defeat Persians at Nineveh, discover Indian sugar cane

628: Emperor Heraclius wins back "Cross of Christ" from Persians (614)

628: Muhammad captures Mecca & writes to rulers of the world explaining Islam

629: Heraclius recovers Jerusalem from Persians

632: East Anglia Christianized

570-632: Muhammad, Arab prophet and founder of Islam

632: Abu Bekr, first Islamic Caliph, seat at Medina

634: Omar I, 2d Caliph, takes Syria/Persia/Egypt;defeats Heraclius in Holy War

635: Christianization of Wessex

635-750: Damascus becomes capital of Islamic Caliphs

635 By 635 Nestorian Christianity had reached the heart of China, and India. It disappeared after two hundred years in China but was the main theology of Indian Churches until the coming of the Portugese when they were forced into Roman Catholicism.

636: Southern Irish Church submits to Roman Catholicism

637: Jerusalem captured by Islam

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638: Emp. Heraclius' "Ecthesis", decrees Christ of one nature: "Monothelites"

640: Library of Alexandria, "The Center of Western Culture," with 300,000 ancient papyrus scrolls, is completely destroyed.663 Synod of Whitby reconciles the old British liturgy and the Roman liturgy

675- . John of Damascus, Eastern Orthodox mystic

Called the last Greek father and the first Christian Aristotelian, St. John Damascene was born c. 676 into a wealthy Christian family. His father was a logothelete, an advisor to the vizier, and John took over the post when his father retired. C. 716 John resigned from his position and retired to the Mar Saba monastery, where he eventually became a monk. He wrote three treatises in defense of the use of icons and opposed the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. These works led to John's condemnation at the Council of Hieria in 754. John had been dead for five years at the time of his condemnation, and the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 restored his good name. John also wrote poetry and revised the Octoechoes, the cycle of eight weekly tones around which Byzantine worship centers.

Of John's 150 works, the most famous is The Source of Knowledge

690 Earliest Bible translations into England's vernacular, continued work by Bede and others from this point forward

711 Islam has spread from India to North Africa. All of North Africa is under Islamic control

720 Muslims take Spain

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726-787 The iconoclastic controversy. Emperor Leo III attacked the use of images.

John of Damascus defended the use of icons in worship by differentiating between veneration and worship. He also argued that the use of images is an affirmation of Christ's humanity, because a real person can be depicted. The opposition responds that images of Christ are not valid depictions because they can only represent his humanity, but not his divinity

iconography [Gr.,=image-drawing] or iconology [Gr.,=image-study], in art history, the study and interpretation of figural representations, either individual or symbolic, religious or secular; more broadly, the art of representation by pictures or images, which may or may not have a symbolic as well as an apparent or superficial meaning.

732 Europeans turn back the Muslims at the Battle of Tours

750 Tower added to St Peter's Basilica at the front of the atrium 787 Council of Nicea supports the decision of John of Damascus concerning icons. This decision was not well recieved in the West because John's words for veneration and worship were difficult to translate 800 Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne head of the Holy Roman Empire (a.k.a. the Nominally Christian Germanic Kingdom). His dynasty is called the Carolingian Empire. His reign is the cultural high point of the Early Middle Ages

850 King Alfred translation of several Bible books into English vernacular, also done by Aldhelm and Aelfric

875-950 The Dark Ages.

The Carolingian Empire was weakened and was assailed by new invaders. This period also marks the low point of the papacy

AD 1000 -1300

1014 Pope Benedict VIII officially added filioque to the Nicene Creed. It means that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He did this to insist on the equality of the deity. But the

86


Eastern Church insists that the Holy Spirit came from the Father through the Son. They are offended that the West altered the Creed without an ecumenical council 1033 - . Anselm, father of scholasticism. He proposed the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. He argued for the necessity of the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ

1054 Split between Eastern and Western churches formalized, Orthodox Church founded. Pope Leo IX's delegate, Cardinal Humbert, laid a sentence of anathema on the alter of St. Sophia Church, the most prestigous Eastern Orthodox church. The two churches are permanently separated , 1079 Under the Seljuk Turks, the Muslims are more determined than previously to keep the Christians from making pilgrimages to the Holy Land

1093 - Bernard of Clairvaux, the most influential person of his day. He helped

reform the monastaries. He was a great preacher, in spite of his allegorical exegesis

. And he was Augustinian in his doctrines of grace, which later gave Calvin and the other reformers an anchor in the High Middle Ages

1095-1291 10 Crusades,

1st called by Pope Urban II, to restore Asia Minor to Byzantium and conquer the Holy Land from the Turks The First Crusade fought for lofty ideals. The pope wanted to save Constantinople, save the Byzantine Empire, and thus heal the breech between the Eastern and Western Church. They were able to temporarily regain the Holy Land1100 - Peter Lombard, scholastic author of Four Books on the Sentences, the standard theological text for 200 years. It influenced Calvin's Institutes

1140 - Peter Waldo in Lyons, France.1174 Peter Waldo converted .He is the founder of an old, old protestant church (300 years before Luther). The Waldensian church still exists in some parts of the world today, but in most countries it merged with the Methodists and Presbyterians. Waldensians stress the authority of scripture and lay preaching. They also come to reject salvation by sacraments. 1184 Waldensians are declared heretical by the Roman Chutch .

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1147-1148 The Second Crusade. Bernard of Clairvaux was the chief motivator of this crusade, but somehow his reputation survives it. It was a disastrous failure. The failure was blamed by the Westerners on the lack of committment of the Eastern Church. The wedge is driven deeper

1189-1192 The Third Crusade is an ineffective attempt to recover Jerusalem

1200-1204 The Fourth Crusade. The Crusaders finished this crusade by looting Constantinople, the seat of the Eastern Orthodox church. So much for the lofty ideals of the First Crusade 1209 Innocent III proclaims a "crusade", a papal inquisition, against the Waldensians

1212 The Children's Crusade. The children felt they could take the Holy Land supernaturally because they were pure in heart. Most of them were drowned, murdered, or sold into slavery

1215 Fourth Lateran Council requires annual communion for salvation. Also condemns the Waldensians. They are persecuted for the next 600 years. They sought refuge in the Alps, and thus were not directly involved in the Reformation of Luther until later

1216 Papal approval for the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers. Their purpose was to oppose heresy with piety, learning and zeal

1219- 1221 The Fifth Crusade. The crusaders temporarily held Damietta in Egypt. Francis of Assisi went with the crusaders. But where they stopped, Francis kept going. He went unarmed into the presence of the sultan and preached to him

1206 Rosary is reportedly given to St. Dominic by an apparition of Mary

1215 Dominican order begun

1223 Franciscan order begun

1224 St. Francis’ Stigmata, a mystical experience of the wounds of Christ. Francis died in 1226.

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1224/1274 b. Thomas Aquinus, the chief teacher of the Catholic Church. Author of “Summa Contra Gentiles” an apologetic handbook for Dominican missionaries to Jews, Muslims, and heretics in Spain, and “Summa Theologica” the theological textbook that supplanted Lombard's Sentences as the chief theological work of the Middle Ages.

1229 The Sixth Crusade. Frederick II temporarily gained Jerusalem by making a treaty with the sultan 1232 b. Raymund Lull, first missionary to the Muslims 1248 The Seventh Crusade. St. Louis IX of France is defeated in Egypt. This was the last crusade. The final result of the crusades is that the western Christians drove a wedge between the Church and the Jews, between the Church and the Muslims, and between the Western and Eastern Church. 1260 Date which a 1988 Vatican sponsered scientific study places the origin of the Shroud of Turin

c.1300-c.1400 The Black Death. 1/3 of the population from India to Iceland is wiped out, including about 1/2 of Britain 1309 - 13 77 The "Babylonian Captivity of the Church." For 70 years the papacy was in Avignon and under the thumb of the King of France. The papacy was pro-France, and Britain was at war with France 1316 Raymund Lull stoned to death 1321 The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

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1350 English begins to emerge as the national language of England

1350 Renaissance begins in Italy

1354 Earliest extant documentation stating the existance of the Shroud of Turin

1380-1517 Period between the 1st complete English translation of the Bible and Martin Luther's 95 Theses

1330-1382 John Wycliffe, eminant theologian at Oxford, makes NT (1380) and OT (with help of Nicholas of Hereford) (1382) translations in English, 1st complete translation to English, included deutercanonical books, preached against abuses, expressed unorthodox views of the sacraments (Penance and Eucharist), the use of relics, and against celibacy of the clergy

Wycliff1371 - John Huss, Bohemian pre-reformer. He was greatly influenced by

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Wycliffe. He rejected indulgences and said Christ is the head of the Church, not the pope

Huss

1378 The Great Schism. Pope Gregory XI moves the papacy back to Rome. France declares Clement VII pope in Avignon. There are two competing popes for close to 40 years.

1380 b. Thomas a Kempis, author of Imitation of Christ

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1381 The Peasant's Revolt. 30,000 angry peasants descend on London

1381 Because of his sympathy for the peasants, Wycliffe is suspected of involvement with the revolt. He is banished from Oxford. During this period, he and his followers translate the Bible from the Vulgate into English 1384 died . Wycliffe, of natural causes

1384 John Purvey, follower of John Wycliffe, revises Wycliffe's translation 1390 Wycliffe's teachings condemned repeatedly in England 1408 Council of Oxford forbids translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular unless and until they were fully approved by Church authority, sparked by Wycliffite Bible, Sir Thomas More said: "It neither forbiddith the translations to be read that were already well done of old before Wycliffe's days, nor damneth his because it was new but because it was naught; nor prohibiteth new to be made but provideth that they shall not be read if they be made amiss till they be by good examination amended." ("A Dialogue against Heresies")

St. Joan of Arc, French national heroine

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1415 Council of Florence condemns all of Wycliffe's works, but the actual Bibles continued to be used after having the heretical prologue removed, and were possessed by both religious houses and those of the nobility and tacitly accepted by Catholics

1415 Council of Constance condemns Wycliffe, 1428 The Catholic Church burned the bones of Wycliffe and threw them in the Swift river .

July 6, 1415 Council of Constance burns John Huss, in violation of the Emperor's promise of safe conduct. The Emperor is told "It is not necessary to keep one's word to a heretic."

1417 The Council of Constance deposes both popes and elects a new one. This ends the Great Schism. It is a high point for Conciliarism, the idea that the councils are superior to the papacy 1428 The Catholic Church burned the bones of Wycliffe and threw them in the Swift river

93


1452 b. Savonarola, the great preacher. He taught the authority of scripture and understood the shortcomings of the Church. Died 1498

1453 End of the Hundred Years' War 1453 Byzantium succeeded by the Ottoman Empire 1466-1536 Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch scholar, Greek NT used in many 16th century translations

1473-1481 Sistine Chapel built, under supervision of Giovanni de Dolci1478 Inquisition established by Pope Sixtus IV

Martin Luther, leader of Protestant reformation, preached that only faith leads to salvation without mediation of clergy or good works, attacked authority of the Pope, rejected priestly celibacy, recommended individual study of the Bible.

1488-1569 Miles Coverdale, Augustinian friar who left the Order, repudiated Catholicism, 1st Protestant Bishop of Exeter

1491-1556 Ignatius of Loyola, founded the Jesuit order – counter reformation

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1492 Erasmus ordained. Erasmus's Humanist movement was beginning to stir some members of the church to moral reform

1492 Christopher Columbus's first voyage, discovers San Salvador - begins Spanish colonization of the New World

1505-1572 John Knox, Protestant reformer in Scotland. Founder of Scottish Presbyterianism

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1506 Pope Julius II orders the Old St Peter's Basilica torn down and authorizes Donato Bramante to plan a new structure, demolition completed in 1606

1507 Luther is ordained as a preist at Erfurt 1510 Luther sent to Rome on monastic business. He saw the corruption of the church

1508-1512 Michelangelo frescoes the Sistine Chapel's vaulted ceiling

1509-1547 Henry VIII ruler of England

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1509-1564 John Calvin, preached predetermination and that good conduct and success were signs of election

1510 Luther sent to Rome on monastic business. He saw the corruption of the church

1517-1994 Modern Era of Christianity - Luther, Calvin lay the seeds of modern Protestantism, England breaks away from the Catholic Church 1515 While teaching on Romans, Luther realizes faith and justification are the work of God

1484–1531, Swiss Protestant reformer. Zwingli, Huldreich or Ulrich

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1515 While teaching on Romans, Luther realizes faith and justification are the work of God

1517 Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg. It is the first public act of the Reformation

1518-1532 St Terese of Avila

1520 Luther excommunicated 1522 Luther's German NT translation 1524 South German peasant uprising, repressed with Luther's support, begins 1.5 century long religious wars

1525-1534 Tyndale's translation of the NT from Greek text of Erasmus (1466) compared against the Vulgate and the Pentateuch from the Hebrew (1525) compared to Vulgate and Luther's German version (1530), first printed edition, used as a vehicle by Tyndale for bitter attacks on the Church, reflects influence of Luther's NT of 1522 in rejecting "priest" for "elder", "church" for "congregation"

1530 Augsburg Confession, Martin Luther founds the Lutheran Church

1531 Reported apparition of Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1531 Earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal kills 30,000

1534 Henry VIII breaks England away from the Catholic church, confiscates monastic property, beginning of Episcopal Church Henry VIII declares himself "The only supreme head in earth of the Church of England"

1535 Anabaptists take over Muenster

1536 death of Erasmus

1536 Menno Simons rejects Catholicism, becomes an Anabaptist, and helps restore that movement back to pacifism

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1536 William Tyndale strangled and burned at the stake. He was the first to translate the Bible into English from the original languages

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1536 First edition of Calvin's Institutes

1534 Jesuit order founded by Lyola (1491-1556), helped reconvert large areas of Poland, Hungary, and S. Germany and sent missionaries to the New World, India, and China

1535-1537 Coverdale's Bible (see 1488), used Tyndale's (1525) translation along with Latin and German versions, included Apocrypha at the end of the OT (like Luther) as was done in later English versions, 1537 edition received royal license, but banned in 1546

1536 Tyndale put to death, left his OT translation in manuscript, English ecclesiaastical authorities ordered his Bible burned because it was thought to be part of Lutheran reform

1537-1551 Matthew Bible, by John Rogers (1500-1555), based on Tyndale and Coverdale received royal license but not authorized for use in public worship, numerous editions, 1551 edition contained offensive notes (based on Tyndale)

1536-1541 Michelangelo paints the Last Judgement

1539-1552 Richard Taverner's (1505-1577) revisions of Matthew Bible, mostly NT revisions since he didn't know Hebrew, 1st edition most reliable1539-1569 Great Bible, by Thomas Cromwell, 1st English Bible to be authorized for public use in English churches, defective in many places, based on last Tyndale's NT of 1534-1535, corrected by a Latin version of the Hebrew OT, Latin Bible of Erasmus, and Complutensian Polyglot, last edition 1569, never denounced by England

1542 Convocation makes an unsuccessful attempt to correct the Great Bible against the Vulgate

1543 John Knox converted

1543 Parliament bans Tyndale's translation as a "crafty, false and untrue transalation", although 80% of the words were in the RV

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1545-1563 Council of Trent, Catholic Reformation, or counter-reformation, met Protestant challenge, clearly defining an official theology

1546 King Henry VIII forbids anyone to have a copy of Tyndale's or Coverdale's NT

1547-1553 Edward VI ruler of England

1549 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church)

1549 Consensus Tigurinus brings Zwinglians and Calvinists to agreement about communion

1550 St. Thomas More, Cranmer, and Foxe affirm the existence of English versions of portions of the Bible, including the Gospels (11th century), Mark, Luke, Epistles of Paul (14th century), Apocalypse (11th century)

1553-1558 Mary I ruler of England, publications of English Scriptures cease (except for Geneva NT of 1557), many clerics leave England 1553 Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) begins her reign . Many protestants who flee Mary's reign are deeply impacted by exposure to a more true reformation on the continent. John Knox is among them.

1553 Pontifical Gregorian University founded at Vatican City 1556 Beza's Latin NT1558-1603 Elizabeth I ruler of England. Marian exiles return

1560 Geneva Bible, NT a revision of Matthew's version of Tyndale with use of

Beza's NT (1556), OT a thorough revision of Great Bible, appointed to be read in Scotland (but not England), at least 140 editions

1560 Scotch Presbyterian Church founded by John Knox (1505-1572), due to disagreement with Lutherans over sacraments and church government1563 39 Articles (Episcopal Church)

1571 Superior force of Turks intent upon conquering Christian Europe is beaten decisively by Christian sailors reportedly calling upon the name of Our Lady of the Rosary

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1572-1606 Bishop's Bible, an inadequate and unsatisfactory revision of the Great Bible checked against the Hebrew text, 1st to be published in England by episcopal authority

1582 Rheims NT, based on Coverdale, Bishops', Geneva, follows Wycliffe

1590 Sistine edition of the Vulgate

1590 Michelangelo's dome in St Peter's Basilica completed

1596 Ukranian Catholic Church forms when Ukranian subjects of the king of Poland are reunited with Rome, largest Byzantine Catholic Church

1596 b. Moses Amyrald, founder of Amyraldianism, which is basically Calvinism minus limited atonement. Amyraldianism became the theology of the School of Saumer in France.

1596 b. Descartes, founder of rationalism

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1598 Edict of Nantes grants Huguenots greater religious freedom

1603 Jacobus Arminius takes the position that predestination is based on fore-knowledge. 1609 d. Jacobus Arminius

1603-1625 James I ruler of England, 1st to call himself King of Great Britain, became official with Act of Union in 1707

1604 The Puritans meet James at Hampton Court. Their hopes are dashed. 1606 Carlo Maderno redesigns St Peter's Basilica into a Latin cross

1609 Baptist Church founded by John Smyth, due to objections to infant baptism and demands for church-state separation

1609-1610 Rheims-Douay Bible, 1st Catholic English translation, OT published in two volumes, based on an unofficial Louvain text corrected by Sistine Vulgate (1590), NT is Rheims text of 1582

1610 The Arminians issue the Remonstrance containing 5 articles

1611-1800 King James (Authorized) Version, based on Bishop's Bible of 1572 with use of Rheims NT of 1582 - included Apocropha, alterations found in many editions through 1800, revisors accused of being "damnable corrupters of God's word"

Owen, John, 1616–83,

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English Puritan divine and theologian. In the civil war Owen supported the parliamentary cause. Oliver Cromwell took him as chaplain to Ireland and Scotland and had him appointed (1651) dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and vice chancellor (1652) of the university. He lost his posts after the Restoration. He was called to the presidency of Harvard, but he declined. Owen's writings include devotional literature and treatises against Arminianism and Socinianism. His works were edited by Thomas Russell (with a biography by William Orme, 28 vol., 1826) and by W. H. Goold (with a biography by Andrew Thomson, 24 vol., 1850–55).

1618-1619 The Synod of Dort is called in the Netherlands to answer the Arminians. The response forms 5 point Calvinism.

1620 Plymouth, Massachusetts colony founded by Puritans

1625-1649 Charles I ruler of England1628 William Laud becomes Bishop of London and steps up oppression of the Puritans

1628 Puritan John Bunyan, born. author of Pilgrim's Progress among many other works of poetry and prose

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John Bunyan (November 30, 1628 - August 31, 1688), was the most famous of the Puritan writers and preachers. He was born at Harrowden (1 mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He is most well-know for his book “The Pilgrim's Progress”, one of the most printed books in history, which he composed while in prison for the crime of preaching the Gospel without a license.

1629 Charles I dismisses Parliament 1630 John Winthrop and many Puritans migrate to America

1633 Authorised Version published in Scotland

1636 Harvard University founded by Puritans

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1644 Long Parliament directed that only Hebrew canon only be read in the Church of England (effectively removed the Apocropha)

1643-1646 The Westminister Assembly

1646 Cromwell defeats the King of England in Naseby. Cromwell died in 1658.

1647 George Fox founds the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Fox, George, 1624–91, English religious leader, founder of the Society of Friends, b. Fenny Drayton in Leicestershire. As a boy he was apprenticed to a shoemaker and wool dealer. By nature serious and contemplative, Fox at the age of 19 entered upon a wandering quest for spiritual enlightenment. In 1646 he underwent a mystical experience that convinced him that Christianity was not an outward profession but an inner light by which Christ directly illumines the believing soul. Revelation was for Fox not confined to the Scriptures. In 1647 he began to preach. Although often the victim of mob brutality and eight times imprisoned between 1649 and 1675, Fox won many followers, especially among groups of separatists. In 1668 he prepared the first pattern of organization, which was for some years to serve as the discipline of the Society of Friends. The London Yearly Meeting was started in 1671. To confirm his followers in their beliefs and to spread the truths, Fox went in 1671 to the West Indies and to America, where he made arduous journeys to various colonies scattered between New England and North Carolina. Later he twice visited Holland. His sincerity, serenity, fearlessness, and powerful preaching are attested to by a number of his contemporaries

1653-1658 Oliver Cromwell ruler of England

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1654 Conversion of Pascal. He started collecting notes for an Apology for the Christian Religion. 1662 Pascal died. 1658-1712 Richard Cromwell ruler of England

1660-1685 Charles II king of England, restoration of monarchy in England beginning under Charles II, continuing through James II, reversed decision of Long Parliament of 1644, reinstating the Apocrypha, reversal not heeded by non-conformists

1661-1663 John Eliot publishes the Bible in Algonkian, a Native American language. Over the course of his life he also helped plant at least 14 Native American churches

1662 New Act of Uniformity, over two thousand Puritan pastors resign or are forced out

1675 Philip Jacob Spener's Pia Desideria helps begin the pietist movement

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Spener, Philipp Jakob 1635–1705, German theologian, founder of Pietism. He was pastor of the Lutheran church at Frankfurt in 1670 when, to counteract the barren intellectualism of prevailing orthodoxy, he instituted meetings for fellowship and Bible study. These Collegia Pietatis led to a religious revival in many German states. His book, Pia desideria (1675), contained proposals for the reconstruction of the church. Spener became court chaplain at Dresden in 1686, but he aroused the opposition of the clergy and the elector and in 1691 accepted the rectorship at St. Nicholas, Berlin. Spener aided in the founding of the Univ. of Halle in 1694, and later, through the activities of his disciple August Hermann Francke, the city of Halle became a center of Pietism. The orthodox Lutheran clergy had continuously resented Spener's criticism and influence, and in 1695 the theological faculty at Wittenberg made formal charges against him. In spite of this opposition Spener's ideas spread to many congregations throughout Germany and in other parts of Europe.

1675 Edict of Nantes is revoked, making Protestantism illegal again in France. Many huguenots emigrated, some stayed and met in secret

1688 William and Mary take the throne. Puritans are free to preach and establish their own churches

1685-1688 James II king of England, deposed1689-1702 William III king of England, with Mary II as queen until 1694 1702-1714 Anne queen of England

1706 Francis Makemie founds the first Presbytery in America in Philadelphia

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1714-1727 George I king of England

1714 AV published in Ireland1714 Catholic English version of NT by Dr. Nary, much less bulky than Reims- Douay

1720s First Awakening. Revival breaks out as Theodore Frelinghuysen preaches in New Jersey. Revival spreads through Gilbert Tennant to New Brunswick.. 1727-1760 George II king of England

1727 Moravian revival under Count Zinzerdorf and Hussite . Moravian mission sent overseas.

1720's, Revival breaks out as Theodore Frelinghuysen preaches in New Jersey. Revival spreads through Gilbert Tennant to New Brunswick. It is the first stirrings of the First Great Awakening

1727 "The Golden Summer." A revival broke out among Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf and the Hussite Moravian refugees he had taken in. Many Moravian missionaries were sent overseas

1730 Catholic English version of NT, revision of Reims NT by Dr. Robert Witham

1734-1737 The Great Awakening continues as Jonathan Edwards preaches in Massachusettes. Revival spreads to Connecticut

1738 Methodist Church founded by Rev John Wesley

1738-1816 New Catholic English versions of NT by Dr. Richard Challoner and Francis Blyth O.D.C., Bernard MacMahon, Dr Troy

1739-41 George Whitefield joins Edwards. He travelled diligently, travelling between England and America 13 times, and was able to reach about 80% of the colonists with the gospel

1739 The Methodists begin as a para church society in London

1746 Princeton founded by the Presbyterians

1752 AV published in New World colonies

1754 Dartmouth founded for Native Americans

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1760-1820 George III king of England

1764 Brown University founded by Baptists

1766 Rutgers founded by Dutch Reformed.

1766 Methodism was brought to the U.S. before the American Revolution by emigrants from both Ireland and England. The earliest societies were formed in about 1766 in New York City, in Philadelphia, and near Pipe Creek, Maryland. In 1769 John Wesley sent his first missionaries to America. Francis Asbury, commissioned in 1771, was the missionary most instrumental in establishing the American Methodist church. The first annual conference was held in Philadelphia in 1773, In a Christmas Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was formally organized as a body separate from the English Methodist structure. Asbury and Thomas Coke were given the title bishop and became heads of the new church. Wesley sent Twenty-five Articles of Religion, adapted from the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England, to serve as its doctrinal basis.

1773-1775 Founded, the first black Baptist church in America, Silver Bluff, South Carolina 1776 British colonies in America declare independance from England, American Revolution

110


1783 Earthquake in Calabria, Italy kills 30,000

1784 John Wesley baptizes Thomas Coke, making Methodism a denomination separate from the Church of England

1792 Particular Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen founded, later called the Baptist Missionary Society

1792 Charles Finney, inventor of modern revivalism born.

1795 London Missionary Society founded

1799 Church Missionary Society founded 1801-1877 Brigham Young, Mormon leader, colonized Utah

1811 Dr. Hay's revision of Challoner's version

1820-1830 George IV king of England

1822 Earthquake in Aleppo, Asia Minor kills 22,000

1815 Catholic Bible Society NT, based on Challoner's

1816-1829 Challoner's 3rd revision, Dr. John Lingard's translation from Greek using

Vulgate when possible

1827 Mormon Church founded by Joseph Smith as a result of reported visions of the Angel Moroni

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Joseph Smith, Born: 23 December 1805 Birthplace: Charon, Vermont Death: 27 June 1844 (lynched) Best Known As: Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)

Raised a Christian in Vermont and New York, Joseph Smith was the prophet and founder of the Mormon Church. According to Smith's account, he had a vision from God when he was fourteen years old. A messenger directed him to a hillside in rural New York, where he uncovered metal plates and two "seer stones," divination tools sometimes referred to as the Urim and Thummim (terms infrequently used in the Old Testament and whose precise meaning is clouded in mystery). The Urim and Thummim were from a prophet, Mormon, and revealed the record of ancient Israelites who had escaped to the Americas around 600 B.C. Smith, using the stones, translated the word of Mormon to form the new canon of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also called the Mormon Church or LDS), founded in 1830. With his followers, Smith settled in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois in search of the New Zion. A prophet to his followers and a fraud to his detractors, he and his brother were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois in 1844. After his death, the Church was led by Brigham Young.

Brigham Young

1830-1837 William IV king of England

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1830 Reported apparition of Mary in Paris, France, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1832 Church of Christ (Disciples) organized, made up of Presbyterians in distress over Protestant factionalism and decline of fervor

1837-1901 Victoria queen of England

1846 Reported apparition of Mary in La Salette, France, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1852-1922 Charles Taze Russell, founded the Jehova's Witnesses movement in the 1870s

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Russell, Charles Taze, 1852–1916, founder of the movement whose followers are known as Russellites, as Bible Students, and (since 1931) as Jehovah's Witnesses, b. Pittsburgh, Pa. There he predicted (1872) the second coming of Christ and the millennium. In 1878 he organized his followers as an independent church. His teachings were spread through the Watch Tower, which Russell began to publish in 1879. In 1909 he moved his headquarters to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, New York City. Russell was involved in scandals, which somewhat tarnished his reputation, but his sect, nonetheless, flourished. His writings are contained in a series of books under the title Millennial Dawn (6 vol., 1886–1904).

Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian group originating in the United States at the end of the 19th cent., organized by Charles Taze Russell, whose doctrine centers on the Second Coming of Christ. The Witnesses believe that the event has already commenced; they also believe the battle of Armageddon is imminent and that it will be followed by a millennial period when repentant sinners will have a second chance for salvation. The Witnesses base their teaching on the Bible. They have no churches but meet in buildings that are always named Kingdom Hall. There are no official ministers because all Jehovah's Witnesses are considered ministers of the gospel. Their views are circulated in the Watchtower, Awake!, and other publications and by house-to-house canvasing carried on by members. Regarding governments as the work of Satan, the Witnesses refuse to bear arms in war or participate in the affairs of government. Their refusal to salute the flag brought about a controversy that resulted in a decision in their favor by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1943. The Witnesses insist upon a rigid moral code and refuse blood transfusions. Before 1931, Jehovah's Witnesses were called Russellites; abroad the movement is usually known as the International Bible Students Association. Active in almost every country in the world, the group has more than 1 million members in the United States.

1. There is one God in one person, Make Sure of All Things, p 188. 2. There is no Trinity, Let God be True, p. 100-101; Make Sure of All

Things, p.386. 3. The Holy Spirit is a force, not alive, Reasoning from the Scriptures,

1985, pp. 406-407. 4. The Holy Spirit is God's impersonal active force, The Watchtower,

June 1, 1952, p. 24. 5. Jehovah's first creation was his 'only-begotten Son'. . . was used by

Jehovah in creating all other things", Aid to Bible Understanding, pp. 390-391.

6. Jesus was Michael the archangel who became a man, The Watchtower, May 15,1963, p. 307; The New World, 284.

7. Jesus was only a perfect man, not God in flesh, Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, pp. 306.

8. Jesus did not rise from the dead in his physical body, Awake! July 22, 1973, p. 4.

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9. Jesus was raised "not a human creature, but a spirit." Let God be True, p. 276.

10. Jesus did not die on a cross but on a stake, Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, pp. 89-90.

11. Jesus returned to earth, invisibly, in 1914, The Truth Shall Make You Free, p. 300.

12. Jesus' ransom sacrifice did not include Adam, Let God be True, p. 119.

13. Their church is the self-proclaimed prophet of God, The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, p. 197.

14. They claim to be the only channel of God's truth, The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1981, p. 19.

15. Only their church members will be saved, The Watchtower, Feb, 15, 1979, p. 30.

16. Good works are necessary for salvation, Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 1, pp. 150, 152.

17. The soul ceases to exist after death, Let God be True, p. 59, 60, 67. 18. There is no hell of fire where the wicked are punished, Let God be

True, p. 79, 80. 19. Only 144,000 Jehovah's Witness go to heaven, Reasoning from the

Scriptures,1985, pp. 166-167, 361; Let God be True, p. 121. 20. Only the 144,000 Jehovah's Witness are born again. Reasoning from

the Scriptures, 1985, p. 76.; Watchtower 11/15/54, p. 681. 21. Only the 144,000 may take communion, 22. Blood transfusions are a sin, Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985,

pp. 72-73. 23. The Cross is a pagan symbol and should not be used, Reasoning

from the Scriptures, 1985, pp. 90-92. 24. Salvation is by faith and what you do, Studies in the Scriptures, Vol.

1, pp.150,152. 25. It is possible to lose your salvation, Reasoning from the Scriptures,

1985, pp.358-359. 26. Each of the 6 creative days of God in Genesis 1, was 7000 years

long. Therefore, Man was created toward the end of 42,000 years of earth's preparation, Let God be True, p. 168.

27. They also refuse to vote, salute the flag, sing the "Star Spangled Banner," or celebrate Christmas or birthdays. They are not allowed to serve in the armed forces.

28. Satan was entrusted with the obligation and charged with the duty of overseeing the creation of the earth, Children, p 55

1858 Reported apparition of Mary in Lourdes, France, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church1859-1959 90 Catholic NT editions, 56 Catholic editions of the whole Bible

1869-1870 First Vatican Council, 20th ecumenical, affirms doctrine of papal infallibility (ie. when a pope speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals

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he does so with the supreme apostolic authority, which no Catholic may question or reject)

1871 Reported apparition of Mary in Pontmain, France, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1878 14-point creed of the Niagara Bible Conference, used by Fundamentalists

1879 Reported apparition of Mary in Knock, Ireland, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1881-1894 Revised Version, called for by Church of England, used Greek based on Septuagint (B) and (S), Massoretic text used in OT, follows Greek order of words, greater accuracy than AV, includes Apocrypha, scholarship never disputed

1889: Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910 ) Founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts .

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After a sudden recovery from a serious injury in 1866, Mary Baker Eddy began to formulate the ideas that would lead her to form the Church of Christ, Scientist. Beginning in the 1870s she wrote extensively, publishing Science and Health in 1875. In 1889 she chartered the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts. The beliefs of the Christian Scientists (as they came to be called) include healing by faith, an affirmation that suffering is not God-created, but rather a mode of human perception. Their publication isThe Christian Science Monitor.

1898-1904 Twentieth Century NT, changed order of books to chronological

1901-1910 Edward VII king of England

1901 American Standard Version, recension of the RV, included words/phrases preferred by Americans, follows Greek order of words

1901 Pentecostal Church formed in Topeka, Kansas in reaction to loss of evangelical fervor among Methodists and other denominations

1902 Richard Weymouth NT, a careful literary translation.

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1906 Azusa Steet Revival, a major catalyst to the Pentecostan and Charismatic Churches.

1907 United Methodist Free Churches united to form the United Methodist Church,

1910-1936 George V king of England

1910 5-point statement of the Presbyterian General Assembly, also used by Fundamentalists

1910-1915 The Fundamentals, a 12-volume collection of essays by 64 British and American scholars and preachers, a foundation of Fundamentalism

1913-1924 James Moffat Bible, 1st one man translation in almost 400 years

1917 Reported apparition of Mary in Fatima, Portugal, "miracle of the sun" witnessed by between 70,000 and 100,000 people, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1919 World's Christian Fundamentals Association founded

1925 Scopes Trial, caused division among Fundamentalists

1932 Reported apparition of Mary in Beauraing, Belgium, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1933 Reported apparition of Mary in Banneux, Belgium, considered "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church

1934 Conversion of Billy Graham

1936 Edward VIII king of England, acceeded and abdicated1936-1952 George VI king of England

1936 Westminster NT, unofficial Catholic version (not commissioned by the Hierarchy)

1945-1955 Knox Version, from Vulgate, asked for by English Hierarchy

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1946-1952 Revised Standard Version, revision of AV "based on consonantal Hebrew text" for OT and best available texts for NT, done in response to changes in English usage

1948 August 23, World Council of Churches formed with Christian congregations all over the world as a fellowship. (Except Roman Catholics) The WCC was constituted at the first general assembly (Amsterdam) on 23 August 1948. It became the most visible international expression of varied streams of ecumenical life in the 20th century. In 1920, the Ecuemnical Patriarchate of Constantinople became the first church to appeal publicly for a permanent organ of fellowship and co-operation of "all the churches" - a "League of Churches" (Koinonia ton Ekklesion). Also calling for the same in the 1920s were church leaders such as Archbishop Nathan Söderblom (Sweden), a founder of L&W (1925), and J.H. Oldham (UK), a founder of the IMC (1921).

Two of these streams - Life and Work (L&W) and Faith and Order (F&O) - merged at the first assembly.

WCC member churches today include nearly all the world's Orthodox churches. scores of denominations from such historic traditions of the Protestant reformation as Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed and Anglican Communion, and a broad representation of united and independent churches.

Six Presidents of WCC

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1948 World Council of Churches – Amsterdam Assembly

1949 Basic English Bible, only 1000 words, simple and direct style

1949 Discovery of Qumran (Essenes ) scrolls, aka Dead Sea scrolls (see 68)

1952-Present Elizabeth II queen of England

1954 World Council of Churches – Evanston Assembly.

1957 United Church of Christ founded by ecumenical union of Congregationalists and Evangelical & Reformed, representing Calvinists and Lutherans

1958 J. B. Phillip's NT, uses only commonly spoken language

1959 Statement of Faith (United Church of Christ)

1961 World Council of Churches – New Delhi AssemblyInternational Missionary Council (IMC) - was integrated with the WCC

1961 New English Bible, renders original Basic English Bible for private use

1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, 21st ecumenical, announced by Pope John XXIII in 1959, produced 16 documents which became official after approval by the Pope, purpose to renew "ourselves and the flocks committed to us" (Pope John XXIII)

1966 RSV Catholic Edition, a joint effort between Catholics and the Church of England, a big step towards a common Catholic/Protestant Bible

1966 Jerusalem Bible, translation from original languages based on Bible de Jerusalem, Catholic version

1968 World Council of Churches- Upsala Assembly.

1970 Confraternity Version, new Catholic translation from the originals which began before 1939 as a translation from the Vulgate, but ending up as a new translation from the Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT).

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1971 New American Standard Bible, updated the ASV using recent Hebrew and Greek textual discoveries

1975 World Council of Churches – Nairobi Assembly, Kenya

1978 New International Version, used eclectic Greek text, Massoretic Hebrew text, and current English style

1978- Pope John Paul II, reaffirmed conservative moral traditions (The Splendor of Truth) and the forbidding of women in the priesthood

1979-1982 New King James Bible, complete revision of 1611 AV, updates archaisms while retaining style

1981- Reported apparitions of Mary in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, not yet approved/disapproved by the Catholic Church

1983 World Council of Churches – Vancover Assembly, Canada

1991 World Council of Churches – Canberra Assembly, Australia

1994 Declaration of cooperation between Evangelicals and Catholics.

1998 World Council of Churches – Harare Assembly

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Appendix 4

List of Popes and Anti-Popes

St. Linus (67-76)St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)St. Clement I (88-97)St. Evaristus (97-105)St. Alexander I (105-115)St. Sixtus I (115-125) -- also called Xystus ISt. Telesphorus (125-136)St. Hyginus (136-140)St. Pius I (140-155)St. Anicetus (155-166)St. Soter (166-175)St. Eleutherius (175-189)St. Victor I (189-199)St. Zephyrinus (199-217)St. Callistus I (217-22)St. Urban I (222-30)St. Pontain (230-35)St. Anterus (235-36)St. Fabian (236-50)St. Cornelius (251-53)St. Lucius I (253-54)St. Stephen I (254-257)St. Sixtus II (257-258)St. Dionysius (260-268)St. Felix I (269-274)St. Eutychian (275-283)St. Caius (283-296) -- also called GaiusSt. Marcellinus (296-304)St. Marcellus I (308-309)St. Eusebius (309 or 310)St. Miltiades (311-14)St. Sylvester I (314-35)St. Marcus (336)St. Julius I (337-52)Liberius (352-66)

St. Damasus I (366-83)St. Siricius (384-99)St. Anastasius I (399-401)St. Innocent I (401-17)St. Zosimus (417-18)St. Boniface I (418-22)St. Celestine I (422-32)St. Sixtus III (432-40)St. Leo I (the Great) (440-61)St. Hilarius (461-68)St. Simplicius (468-83)St. Felix III (II) (483-92)St. Gelasius I (492-96)Anastasius II (496-98)St. Symmachus (498-514)St. Hormisdas (514-23)St. John I (523-26)St. Felix IV (III) (526-30)Boniface II (530-32)John II (533-35)St. Agapetus I (535-36) -- also called Agapitus ISt. Silverius (536-37)Vigilius (537-55)Pelagius I (556-61)John III (561-74)Benedict I (575-79)Pelagius II (579-90)St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-604)Sabinian (604-606)Boniface III (607)St. Boniface IV (608-15)St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-18)Boniface V (619-25)Honorius I (625-38)Severinus (640)

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John IV (640-42)Theodore I (642-49)St. Martin I (649-55)St. Eugene I (655-57)St. Vitalian (657-72)Adeodatus (II) (672-76)Donus (676-78)St. Agatho (678-81)St. Leo II (682-83)St. Benedict II (684-85)John V (685-86)Conon (686-87)St. Sergius I (687-701)John VI (701-05)John VII (705-07)Sisinnius (708)Constantine (708-15)St. Gregory II (715-31)St. Gregory III (731-41)St. Zachary (741-52)Stephen II (752)Stephen III (752-57)St. Paul I (757-67)Stephen IV (767-72)Adrian I (772-95)St. Leo III (795-816)Stephen V (816-17)St. Paschal I (817-24)Eugene II (824-27)Valentine (827)Gregory IV (827-44)Sergius II (844-47)St. Leo IV (847-55)Benedict III (855-58)St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-67)Adrian II (867-72)John VIII (872-82)Marinus I (882-84)St. Adrian III (884-85)Stephen VI (885-91)Formosus (891-96)Boniface VI (896)Stephen VII (896-97)

Romanus (897)Theodore II (897)John IX (898-900)Benedict IV (900-03)Leo V (903)Sergius III (904-11)Anastasius III (911-13)Lando (913-14)John X (914-28)Leo VI (928)Stephen VIII (929-31)John XI (931-35)Leo VII (936-39)Stephen IX (939-42)Marinus II (942-46)Agapetus II (946-55)John XII (955-63)Leo VIII (963-64)Benedict V (964)John XIII (965-72)Benedict VI (973-74)Benedict VII (974-83)John XIV (983-84)John XV (985-96)Gregory V (996-99)Sylvester II (999-1003)John XVII (1003)John XVIII (1003-09)Sergius IV (1009-12)Benedict VIII (1012-24)John XIX (1024-32)Benedict IX (1032-45)Sylvester III (1045)Benedict IX (1045)Gregory VI (1045-46)Clement II (1046-47)Benedict IX (1047-48)Damasus II (1048)St. Leo IX (1049-54)Victor II (1055-57)Stephen X (1057-58)Nicholas II (1058-61)

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Alexander II (1061-73)St. Gregory VII (1073-85)Blessed Victor III (1086-87)Blessed Urban II (1088-99)Paschal II (1099-1118)Gelasius II (1118-19)Callistus II (1119-24)Honorius II (1124-30)Innocent II (1130-43)Celestine II (1143-44)Lucius II (1144-45)Blessed Eugene III (1145-53)Anastasius IV (1153-54)Adrian IV (1154-59)Alexander III (1159-81)Lucius III (1181-85)Urban III (1185-87)Gregory VIII (1187)Clement III (1187-91)Celestine III (1191-98)Innocent III (1198-1216)Honorius III (1216-27)Gregory IX (1227-41)Celestine IV (1241)Innocent IV (1243-54)Alexander IV (1254-61)Urban IV (1261-64)Clement IV (1265-68)Blessed Gregory X (1271-76)Blessed Innocent V (1276)Adrian V (1276)John XXI (1276-77)Nicholas III (1277-80)Martin IV (1281-85)Honorius IV (1285-87)Nicholas IV (1288-92)St. Celestine V (1294)Boniface VIII (1294-1303)Blessed Benedict XI (1303-04)Clement V (1305-14)

John XXII (1316-34)Benedict XII (1334-42)Clement VI (1342-52)Innocent VI (1352-62)Blessed Urban V (1362-70)Gregory XI (1370-78)Urban VI (1378-89)Boniface IX (1389-1404)Innocent VII (1406-06)Gregory XII (1406-15)Martin V (1417-31)Eugene IV (1431-47)Nicholas V (1447-55)Callistus III (1455-58)Pius II (1458-64)Paul II (1464-71)Sixtus IV (1471-84)Innocent VIII (1484-92)Alexander VI (1492-1503)Pius III (1503)Julius II (1503-13)Leo X (1513-21)Adrian VI (1522-23)Clement VII (1523-34)Paul III (1534-49)Julius III (1550-55)Marcellus II (1555)Paul IV (1555-59)Pius IV (1559-65)St. Pius V (1566-72)Gregory XIII (1572-85)Sixtus V (1585-90)Urban VII (1590)Gregory XIV (1590-91)Innocent IX (1591)Clement VIII (1592-1605)Leo XI (1605)Paul V (1605-21)Gregory XV (1621-23)

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Urban VIII (1623-44)Innocent X (1644-55)Alexander VII (1655-67)Clement IX (1667-69)Clement X (1670-76)Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89)Alexander VIII (1689-91)Innocent XII (1691-1700)Clement XI (1700-21)Innocent XIII (1721-24)Benedict XIII (1724-30)Clement XII (1730-40)Benedict XIV (1740-58)Clement XIII (1758-69)Clement XIV (1769-74)Pius VI (1775-99)

Pius VII (1800-23)Leo XII (1823-29)Pius VIII (1829-30)Gregory XVI (1831-46)Blessed Pius IX (1846-78)Leo XIII (1878-1903)St. Pius X (1903-14)Benedict XV (1914-22)Pius XI (1922-39)Pius XII (1939-58)Blessed John XXIII (1958-63)Paul VI (1963-78)John Paul I (1978)John Paul II (1978—)

List of Anti-Popes

217-235 St. Hippolytus. One of the Fathers of the Church and the only anti-pope to be venerated as a saint. Elected "Pope" in opposition to St. Callistus I (r. 217-222) whom he accused of being a Monarchian heretic. Continued the schism in opposition to Urban I (r. 222-230) and St. Pontian (r. 230-235). The Imperial gov't, during the persecution of Emp. Maximin Thrax, exiled both Hippolytus and Pontian to Sardinia, where they were reconciled. Apparently, to end the schism they both abdicated.

251-258 Novatian. Consecrated bishop in opposition to St. Cornelius (r. 251-253). The major point in dispute (besides disappointed ambition on Novatian's part) was his opposition to the policy St. Cornelius pursued as regarded those Christians who lapsed during the persecution of Emperor Decius. The Pope insisted on restoring the "lapsi" to communion after doing suitable penance. Novatian demanded permanent excommunication from the Church.

309 Heraclius355-365 Felix II366-367 Ursinus418-419 Eulalius

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498-505 Laurentius687 Theodore687 Paschal767-769 Constantine768 Philip844 John

855 Anastasius the Librarian. One of the more interesting anti-popes. A scholar learned in both Greek and Latin. After the death of St. Leo IV in 855, Anastasius, with Frankish support, tried to make himself Pope in rivalry to the lawful Pope Benedict III (r. 855-858). The violent hostility of the Romans thwarted him. Anastasius was treated leniently by Benedict and rehabilitated by Nicholas I (r. 858-867), whom he served faithfully.

903-904 Christopher

984-985 Boniface VII. One of the more disgusting anti-popes. Actually, twice anti-pope. In 974, supported by the Roman clan of the Crescentii, Boniface was "elected" Pope. He soon had the lawful Pope Benedict VI (r. 973-974) murdered. The outraged Romans expelled Boniface, who fled to the Eastern Roman Empire. In 980, while Benedict VII (r. 974-983) was absent, the usurper briefly seized Rome. Again expelled. In 984, with Byzantine support, Boniface again seized Rome, had John XIV (r. 983-984) murdered, and installed himself as "pope" until he died in 985.

997-998 John XVI1012 Gregory1045 Sylvester III. Scholars debate over whether or not he was truly an anti-pope.1058-1059 Benedict X1061-1072 Honorius II1084-1100 Clement III1100 Theodoric1102 Albert1105-1111 Sylvester IV1118-1121 Gregory VIII1124 Celestine II1130-1138 Anacletus II1138 Victor IV

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1159-1164 Victor IV. The anti-popes of the years 1159-1180 were the creatures of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I during his long quarrel with Pope Alexander III (r. 1159-1181).

1164-1168 Paschal III1168-1178 Callistus III1179-1180 Innocent III

1328-1330 Nicholas V. Set up as anti-pope by the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV during the latter's quarrel with Pope John XXII (r. 1316-1334).

1378-1394 Clement VII. The "election" of this anti-pope in opposition to the lawful Pope Urban VI (r. 1378-1389) precipitated the Western Schism of 1378-1415.

1394-1423 Benedict XIII1049-1410 Alexander V1410-1415 John XXIII1423-1429 Clement VIII1425-1430 Benedict XIV

1439-1449 Felix V. After "deposing" Eugene IV (r. 1431-1447) in 1439, the schismatic Council of Basle "elected" as "Pope" Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy (r. 1391-1440. Largely because the "council" desired as Pope a man of piety, wealth, and international standing. Amadeus accepted "election" only with hesitation and was soon disillusioned. In 1449, with Charles VII of France acting as mediator, Felix V submitted to the lawful Pope Nicholas V. Appointed cardinal bishop of St. Sabina, he died in 1451.

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Appendix 5Evangelists of Open Door Period

John Wycliffe (A.D. 1328-1384) John Huss (A.D. 1369-1415) Thomas A Kempis (A. D. 1380-1471) Girolamo Savonarola (A.D. 1452-1498) Desiderius Erasmus (A.D. 1466-1536) William Tyndale (A.D. 1494-1536) Martin Luther (A.D. 1483-1546) Philip Melanchthon (A.D. 1497-1560) John Calvin (A.D. 1509-1564) Ulrich Zwingli (A.D. 1484-1531) John Knox (A.D. 1513-1572) Conrad Grebel (A.D. 1498-1526) Menno Simons (A.D. 1496-1561) Thomas Cranmer (A.D. 1489-1556) Hugh Latimer (A.D. 1485-1555) Miles Coverdale (A.D. 1488-1568) Jacobus Arminius (A.D. 1560-1609) Thomas Cartwright (A.D. 1535-1603) Robert Browne (A.D. 1550-1633) Oliver Cromwell (A.D. 1599-1658) John Owen (A.D. 1616-1683) John Bunyan (A. D. 1628-1688) Ignatius Loyola (A.D. 1491-1556) Jean Daille (A.D. 1594-1670) Francis Xavier (A.D. 1506-1552) Jon Amos Comenius (A.D. 1592-1670) Johann Arndt (A.D. 1555-1621) Madame Guyon (A.D. 1648-1717) Philip Jacob Spener (A.D. 1635-1703) August Hermann Francke (A.D. 1663-1727) Johannes Albrecht Bengel (A.D. 1687-1752) Count von Zinzendorf (A.D. 1700-1760) William Law (A.D. 1686-1761) John Wesley (A. D. 1703-1791) George Whitefield (A. D. 1714-1770) George Fox (A.D. 1642-1691) Roger Williams (A.D. 1603-1683) Jonathan Edwards (A.D. 1703-1758) Francis Asbury (A.D. 1745-1816) David Brainerd (A.D. 1718-1747)

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John Nelson Darby (A.D. 1800-1882) George Muller (A.D. 1805-1898) Andrew Murray (A.D. 1828-1917) Charles Finney (A.D. 1792-1875) Charles Spurgeon (A.D. 1834-1892) Dwight L. Moody (A.D. 1837-1899) John Henry Newman (A.D. 1801-1890) William Carey (A.D. 1761-1834) David Livingstone (A.D. 1813-1873) Hudson Taylor (A.D. 1832-1905) Karl Barth (A.D. 1886-1968) Watchman Nee (A.D. 1903-1972) Billy Graham (A.D. 1918 - )

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APPENDIX 6

ON SOME MOVEMENTS and SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

New Order of Latter Rain Movement"Latter Rain" was originally a name used for what happened at Azusa Street. Eventually, the Order began to claim that the power to transmit spiritual gifts had been given by the Spirit to certain authorized human beings, who thus became a new apostolic lineage.

William Joseph Seymore

1907-1910 David Wesley Myland teaches rudimentary concepts regarding the Latter Rain

about forty years of dormancy

1947 - William Branham/Hawtin/Hunt begin to teach New Order of the Latter Rain codify teachings into doctrines

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another forty years of dormancy

1985-on Latter Rain teachings brought to the forefront by various prophets and apostles such as prophet Hammond, prophet Paul Cain, Rick Joyner, John Wimber, Apostle Turnel Nelson, Apostle Jefferson Edwards, Dr. Noel Woodroffe, Prophet Mike Bickle.

Salvation-Healing Movement

William Branham

This refers to the work of William Branham, who had been given what by most accounts was a spectacular personal ministry of healing, and the work of several successors, such as Gordon Lindsay and Oral Roberts.

When they were successful they saw themselves to be great, thus taking the real attention off of Christ and onto themselves, their healings, and their empires. Branham held that those who were baptized under the name of the Trinity had to be rebaptized into Jesus' name alone. He saw himself as the angel mentioned in Revelation 3:14. He believed that, in God's power, a spiritual elite (who held to the teachings Branham) would come to rule..

Shepherding Movement 1970sLed by Bob Mumford, Ern Baxter, Don Basham, Derek Prince, and Charles Simpson. Became a cult which controlled minds and actions of its members. The Fort Lauderdale 5 had officially broken up by 1986

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Bob Mumford Derek Prince

The Word of Faith Movement

Kenneth Copeland, Ken Hagin, Ulf Ekman, and others are from this movement, which is a cross-breed of Pentecostalism with the New Thought movement that gave birth to Unity School and Christian Science. Their spiritual forefather was E.W. Kenyon. Their approach to prayer and to repentance puts the burden of actual fulfillment onto the person and not God. Pray with confident power, they say. Ask, and you will get, if you ask without any doubt.

Kenneth Copeland Kenneth Hagin

They have a special teaching on what they called rhema : when a believer says something with a totally confident faith, it will happen; if it does not happen, well, that's proof of the presence of sinful doubt. It's based on the idea that there's a difference between the Greek words for 'word', logos and rhema . To them, logos is God's written word, rhema is God's spoken word. Then, the claim is made that our words can share in the same force as God's words that created the world (Gn 1). We can name it, and then claim it as ours.

Some even went as far as to say that man will evolve into God..

"Manifest Sons of God" and Dominion Theology

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Modern Dominion believers envision a future where the "manifest sons of God" (sometimes known as 'Joel's Army'), a spiritually-empowered elite, will be armed with supernatural power for the purpose of wresting control of the world from the hands of Satan's slaves.

The Manifested Sons heresy appears in many forms, and under many names, including: the Manchild Company, the Sonship, the Melchisedek Priesthood, the Shulamites, Joel Company, Elijah Company, the Many-membered Christ, the New Order, Overcomers, God's Army, the Corporate Body, Feast of Tabernacles, Tabernacle of David, etc., etc.

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MAJOR CHURCH COUNCILSTwenty-one official Ecumenical Councils have been held. They are listed and briefly described as follows, with the inclusion of some additional Synods and Councils that have historical importance:

Council at Jerusalem (Ecuminical Council)(not counted in the 21 Councils) 48 AD About Judaisers. Saints James, Peter, Paul, and Barnabas were involved. Described in the Acts of the Apostles [15:6-29]. Led by Saint James ("the brother of the Lord"), bishop of Jerusalem. Determined that Gentile converts did not have to embrace Judaism to be Christians.

Council at Carthage local Council, 251 AD About the lapsed. Novatianism was defended by Navatius, condemned by Saint Cyprian. Set requirements for readmission to Church of those who had lapsed during persecutions. Declared baptisms by heretics were worthless (no "baptisms" outside the Church). Required baptism for entry into the Church by those "baptised" by heretics (outside the Church). Forbade re-baptism of those who had received Church baptism, then fallen into heresy who sought readmission.

252 AD. Reduced requirements for readmission of lapsed who showed serious penance. Repeated decisions regarding baptism of previous year.

255 AD. Repeated decisions regarding baptism of 251 and 252. Determined that clerics falling into heresy should be received back into the Church as laymen.

256 AD. Rejected decisions by Pope Stephen regarding "baptism" outside the Church. Re-affirmed previous decisions regarding baptism.

256 AD. Repeated decisions made earlier in year, rejecting Pope Stephen's teaching. Declared there were no sacraments outside the Church.

Council at Elvira local Council, never accepted by Orthodox 300-306 AD

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Imposed celibacy on clergy. Established canon forbidding converts from heresy to ever become clergy.

Council at Ancyra local Council, 314 AD About the lapsed. First synod following the end of persecutions. Condemned as liars, those who publicly proclaimed adherence to the national religion (paganism) in order to receive an official document that allowed them to avoid persecution. Established punishments for these lapsed. Also established punishments for various types of sexual immorality.

Council at Neo-Caesaria local Council, c. 315 AD Established punishments for various types of sexual immorality. Established qualifications for clergy.

First Ecuminical Council at Nicaea - (Imperial) Council, 325 AD

The First Council of Nicaea (began on either May 20 or June 19, 325 and met until about Aug. 25, 325), the first ecumenical council, Convened regarding Arianism, Paulianism, defended by Arius, condemned by Saint Athanasius The Nicean Creed was accepted as standard of faith.

Synod at Gangra local Council, 340 AD The synod of Gangra dealt with a local sectarian group. 1. The group condemned marriage altogether. 2. They also condemned eating meat,3. They refused to be obedient to lawful authorities 4. They encouraged women to dress as men (clothes and haircuts), 5. They encouraged parents to abandon their children (to go live the 'pure' life) and children to abandon their parents (for the same reason). This group was condemned. 6. The synod also condemned fasting on Sundays

Council at Antioch local Council, 341 AD Established regulations regarding clergy, the organisation of the local churches, church discipline, and use of canonical letters (used by travelling Christians as proof of being Christians in good standing).

Council at Sardica 347 AD

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Established canons concerning church order and discipline. Reaffirmed the Symbol of Faith from Nicaea I.

Council at Laodicaea local Council, 364 AD Established canons concerning church order and discipline.

Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople (Imperial) Council, 381 AD Convened regarding Macedonianism, Apollinarians, Eunomians, Eudoxians, Sabellians, Marcellians, Photinians.

Macedonius defended the issues, and Saint Gregory the Theologian (aka St Gregory of Nazianzus) and Saint Gregory of Nyssa were champions of Orthodoxy.

1. Condemned a. Arianism. Jesus was simply a man anointed by God b Macedonianism which denied divinity of the Holy Spirit. c. Eunomians (an extreme form of Arianism), d. the Eudoxians (semi-Arians), e. the Sabellians who taught the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were three modes of manifestation of the one God, denying the distinction of Three Persons, f. the Marcellians who taught the Logos was an impersonal divine power that issuedg. Apollinarianism which taught the Lord Jesus Christ possessed the divine Logos in place of a human mind and was therefore fully divine, but not fully human. h. Photinians who taught that Jesus was a mere man upon whom the Logos rested.2. Defined the Holy Trinity as one God in Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each fully God of the same essence. 3. Expanded Statement of Faith from Nicaea I into what is now known as 'Nicene Creed' (actually the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.) and the 4. Ranked relative importance of the five patriarchates with Old Rome first and New Rome (Constantinople) second. 5. Established regulations for church discipline, including standing during prayer on Sundays and the days of Pentecost. Established manner in which heretics were to be received into the Church. 6. Determined formula for determining Pascha (Easter). 7. Condemned mandatory celibacy for all ranks of clergy. 4. Established regulations on moral issues and church discipline.

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8. Required Paulianists to be baptised upon entry to Church, even if baptised by Paulianists.

Council in Constantinople local Council, 394 AD Established various regulations, including the requirement of at least three bishops to ordain a bishop.

Council at Carthage local Council, 419-424 AD Convened regarding Pelagianism and Donatism, which were defended by Pelagius, Celestius, and Donatus. Orthodoxy was championed by Bishop Aurelius. Established regulations for clergy, including excommunication for clerics lower than bishop who appealed decisions outside of Africa (specifically mentioning 'across the sea', i.e. the pope of Rome). Denied jurisdiction of pope of Rome in African church. Enumerated canon of Scripture (OT & NT). Set requirements for Donatists received into the Church, including prohibition of rebaptising those baptised as Donatists. Established canon requiring baptism where proof of previous baptism was not available. Condemned beliefs of Pelagians: that Adam was created mortal, that infants need not be baptised because they are not subject to the consequences of Adam's sin, that grace is not needed to avoid sin, and that grace only enables us to recognise sin but does not assist us in avoiding sin.

Third Ecuminical Council of Ephesus (#3) June 22 to July 17, 431 AD It was convened in order to respond to the teachings of Nestorius that Mary be considered only the "mother of Christ" and not the "mother of God" Established that the rights of each province should be preserved and inviolate (i.e. bishops from one province have no rights over other provinces).

Council at Constantinople local, 448 AD Convened regarding Eutychianism (Monophysitism), which was defended by Eutyches and condemned by Saint Flavian. Eutyches, who rejects the 'union'; of 'two natures' in 'one person' is condemned.

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Council at Ephesus Heretical (known historically as 'Robber Council' 449 AD Chaired by Dioscorus who refused to allow Flavian to speak in his own defence, refuses to hear Saint Leo of Rome's Tome of Leo (his response to reports of the Synod of 448).. It approved the doctrines of Eutyches, which were subsequently condemned at the Council of Chalcedon.

Fourth Ecuminical Council of Chalcedon (Imperial) (#4) Oct. 8 to Nov. 1, 451 AD Convened regarding Eutychianism (Monophysitism), which was defended by Eutyches and Dioscorus, and condemned by Saint Leo (the Great) of Rome. Annulled and invalidated 'Robber Council' of 449 in Ephesus

Council of Orange (not counted – not accepted by the Eastern Churches) 529 AD Convened regarding Pelagianism. Condemned various beliefs of Pelagianism: Augustine's teaching of election and predestination was generally upheld by the church, but the further idea that some are predestined to condemnation was explicitly rejected

Fifth Ecuminical Second Council at Constantinople (#5) May 5 to June 2, 553 AD Convened regarding Monophysitism (Nestorianism) and Origenism. Nestorius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Eutyches, and Origen defended these issues, which were condemned by Emperor (Saint) Justinian (the Great) 1. Condemned the person and writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who had been Nestorius' teacher and declared the Logos to be a different God than the one called Christ and who taught the Lord Jesus Christ was troubled by desires of human flesh and passions of the human soul.2. Condemned writings of Thedoret of Cyrus which rejected Saint Cyril of Alexandria's Christology3. . Condemned Ibas of Edessa's letter to Maris the Persian for its Nestorian tone.4. Condemned writings of Diodorus of Tarsus as Nestorian.5. Condemned Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius for teaching the pre-existence of souls, re-incarnation, the ultimate salvation of demons, that heavenly bodies possessed souls, and other errors.

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Third Council of Toledo (not counted - heretical, local Council) 589 AD Filioque clause was accepted. This Controversy eventually led to the Great Schism that divided Christianity into Roman Catholic and Orthodox.

Sixth Ecuminical Third Council at Constantinople (#6) Nov. 7, 680 to Sept. 16,681 AD condemned Monothelitism and it condemned an earlier pope, Honorius I, for supporting that heresy. This Council is also called Trullanum. Convened regarding Monothelitism, representing Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Peter, Pope Honorius, and Cyrus. Condemned Monothelitism (a belief that the Lord Jesus Christ had only one will and one energy). Condemned as Monothelite heretics Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter (Patriarchs of Constantinople); Pope Honorius; Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria, and others. Affirmed that the Lord Jesus Christ, though but one person, after His incarnation possessed two natural wills and two natural energies, just as He possessed two natures

Council in Trullo (Constantinople) – Conclusion of Sixth Council (aka 'Quinsext' to indicate it was a summation of Fifth & Sixth Councils., 692 AD This Council was held in Constantinople (in Trullo, literally, 'under the dome') It was convened due to the lack of canons from Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, Called by Emperor to promulgate canons necessary

.-Prohibited ordination of man married more than once or married to previously married woman; - deposition of any clergy discovered to be guilty of same or marrying after ordination (although approving marriage before ordination to diaconate or priesthood and ordering that deacons or priests who separated from his wife to be deposed).

- Declared the patriarch of New Rome (Constantinople) should have equal privileges as the patriarch of Old Rome.- Established monastic regulations. - Enacted canon permitting only the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified - Enacted canons regarding fasting (prohibition of fasting on Saturdays or Sundays, except Holy Saturday; prohibition of eggs and cheese).

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- Enacted canon mandating excommunication for one week for laymen administering the Divine Mysteries when a bishop, priest, or deacon present.- Condemned soothsaying, fortune-telling, casting of spells, superstition, etc. - Prohibited marriage to heretics. - Made assisting in abortion or having abortion equivalent to murder. - Established procedures for accepting heretics into the Church.

'Robber' Council of Constantinople (Orthodox) 754 Iconoclast Emperor Leo III and his son, the Iconoclast Emperor Constantine V, a council was called to 'determine' if images were proper. The patriarchates of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem refused to participate. The bishops who were compelled to attend, accepted the heresy of Iconoclasm under pressure from the emperor. This false council anathematised Saint John of Damascus and Saint Germanus of Constantinople for idolatry of images.

Seventh Ecuminical Second Council of Nicaea (#7) 787 AD Upon the death of the Iconoclast Emperor Leo IV (son of Constantine V, grandson of Leo III) and the beginning of the regency of Empress Irene, the reign of Iconoclasm came to an end.- This council annulled the council of 754 and condemned Iconoclasm. Affirmed veneration (but not adoration, which was for God alone) of images. Germanus and John of Damascus proclaimed saints

The Great Schism Starts here:Note: The above seven great councils are regarded as ecumenical by both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Orthodox Church even identifies itself as the 'Church of the Seven Councils'.

Photius (not counted by either Catholic or Orthodox) 867 AD In 867, Photius summoned a council that deposed Pope Nicholas. .

Council in Frankfurt local Council, 794 AD (considered heretical by roman and orthodox)Opposed decisions of Nicaea II, denying it had been an ecumenical council. Pope Hadrian condemned for supporting Nicaea II. The

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worship of images, under the terms worship, adoration, and service of any kind, was forbidden. Destruction of images was also opposed, inasmuch as the synod did not condemn depictions as decorations or tools for instructing the illiterate, only the worship or adoration of depictions.

Council in Aachen , local Council, 809 AD (considered heretical by roman and orthodox)Decreed that belief in the Filioque was necessary for salvation.

Council in Constantinople local Council, 861 AD Established regulations for monasticism, including requiring local bishop's permission to build monastery. Condemned castration. Established regulations for clergy.

Council in Constantinople local Council, 867 AD Rome and Constantinople fights over to jurisdiction in Bulgaria. Triggered by Pope Nicholas, who in 865 for the first time put forward the claim that the Pope had authority 'over all the earth, that is, over every Church.' This council, convened by Saint Photius and including archbishops of Treves, Cologne and Ravenna from the West, excommunicated and anathematised Pope Nicolas

Council in Constantinople considered a heretical Council by the Orthodox Church, 869-870 AD Only 12 bishops attended at first, and attendance never exceeded 103. The result of these councils was to intensify the bitterness between East and West. Not regarded as 'Ecumenical' by Roman Catholicism until 11th or 12th century, it has never been accepted by Orthodoxy.

Roman Catholic: Fourth Council at Constantinople (#8) Oct. 5, 869 to Feb. 28, 870 AD considered a heretical Council by the Orthodox Church.The principal action was to depose Photius, the patriarch of Constantinople, for usurping his ecclesiastical position. This Council was only first called Ecumenical about two hundred years afterwards. Later, Photius was restored to his see, and he held another council in 879-80. That later council, not that of 869, is considered ecumenical by the Orthodox church.

Orthodox Church: Photius (not counted by Catholic, but #8 by Orthodox) Nov. 879 to Mar. 13, 880 AD

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In 879-80 a great council, presided over by Photius, confirmed the original form of the Nicene creed, and normal relations between Rome and Constantinople were restored. Accepted by all five patriarchates, including Pope John VIII The Orthodox Church called this the Council of Union.

Orthodox Church: Council in Constantinople local Council, 1082 AD Convened regarding John Italus. Condemned those who seek to discover exactly how the Word was joined to His human substance; Greek doctrines of the soul, heaven, earth, and creation; the destruction of the soul after death; those who say that creation is eternal or immutable; those who do not accept the miracles of Christ, the Theotokos, and all his saints; those who think Greek philosophy true; that creation is not the result of God's free will; the pre-existence of souls; those who deny that creation is created ex nihilo; those who say that hell is temporary or that all of creation will be restored; and those who understand the Kingdom of Heaven to be temporary.

Roman Catholic: Council of Clermont 1095 Pope Urban II preached for and launched the First Crusade.

Orthodox Church: Synod of Blachernae, in Constantinople local Synod, 1157 AD Convened regarding Basilakes and Soterichus. Condemned those who say Christ offered His sacrifice to the Father alone, and not to himself and to the Holy Spirit; those who say the sacrifice of the Divine Liturgy is only figuratively the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood; those who deny that the sacrifice in the Liturgy is one and the same as that of Christ on the cross; those who say men were reconciled to the Son through the incarnation and to the Father through the passion; those who think the deification of Christ's humanity destroyed his human nature; those who deny that his deified human nature is worthy of worship; those who say that, since the human nature of Christ was swallowed up into Divinity, his passion was an illusion; those who say that characteristics of Christ's human nature (creaturehood, circumscription, mortality, and blameless passions) exist only hypothetically, when one considers Christ's human nature in abstraction, and not really and truly.

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Orthodox Church: Council in Constantinople local Council, 1166 AD Convened regarding Constantine the Bulgarian. Condemned those who maintain that 'My father is greater than I' refers only to Christ's human nature, taken in abstraction and who explain the statement in various ways, one of which is that the statement refers to the fact that Christ's human nature retained its properties in the hypostatic union.

Second Council of Lyons Failed 'reunion Council', 1274 AD Motivated by a desire of popes to gain recognition of primacy and by a desire of emperors to receive material and martial aide. Emperor Michael basically compelled the few Orthodox bishops in attendance to rubber-stamp papal claims. Rejected throughout the East and regarded it as meaningless. Emperor Michael's sister stated: 'Better my brother's empire should perish than the purity of the Orthodox faith.' Repudiated by Michael's successor.

Orthodox Church: Council at Constantinople local Council, 1285 AD Convened regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit. Clarified the teaching on the Holy Spirit's origin.

Roman Catholic: The First Lateran CouncilThe First Lateran Council was called to ratify the Concordat of Worms (1122), which formally ended the lengthy Investiture controversy.

Second Lateran Council (#10) April, 1139 The Second Lateran Council was convoked to reaffirm the unity of the church after the schism (1130-38) of the antipope Anacletus II (d. 1138). It also condemned the teachings of Arnold of Brescia.

Synod of Blachernae, in Constantinople local Synod, 1157 AD Convened regarding Basilakes and Soterichus. - - -- Condemned - those who say Christ offered His sacrifice to the Father alone, and not to himself and to the Holy Spirit; - those who say the sacrifice of the Divine Liturgy is only figuratively the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood; - those who deny that the sacrifice in the Liturgy is one and the same as that of Christ on the cross;

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- those who say men were reconciled to the Son through the incarnation and to the Father through the passion; - those who think the deification of Christ's humanity destroyed his human nature; - those who deny that his deified human nature is worthy of worship; - those who say that, since the human nature of Christ was swallowed up into Divinity,- his passion was an illusion; - those who say that characteristics of Christ's human nature (creaturehood, circumscription, mortality, and blameless passions) exist only hypothetically, when one considers Christ's human nature in abstraction, and not really and truly.

Council in Constantinople local Council, 1166 AD Convened regarding Constantine the Bulgarian. –- Condemned those who maintain that 'My father is greater than I' refers only to Christ's human nature, taken in abstraction and who explain the statement in various ways, one of which is that the statement refers to the fact that Christ's human nature retained its properties in the hypostatic union.

Third Lateran Council (#11) Mar. 5 to 19, 1179 The Third Lateran Council ended the schism (1159-77) of the antipope Callistus III and his predecessors. It also limited papal electors to members of the College of Cardinals.

Fourth Lateran Council (#12) Nov. 11 to 30, 1215 This council sanctioned a definition of the Eucharist in which the word transubstantiation was used officially for the first time. The council also attempted to organize a new crusade to the Holy Land and to encourage crusading efforts against the Albigenses and Waldenses. Many precepts still binding on Roman Catholics (such as the Easter duty, or obligation, of annual confession and Holy Communion) were adopted at this council.

First Council of Lyons (#13) June 28 to July 17, 1245 Confirmed the deposition of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.

Second Council of Lyons (#14) May 7 to July 17, 1274

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A new crusade was organized, and regulations regarding the papal election were approved. An effort at reconciling the Catholic and Orthodox Churches failed.

Council of Vienne (#15) Oct. 16, 1311 to May 6, 1312 Abolished the Order of Templars, and passed some Church reforms.

Council in the Orthodox Church 1341 Doctrinal definition of Grace.

Council in the Orthodox Church 1351 Doctrinal definition of Grace.

Council of Constance (#16) Nov 5, 1414 to Apr. 22, 1418 Throughout the Middle Ages, even Western or Roman Catholics themselves debated the convoking and authority of councils. Although all the bishops and theologians agreed that the pope should have special prerogatives, for several centuries reformers claimed that when protesters had grievances, they could appeal from the pope to a council. Out of these reformist parties came a theory of Conciliarism, the idea that a council is ultimately above the pope. The Great Schism in 1378 brought this debate to a head, since there were then two and later three popes. The Council of Constance (1414-18) settled the division.

Council of Basel (#17a) July, 1431 to May 4, 1437 Established that the Council had higher authority than the Pope, but conciliar power was again limited when the pope declared the Council of Basel heretical.

Council of Ferrara-Florence (#17b) Sept 17, 1437 to January 1939 (Ferrara); January 1439 to Apr. 25, 1442 (Florence); Apr. 25, 1442 to 1445 (Rome) The Council of Ferrara-Florence was convened for the primary purpose of ending the schism between that church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Fifth Lateran Council (#18) May 3, 1512 to Mar. 16, 1517 The Fifth Lateran Council was convoked for the purpose of reform, but the main causes of the Reformation were left untouched. Its most significant decree was a condemnation of Conciliarism.

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Three Western Ecumenical Councils have been held since the Reformation.

Council of Trent (#19) Dec. 13, 1545 to 1563 The Council of Trent met over a period of 18 years to deal with the Protestant revolt; it was decisively anti-Protestant in its decrees. Trent saw the authority of the church partly in Scripture and partly in tradition and its bishops rejected the teaching of Protestants that humans are justified only by Grace through faith. Dogmatic decisions were passed regarding original sin and justification, the seven Sacraments, and the Mass, and the cult of the saints.

First Vatical Council (#20) Dec. 8, 1869 to Oct. 20, 1870 The First Vatican Council, convened at Rome in 1869-70, not only continued the attempts to define Roman Catholicism against the rest of ecumenical Christendom, but decreed that--in matters of faith and morals when he speaks officially and with clear intention to do so--the pope is infallible.

Second Vatican Council (#21) Oct. 11, 1962 to Dec. 8, 1965 The Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which also met in Rome, showed a different outlook. First, it invited observers from Orthodox and Protestant churches; second, the bishops did vote for a principle of collegiality, which gave higher status to their participation. Collegiality, however, did not effectively limit the supremacy of the pope.

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