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Timeline
| 63 BC | Roman rule begins in the Holy Land. |
| c.4 BC |
Birth of Jesus ChristBethlehem |
| c.30 AD | Jesus Christ sentenced and put on the cross. |
| c.33 | Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Sometimes known as the Birthday of the Church. |
| c.33 | Stephen – First Christian martyr (Acts 7). |
| c.48 | Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Gentile Christians accepted along with those of the Jewish religion. |
| c.60 | First manuscript of the Gospel made public (Probably thought to be the Gospel of Matthew). |
| 62 | Martyrdom of James, “The Lord’s Brother” (Mt 10, 3). |
| c.67-68 | Apostles Peter and Paul martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. |
| 70 | End of the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire. Destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. |
| From 70 | Centre of Christianity moves to Antioch, Alexandria and Rome. |
| 161-80 | Widespread persecution of Christians under Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Severe persecutions also occurred under the emperors Decius (249-251) and Diocletian (284-305). |
| 301 | Armenia becomes the world’s first country to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion. |
| 312 | The Roman emperor Constantine receives a vision of a flaming cross with the words In hoc signo vinces’ : “With this sign he conquers”. He defeated his rival Maxentius in the battle of Ponte Milvio, bringing with his army a banner with the image of Christ. |
| 313 |
Edict of Milan issued by ConstantineChristianity becomes a legal religion within the Roman empire. |
| 325 | Constantine convenes the first ecumenical council in Nicaea (present-day Turkey). Arian heresy which declared Christ was a created being is refuted. Nicene Creed is drawn up, declaring Christ to be “…Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father…” |
| 367 | Saint Athanasius is the first to list all 27 New Testament books in his festal letter. |
| 381 | Ecumenical Council at Constantinople revises the Nicene creed to its current form. |
| c.382 | Saint Jerome begins a translation of the Bible into Latin. |
| 397 | Synod at Carthage ratifies the 27 books of the New Testament as sacred scripture. |
| 431 | Ecumenical council held at Ephesus refutes Nestorianism. (The doctrine that Christ was two persons (one human, the other divine) in one body). Mary is declared Theotokos i.e. “GOD-bearer” or more commonly, “Mother of GOD”. |
| 449 | In Ephesus, Pope Leo I delivers his “Tome,” defending Orthodox Christian beliefs, while also affirming papal supremacy. |
| 451 | Ecumenical council at Chalcedon affirms Christ as having two distinct natures united in one person (known as the ‘Hypostatic Union’). |
| 553 | Ecumenical council at Constantinople affirms teaching of previous councils. |
| 563 | Columba establishes a monastery at Iona, one of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland |
| 589 | Insertion of the filioque (Latin: “and the son”) into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed at a council in Toledo. |
| 597 | Following a mission authorised by Pope Gregory I, St. Augustine becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury. |
| 664 | Synod of Whitby ratifies the authority of the Pope in England. |
| 680-81 | Ecumenical council at Constantinople rejects Monothelite heresy (the doctrine consisting in the affirmation that in Christ there is one will or one operation or energy). |
| 731 | Bede writes his Ecclesiastical History. |
| 787 | The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea puts an end to the controversy over the use of icons in worship. The issue over the “rejection of icons,” or “iconoclasm,” would involve the Eastern Church and in particular the Imperial Church of Constantinople for at least a century. |
| 800 | Charlemagne is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Leo III. |
| 988 | Conversion of Prince Vladimir in Kiev (present-day Ukraine and former Russian territory). Growth of Christianity in Russia. |
| 1054 |
Great SchismEastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches separate. |
| 1095 | Pope Urban II authorises the first Crusade to recover the Holy Land from muslims. |
| 1099 | Crusaders conquer Jerusalem. |
| 1182 | Massacre of Latin inhabitants of Constantinople. In which large-scale killings of Catholic (or Latin) citizens of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, committed by the city’s Orthodox Christian population. |
| 1187 |
Jerusalem reconquered by muslims.By an army led by Sultan Saladin. |
| 1189 | Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart of England. |
| 1204 | Sack of Constantinople during the fourth crusade. Fought between Crusader Christians and Byzantine Christians. The conflict ended on April 12 with the victory of the besiegers who conquered the capital of the Byzantine Empire. |
| 1216/23 | Papal approval of the Dominican and Franciscan mendicant (‘begging’) orders. |
| 1266-73 | Thomas Aquinas writes his great work of systematic Theology: Summa Theologiae. |
| 1305 | Papacy moved to Avignon following a dispute with Philip IV of France. |
| c.1341 | Gregory Palamas’ defense of Orthodox spirituality. Rise of Hesychasm, an ascetic doctrine and practice prevalent among monks in the Christian East since the time of the Desert Fathers and still practiced today on Mount Athos. |
| c.1376 | John Wycliffe writes “Civil Dominion”, arguing for reform of the church. |
| 1378 | Following the return of the Papacy to Rome, rival claimants (Antipopes) emerge. Dispute ends in 1417 with election of Martin V. |
| c.1380 | John Wycliffe translates the Bible into Middle English. |
| 1453 |
Ottomans conquer ConstantinopleOttoman Empire conquers Constantinople, the Christian capital of the Eastern Roman Empire |
| 1517 |
Beginning the Protestant reformation.Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Wittenburg, Germany. |
| 1521 | Diet of Worms – Luther’s final breach with the Catholic church. Martin Luther, summoned to recant his theses, spoke before the assembly from April 16 to 18, but instead of recanting he defended his reform of Christianity, which would later be called the Protestant Reformation. |
| 1525 | William Tyndale completes his translation of the Bible into English. |
| 1534 | Ignatius of Loyola founds the Jesuits. |
| 1534 | Act of Supremacy passed – Henry VIII becomes supreme head of the English church. |
| 1536 | John Calvin publishes his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”. |
| 1545-63 | Council of Trent – Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation, convened in response to the spread of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. |
| 1549 | Thomas Cranmer publishes the Book of Common Prayer in England, the doctrinal and liturgical reference text of the Church of England and the churches belonging to the Anglican Communion. |
| 1555 | Peace of Augsburg ends religious wars in Germany. |
| 1611 | Publication of the King James Version of the Bible. |
| 1618-48 | Protestant/Catholic conflict in Germany (Thirty Years War). |
| 1730-60 |
The “Great Awakening”A revival movement among Protestants in the USA. |
| 1738 | John and Charles Wesley converted. They lead an Evangelical revival in England and form the Methodist church. |
| 1854 | Dogma of the Immaculate conception of Mary proclaimed by the Roman Catholic church. |
| 1870-1 | Vatican Council I. Proclaimed the dogma of papal infallibility, which holds that the Pope cannot err when he speaks ex cathedra, it means as a doctor or universal pastor of the Church. |
| 1906 | Azusa street revival in Los Angeles. Beginnings of the Pentecostal movement. |
| 1910 | World Mission Conference in Edinburgh, considered the birthplace of the contemporary ecumenical movement. It was on that occasion that a permanent commission for the promotion of Christian unity was established for the first time. |
| 1918 | Billy Graham born. Later becomes one of the most prominent evangelists in Christian history. |
| 1948 | Formation of the World Council of Churches. |
| 1950 | Dogma of the Assumption of Mary proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church. |
| 1962-5 | Second Vatican council. Major reforms in the Roman Catholic church are initiated. Mutual anathemas of 1054 between Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches lifted. |
| 1999 | Signing of the Joint Declaration on Justification by the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches, the result of an extensive ecumenical dialogue. It affirms that the churches now share “a common understanding of our justification by GOD’s grace through faith in Christ. |
| 2005 | Death of Pope John Paul II, who is succeeded by Pope Benedict XVI. |
| 2013 |
Two Popes for the first timeResignation of Pope Benedict XVI, who is succeeded by Pope Francis. |
