Timeline

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Timeline

c.4 BC	Birth of Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem.
c.30 AD	Death of Jesus Christ.
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 alongside those in the Jewish tradition.
c.60	First Gospel published (often thought to be that written by Mark).
62	Martyrdom of James, “The Lord’s Brother”.
c.67-68	Apostles Peter and Paul* martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.
70	Jewish rebellion against the Roman empire ends. Destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
From 70	Centre of Christianity moves to Antioch, Alexandria and Rome.
c.90	Book of Revelation and Gospel of Saint John written.
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	Roman emperor Constantine receives a vision of a flaming cross with the words ‘In hoc signo vinces’ : ‘By this sign conquer’. Defeats rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
313	Edict of Milan issued by Constantine – Christianity becomes a legal religion within the Roman empire.
325	Constantine calls the first ecumenical council at Nicea. 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’.
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.
589	To refute Arianism, the filioque  (Latin: ‘and the son’) was added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed at a council in Toledo.
636	Capture of Jerusalem by Muslim Arabs after Battle of Yarmuk.
641	Capture of Alexandria and subesquent conquest of Egypt by Muslims.
663	Emperor Constans II is last Eastern emperor to set foot in Rome.
680-81	Ecumenical council at Constantinople rejects Monothelite heresy of one will in Christ.
787	Ecumenical council at Nicea ends the controversy over the use of icons in worship.
843	Triumph of Orthodoxy occurs on first Sunday of Great Lent, restoring icons to churches.
861	Cyril and Methodius begin their missionary work among the slavic peoples.
867	At a council held at Constantinople, Patriarch Photius declares Pope Nicholas I anathema following conflict over missionary work in Bulgaria and the filioque.
879-880	Ecumenical council at Nicea – confirms Photius as patriarch and rejects the filioque.
885	Mount Athos obtains political autonomy.
988	Conversion of Prince Vladimir in Kiev. Growth of Christianity in Russia.
1014	Use of the filioque for the first time in Rome, by Pope Benedict XIII.
1054	Great Schism – Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches separate.
1084	Capture of Antioch by Seljuk Turks.
1095	Pope Urban II authorises the first Crusade to recover the Holy Land from Moslems.
1099	Crusaders conquer Jerusalem.
1187	Jerusalem recaptured by a Moslem army led by Saladin.
1204	Sack of Constantinople during the fourth crusade.
1261	End of Latin occupation of Constantinople and restoration of Orthodox patriarchs.
1269	Orthodox patriarch returns to Antioch after a 171-year exile.
1274	Second Council of Lyons held, proclaiming union between the Orthodox East and the Roman Catholic West, but generally unaccepted in the East.
c.1341	Defence of Orthodox spirituality by Gregory Palamas. Rise of Hesychasm.
1410	Iconographer Andrei Rublev paints an icon depicting the three angels who appeared to Abraham and Sarah, the angels being considered a type of the Holy Trinity.
1439	Ecclesiastical reunion with West attempted at Council of Florence, but subsquently fails.
1448	Independence of Russian Orthodox Church from the Church of Constantinople.
1453	Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.
1568	Pope Pius V recognizes four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius.
1698	Consecration of the First Orthodox Church in China.
1794	Orthodox Missionaries arrive in Alaska.
1821	Independence of Greece.
1965	Mutual anathemas of 1054 between Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches lifted.
2008	Pan-Orthodox meeting in Constantinople.
2008	Publication of the Orthodox Study Bible.

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* See the Timeline of Paul’s ministry for more information.

More Information:

 

Here is a selected series of links that will give more information:

Orthodox Church History

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Wise words:

 

“In spite of our sinfulness, in spite of the darkness surrounding our souls, the Grace of the Holy Spirit, conferred by baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, still shines in our hearts with the inextinguishable light of Christ … and when the sinner turns to the way of repentance the light smooths away every trace of the sins committed, clothing the former sinner in the garments of incorruption, spun of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. It is this acquisition of the Holy Spirit about which I have been speaking. ”