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The following chronological table was originally prepared to accompany David Chidester's book, Christianity: A Global History, but it has been modified and amplified in subsequent years based on a wide ranger of sources. Dates BC are given as negative numbers. For an earlier but printer-friendly pdf version, click here (66K, 18pp).
| START DATE | END DATE | EVENT |
|---|---|---|
| -960 | -950 | First Temple constructed by Solomon |
| -587 | First Temple destroyed by Babylonians | |
| -587 | -539 | Babylonian Exile |
| -516 | Second Temple constructed | |
| -225± | Earliest known synagogue (in Egypt) | |
| -168 | -164 | Maccabean revolt and foundation of dynasty |
| -164± | Jerusalem temple is "clensed"; Hasmonean dynasty begins | |
| -112± | Pharisees become a distinct faction in Judaea | |
| -99 | -1 | Ist CENTURY BC |
| -73 | -4 | Life of Herod the Great, king of the Roman province of Judea |
| -63 | Pompey captures Palestine | |
| -27 | 14 | Reign of Augustus |
| -10 | 45 | Life of Philo of Alexandria, Jewish philosopher |
| 1 | 99 | Ist CENTURY AD |
|---|---|---|
| -4± | 30± | Life of Jesus |
| 3 | 62 | Life of Paul |
| 6 | Judas of Galilee argues against paying taxes to Rome | |
| 35± | Stephen stoned to death, the first martyr (sometimes called proto-martyr) at Jerusalem gate under gaze of pre-conversion Paul | |
| 33 | Pentecost (Gift of Tongues) | |
| 37 | 100 | Life of Josephus, author of History of the Jewish War |
| 40± | Christian church built in Corinth, one of the first known | |
| 42 | Paul discusses circumcision with Jerusalem church | |
| 49 | Council in Jerusalem, overseen by James, establishes precedent to resolve church disputes by council. | |
| 50± | 70± | Gospel of Q composed; Mithras cult spreading across the Roman Empire |
| 50± | 150± | Gospel of Thomas composed |
| 50± | Apostle Thomas arrives on Malabar coast and forms churches | |
| 52± | 54± | Paul's letter to Galatians composed |
| 54 | 68 | Reign of Nero |
| 56 | 120 | Life of Tacitus, Roman historian |
| 62 | James, brother of Jesus, executed by stoning | |
| 63 | Great Fire in Nero's Rome blamed on Christians | |
| 64± | Apostle Paul executed in Rome | |
| 65± | Nero begins persecution of Christians; Peter crucified in Rome | |
| 66 | 70 | Jewish War (rebellion of Zealots against Rome) |
| 69 | 155 | Life of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, burned alive (pp. 77-78); famed as one of earliest well documented martyrs |
| 69 | Ignatius made bishop in Antioch | |
| 70 | 80 | Pharisees finally emerge as dominant in Palestinian Judaism |
| 70 | Jerusalem Temple Destroyed under Emperor Titus | |
| 70± | Gospel of Thomas composed (although estimates range from 50± to 150±) | |
| 72± | Gospel of Mark composed | |
| 73 | Last Zealots perish at Masada | |
| 79 | 81 | Reign of Titus |
| 80 | 90 | Gospels of Matthew & Luke composed |
| 80± | 140 | Life of Basilides, major founder of Alexandrian Gnosticism, a heresy (details) |
| 85± | 160 | Life of Marcion, from Pontus in Asia Minor, whose heresy (details) stimulated the creation of the Apostles' Creed (text) |
| 90 | 100 | Gospel of John composed |
| 90 | Johanan ben Zakkai et al. at Yavneh reformulate post-Temple Judaism | |
| 95 | Probable date for Book of Revelation | |
| 97 | 117 | Reign of Trajan |
| 100 | 199 | IInd CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 100± | 165 | Life of Justin Martyr from Samaria; theory of logos; evil due to fallen angels |
| 100± | 175 | Life of Valentinus the Gnostic of Alexandria, a heretic (details) |
| 100± | 300± | "Hermetic" texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus believed to embody secret Egyptian wisdom |
| 107 | Ignatius of Antioch arrested under Trajan's ban; devoured in the arena; left cheerful letters en route to Rome | |
| 107 | Christianity outlawed by Trajan | |
| 107± | Ignatius of Antioch devoured in Roman arena; left cheerful letters along the road (may be AD 98, 107, 117) | |
| 110 | Book of Revelation composed | |
| 112 | Pliny writes to Trajan about Christians | |
| 115 | 150 | Life of Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon; opposed Gnosticism; Martyred |
| 117 | 138 | Reign of Hadrian |
| 120± | Basilides of Alexandria argues martyrdom was unnecessary suicide (p. 83) | |
| 130 | 150 | Marcion moves to Rome; theory of 2 gods, clumsy and vindictive creator god and redeemer god |
| 132 | Simon bar Kozibah changes name to Bar Kochbah (son of the star) | |
| 132± | 135 | Jewish Revolt ends in Hadrian banishing Jews from Jerusalem (p. 57) |
| 135 | Jerusalem reconstructed as Aelia Capitolina | |
| 140 | Valentinus moves to Rome | |
| 144 | Church rejects teachings of Marcion (details) | |
| 150 | 135 | Works of Justin Martyr composed describing liturgy of centered on the Eucharist |
| 150 | 217 | Life of Clement of Alexandria, skeptic about motives of martyrs (pp. 83f) |
| 150± | 215± | Life of Clement of Alexandria, teacher of Origen; opposed pleasure |
| 155 | Martyrdom of Polycarp (p. 155) | |
| 156 | Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrnia, burned alive | |
| 160± | 220± | Life of Tertullian, North-African Christian leader |
| 170 | Athenagoras condemns sex except for procreation | |
| 170± | 235± | Life of Hippolytus, Rome, Eucharistic prayer (pp. 68ff.); opposed Gnosticism (details) |
| 177 | Platonic philosopher Celsus argues against Jesus as mere magician | |
| 181 | 203 | Life of Vibia Perpetua, martyred after visions in prison (pp. 78-82) |
| 185± | 254± | Life of Origen of Alxandria, author of "Exhortation to Martyrdom" |
| 200 | 299 | IIIrd CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | 258 | Cyprian martyred in Carthage after hiding |
| 200 | 258 | Novation, anti-Pope; advocates excommunicating backsliders from martyrdom |
| 200 | Pope Calistus permits women "just concubinage" | |
| 200± | 300± | Paul of Samosata argues for "adoptionism": a human Jesus adopted by God to be divine (a heresy) |
| 200± | 300± | Sabellius argues for crypto-Unitarianism: Father & Son as windows on the same reality (a heresy) |
| 205 | 270 | Life or Plotinus, influential neo-Paltonist arguing ideal forms are in the mind of God |
| 216± | 276± | Life of Mani, dualist founder of Manicheans, a heretic (details) |
| 235 | 238 | Reign of Maximinus (much political disorder) |
| 235 | Christians martyred at Caeserea | |
| 240± | 320± | Life of Lactantius, who argued for purifying fire before the final judgment |
| 246 | 248 | Origin writes "Against Celsus," a pagan |
| 248 | 328 | Life of Helena, mother of Constantine, finder of monuments |
| 249 | 251 | Emperor Decius requires universal participation in sacrifices; orders persecutions |
| 250 | 260 | Pionius, bishop of Smyrna, martyred |
| 250± | 336 | Life of Arius, who argued Father superior to Son, founding the Arian Heresy (details) |
| 253 | 260 | Reign of Valerian; persecutions |
| 256 | 336 | Life of Arius, associated with the Arian Heresy (details) |
| 260 | 339 | Life of Eusebius, bishop of Caeserea, historian, pro-Constantine |
| 273 | 337 | Life of Constantine |
| 284 | 305 | Reign of Diocletian (East) & persecutions (pp. 87f) |
| 292 | 346 | Life of Pachomius, founder of monasticism |
| 293± | 373 | Life of Athanasius of Alexandria, defender of chastity |
| 297 | Diocletion order destruction of Egyptian Manicheans |
| 300 | 399 | IVth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 300± | 310± | Council of Elvira (Spain) endorses chastity |
| 303 | Alphaeus beheaded at Caesarea for disrupting pagan sacrifices | |
| 303 | Romanus martyred at Antioch for disrupting pagan sacrifices | |
| 304 | Euplus begs to be martyred in Sicily | |
| 306 | 337 | Reign of Constantine (306-324 west only) |
| 311 | Emperor Galerius excuses Christians from worship of Roman gods, removing a source of martyrdom | |
| 311± | 383± | Life of Wulfila (=Ulfilas = Orphila), remarkably successful Arian missionary to the Goths in northern Europe and Spain; translator of the Bible into Gothic |
| 312 | Constantine has vision the night before October 28 battle at Milvian Bridge | |
| 312 | Constantine makes self emperor of the west | |
| 313 | Edict of Milan ends official persecution of Christians | |
| 315 | 387 | Life of Cyril of Jerusalem |
| 316 | 397 | Martin of Tours, founder of first western Pachovian monastery (in Gaul) |
| 316 | Carthage Controversy: Donatus requires apostate rebaptism; Caeolianus favors leniancy | |
| 316 | Donatists outlawed & become underground church | |
| 320 | Pachomius establishes monastery near Nile, widely imitated | |
| 324 | Constantine becomes sole emperor; Byzantium renamed Constantinople | |
| 325 | Council of Nicea (first of 7 church-wide councils) unites Father & Son; condemns Arianism; controls ordination, excommunication; St Athanasius defends the eternal existence of the Son of God | |
| 329± | 379 | Life of Basil of Caesarea |
| 329± | 391± | Life of Gregory of Nazianzus |
| 335± | 395± | Life of Gregory of Nyssa |
| 337 | Constantine baptized on deathbed | |
| 339 | Basilica of the Nativity dedicated | |
| 339± | 397 | Life of Ambrose of Milan, opponant of Arianism; teacher of Ausustine; made Theodosius repent; one of 4 Doctors of the Church |
| 340± | 385 | Life of Bishop Priscillian, founder of a aescetic school of gnosticism in Spain, denounced at the Council of aragosa in 380, executed for sorcery by Emperor Maximus. |
| 342± | 420± | Life of Jerome, Bible tanslator; one of 4 Doctors of the Church |
| 354 | 430 | Life of Augustine, bishop of Hippo (N. Africa), opposed Manichaeans, Donatists, Arians, Pelagians |
| 354 | Legal protection provided for the virginity of nuns | |
| 360± | 420± | Life of Pelagius, who argued that guilt for the sin of Adam was limited to Adam, a heresy (details) who revives paganism (alternative dates are 354b and 440d.) |
| 376 | 444 | Life of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria |
| 379 | 395 | Reign of Theodosius |
| 380 | Priscillian becomes bishop of Ávila in Spain; Council of Zaragosa condemns his teachings | |
| 381 | 384 | Pilgrimage of Egeria from Spain to the Holy Land |
| 381 | Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople reaffirms Nicene Creed (text) and condemns Arianism as a heresy (details) | |
| 381 | Theodosius outlaws all other religions | |
| 386 | 391 | Augustine in contemplation at Cassiciacum |
| 386± | 420± | Life of Nestorius, a heretic (details) (Alternative dates are 400±b and 451±d.) |
| 391 | Augustine made bishop | |
| 395 | Jovinan attacked for declaring marriage to be as good as chastity |
| 400 | 499 | Vth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 400± | 440± | Life of Nestorius of Antioch, condemned for heresy of saying Christ had separate human and divine natures (details), a view that becomes widespread in the central Asian churches (Alternative dates are 386±b and 451±d.) |
| 410 | Alaric (an Arian Goth) sacks Rome | |
| 412 | 426 | Augustine writes City of God |
| 431 | Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus, condemns Nestorius and Nestorianism (details) | |
| 436 | Nestorius exiled | |
| 440± | Possible approximate date of the Athanasian Creed ("Quicumque Vult") (text) | |
| 451 | Council of Chalcedon states definitive trinitarian formula, condemns Eutyches & other heretics and the heresy of Monophysitism (details) (which will be condemend again in 680) | |
| 480 | 547 | Life of Benedict of Nursia, author of a system of monastic discipline |
| 496 | Baptism of Clovis, king of the Franks |
| 500 | 599 | VIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 500± | 578 | Jacob Bradeus of Nisibis, founder of Syrian monasteries |
| 521 | Birth of St. Columba, founder of Scottish and Irish monasteries | |
| 527 | 565 | Reign of Justinian |
| 529 | Justinian bans all pagan practices (significantly including theurgy or divine possession, popular with pagan elites) | |
| 532 | 537 | Building of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople |
| 540± | 604 | Life of Gregory the Great; first monk made pope; reorganized church, sent mission to England; one of the 4 Doctors of the Church |
| 543± | 651 | Life of Columbanus(Ireland), Director of missions to Europe |
| 553 | Council of Constantinople condemns those who doubt hell | |
| 553 | Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, condemns position that suffering in hell is not eternal | |
| 567 | 754 | Life of Boniface, sent as apostle to Germany |
| 570 | 632 | Life of Muhammad |
| 580 | 662 | Maximus "the Confessor" of Turin denounces Monothelites |
| 589 | Synod in Toledo adds the "filioque" to the Nicene Creed, asserting that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father "and the Son," a position rejected by the eastern church | |
| 589 | Visigoths of Spain give up Arianism, come under Roman church | |
| 590 | 604 | Papacy of Gregory I (the Great) |
| 596 | Gregory I sends mission to convert the English |
| 600 | 699 | VIIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 610± | 640± | Leontius of Neapolis, defender of icons and sacred objects |
| 614 | Persians capture and sack Jerusalem | |
| 628 | Heraclius recaptures Jerusalem from Persians | |
| 638 | Arabs capture Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria; Jews permitted to return to Jerusalem | |
| 638 | Jerusalem capture by Muslims | |
| 653 | Maximus of Turin exiled | |
| 664 | Synod of Whitby. King Oswiu of Northumbria agrees to follow Roman rathern than Irish monastic custom for cutting tonsures and calculating Easter, pulling northern Britain from the Irish to the Roman orbit. | |
| 673± | 735 | Life of the Venerable Bede, historian of Christianity in England ("Venerable" was a priestly title at the time.) |
| 675± | 749 | Life of John of Damascus, advocate of icons, critic of excessive Marianism; viewed Islam as Christian heresy |
| 681 | Sixth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople; the heresy of Monophysitism, already condemned in 451, is condemned again (details) |
| 700 | 799 | VIIIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 700± | Approximate date of the present text of the Apostles' Creed (text) | |
| 717 | 741 | Reign of Byzantine Emperor Leo III, iconclast |
| 726 | Emperor Leo III moves against icons | |
| 741 | 775 | Reign of Byzantine emperor Constantine V, iconoclast |
| 745 | Rome council condemns Aldebert's compromises with paganism (pp. 168f) | |
| 750± | 825± | Life of Theodore abu Qurra, defender of icons |
| 754 | Council at Nicaea condemns icons as doubly blasphemous | |
| 754 | Second Council of Nicaea (against icons) (p. 207) | |
| 768 | 814 | Life of Charlemagne, king of the Franks |
| 787 | Seventh Church Council, Second at Nicaea, restores icons |
| 800 | 899 | IXth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 800 | Council in Carthage decides to destroy altars lacking relics | |
| 800 | Crowning of Charlemagne as monarch of the Holy roman Empire | |
| 815 | 843 | Second campaign against icons |
| 815 | Iconoclasm (idol-smashing, mainly icon-smashing) revived | |
| 827 | 869 | Life of Cyril the Missionary, brother of Methodius |
| 832 | Latin translation of Dionysius the Areopagite''s Vith Cent fake scriptures; describes sacred order | |
| 843 | Iconoclasm ends | |
| 847± | 877± | Irish theologian John Scoitus Eriugena, follower of Dionysius the Areopagite |
| 880 | The Photian Schism |
| 900 | 999 | Xth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 949 | 1022 | Life of Symeon, who developed theology of mystic visions of God; creator of hesychasm meditation, the (Greek Orthodox) monastic goal of continuous, uninterrupted prayer |
| 960± | 970± | Aelfric endorses 3-class system: laboratores, bellatores, oratores |
| 980 | 1037 | Life of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Muslim theologian influential among Christians |
| 988 | Conversion of Russia ("Rus'") begins |
| 1000 | 1099 | XIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1007 | 1072 | Peter Damian founds communistic sect of preachers |
| 1033 | 1109 | Life of Anselm of Canterbury (Benedictine), rationalizes Christian beliefs |
| 1050± | 1115± | Life of Peter the Hermit, French preacher of the First Crusade |
| 1054 | Break between Roman and Constantinople churches | |
| 1054 | East-West schism divides Roman from Constantinople (Orthodox) Christianity due to Roman claim to higher authority and Roman inclusion of the filioque clause (see 589); Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria remain in communion with Constantinople | |
| 1066 | Norman conquest of Britain (and replacement of any dissenting clergy with others loyal to Rome) | |
| 1075± | 1129 | Life of Rupert of Deutz, male erotic visionary |
| 1077 | Anselm defines God as great beyond our understanding; ignores Satan; orients future theology | |
| 1079 | 1142 | Life of Peter Abélard; challenges myth of consensus of ancient writers |
| 1087 | Body of St. Nicholas translated from Myra (Syria) to Bari (Italy) | |
| 1090 | 1153 | Life of Bernard de Clairvaux, monastic leader, supporter of crusades, reformer of Knights Templar; theologian of love |
| 1095 | Council of Clermont | |
| 1095 | First Crusade organized; Urban III offers plenary indulgence to crusaders (leaving them free to pillage and rape without postmortal punishment) | |
| 1096 | 1099 | First Crusade captures Jerusalem |
| 1096± | 1141 | Hugh of St. Victor founds mystical school of Victorines |
| 1098 | 1179 | Life of Hildegard of Bingen, mystic and visionary |
| 1099 | Anselm becomes archbishop of Canterbury |
| 1100 | 1199 | XIIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1119 | Knights Templar founded | |
| 1126 | 1198 | Life of Averroës (Ibn Rushd), Muslim theologian influential among Christians; condemned for the heresy of Averroism (details) |
| 1135 | 1202 | Life of Joachim of Fiore (Italy), millennial prophet |
| 1135± | 1204 | Life of Moses Maimonides (Mosheh ben Maimon), Jewis theologian influential among Christians |
| 1140 | 1200 | Life of Hugh of Lincoln, who saw a child in the host, advocated host-worship |
| 1141 | Abélard condemned for heresy & general cleverness | |
| 1147 | Synod of Trieri; Hildegard permitted to publish her visions | |
| 1150 | Peter Lomgard creates university textbook in theology, "Sentences" | |
| 1150± | 1250± | Cathars (Albigensians), Christian dualists, flourished in Spain & Italy; branded heretics by Rome (details) |
| 1155 | Adrian IV , the only Englishman ever elected pope, issues the papal bull Landabiliter, authorizing Henry II to invade Ireland to enforce conformity to Gregorian reforms | |
| 1170 | 1221 | Life of Dominic de Guzman, founder of Friars Preachers, a teaching order (Dominicans) |
| 1170 | Thomas Becket murdered at Canterbury | |
| 1172 | Cathar church council at Toulouse attracts Bogomil leader Nicetas from Constantinople | |
| 1175 | Peter Waldo (Valdes) embraces poverty, to be condemned as a heretic in 1184 | |
| 1179 | Alexander III refuses Valdes right to preach | |
| 1179 | Third Lateran Council excommunicates all who lend money at interest. | |
| 1180± | 1262 | Life of Stephen of Bourbon, official inquisitor |
| 1181 | 1226 | Life of Francis of Assisi (Francesco Bernardone), founder of Franciscans, a contemplative mendicant order |
| 1184 | Waldensianism listed as heretical sect, driven from Lyons (details) | |
| 1185± | 1243 | Life of Alexander of Hales (Franciscan), who claimed alien were races deformed because of their sin |
| 1200 | 1299 | XIIIth CENTURY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1200± | 1250± | Life of Hadewijch of Antwerp, producer of Beguine texts on erotic visions | |
| 1200± | 1280 | Life of Albert the Great (Dominican), scholastic philosopher, who argued Pygmies are not actually human | |
| 1200± | 1550± | Cult of Anne important in Europe | |
| 1201 | 1204 | Fourth Crusade | |
| 1201 | Pope Innocene III grants Francis of Assisi charter for Friors Minor | ||
| 1204 | Constantinople sacked in Fourth Crusade | ||
| 1205 | Francis of Assisi vows poverty | ||
| 1206 | Diego de Osma | ||
| 1207 | 1294 | Life of Mechthild of Magdeburg, Beguine with erotic visions | |
| 1208 | Crusade against Albergensians (French Cathars) | ||
| 1208 | Crusade against Albigensians | ||
| 1210 | Franciscans founded | ||
| 1212 | Founding of Poor Clares (female Franciscans) | ||
| 1214 | Apparition of Mary to Dominic (according to 1470 account, probably false) | ||
| 1215 | Fourth Lateran Council prohibits founding new orders; requires ritual penance | ||
| 1215 | Fourth Lateran Council rules Christ physically present in eucharist (transubstantiation); prohibits removal from church | ||
| 1215 | Physical presence in host; penance mandatory; new orders prohibited | ||
| 1216 | Beguine movement receives papal endorsement | ||
| 1217± | 1274 | Life of Bonaventure, mystical theologian, successor to Francis of Assisi | |
| 1225 | 1275 | Life of Thomas Aquinas, major theologian, author of Summa Theologica | |
| 1230± | 1879± | Folk cult of St. Guinefort, a dog, persists in France despite church opposition | |
| 1233 | Francis of Assisi canonized (sainted) | ||
| 1233 | Inquisition established | ||
| 1235 | Stephen of Bourbon becomes inquisitor | ||
| 1240 | 1380 | Russia ruled by Tatars | |
| 1240 | Center of Russian orthodoxy moved from Kiev to Moscow | ||
| 1244 | Two hundred Albigensians burned at storming of Foix Albigensian fort; movement effectively extinct | ||
| 1252 | Gregory IX approves torture to gain Inquisition confessions | ||
| 1260 | 1327 | Life of Meister Eckhart, German Dominican mystic, condemned for heresy | |
| 1264 | King Louis IX founds house for Beguines in Paris | ||
| 1265 | 1321 | Life of Dante Alighieri, poet, author of influential Divine Comedy | |
| 1274 | Council of Lyons unsuccessfully bans Beguines in France | ||
| 1280 | 1349 | Life of William of Ockham, English mystic (but creator of Ockham's razor for theorizing about worldly things) | |
| 1285± | 1310 | Life of Marguerite Porete, Beguine mystic, burned at the stake for calling Rome "Lesser Church" & declaring mystics free spirits | |
| 1290± | 1350 | Life of Barlaam the Calabrian, campaigner against heysychasm ("navel gazing") | |
| 1291 | Fall of Latin Jerusalem, Acre, etc. | ||
| 1296 | 1359 | Life of Gregory Palmas, monk of Mt. Athos, defender of hesychasm meditation |
| 1300 | 1399 | XIVth CENTURY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1300 | 1366 | Life of Henry Suso, flagellator & disciple of Meister Eckhart | |
| 1300 | Plenary indulgences granted for Jubilee Year pilgrimage to Rome as substitute for Jerusalem | ||
| 1303± | 1109 | Life of Anselm of Canterbury, arged that Mary was second in importance to God | |
| 1303± | 1373 | Life of Bridget of Sweden, visionary of the virgin birth | |
| 1304 | 1374 | Life of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarch), Romophile humanist writer; scholar and poet | |
| 1307 | Knights Templar accused of devil worship | ||
| 1309 | 1378 | Avignon exile of the papacy | |
| 1313 | 1325 | Inquisition targets Beguines in France (Some still survive in Benelux.) | |
| 1313 | 1371 | Life of Giovanni Boccacio, poet, essayist, and theologian | |
| 1313 | 1392 | Life of Sergii of Radnezh, ascetic abbot of St. Sergius Trinity Monastery | |
| 1314 | Knights Templar dissolved; leaders burned as witches | ||
| 1323 | Belief in Jesus' absolute poverty declared heresy by John XXII | ||
| 1333 | St. Gregory Palmas defends the Eastern practice of hesychasm (mystical prayer) and the use of the "Jesus Prayer" | ||
| 1336 | 1339 | Judenschläger of Bavaria attack Jews for slaying Jesus | |
| 1340 | 1384 | Life of Gerhard Groote, founder of the Brothers & Sisters of the Common Life, including lay eucharist devotees & devotio moderna | |
| 1342± | 1416± | Life of Julian of Norwich, female erotic visionary | |
| 1347 | 1351 | Black Death (bubonic plague) kills one third to one half of European population | |
| 1350 | 1420 | Life of Pierre d'Ailly, predicted end of the world for 1492 | |
| 1356± | John Mandeville (Johan Maudeville) writes fraduluent but influential "Travels," stimulating pilgrimage/tourism | ||
| 1360± | 1452 | Life of Gemistus Pletho, Byzantine Platonist | |
| 1371 | 1415 | Life of Jan Huss, Bohemian priest turned Protestant, burned for heresy (launching 19-year civil war) | |
| 1378 | 1417 | Double papacy (Rome and Avignon) | |
| 1379 | 1471 | Life of Thomas à Kempis, author of "Imitation of Christ | |
| 1381 | 1447 | Life of Colette of Corbie, reformer of Poor Clares (Colettine Convents) | |
| 1389 | Corpus Christi declared equal to Easter (p. 213) | ||
| 1389 | Urban VI declares Corpus Christi equal to Xmas, Easter, Pentecost, Assumption | ||
| 1395 | 1485 | Life of George Trebizond, Byzantine Aristotelian |
| 1400 | 1499 | XVth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1403± | 1472 | Life of Bessarion, Bishop of Nicaea, Byzantine Platonist |
| 1407 | 1457 | Life of Lorenza Valla, unmasker of Dionysius the Aeropagite as non-Biblical |
| 1415 | Council of Constance divides Europe into blocks of states | |
| 1425 | Second Council of Arles condemns bishops who fail to suppress paganism | |
| 1427 | 1486 | Italian & German witch hunts |
| 1433 | 1499 | Life of Marsilio Ficino, translator of Greek texts; advocates meditating on Venus; discovers proto-Christianity |
| 1436 | Pope Eugenius authorizes Portuguese conquest of Canary Island "savages" | |
| 1438 | 1439 | Council of Ferrara & Florence; Orthodox church accepts "filioque" without including it; Byzantine Catholic Church created |
| 1438 | 1439 | E-W dialog & the term "filioque" (p. 297) |
| 1438 | Council of Basel: Immaculate Conception of Mary declared doctrine (See 1854.) | |
| 1439 | Bishop Isidore deposed in Moscow by King Vasili II for supporting Council of Florence agreement on "filioque" | |
| 1439 | Reunion of E and W churches declared to little effect | |
| 1444 | 1510 | Life of Sandro Boticelli, painter |
| 1448 | Jonas installed in Moscow | |
| 1449 | 1492 | Life of Lorenzo de Medici, Florentine ruler and patron of the arts |
| 1451 | 1506 | Life of Christopher Columbus, explorer |
| 1452 | 1498 | Life of Giolamo Savonarola, fanatic Dominican, dictator in Florence, excommunicated, hanged by a mob |
| 1453 | Constantinople falls to Sultan Muhammad II; Pius II argues only Europeans are real Christians anyway | |
| 1463 | 1494 | Life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, student of Ficino, pan-humanist theologian and Kabbalist; condemned for heresy |
| 1465 | 1519 | Life of Johann Tetzel (Dominican), who hd domino theory of consequences of Luther's critique |
| 1465 | 1532 | Life of Giles Antonini of Viterbo (Augustinian), internal critic of Catholicism |
| 1469 | 1524 | Life of Vasco da Gama, explorer |
| 1469 | 1535 | Life of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, "Christian humanist |
| 1470± | 1480± | Rosary popularized |
| 1475± | Jacob Sprenger (witch hunter) founds Confraternity of the Rosary | |
| 1478 | Spanish inquisition founded by Ferdinand & Isabella to oppose heresy | |
| 1480± | 1541 | Life of Andreas Karlstadt, extreme Protestant iconoclast, destroyer of much art work |
| 1483 | 1546 | Life of Martin Luther, priest turned Protestant reformer; the father of Protestantism; especially Evangelical movement |
| 1483 | Pope Sixtus IV prohibits further argument about Immaculate Conception of Mary | |
| 1484 | 1531 | Life of Ulrich Zwingli, priest turned major Protestant reformer in Zurich; iconoclastic to images and eucharist; killed in religious war |
| 1484 | 1566 | Life of Bartolomé de las Casas, critic of Spanish treatment of Mexicans |
| 1484 | Innocent VIII institutes southern German inquisition | |
| 1485 | 1547 | Life of Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico |
| 1486 | 1535 | Life of Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, Christian magician in conflict with the Church |
| 1486 | Jacob Sprenger & Heinrich Kramer publish Malleus Maleficarum, a guide to witch hunting | |
| 1489 | 1565 | Life of Guillaume Farel, iconoclastic follower of Zwingli in Bern |
| 1490 | Ficino investigated for heresy for advocating magic (not condemned) | |
| 1490± | 1574 | Life of Juan Gigés de Sepúlveda, defender of Spanish behavior in Mexico |
| 1491 | 1551 | Life of Martin Bucer, iconoclastic follower of Zwingli in Strassburg |
| 1491 | 1556 | Life of Ignatius Loyola, founder of Jesuits |
| 1492 | 1503 | Reign of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borgia) |
| 1492 | End of the World (Eastern Orthodox) | |
| 1492 | Ferdinando drives the Moors from Spain; forcibly converts or expels Jews | |
| 1495 | Pope Alexander VI approves rosary | |
| 1497 | Pope Alexander VI suppresses pilgrimage to Lough Derg (Ireland) as too distant from Rome |
| 1500 | 1599 | XVIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1504 | 1575 | Life of Heinrich Bullinger, iconoclastic follower and successor of Zwingli in Zurich |
| 1505 | 1507 | Luther studies theology in Augustinian seminary; ordained as priest |
| 1506 | 1552 | Life of Francis Xavier, Jesuit missionary to Asia |
| 1509 | 1564 | Life of John Calvin (Jean Cauvin), major Protestant reformer, headquartered in Geneva; founder of Reformed movement |
| 1511 | Elder Philotheus (Russia) explains failure of world to end in 1492; end date declared unknowable | |
| 1512 | 1573 | Spanish conquest of the Americas |
| 1512 | Fifth Lateran Council; Giles of Viterbo argues for personal transformation, not changing the church | |
| 1515 | 1582 | Life of Teresa of Ávila, mystic; founder of Carmelite Reform; made Doctor of the Church in 1970 |
| 1516 | Erasmus translates New Testament, creates "philosophy of Christ" centered on ethical living | |
| 1517 | Luther Posts 95 Theses, nailed to a church door in Wittenberg; the intent is reform, but the result is the Reformation | |
| 1519 | Cortés lands in Mexico in year of prophesied return of Quetzalcóatl | |
| 1521 | Luther excommunicated; followers condemned; Emperor Charles V condemns Luther to death, who flees to Hanover | |
| 1522 | 1523 | Deformed ox fetus in Germany seen in Italy as sign of "Martin Utero" and end of the world |
| 1522 | Zwingli has images removed in Zurich | |
| 1524 | 1525 | Peasant rebellions in Germany kill 100,000-200,000 people in widespread anti-Catholic anti-establishmentism |
| 1524 | Cortés receives 12 Franciscans at Tenochtitlan | |
| 1525 | Sebastian Lotzer & Christoph Schappeler's "Twelve Articles of the Peasants" denounced by Luther | |
| 1527 | 1608 | Life of John Dee, Christian magician in conflict with the Church |
| 1527 | Sack of Rome by troops of Charles V | |
| 1529 | Conference of Marburg; Zwingli-Luther split over presence of Christ in the host | |
| 1530 | 1584 | Life of Ivan IV of Russia, who forces religious conversion, especially of Muslims |
| 1530 | Augsburg Confession adopted as statement of faith by Lutheran ("Evangelical") churches (details) | |
| 1531 | Apparition of the Virtin of Guadalupe at Tepeyac, near former shrine to Tenantzin | |
| 1532 | 1599 | Life of Domenico Scandella (= Menocchio), miller, executed as anticlerical and relativistic heretic |
| 1532 | 1614 | Life of Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala, Peruvian author of Andean history |
| 1532 | Francisco Pizarro lands in Peru | |
| 1533 | 1592 | Life of Michel de Montaigne, essayist, critic of Europeans as against noble savages |
| 1534 | Anti-Catholic iconoclastic riots in Geneva; city council closes churches, prohibits mass | |
| 1534 | Henry VIII Act of Supremacy creates Anglican Church headed by king, not pope | |
| 1534 | Loyola begins mission to the Muslims | |
| 1536 | Calvin arrives in officially iconoclastic Geneva | |
| 1538 | 1541 | Calvin banished from Geneva |
| 1539 | Society of Jesus (Jesuits) founded by Loyola | |
| 1542 | 1591 | Life of John of the Cross (Carmelite), Spanish mystic and poet |
| 1545 | 1563 | Council of Trent begins Catholic counter-Reformation; Old Testament enlarged in 1548 to include the Aprochryphal books |
| 1548 | 1600 | Life of Giordano Bruno, Christian magician in conflict with the Church |
| 1550 | Valladolid debate: Las Casas denounces Spanish in Mexico; Sepúlveda defends them | |
| 1550± | 1580± | Catholic-Huguenot (Calvinist) struggles in Lyons |
| 1560 | 1609 | Life of Jacobus Arminius, who argued that Calvinist election could be conditioned by human behavior; founder of Remonstrants; condemned for the heresy of Arminianism (details) |
| 1562 | Heidelberg Catechism adopted as statement of faith by Reformed ("Calvinist") churches | |
| 1562 | Official Huguenot theocracy established in Lyons; Huguenots then expelled | |
| 1564 | First European church dedicated to Joseph, the ignored earthly father of Jesus | |
| 1565 | Council of Trent emphatically reaffirms need for Catholic sacraments | |
| 1572 | St. Bartholomew Massacre of 8,000 Huguenots (French Calvinists) in Paris during marriage of Huguenot Henry of Navarre (who will later become a Catholic) | |
| 1577 | 1656 | Life of Roberto Nobili, aristocratic Jesuit missionary to India |
| 1578 | Pope Pius V expands Rosary invocation to include intercession | |
| 1584 | 1652 | Life of John Cotton, Puritan cleric, known as the "patriarch of New England"; became head of Massachusetts Congregationalists |
| 1588 | 1649 | Life of John Winthrop (Puritan), 1st governor of Massachusetts 1630-1649. |
| 1589 | See of Moscow recognized by Constantinople | |
| 1591 | 1643 | Life of Ann Hutchinson, Puritan critic of Puritanism; excommunicated & banished to Rhode Island for claiming messages from God |
| 1595± | Richard Hooker proposes that Protestantism and Catholicism are two separate religions (first use of plural form) | |
| 1598 | Edict of Nantes ("Edict of Toleration") under Henry IV of Navarre, now a nominal Catholic, ends officially approved religious war in France |
| 1600 | 1699 | XVIIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1603± | 1683 | Life of Roger Williams (Puritan), banished to Rhode Island for advocating church-state separation |
| 1604 | 1690 | Life of John Eliot, Puritan missionary to Massachusetts Indians |
| 1605 | 1681 | Life of Archbishop Nikon, Russian patriarch (1652-66), who sought to return Russian ritual practice to Greek original |
| 1610 | Assassination of Henry IV; persecution of Huguenots resumed under Cardinal Richelieu | |
| 1613 | Guamán Poma's "Talking Book" sent to Philip III in Spain complaining of Spanish treatment of Peruvians | |
| 1618 | 1619 | Synod of Dort; Calvinist doctrine of election clarified and Arminian Remonstrants condemned; Puritans free converted slaves |
| 1620 | Pilgrims land at Plymouth | |
| 1621 | 1682 | Life of Archpriest Avvakum, Old Believer; condemned as heretic in 1667, burned for heresy |
| 1624 | 1691 | Life of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) based on direct encounter with God |
| 1643 | Westminster Confession adopted by Presbyterians (details) | |
| 1649 | Islamic missionizing becomes capital crime in Russia | |
| 1652 | 1658 | Orthodox reforms of Nikon |
| 1652 | 1658 | Reforms of Archbishop Nikon of Moscow offend Old Believers |
| 1652 | Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox | |
| 1652 | Heidelberg Confession of Reform (= Calvinist) churches unsuccessfully attempts to unite Lutheran and Calvinist doctrine (details) | |
| 1656 | Quaker missionaries enter Massachusetts unwelcomed | |
| 1662 | English parliament outlaws Quakerism | |
| 1662 | Puritan "Half-Way Covenant" for 2nd generation Puritans "without calling" begins slide for Puritanism | |
| 1672 | 1725 | Life of Peter the Great, tsar of Russia |
| 1682 | 1725 | Reign of Peter the Great, reformist tsar of Russia (suicides among Old Believers) |
| 1684 | Old Believers condemned to death in Russia | |
| 1685 | Edict of Nantes ("Edict of Toleration" of Protestants) of 1598 revoked by Louis XIV; official persecution of Huguenots is resumed, including burning at the stake | |
| 1689 | 1755 | Life of Charles Louis Montesquieu, French rationalist |
| 1700 | 1799 | XVIIIth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1702 | Decree of Toleration (Peter) in Russia | |
| 1703 | 1758 | Life of John Edwards, Congregational cleric & Methodist evangelist to USA; helped stimulate the "Great Awakening" |
| 1703 | 1764 | Life of Gilbert Tenant (Presbyterian) supporter of "Great Awakening," arguing that all who are called could preach |
| 1703 | 1791 | John Wesley, founder of Methodism |
| 1706 | 1790 | Life of Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and deist |
| 1707 | 1788 | Life of Charles Wesley, brother of John and co-founder of Methodism; author of many hymns |
| 1708 | 1713 | Episodes of Maya talking crosses and other syncretistic phenomena |
| 1711 | Apparition of the Virgin to Maya Dominica López | |
| 1712 | Apparition of the Virtin to María de la Candelaria at Cancuc, Yucatán | |
| 1712 | Dominica López executed for heresy | |
| 1712 | Virgin movement of Cancuc, Yucatán, under Sebastián Gómez, rejecting Spanish church in Mexico | |
| 1714 | 1770 | Life of George Whitfield, British Methodist evangelist in USA, collaborator of John Edwards in the Great Awakening |
| 1720± | 1730± | Reforms of Peter the Great diffuse Russian church power; reform calendar |
| 1721 | Russian missions centralized by Peter the Great | |
| 1724 | 1804 | Life of Immanuel Kant, philosopher who equated religion with morality; condemned Judaism as mere ritualism |
| 1728 | 1741 | Vitus Bering explores Alaska for Russia |
| 1729 | 1796 | Life of Catherine the Great of Russia |
| 1735 | 1826 | Life of John Adams, American statesman and deist |
| 1736 | 1784 | Mother Anne Lee, founder of Shakers (celibate communalists) |
| 1737 | 1809 | Life of Thomas Paine, American statesman and deist |
| 1740 | 1764 | Russian Agency of Covert Affairs under Dmitrii Sechenov assaults non-Christian religions |
| 1740± | 1750± | First Great Awakening of revivalism in USA |
| 1741 | 1815 | Life of John Murray, Methodist founder of American Universalists, believing in the salvation of all humans |
| 1743 | 1826 | Life of Thomas Jefferson, American statesman and deist |
| 1751 | 1836 | Life of James Madison, American statesman and deist |
| 1764 | Decree of Toleration (Catherine) in Russia | |
| 1767 | Jesuits expelled from New Spain by Charles III | |
| 1767± | 1822 | Life of Denmark Vessey, South Carolina slave revolt leader inspired by Joshua |
| 1768 | 1834 | Life of Friedrich Schleiermacher (Romantic); defined religion as way of feeling infinity of world and absolute dependency on God |
| 1768 | 1837 | Life of Joshua Marshman, evangelical theologian, missionary to India |
| 1772 | 1829 | Life of Friedrich Schlegel, influential German Romantic |
| 1772 | 1833 | Life of Ram Mohan Roy, Unitarian-inspired founder of Brahmo Samaj |
| 1772 | 1844 | Life of Barton Stone (Presbyterian), co-founder with Alexander Campbell of Disciples of Christ |
| 1775± | 1800± | Life of Gabriel Prosser, Virginia slave-revolt leader inspired by Samson |
| 1782 | 1849 | William Miller (Baptist), revival leader, founder of M8illerite, predicted 2nd coming in 1843 and 1844 |
| 1786 | 1866 | Life of Alexander Campbell, Baptist convert who eventually founded Disciples of Christ (ca. 1830±) with his father Thomas and with Barton Stone |
| 1794 | Russian missionaries arrive on Kodiak Island (Alaska), introducing Orthodox Christianity | |
| 1795 | 1883 | Life of Robert Moffat, London Missionary Society missionary to Africa |
| 1795 | London Missionary Society (Congregationalist) first mission to Africa | |
| 1797 | 1879 | Ioann Veniaminov (Ivan Popov), first Bishop of Alaska (canonized 1977 as St. Innocent) |
| 1797 | James Cook killed in Hawaii | |
| 1799 | Church Missionary Society ( Anglican) first mission to Africa |
| 1800 | 1899 | XIXth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 1831 | Life of Nat Turner (Baptist), Virginia slave revolt leader |
| 1802 | 1877 | Life of Brigham Young, leader of majority Utah branch of Mormons after death of Joseph Smith |
| 1804 | 1863 | Life of Charles Colcock Jones (Presbyterian), interdenominational missionary to USA slaves |
| 1805 | 1844 | Life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) |
| 1805 | 1873 | Life of Samuel Wilberforce, Anglican bishop and advocate of British "mission civilisatrice" |
| 1805 | 1879 | Life of William Lloyd Garrison, founder of U.S. Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1808 | 1871 | Life of Wilhelm Weitling, evangelical advocate of class war, founder of League of the Just |
| 1809 | Founding of Christian Association of Washington County (PA) by Alexander Campbell, to evolve into Disciples of Christ | |
| 1810 | American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions first mission to Africa | |
| 1813 | 1883 | Life of Richard Wagner, German nationalist composer, promoter of myths of Aryan superiority & neo-paganism |
| 1813 | 1887 | Life of Henry Ward Beecher, famed American Congregationalist preacher |
| 1813 | Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society first mission to Africa | |
| 1818 | 1883 | Life of Karl Marx |
| 1820 | 1895 | Life of Friedrich Engels |
| 1820± | 1840± | Second Great Awakening of revivalism in USA |
| 1821 | 1910 | Life of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science |
| 1826 | Veniaminov establishes mission in Unalaska | |
| 1828 | Veniaminov meets Christian shaman Ivan SAmirennikov, who was baptized in 1795 | |
| 1830 | Book of Mormon published | |
| 1834 | 1851 | Veniaminov's mission to the Sitka Island Tlingit |
| 1834 | 1915 | Life of Henry M. Turner, founder of African Methodist Episcopal Church (USA) |
| 1836 | 1886 | Life of Ramakrishna, who regarded Jesus as legitimate focus for Hindu bhakti |
| 1838 | 1884 | Life of Keshab Chandra Sen, founder of the (Christo-Hindu) Church of the New Dispensation |
| 1844 | Mormons driven from Nauvoo; Joseph Smith shot & killed by mob | |
| 1847 | 1907 | Life of John Alexander Dowie, self-proclaimed pophet and founder of Zion City, Illinois, and Zionist church movement |
| 1851 | 1932 | Life of Joseph Booth (Australia), evangelical missionary to S. Africa |
| 1852 | 1916 | Life of Charles Taze Russell, founder of Jehovah's Witnesses, rejecting formal church role in salvation |
| 1854 | Immaculate conception of Mary is made Catholic dogma through ex cathedra declaration of Pius XI (See 1438.) | |
| 1858 | Apparition of the Virgin to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes (France) | |
| 1860± | 1915 | Life of John Chilemowe (Malawi), evangelical anti-colonial rebel (possibly born 1871.) |
| 1861 | 1910 | Life of William Rauschenbusch, advocate of "social gospel" |
| 1861 | African Methodist Episcopal Church founded in USA | |
| 1863 | 1902 | Life of Narendranath Datta, founder of Ramakrishna Mission (India) and Vedanta Society (USA) |
| 1865 | 1928 | Life of William Wade Harris (Liberia), Methodist, then creator of Harrist Christianity; rejects missionary monopoly |
| 1867 | Alaska sold to US; Veliaminov (Innocent) made Metropolitan of Moscow | |
| 1869 | 1942 | Life of Joseph Franklin Rutherford, architect of Jehovah's Witness pacifism |
| 1869 | 1948 | Life of Mohandas (Mahatma) Ghandi |
| 1869 | Pope Pius IX declares that a human embryo has a human soul from conception, and not from its first movement (“quickening”), the previous standard. | |
| 1870 | 1922 | Life of Wm J. Seymour, charismatic Baptist follower of Parham, creator of Azusa Street Revivals in Los Angeles |
| 1870 | 1924 | Life of Vladimir Lenin, opponent of Christianity in USSR |
| 1870 | 1935 | Life of Isiah Shembe (S. Africa) advocate of Zulu faith healing in Christianity |
| 1870 | First Vatican Council; pope declared infallible | |
| 1873 | 1929 | Life of Charles Fox Perham, Baptist who revives charism of speaking in tongues |
| 1875 | Christian Science founded by Mary Baker Eddy | |
| 1876 | 1966 | Life of Karl Adam, pro-Nazi Catholic theologian |
| 1878 | 1965 | Life of Martin Buber, Jewish theologian seeking Jewish-Christian reconciliation |
| 1886 | 1965 | Life of Paul Tilich, theologian of Christian existentialism & mysticism |
| 1886 | 1968 | Life of Karl Barth, anti-Nazi German theologian; stressed human-divine distance |
| 1887 | 1975 | Life of Joesph Lortz, pro-Nazi Catholic historian |
| 1888 | 1965 | Life of Hendrik Kraemer, "exclusivist" theologian (Non-Christians are damned) |
| 1889 | 1945 | Life of Adolf Hitler; used ideals of Volk and Vaterland to justify killing European misfits, esp. Jews |
| 1889 | 1951 | Life of Simon Kimbangu (C. Africa), Baptist, then founder of Kambangu Church |
| 1891 | 1956 | Life of Karl Ludwig Schmidt, anti-Nazi German missionary to Jews |
| 1892 | 1971 | Life of Reinhold Niebuhr, Protestant theologian & "Christian Marxist," then "Christian realist" |
| 1892 | 1984 | Life of Martin Niemöller, anti-Nazi founder of Pastors' Emergency League in 1933 |
| 1892 | Mangena M. Mokone (Methodist) founds Ethiopian Church (in S. Africa) | |
| 1893 | World's Parliament of Religion (Chicago) pushes strong agenda of mutual tolerance | |
| 1896 | Zion City, Illinois, is founded by John Alexander Dowie (1847b) of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church as a utopian, severely puritanical, theocratic city 40 miles north of Chicago; it will be formally incorporated in 1902.(In 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court will rule the city seal’s use of the phrase “God Reigns” to be unconstitutional. It will be replaced with the constitutionally acceptable “In God We Trust.”) |
| 1900 | 1999 | XXth CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 1945 | Life of Martin Bormann, Nazi official, promoter of anti-semitism |
| 1901 | Charismatic renewal movement begins at Bethel Bible College (Topeka) | |
| 1904 | 1998 | Life of Karl Rahner, "inclusivist" theologian (Non-Christians can be saved by grade as "anonymous Christians") |
| 1904 | Daniel Bryant, follower of Dowie, accidentally triggers multiplication of Zionist denominations in South Africa | |
| 1905 | Edict of Toleration permits non-Orthodox churches in Russia | |
| 1906 | 1945 | Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, anti-Nazi German theologian; executed |
| 1906 | 1976 | Life of Walter Grundmann, pro-Nazi theologian |
| 1908 | 1909 | Anti-colonial African Watchtower movement of Elliot Kenan Kamwana (Malawi); thousands baptized |
| 1910 | Zion Christian Church (ZCC) founded in S. Africa; creates elaborate center at Moria | |
| 1912 | 1963 | Life of John Maranke (S. Africa), Methodist, then founder of New Reveltion of the Apostles |
| 1914 | 1917 | World War I |
| 1915 | 1968 | Life of Thomas Merton (Trappist), mystic; author of The Seven Story Mountain (1948) |
| 1918 | Life of Billy Graham, American non-denominational ,fundamentalist, anti-communist evangelist | |
| 1920 | Life of Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist, founder of anti-communist, family-focused Unification Church (Moonies) | |
| 1922 | 1939 | Papacy of Pius XI (Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti) |
| 1924 | Mein Kampf published by Adolf Hitler | |
| 1925 | 1996 | Tomo Nyirenda (Baptized in Free Ch. of Scotland) leads massive witch killing as Mwana Lesa. Executed. |
| 1929 | 1968 | Life of Martin Luther King, American civil rights activist, founder of Southern Christian Leadership Conference |
| 1929 | 1990 | USSR bans religious services outside registered buildings |
| 1929 | Concordat of 1929 cedes Papal States to Italy, guarantees Vatican status of independent nation | |
| 1930± | 1940± | Heyday of cargo cults in New Guinea, often influenced by Christianity |
| 1931 | 1978 | Life of Jim Jones, Pentecostal socialist founder of apocalyptic suicide cult at Jonestown in Central America |
| 1931 | Vatican Radio founded | |
| 1933 | 1945 | Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler in power in Germany; neopaganism; doctrine of Aryan racial superiority; profound split in German churches between pro-Nazi and anti-Nazi factions |
| 1933 | Anti-Nazi Pastors' Emergency League founded by Martin Niemöller; to become Confessing Church movement in 1934 | |
| 1934 | Barmen Declaration of Karl Barth establishes Confessing Church in Germany; opposes rationalist "natural theology" | |
| 1939 | 1945 | World War II |
| 1939 | 1958 | Papacy of Pius XII (Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli) |
| 1946 | 1977 | Life of Steve Biko, founder of Black Consciousness Movement & "Black theology" in South Africa |
| 1947 | Seelisberg Conference of Christians & Jews under Jules Isaac (French Catholic) condemns anti-semitism |
| 1948 | Israel established as modern, officially Jewish state | |
| 1949 | All foreign missionries ejected from China; All Christians forced into two government-controlled "patriotic associations | |
| 1951 | Campus Crusade for Christ founded in Los Angeles by Bill Bright to promote fundamentalism on campuses | |
| 1957 | Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded by Martin Luther King in US | |
| 1958 | 1963 | Papacy of John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli); calls Second Vatican Council for 1962 |
| 1960 | Congress on World Missions (Chicago) proclaims damnation of all non-Christians | |
| 1960± | 1970± | "Death of God" movement seeks to explain Holocaust |
| 1962 | 1965 | Second Vatican Council; approves vernacular liturgy and other reforms; condemns anti-semitism |
| 1963 | 1978 | Papacy of Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) |
| 1967 | Six Day War; Israel annexes Jerusalem; captures West Bank, Gaza, and Sinai. | |
| 1968 | Artificial birth control banned by Vatican | |
| 1968 | Conference of Bishops in Medellín (Colombia) interprets Vatican II reforms into Liberation Theology | |
| 1973 | Abortion legalized throughout the United States in famous "Row v Wade" Supreme Court decision; church backlash will continue past the end of the century. | |
| 1978 | 1978 | Papacy of John Paul I (Albino Luciani) |
| 1978 | 2005 | Papacy of John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) |
| 1978 | "Jonestown Massacre," a suicide of some 900 American Christian cultists at Jim Jones "People's Temple" in northwestern Guyana briefly raises worries about personality cults, Christian fanaticism, &. | |
| 1981 | Apparition of the Virgin to children at Medjugorje (Bosnia-Herzegovina, then part of Yugoslavia) | |
| 1981 | Pope shot; survival attributed to Virgin of Fátima, whose crown at the shrine in Portugal now holds bullet | |
| 1982 | World Alliance of Reformed Churches declares apartheid a sin & suspends South African churches | |
| 1985 | Kairos Document provides theological rationale for armed rebellion in South Africa | |
| 1986 | South African Dutch Reformed Church denounces apartheid | |
| 1988 | Orthodox world celebrates 1000 years of Christianity in Russia | |
| 1989 | 1991 | Collapse of European communism; USSR dissolved |
| 1990± | Collapse of apartheid in South Africa, no longer supported by nations needing an ally against Communism | |
| 1992 | Church of England votes to allow female priests | |
| 1993 | Parliament for the World's Religions (Chicago) follows up on 1893 event |
| 2000 | 2099 | XXIst CENTURY |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Pope John Paul II adds "Mysteries of Light" to the rosary | |
| 2005 | 2013 | Papacy of Benedict XVI (Josef Alois Ratzinger), ending in unprecedented resignation and the title "Pope Emeritus" |
| 2007 | Pope Benedict XVI loosens Latin-language (Tridentine) mass restrictions dating from the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), triggering a wave of “backsliding” congregations moving back to the Latin mass. | |
| 2013 | Papacy of Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) | |
| 2015 | Gay Marriage legalized in the United States by Supreme Court decision despite objections from various church denominations, part of a cascade of legalizations in various countries. (Pope Francis will eventually argue in favor of accepting gay Catholics but not approving gay marriage or gay sex, noting that gay people are created by God but all sex outside of marriage is banned. See 2023.) | |
| 2017 | The Episcopal Church’s General Convention declares that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.” This is construed as endorsing gay marriage, producing an organizational crisis in the Anglican community. | |
| 2021 | In a series of new regulations, Pope Francis replaces Vatican II Latin-language mass restrictions that had been relaxed in 2007. New priests will require explicit permission for Latin from their bishops in consultation with the Vatican. Latin-language rites for confirmation and ordination are prohibited; and Vatican permission is required for use of Latin in baptism, marriage, and anointing of the sick. (Critics accuse the pope of heresy for reimposing restrictions on the use of Latin.) Regulations also provide that attempts to ordain a woman as a priest will henceforth bring automatic excommunication of both the cleric and the ordained woman. | |
| 2023 | Pope Francis announces that at October’s post-Vatican II (1962-1965) yearly convening of bishops, 70 non-bishop voting members will be included, half of them women and voting representatives of religious orders will include five priests and five nuns. This is the first time women are allowed to vote at this yearly event. | |
| 2023 | A closed-door synod of bishops is convened in October by Pope Francis to consider the future of the church including clerical celibacy, LGBT exclusion, and the growing role of women. He later issues instructions that LGBT Catholics should be permitted full Church participation, but not priesthood or marriage. | |
| 2023 | Despite strong conservative resistance, Pope Francis declares that civilly wedded gay married couples may receive Church blessings so long as the blessing in not associated in any way with direct reference to their being married, or to a marriage ritual, marriage clothing, or other trappings of a marriage ceremony. |