Church History Timeline

  • 70

    The Fall of Jerusalem

    The Fall of Jerusalem
    Tensions had been growing between the Roman Empire and the Jews for awhile. Finally in AD 70, legions of Roman soldiers led by Titus began a siege on Jerusalem. Titus sought to destroy the temple. The significance of the fall of Jerusalem was seen clearly because the church was pushed outward. Another effect of the fall of Jerusalem was that it left the church in need of establishing a canon or book of scripture, leadership, and most importantly creeds. The church needed to be remade basically.
  • 313

    Edict of Milan

    Edict of Milan
    The Edict of Milan was an official order issued by Roman Emperors Constantine and Lucinius in the year 313 AD. The Edict of Milan allowed for religious freedom throughout the Holy Roman Empire. The Edict also stopped the persecution of christians. The Edict was signed because the emperor Constantine had a dream which caused him to confess Christianity as his faith. This Edict was very important because it started to mean that the Church and Empire began to be interwoven.
  • 325

    The Council of Nicaea

    The Council of Nicaea
    The first council of Nicaea was a group of Bishops who were called together by Constantine to solve some heated questions in the church. The church gathered over three main things: the nature of Christ, the Bible, and the question of authority in the church. The meeting was significant because the meeting was the first worldwide gathering of the church. Another reason it was significant was because of its successful translation of biblical revelation into another conceptual language.
  • 530

    Saint Benedict's Rule

    Saint Benedict's Rule
    St. Benedict's rule is the rule book for monks life written by St. Benedict in 530 A.D. Monasticism was significant because of its spiritual disciplines, christ centered practice of life were preserved, copied, studied and translated. Scripture became the driving force of the Christian faith. It was also significant because it presented a two tiered view of living the Christian life and the spiritual life of a monk could be considered to be higher than the spiritual life of an ordinary person.
  • Dec 25, 800

    Coronation of Charlemagne

    Coronation of Charlemagne
    The Coronation of Charlemagne was when Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. This was very significant because Charlemagne was from the East which was not very common to become Emperor. It was also very significant because the Pope crowned Charlemagne. This may not seem very important but it meant that the Church and Roman Empire were directly connected. Roman leaders chose to be subordinate to the authority of the Pope. This basically means the the Pope is greater than the Roman Leaders.
  • Apr 5, 1054

    The Great Schism

    The Great Schism
    The Great Schism was when the Eastern orthodox and Roman catholic churches split. This is all started by Pope leo IX and Patriarch Michael 1 excommunicating each other. One of the most important effects of the Great Schism in Europe was the call for reform in the Church by many political and theological thinkers. Many of the theological reformers who tried to change things for the better were excommunicated. Some of the followers of the theological reformers within the Church were burned.
  • Apr 5, 1096

    The Crusades

    The Crusades
    The crusades were when Christians from Europe fought Muslims for control of Jerusalem and other holy places. The Crusades were a vast outpouring of landless peasants and equally landless nobles hoping to carve a better future in the lands to be taken from the Muslims. They did it both spiritually to get back Jerusalem and politically because the Christians from Europe needed land. The crusades separated people and only further drove a wedge between catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
  • Apr 5, 1521

    The Diet of Worms

    The Diet of Worms
    The diet of Worms was when Martin Luther had to appear before Emperor in Worms twice who told him that he needed to take back his teachings of the 95 theses. Luther made a bold stand that he would not recant them unless he felt that God told him they were wrong. As a result of Luther taking this stand he was declared an outlaw by the Emperor. Also as a result of the stand people clung to him and his teachings. His stand started the protestant reformation which many people supported.
  • Period: to

    The Great Awakening

    The first great awakening was a religious movement among colonials in the 1730’s and the 1740’s that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies. The Great Awakening pulled away from ritual, ceremony, sacramentalism, and hierarchy, and made Christianity intensely personal to the average person. The great awakening was significant because the new style of sermans and the way they preached brought new life to the religious world in America.
  • Edinburgh Missionary Conference

    Edinburgh Missionary Conference
    The Edinburgh Missionary Conference was a conference of missionaries called together in the United Free church in Scotland in the Shadow of Edinburgh castle.The conference was called for the hope that the unity begun in the mission field might expand its influence to other aspects of life. The Edinburgh Missionary Conference was significant because the conference marked the expansion of missions and a renewed focus to bring the gospel to the world.