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History of Christianity

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The History of Christianity, also known as ecclesiastical history, is the remarkable history of the growth of Christianity as a movement, in numbers and influence. Today the institution founded by Jesus Christ is the largest and most influential religion in the world, despite multiple efforts to stop its spread.

A methodical, scientific study of the growth and development of this movement must examine the claims that its Founder made and the evidence that bears out those claims. They include a declaration that the church would never die and that the Holy Spirit would continue to guide its growth and development in order to save mankind from its sin.

An ecclesiastical historian must study the tension between the free will of man and the possibility of supernatural intervention in any event. That God might intervene in nature and produce miracles is not, has not and never can be proved or disproved. But when one examines all the historical facts, one will recognize that only supernatural intervention could have kept the church on the path that it has followed. [1][2]

Contents

Christian Canon

Main Article: Bible

The most vital component of the history of any country or religion is the original document outlining its governing principles. The Christian church begins with the Bible. It contains 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament written by 40 different authors over 1500 years. [3] No other book in history is as popular, or as revered, nor as diverse in context as the lives of those who wrote it.

Without the foundation that is the Word of God, the church and individuals within would have nothing to root their life in and grow. Furthermore without the consistently written, reliable, actual eyewitness accounts that the biblical authors provide, there would be no way to compare what other scholars have written on the subjects. In other words there could be no real progress within the study of ecclesiastical history by comparing with other historical records without the pre-established biblical record.

Old Testament canonization

Some of the more liberal biblical and theological scholars insist that the Old Testament canon was formed later, usually around the first century AD. During the 400 years after the last book of the Old Testament was written but before the creation of the first book of the New Testament, a time called the intertestamental period, there were no prophets. Thus any date past the already accepted completion date of the book of Malachi is considered suspect. Some argue that Ecclesiasticus and 2 Maccabees are not inspired because the writers express uncertainty about their abilities. But sacred writers are often humble about their divinely inspired writings. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7:40, Paul says he "thinks" that he has the Spirit of God. In addition, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament of the Christian canon, called the Septuagint (LXX), was composed by scribes around 200-150 BC. The Septuagint contains the thirty-nine canonical books of the Old Testament agreed upon by Catholics and Protestants to be canonical, but also contains the books called the Deuterocanonicals by Catholics and the Apocrypha by Protestants, which are considered non-inspired, and hence non-canonical, by most Protestant denominations but, are considered inspired and canonical by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and are included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles.

William Foxwell Albright (1891 to 1971), was an American pioneer archaeologist, biblical scholar, linguist and expert on ceramics. He held it certain that the Hebrew text between c. 150 and c. 50 BC was fixed and that the variations between it and the modern Tanakh are rarely of significance. That is a stance widely accepted by conservative biblical scholars. With that in mind, the Tanakh was known and studied as 39 books far earlier than the first century AD, rather before the first century BC.[4]

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Main article: Dead Sea scrolls
The Hosea Commentary scroll

The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the most important archaeological find of the twentieth century. They confirm the reliability of the Old Testament and its prophecies as untainted by later church leaders. Furthermore, they have allowed modern man a glimpse into the era Jesus was born into, and the society that existed at the beginnings of Christianity.

They were discovered in the upper Dead Sea region of Qumran, 13 miles east of Jerusalem. In 1947, three local Bedouin shepherds happened upon seven jars in a cave while tossing rocks to entertain themselves. In those jars they found the first scrolls. They sold them to an antiquities dealer, who in turn sold three to Eleazar L. Sukenik of the Hebrew University and four to the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archbishop, Arthanasius Yeshue Samuel, took his scrolls to the American School of Oriental Research, making them known to the Western world. Other scrolls were found upon close examination of the caves in the Qumran region between 1947-1956. The importance of the scrolls soon became apparent, as they were recognized to be the oldest such manuscripts of Jewish texts; the Great Isaiah scroll, which contains the entire book of Isaiah, is at least 1,000 years older than any other known transcript.

Their age was especially significant because they are almost identical to the later transcripts. Once confirmed, through Carbon-14 dating in addition to paleographic and scribal dating, this fact silenced a lot of criticism aimed at discrediting the Biblical texts as adapted or adjusted to fit into Christianity's theology. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, all known copies of Biblical texts were written long after the time of Christ. Apart from a few scribal errors, however, the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are identical to later corresponding transcripts.

NT quotes the OT

Another way that Christianity can determine Old Testament canonization is to see which Old Testament books Jesus and the writers of the NT (who were contemporaries and eyewitnesses to Jesus life, death and resurrection) quoted in their teaching and writing. This is important to ecclesiastical history because we are to follow Christ, His example and teachings. Jesus Himself quoted 24 out of 39 Old Testament books of the modern Protestant Christian canon while the NT writers in total quoted from 34 books. The five OT books never quoted or explicitly taught from within the New Testament are: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. [5]

Deuterocanon and Apocrypha

The Deuterocanonical books are the seven books which were included in the Septuagint and Catholics and Orthodox include in the Old Testament, but which Protestants generally do not. They include the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees as well as and parts of Daniel and Esther. Classically they were called Apocrypha by Protestants. But today the word 'Apocrypha' denotes a class of literature that includes these deuterocanonical books plus several others of varying reputation for historical validity.

These books written during the four hundred years between the last book of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ. While Catholics and Orthodox Christians regard them as inspired Scripture and free from error, the general Protestant consensus is that although they have an actual history and literary value in some cases, these seven books have been rejected as non-canonical by both the Jewish faith and most denominations of the Christian church. This is due to alleged historical, geographical, or literal inaccuracies in most cases, the teaching of doctrines which allegedly contradict what has already been considered inspired Scripture and a lack of elements and structure which give genuine Scripture its unique characteristic.[6]

Contrary to popular belief, there is indeed evidence for the inspiration of the Deuterocanonical books and that Jesus and the Apostles considered them Scripture. These can be found in the following quotations from Jesus and the writers of the NT (Source: Deuterocanonical Books in the New Testament):

With these facts established it is clear that the Septuagint is what Jesus and the apostles taught from or were recorded as quoting in the NT.

New Testament canonization

The New Testament as it is today was recognized by authorities within the very infancy of the Christian church, such as Athanasius of Alexandria (293-373 AD).[7] During the time, roughly 290 years after Christ's death, Athanasius was a prominent figure defending against the Arian heresy that dismissed Jesus Christ as God.

But the books we know as the New Testament were in circulation and in wide use by followers of Christ long before 300-400 AD. In fact, we know from immediate contextual factors within the Bible itself, that by 70 AD, merely 30 years or so after Christ's death and resurrection, the 27-book canon had been written and completed in full. The date of 293-373 AD can be used as a way to determine official recognition by prominent, later Christians regarding the modern NT canon.

Early Christian Writings

A way in which documentation of church history, or historical accuracy of such can be obtained apart from the biblical canon is through theologians, apologists and historians. The earliest and most prominent non-biblical canonical writings from such Christians were completed merely 100 years after Christ. They were strong defenders of His teachings, deep theologians of His philosophies, as well as formidable opponents against contemporary heresies clouding the clarity of Christian thought.

Justin Martyr

Main article: Justin Martyr

He was born around 114 AD in Flavia Neapolis, a city of Samaria and was most likely well educated having travelled extensively. He later became a disciple of Socrates and Plato through which he developed his philosophies on life and soon gravitated towards Christ.

The writings of Justin Martyr are among the most important that we have from the second century AD. His writings are not the first written on the subjects he covers, what are called his Apologies, but are the earliest extant.

One of his most important writings entitled the Dialogue with Trypho, is the first detailed reasoning for Christ as the Messiah of the Old Testament. That also essentially became the first attempt to reason with the Jews in regard to their views as compared to that of Christianity regarding Christ's prophetic implications.

Many of Justin Martyr's writings were destroyed by time but there are a few that are considered to have been written by him and attest his real authorship. They are:

  1. First Apology
  2. Second Apology
  3. Dialogue with Trypho
  4. Hortatory Address to the Greeks
  5. On the Sole Government of God
  6. Fragments of the Lost Work on the Resurrection
  7. Miscellaneous Fragments from Lost Writings
  8. Martyrdom of Justin, Chariton, and other Roman Martyrs
  9. Discourse to the Greeks[8]

Irenaeus

Main article: Irenaeus

Thought to be Greek Irenaeus was born around 130 AD in what was called Smyrna in the Bible and Izmir in modern day western Turkey. His interest in Christianity was sparked by hearing Polycarp preach who was taught by the Apostle John, who was an eyewitness to Christs life, death and resurrection. Because of the connection to one who witnessed and was a disciple of Jesus, Irenaeus is an important figure within ecclesiastical history as his writings are very close to primary eyewitness sources.

The writings which have survived over the years are:

  1. Against Heresies
  2. Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus

Tertullian

Main article: Tertullian

Tertullian was born in 160 AD in Carthage which was in modern day Tunisia. He has left 31 extant treatises dating from around 190-220 AD, and converted from Paganism to Christianity around 197 AD. He is known as the first Christian to write in Latin.

Tertullian grew angry when he witnessed compromise in the church, namely unwillingness to be martyred, and willingness to forgive more serious public sins. For these reasons he aligned himself with the Montanist movement and dealt with such subjects in his writings.[9]

Tertullian's writings which have survived over the years are:

  1. The Apology
  2. On Idolatry
  3. De Spectaculis (The Shows)
  4. De Corona (The Chaplet)
  5. To Scapula
  6. Ad Nationes
  7. An Answer to the Jews
  8. The Soul's Testimony
  9. Treatise on the Soul
  10. The Prescription Against Heretics
  11. Against Marcion
  12. Against Hermogenes
  13. Against the Valentinians
  14. On the Flesh of Christ
  15. On the Resurrection of the Flesh
  16. Against Praxeas
  17. Scorpiace
  18. Appendix (Against All Heresies)
  19. On Repentance
  20. On Baptism
  21. On Prayer
  22. Martyras
  23. The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (Sometimes attributed to Tertullian)
  24. Of Patience
  25. On the Pallium
  26. On the Apparel of Women
  27. On the Veiling of Virgins
  28. To His Wife
  29. On Exhortation to Chastity
  30. On Monogamy
  31. On Modesty
  32. On Fasting
  33. De Fuga in Persecutione

Eusebius

Main article: Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 260-ca. 340 AD), the "Father of Church History," had an aptitude for historical research superior to that of all other Church authorities who preceded him or were contemporary with him. He was curator of the Library of Caesarea (after Origen and Pamphilus) and while there he wrote his most famous work, the Ecclesiastical History. He is best known for classifying all the known works of or inspired by the Apostles and thus laying the foundation for the development of the New Testament canon.[10]

Other works by Eusebius include:

  1. Life of Pamphilus, now lost. Only a fragment remains.
  2. Ancient Martyrdoms, now lost
  3. On the Martyrs of Palestine
  4. The Chronicle of Eusebius
  5. Church History
  6. Life of Constantine
  7. Oration of Constantine "to the Assembly of the Saints"
  8. Oration in Praise of Constantine
  9. Letter on the Council of Nicaea
  10. Against Hierocles
  11. Against Porphyry, 25 volumes, now lost
  12. Praeperatio Evangelica, 15 volumes
  13. Demonstratio Evangelica, 20 volumes
  14. Praeperatio Ecclesiastica, now lost
  15. Demonstratio Ecclesiastica, now lost
  16. Two Books of Objection and Defense, now lost
  17. Theophania (Divine Manifestation), of which a Syriac version survives
  18. On the Numerous Progeny of the Ancients
  19. Fifty copies of the Bible, commissioned by Constantine
  20. Sections and Canons
  21. An edition of the Septuagint[11][12]

Church Development from 34 AD to 500 AD

The first five centuries of Christianity are very important when establishing a context of what the church means and the effects of its early development had on the ability to further establish and define itself. The church as a whole and individuals within during the first five centuries suffered physical, emotional and spiritual attacks the likes of which can be described as a holocaust against Christianity. The church still thriving, later attaining great influence and leadership of the empire it was born under only 500 years later implies an incredible mechanism of change that was inherent in the original message by Christ that is now being preached.

It can then be objectively seen within history of the lives of Christ's followers despite all efforts against them, the beliefs they held regarding His life, death and resurrection were indeed not only factual truths but life-changing beliefs for individuals and not mere figments of imagination or lies.

The First Century

After Christ's death and resurrection c. 30-40 AD, Christianity took root within the Roman Empire despite a daunting 357 martyrs a year. Nearly two generations after the resurrection new Christian leaders succeed Christ's contemporary apostles and the Gospel is reverberating outward towards the edges of the Roman empire. The church was having trouble understanding its purpose in the world as a faith for all to attain and for all to be saved through Christ. The thought and feeling that the Lord will soon return was a prevalent belief and all were eagerly awaiting the moment. [13]

Peter, whose original name was Simon and according to the Catholic Church, the first Pope, was a contemporary eyewitness and disciple of ppJesus Christ]]. Born in Bethsaida as the son of Jonah (also called Johannes or John) (John 1:42,44 ), he worked for his Savior in Judea and in Rome near the end of his life which led up to his martyrdom for His sake.

Circa 70-100 AD is the time period when the Bible or Scriptural Canon of 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books was completed. These writings although not commonly found during this time as a total book or canon are beginning to be circulated and read in secret by what are known as Christians or followers of Christ described in Acts 11:26 , Acts 26:28 and 1_Peter 4:16 .

The Second Century

Christianity was starting to become established as a viable faith that is attracting those who truly seek it. The number of Christians being martyred for their faith reached nearly 80,000 since Christ. Heretical attacks against theological principles based in scripture were developing into a framework coupled with physical attacks to bring Christianity to its knees. The attacks evolved in the first century from the physical upon the believers, to a deeper spiritual attack in the second century that is stirring individuals within the church to define themselves as integral parts through non-violent defense of it.

Apologists and theologians begin to stand up for the defense of and definition of scripture in this century as a direct result of such attacks. Churches still are not legal and neither are any public forums that express views held in regard to Christ by the early church. Near the end of the second century and the beginning of the third the church is gaining much strength in Asia Minor, near modern day Turkey and North Africa. [14]

Heresies

Gnosticism

Gnosticism was a belief analogous to the modern New Age movement. It made claims of special knowledge and through that knowledge the attainment of salvation. Indeed, thought and practice of such was happening even before Christ was born. However during the second century it made significant gains within the Roman empire.[15]

Marcionism

Marcionism was a belief personified in Marcion who was son of the Bishop of Sinope in Pontus. Marcion was born around 110 AD from wealthy parents. He is synonymous with the attempt to reduce the canonical books of scripture, specifically within the New Testament. He is known to have taken out at least one Gospel and accepted only ten Epistles of Paul. [16]

Montanism

Montanism was a type of charismatic movement that got carried away with prophecies, special revelations and the like. Montanus, considered the founder began to prophesy in the village of Ardabau in Phrygia. [17]

The Third Century

Within the first decade of the third century (200-300 AD) the Roman emperor Septimius Severus was persecuting Christians severely by enforcing already established policies of the Roman government. Roman authorities were not allowed to look for Christians to execute, but if a person identified or accused someone of being Christian, they then were allowed to take action. This action was usually a choice given to the Christian; either curse and deny Christ and make an offering to Roman gods or be executed. After Septimius' tyrannical rule ended about 211 AD, hostility started to show signs of relenting and churches began to be built bringing with it some legal breathing room.

North Africa was becoming a major and vital part of Christendom with Carthage and Alexandria being major theological hubs. The church was thriving with at least a million Christians in Egypt. The peace that Christians were starting to enjoy soon came to an end in 250 AD when the emperor Decius unleashes an empire-wide persecution. He accomplished this by declaring that everybody must offer a pagan sacrifice and show certificate of proof. This in turn brought up questions within the church regarding how to deal with those who turned away and now want acceptance again. [18]

Persecutions were at a record high of 1,540 a year totaling 410,000 since Christ. The role of bishop continued in significance. [19] Also, Anthony the Great, an Egyptian Christian monk, treked into the desert becoming a hermit and allowed himself to be spiritually disciplined. This movement or family of traditions is called monasticism, literally meaning, "dwelling alone," and was established during the early church as a protest against the increasing worldliness of the church. [20][21]

The Fourth Century

This century of church development was similar to our current in that historic changes were taking place that affected the church's relationship with society and politics albeit the two extremes. A melding of the two began to percolate even though persecution was still rampant.

In 305 AD, near the end of Diocletian's reign as emperor, he instituted what many historians feel was an attempt to completely exterminate the church. It failed, and the root causes of Diocletian's policy remained unclear. [22] John Chrysostom (347 to 407 AD) was born in Antioch, Syria and died after becoming a very prominent apologist for the Gospel and being known as an eloquent speaker of such.

Licinius was denying Constantine's rights and privileges to govern. Constantine was accepted as Caesar by his troops and Galerius (the eastern emperor) in 306 AD after Constantine's father and emperor of the Western Roman empire Flavius Valerius Constantius dies. Constantine's father, Flavius Constantius served in the court of Diocletian who was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305 AD. The acceptance of Constantine as Caesar is the first to put a crack in Diocletian's scheme for a tetrarchy, an empire ruled by four. Essentially Diocletian created a system in which there were two senior emperors, one for the Eastern block and one for the Western block of the Roman empire. These in turn would have a junior emperor respectively.

On June 5, 313 AD the same year Licinius (Roman Emperor from 308 to 324) married Constantine's half-sister Flavia Julia Constantia, he initiated what is known as the Edict of Milan. It granted toleration for Christians and other religions within the empire and also restored all church property. Churches began to flourish and Christians felt as if they could breathe a sigh of relief. Trends changed and it was starting to be considered opportune in politics and society in general to become Christian.

In 314 Licinius was at an uneasy peace with Constantine after he was defeated in the Battle of Cibalae. He continues to project a hostile position through building up his army and however good of a gesture the edict was it is clearly a ruse used to control the time he could use to essentially turn his back on it just 7 years later in 320 AD. Licinius breaks his commitment and initiates a small-scale but violent persecution of the church. That in turn makes Adrianople, or what is essentially the land of the modern day city Edirne in Thrace; the western most part of Turkey break into a place of civil war and unrest led by Constantine in the Summer of 324 AD. This will ultimately lead to the defeat of Licinius.

Four years after Licinius' persecution, the Battle of the Hellespont by Crispus, Constantine’s eldest son and Caesar compeled Licinius to withdraw to Bythinia where his last stand was made and the Battle of Chrysopolis was carried out. In the end Constantine came to eastern Europe as a liberator, wanting to establish peace and stability to pagans and Christians alike. [23]

After being defeated time and time again in battle and realizing that further resistance is futile, Licinius surrenderrf and Constantine spared his life. His co-emperor Sextus Martinianus was killed however. The Roman senate with concurrence of Constantine a year later had Licinius killed because of his potential threat of conspiring with the barbarians to raise up troops. After the death of Licinius in 325 AD Constantine became sole ruler of the Roman empire.

Toward the end of Constantine's life in 337 AD, a Persian enemy was forming in the lands of modern day Iran. Shapur II[24] was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire or what is also called the second Persian Empire which lasted from 226 to 651 AD. He broke a 40 year peace agreement that was brokered by Narseh and Emperor Diocletian. [25] Before Constantine could react to a blatant act of war he was struck with an illness that claimed his life in May of 337. [26]

Under Constantine the Great's rule, the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD) was convened with 318 bishops in attendance and became one voice condemning the Arian heresy which challenges Christ's claim of direct Sonship of God (homoousios) as well as His human lineage. (Saint Nicholas attended this Council and, by one account, confronted Arius directly, expressing his contempt for Arius' arguments with a slap across the face.) The result is the Nicene Creed which most churches follow to this very day. Some fifty years later the First Council of Constantinople convened during the year of 381 AD under Pope Damasus I and the Emperor Theodosius I; it was attended by 150 bishops. Its goal was focused against the followers of Macedonius, who disputed the Divinity of the Holy Spirit.

The fourth century also saw the role of missionaries being vital to the expansive nature of the Gospel of Christ. Through missions it was taken to even further edges of the known world, past the Roman empire and through Ufilias to the Goths, an east Germanic tribe that settled in modern day Poland around the turn of the third century AD.

In 386 Saint Augustine, although raised as a Christian by his mother Monica, returned to Christianity from Manichaeism and became one of the most important Christian theologians in church history. Persecutions flourished at the turn of the century due to empire-wide incitements but also because emperors who truly respected Christianity are no longer ruling. Within 400 years of its inception the church grows despite massive persecution, and became the foundation of an empire that once carried out persecution against it without mercy. In the end however persecutions smashed previous records and by 400 AD were at about 5,000 a year with a total of 1.5 million being martyred for their faith.[22]

The Fifth Century

Despite missionary efforts the Goths were increasingly becoming a threat to the Roman empire. August of 410 AD marked the first time Rome fell to the hands of an enemy in 800 years when the Goths or Visigoths, led by Alaric I, sacked the city. The role of emperor began to decline while the role of bishop within the church and Roman society increased during the close of the fifth century.

The need for Christ to be defined and the Word of God to be defended by the church was very great on account of attempts to tear it down through theological alternatives. The First Council of Ephesus was convened in 431 AD and 200 bishops attended. It addressed the personal unity of Christ, declared Mary the Mother of God (theotokos), effectively going against Nestorius who was Bishop of Constantinople and founder of Nestorianism a Christological heresy. Nestorius later died in 451 AD which was the same year that the Council of Chalcedon was held. One-hundred and fifty bishops were in attendance under Pope Leo the Great that again defined the two natures of Christ which are Divine and human existing together without confusion.

The Roman Empire (west and east) by 476

Saint Patrick (390-460) was a huge force for the the missionary effort of the church. Patrick was Romano-Briton who, at the age of 16, was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. It was at this time he learned the native Gaelic language and the customs of the Druids, as his master was a Druidic high priest. When he was 22, he escaped to Gaul (modern France) where he became a Christian priest and one night, in a dream, he heard the people of Ireland were calling out to him, saying, "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more.". Now in his thirties, Patrick was made a Bishop by Pope Celestine I in 432 and, together with a small band of followers, traveled to Ireland to commence the conversion. He thus became one of the first Christian missionaries to bring the Gospel to Ireland, being preceded by St. Palladius (431 AD). Patrick is credited with establishing 300 churches in Ireland and of having converted the population to Christianity as well as bringing written word to Ireland through the promotion of the study of legal texts and the Bible.

Leaders of the more eastern parts of Europe were being converted to Christianity and in 481 AD the Frankish King Clovis inherited his father's kingdom and utilized it to unify the Franks. Five years later King Clovis defeated the Roman general Syagrius. Syagrius ruled the lands of northern Gaul which consists of modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. By 496, just before he was baptized and converted to Christianity, Clovis defeated the alliance of Germanic tribes called Alemanni. After Clovis ws baptized he later finished his expansion by taking control of Aquitaine, the last province of France, from Alaric II of the Visigoths. This paved the way for Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire.[27]

The church calendar, starting at the Christian year, was established and begins to take hold as the standard among the Roman empire.

Five-hundred years had passed and the rate at which Christians were being killed for their faith in Christ was astounding with 5,500 a year and a total of 2.5 million. Amongst this the sriptures already being established and circulated for centuries were then available in 13 languages. [28]

Church Development from 500 to 1000 AD

This can easily be characterized as the most complex time of Christian history. The Middle Ages as it is called started at the Western Roman Empires fall, dating around 476 and lasting until 1350 AD. It is the second of three ages of European history, which are: Classical Civilization, the Middle ages and Modern Civilization. [29] The Church prospered and gained much acceptance but it was also fractured with theological differences at the core, the result leading to the creation of denominations in Christianity. However hurtful some ecclesiastical historians claim this was for the continued unification of the church, doctrinal theological similarities still exist today regarding salvation.

The religion of Islam founded by Muhammad began to be practiced during the middle of the seventh century (600 to 700 AD) and begn to infiltrate and desecrate core centers of the established Christian and Jewish religions. This effectively caused massive upheavals of Christian populations from the Middle East to Western Europe.[30] Islam, through its history of violent expansion and attempts of such, moved Christians towards a call to arms through strict defense of itself. It is through defense by any stretch of the imagination that should make up the context an ecclesiastical historian recognizes as the source of their actions, and justifiably so with millions of Christians having been murdered for their faith.

The Sixth Century

Saint Benedict can be seen as one of the most important Christian monks in this century as well as in the entire history of Christianity. He is also known as Benedict of Nursia and was responsible for establishing a Christian monastery in Monte Cassino.[31] He is best-known however for his writings released in 529 AD entitled the, Rule of Saint Benedict. [32] It contains precepts written to inspire moral action in an individual. It is to be used as guiding instruction for a Christian monk living life under an abbot that the community has chosen as their spiritual adviser. In words more personal to the author, as the Benedictine Confederation's motto states: pax ("peace") and the traditional, ora et labora ("pray and work").

Barbarians increased migration into western and other eastern Roman empire territories effectively changing the sociopolitical landscape. The Roman armies also begin to fight themselves and civil war is raging throughout the empire and is draining resources rapidly. Barbarians being labeled so if they did not speak Greek were not limited to the Goths but include the Persians, Phoenicians and Scythians. The Germanic and Slavic peoples were essentially tribal at this time and their migration lasted until the early Middle Ages, heavily influencing the current population of modern Europe. [33]

The Cardinals elected the first Pope of German ancestry: Pope Boniface II.[30]

Dionysus Exiquus (d. ca. 550) fixed the Anno Domini epoch. By all accounts, however, his first "year of our Lord" fell about three to eight years too late.[30]

The Western Roman Empire fell around 476 AD and now in its entirety; the mighty Roman empire began to fall. [34]

Due to responses from among the Church towards heresies of the sixth century (500-600 AD) the Fifth Ecumenical Council (dubbed Second Council of Constantinople) was held in 553 AD amassing 165 bishops under Pope Vigilius and Emperor Justinian I. [35]

The Seventh Century

Isidore, bishop of Seville, labored mightily to advance the cause of Christ in Spain.[36]

Muhammad (c. 570-629) began the political-religious movement called Islam, raises an army, and rides forth "conquering and to conquer." (Revelation 6:1-2 (KJV)) In 638, Muslim armies capture Jerusalem.

The Pantheon in Rome was rededicated as the St. Maria Rotunda in 609. Pope Boniface IV declared All Saints' Day.

Emperor Constans II issued the Typos (Greek "manner") that limits Christian teachings to those defined in the first five ecumenical councils. When Pope Martin I refuses to sign, he is banished to Crimea, where he dies.

England adopts the Catholic faith at the Synod of Whitby in 664.

Two Anglo-Saxon bishops, Kilian and Wilibrord, conduct their grand mission among the Franks.

First use of organs and church bells.

Establishment of Anglo-Saxon monasteries.

The Eighth Century

Muslim or "Moorish" conquest of Spain.[37] But in Battle of Tours, Charles Martel stops the Muslims from conquering France.

Division of the eastern and western Churches begins with controversy over veneration of images.

Pope Leo III becomes head of the western Church and establishes the Papal States in southern Italy.

Charlemagne becomes sole King of the Franks.

First schools of church music at Paris, Cologne, Soissin, and Metz.

The Ninth Century

Charlemagne becomes the first Holy Roman Emperor.[38]

First and highly controversial publication about the Eucharist, by Radbertus.

John Scotus Erigena lays the foundations of scholasticism.

Rift between eastern and western Churches grows wider.

Anskar (801-865), "Apostle of the North," brings Christianity to Scandinavia.

Cyril and Methodius invent the Cyrillic alphabet for Slavic peoples.

King Alfred the Great orders translation of religious writings into the language of the common people in England.

The Tenth Century

Christianity continued to spread to the east in Europe.[39]

Reigns of Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia ("Good King Wenceslaus") and Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, the man who, more than any other, introduced Christianity to Russia.

Emperor Otto the Great reestablishes the Holy Roman Empire, but among Germans only.

Papacy descends into moral turpitude.

First canonizations of saints.

Approach of the Year 1000 causes people to anticipate the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20 ).

Church Development from 1000 to 1500 AD

Includes the Crusades, the final division of the eastern and western Churches, early efforts to reform the church, the Inquisition, and continued warfare between Christianity and Islam.

The Eleventh Century

Muslims sack the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1009. This event provokes Pope Urban II to proclaim the First Crusade in 1095. The first Crusaders reconquer Jerusalem in 1099.[40]

The eastern and western Churches divide officially in 1054, a division that continues to the present. In addition, a new series of popes increases papal authority.

Pope Gregory VII establishes custom of priestly celibacy. New monastic orders begin.

Conquest of England by the Normans in 1066; first Archbishops of Canterbury begin reforming the English church. The second Archbishop, Anselm, writes Why did God Become a Man?

Development of music includes polyphonic singing, replacing the Gregorian chant.

The Twelfth Century

Crusaders capture Acre in 1104, only to lose it again in 1191, along with Jerusalem in 1187. Second Crusade begins in 1147 and ends in failure.[41]

Monasticism is still the chief reforming influence. St. Bernard establishes his famous monastery at Clairvaux.

Doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary spreads.

Pope Alexander III establishes rules for canonization.

The Becket Incident in England (1170): Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, martyred.

In 1173 the Waldensian movement begins in Lyons with Peter Waldo. They condemned tithes, believed in only two sacraments (Baptism and the Eucharist), held that layman could absolve from sin, but that a sinful priest could not, rejected indulgences, fasts and all the ceremonies of the Church, made no distinction between mortal and venial sins, claimed the veneration of icons to be idolatry, and condemned all oaths to be unlawful. They soon fell into error an were condemned as heretics by numerous synods and councils, but especially by the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179.

Gothic architecture begins with the construction of Notre Dame de Paris.

The Thirteenth Century

Crusades continue, including the Third and Fourth Crusades, the Children's Crusade, and the capture of Constantinople by the Europeans.[42]

Papal power at its zenith, with Pope Innocent III asserting his authority to intervene in civil affairs.

Establishment of the Franciscan and Dominican Orders.

Saint Thomas Aquinas publishes his Summa Theologica, a summary of Scholastic Theology.

Fourth Lateran Council.

The Inquisition begins.

The Fourteenth Century

Pope Boniface VIII issues the infamous papal bull Unam Sanctum which lays down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Church, the necessity of belonging to it for the attainment of eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme head of the Church, and the duty thence arising of submission to the Pope in order to belong to the Church and thus to attain salvation.[43]

The Avignon Papacy, also referred to as the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Papacy, with the pope residing in Avignon, France, and under the influence of the French monarch.

Hundred Years' War begins between England and France.

The Western Schism, during which three separate papal claimants struggled for supreme authority over the church. Catherine of Siena tries to end the rift.

Dante's Divine Comedy.

John Wycliffe begins his own movement to encourage Christians to look to the Bible alone for truth.

The Black Death (the plague, Yersinia pestis) kills one-quarter of the population of Europe.

The Fifteenth Century

Council of Constance convened to try to heal the Western Schism. This same council attempts to quash John Wycliffe's ideas.[44]

Hundred Years' War ends. Campaign and martyrdom of Joan of Arc.

The Renaissance. When the Turks capture Constantinople in 1453, many scholars flee westward and begin a resurgence of learning in the West.

Development of movable-type printing by Johann Gutenberg. First printing of the Bible.

The Spanish Inquisition.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain finally expel the Moors at Andalusia (1492).

Christopher Columbus sets sail (1492) across the Atlantic Ocean and, without knowing it, discovers the New World.

Establishment of the Vatican Library.

Flourishing of art and science in Florence, Italy, with the careers of men like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Church Development from 1500 to 2000 AD

This era includes the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the rise of atheism as an organized political movement.

The Sixteenth Century

The Reformation in Europe and in England.[45]

Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the churchhouse door in Wittenberg 1517.

William Tyndale attempts to publish an English New Testament and is eventually tracked down and martyred.

John Calvin establishes his own movement in Geneva, Switzerland.

King Henry VIII of England orders a break with the Pope and later destroys the English monasteries, charging (perhaps with some justice) that they have degenerated into centers of corruption. Founding of the Anglican Communion.

Reign of Queen Mary I ("Bloody Mary") in England. Eight hundred Bible scholars flee to Geneva and help create the Geneva Bible, which will see almost annual editions until 1640.

John Knox advances the Reformation in Scotland.

Council of Trent (1543-1563) begins the Counter-Reformation. Founding of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).

The Seventeenth Century

“ I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use. (Galileo Galilei) ”
“ This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. ("General Scholium," in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Isaac Newton. 1687) ”

In 1650 the Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher, (1581 - 1656) published a monumental history of the world (The Annals of the World) from creation to 70 AD, and for this used the recorded genealogies and ages in scripture to derive what is commonly known as the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar. This calculated a date for Creation from the Bible at 4004 BC. The calendar was widely accepted for nearly two centuries.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

In 1696, William Whiston published A New Theory of the Earth, in which he proposed an account of the creation of the world. He grounded his argument in the following three Postulata:

  1. The obvious or literal sense of scripture is the true and real one, where no evidence can be given to the contrary.
  2. That which is clearly accountable in a natural way, is not, without reason to be ascribed to a miraculous power.
  3. What ancient tradition asserts of the constitution of nature, or of the origin and primitive states of the world, is to be allowed for true, where ‘tis fully agreeable to scripture, reason, and philosophy.

Whiston was the first to propose that the global flood was caused by the water in the tail of a comet.

The Eighteenth Century

The English divine William Derham (26 November 1657 - 5 April 1735) published his Artificial Clockmaker in 1696 and Physico-Theology in 1713. These books were teleological arguments for the being and attributes of God, and were used by Paley nearly a century later.

The Watchmaker analogy was put by Bernard Nieuwentyt (1730) and referred to several times by Paley. A charge of wholesale plagiarism from this book was brought against Paley in the Athenaeum for 1848, but the famous illustration of the watch was not peculiar to Nieuwentyt, and had been appropriated by many others before Paley.

Carolus Linnaeus (1707 - 1778) established a system of classification of species by similarity. At the time, the system of classification was seen as the plan of organization used by God in his creation. Later, the theory of evolution applied it as groundwork for the idea of common descent.

The Nineteenth Century

In 1802 William Paley (1743 - 1805), published Natural Theology in response to naturalists such as Hume, refining the ancient teleological argument (or argument from design) to argue for the existence of God. He argued that life was so intricately designed and interconnected as to be analogous to a watch. Just as when one finds a watch, one reasonably infers that it was designed and constructed by an intelligent being, although one has never seen the designer, when one observes the complexity and intricacy of life, one may reasonably infer that it was designed and constructed by God, although one has never seen God.

The Twentieth Century

George McCready Price (1870 - 1963) was important in establishing flood geology, and many of his ideas that a young earth could be deduced from science would be taken up later.

After the First World War (1914 - 1918), the teaching of evolution and creation in public education grew as a public controversy. (see Public education). Many texts began to teach the theory of evolution as scientific fact. Many Christians, Jews, and Muslims came to believe that in teaching evolution as fact, the State was unconstitutionally infringing on their right to the free exercise of religion, as it effectively taught their children that the Bible (and the Qu'ran) had been proven false.

For example, William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925) "became convinced that the teaching of Evolution as a fact instead of a theory caused the students to lose faith in the Bible, first, in the story of creation, and later in other doctrines, which underlie the Christian religion."

During the First World War, horrors committed by Germans, who were citizens of one of the most scientifically advanced countries in the World, caused Bryan to state "The same science that manufactured poisonous gases to suffocate soldiers is preaching that man has a brute ancestry and eliminating the miraculous and the supernatural from the Bible."

A popular book from 1917 by Vernon L. Kellogg entitled Headquarters Nights, reported through first hand evidence German officers discussing Darwinism leading to the declaration of war.

H. L. Mencken, whose nationally published coverage of the Scopes Trial referred to the town's creationist inhabitants as "yokels" and "morons", referred to assisting counsel for the prosecution as a "buffoon" and his speeches as "theologic bilge," while referring to the defence as "eloquent" and "magnificent."

In 1922, William Jennings Bryan published In His Image[46] in which he argued that Darwinism was both irrational and immoral. On the former point, he pointed to examples such as the eye, which he argued could not be explained by Darwinian evolution. On the latter point, he argued that Darwinism advocated the policy of "scientific breeding" or eugenics, by which the strong were to weed out the weak, a belief which directly contradicts the Christian doctrine of charity to the helpless.

In 1924, Clarence Darrow defended Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb on the charge of kidnapping and killing Bobby Franks; his defense included an argument that "this terrible crime was inherent in his organism, and it came from some ancestor".

In 1925, G. K. Chesterton published The Everlasting Man[47] in which he developed and articulated many creationist ideas and criticisms of the philosophical underpinnings and perceived logical flaws of evolution.

He also wrote, in St. Thomas Aquinas, "It is absurd for the evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything."

The Scopes Trial of 1925 is perhaps the most famous court case of its kind. The Butler Act had prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools in Tennessee. The schoolteacher John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution and fined, although the case was later dismissed on a technicality.

In 1929 a book by one of George McCready Price's former students, Harold W. Clark described Price's catastrophism as "creationism" in Back to Creationism. Previously anti-evolutionists had described themselves as being "Christian fundamentalists" "Anti-evolution" or "Anti-false science". The term creationism had previously referred to the creation of souls for each new person, as opposed to traducianism, where souls were said to have been inherited from one's parents.

In 1932 the Evolution Protest Movement, the world's first creationist organisation, began in England.

In 1933, a group of atheists seeking to develop a "new religion" to replace previous, deity-based religions, composed the Humanist Manifesto,[48] which outlined a fifteen-point belief system, the first two points of which provided that "Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created" and "Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process." This document exacerbated the ideological tone of the discussion in many circles, as many creationists came to see evolution as a doctrine of the "religion" of atheism.

Christian Zionism

Until the Reformation, the prevailing doctrine in the Church concerning the Jews was that God had finished with national Israel and that the Jews were in no less error than were any other non-Christians. But the Reformation brought an interest in the original Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible. This in turn provoked a reconsideration of the idea that some Jews would persist to the end of history and return someday to their native Israel, from which Emperor Hadrian of Rome had exiled them all in 135.

The first evidence for what would later be called Christian Zionism is from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Reformers did not believe in a restoration of Israel, but rather that all the Jews would be converted en masse at the end of history. Yet the diminution of the authority of Rome, and the re-emphasis on the primacy of Scripture, led directly to the belief that at some future time the Jews would repopulate the Land of Israel.

This idea of "restorationism" would gain strength in the British colonies that would become the United States of America and would gain greater strength in the nineteenth century. The most famous promulgator of restorationism was John Nelson Darby. His "dispensationalism" would lend Christian Zionism its greatest strength, though Darby himself was not part of that movement. Yet the belief that "God is through with Israel forever" persisted[49] until at least the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Balfour Declaration toward the end of the First World War accelerated the immigration of Jews into what was then called Palestine. This migration was curtailed shortly before the Second World War, but after that war was ended, the Allied powers supported renewed migration of Jews to the land, despite Arab opposition. The highest point of Christian Zionism was the recognition of Israel as a sovereign entity by Harry S. Truman, President of the United States.

Today the place of Israel in Bible prophecy, and especially eschatology, remains in sharp dispute. Some Bible commentators still believe that "God is through with national Israel." But the objection to the notion of an end-times role for Israel might actually reflect the fear that continued Western support for Israel could provoke a war far more devastating than the Second World War.[50]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Ecclesiastical History." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  2. ↑ History of Christianity by Wikipedia
  3. ↑ Slick, Matthew J. "The Bible." Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, March 23, 2007. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  4. ↑ Thackeray, H. St. J. "The Septuagint." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915. Accessed September 16, 2008.
  5. ↑ Rudd, Steve. "Which Old Testament text did Jesus prefer and quote from?" The Interactive Bible, n.d. Accessed September 17, 2008.
  6. ↑ Unger, Merrill F. Introductory Guide to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1951, p. 70.
  7. ↑ Reid, George. "Canon of the New Testament." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. Accessed September 17, 2008.
  8. ↑ Schaff, Philip. "Introductory Note to the Writings of Justin Martyr." In The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Calvin College. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  9. ↑ Pearse, Roger. "The 'Noddy' Guide to Tertullian." The Tertullian Project, September 27, 2008. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  10. ↑ Davis, Glenn. "Entry for Eusebius." The Development of the Canon of the New Testament, 2008. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  11. ↑ Bacchus, Francis Joseph. "Eusebius of Cæsarea." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  12. ↑ Bradshaw, Rob, ed. "Eusebius of Caesarea." July 8, 2008. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  13. ↑ Christian history, the first century Christian History Institute, 2007. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  14. ↑ Christian history, the second century Christian History Institute, 2007. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  15. ↑ Arendzen, John. "Gnosticism." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  16. ↑ Arendzen, John. "Marcionites." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  17. ↑ Chapman, John. "Montanists." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  18. ↑ Decius and persecution of Christians by Wikipedia
  19. ↑ Christian history, the third century Christian History Institute
  20. ↑ Huddleston, Gilbert. "Monasticism." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  21. ↑ Anthony the Great by Wikipedia
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Christian history, the fourth century Christian History Institute
  23. ↑ Licinius by Wikipedia
  24. ↑ Shapur II by Wikipedia
  25. ↑ Sassanid empire by Wikipedia
  26. ↑ Herbermann, Charles, and Georg Grupp. "Constantine the Great." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  27. ↑ Nosotro, Rit. "Clovis, First Christian King of the Franks." <http://www.hyperhistory.net/>, April 15, 2008. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  28. ↑ Christian history, the fifth century Christian History Institute
  29. ↑ Middle Ages by Timeline Index
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Christian history, the sixth century Christian History Institute
  31. ↑ Monte Cassino by Wikipedia
  32. ↑ Saint Benedict by Catholic Spiritual Direction. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  33. ↑ "Europe, history of." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  34. ↑ Elton, Hugh. "Late Antiquity in the Mediterranean The Collapse of the Roman Empire—Military Aspects." ORB Online Encyclopedia, 1996. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  35. ↑ Wilhelm, Joseph. "General Councils." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  36. ↑ Christian history, the seventh century Christian History Institute
  37. ↑ Christian history, the eighth century Christian History Institute
  38. ↑ Christian history, the ninth century Christian History Institute
  39. ↑ Christian history, the tenth century Christian History Institute
  40. ↑ Christian history, the eleventh century Christian History Institute
  41. ↑ Christian history, the twelfth century Christian History Institute
  42. ↑ Christian history, the thirteenth century Christian History Institute
  43. ↑ Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Unam Sanctam." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Accessed October 12, 2009.
  44. ↑ Christian history, the fifteenth century Christian History Institute
  45. ↑ Christian history, the sixteenth century Christian History Institute
  46. ↑ Bryan, William Jennings. In His Image. Project Gutenberg, released June 25, 2004. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  47. ↑ Chesterton, G. K. The Everlasting Man. 1925. Hosted at <http://www.catholicprimer.org/> Accessed October 4, 2008.
  48. ↑ "Humanist Manifesto." American Humanist Association, 1973. Accessed October 4, 2008.
  49. ↑ Newell, William R. "Romans Verse-by-verse: Chapter Eleven." Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Accessed October 5, 2008.
  50. ↑ Ice, Thomas. "Lovers of Zion: A History of Christian Zionism." Pre-Trib Rapture Center, 2003. Accessed October 5, 2008.

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