CHURCH HISTORY DATES
EVENT
(Note: Christian Calendar off 4-6 years) APPROXIMATE DATE
Jesus’
birth
AD 1
Jesus began public
ministry
AD 30
Jesus discipled his
followers
AD 30-33
Jesus’ death,
resurrection and
ascension
AD 33
Pentecost
AD 33
Church gathered
daily on Solomon’s Porch, streets, market place & house to house
AD 33
Church gathered as
the Body with Christ as the
Head AD 33
Priesthood of all
believers ministering in spiritual
gifts AD 33
Plurality of servant
leadership by example
AD 33
Disciples scattered
abroad by persecution
AD 38
Conversion of Saul
of
Tarsus
AD 38
Paul’s missionary
journeys begin
AD 46
Council of
Jerusalem: Salvation through grace (Acts 15:11)
AD 50
Paul’s
death AD
68
Jerusalem temple
destroyed By
Titus
AD 70
John the apostle’s
death
AD 100
Ignatius, Bishop of
Antioch, wrote his seven epistles (Not included in Cannon)
AD 107
Clement of Rome:
Elders/pastors/bishops different function
AD 117
Clement of Rome:
Clergy/Laity distinguished
AD 117
Clement of Rome:
One-man pastor leadership
AD 117
First mention of
infant
baptism
AD 215
Construction of
first known church building under Emperor Serverus
AD 235
Earliest mention of
“clergy” being
salaried
AD 245
Earliest beginnings
of monasticism by Anthony
AD 270
Prayers for the
dead
AD 300
Making the sign of
the
cross
AD 300
Emperor Constantine
converted to Christianity
AD 312
Council of Milan:
ministers licensed by the State
AD 313
Council of Milan:
ministers became full-time & salaried
AD 313
Council of Milan:
edict concerning construction of church buildings
AD 313
(Period of Dark Ages
in history)
AD 313-1525
Use of wax
candles
AD 320
Constantine declared
Sunday a civil holiday (Holy Day)
AD 321
Church buildings
built throughout the Roman world
AD 324
Temple/Synagogue
style
worship
AD 324
Pews & theater
seating arrangement
AD 324
Chanters, choirs &
hymnbooks
AD 324
Altars
Erected
AD 324
Baptisteries placed
in buildings
AD 324
Council of Nicene:
First Church Creed established
AD 325
Council of Nicene:
bishop supremacy
AD 325
Veneration of
angels, dead saints and use of
images AD 375
Christianity becomes
the State Religion under Emperor Theodosius
AD 378
Mass as a daily
celebration
AD 394
Council of Carthage:
canonization of Scripture
AD 397
Latin Vulgate Bible
by
Jerome
AD 405
Edict of Innocent I:
Compulsory infant baptism
AD 407
Council of Ephesus:
exaltation of Mary as the mother of God
AD 431
Leo the Great
pronounced himself as Bishop of Rome
AD 452
Ministers
established common dress code
AD 500
Extreme
Unction
AD 526
First monastic order
begun by Benedict of Nursia
AD 529
Christian calendar
established by Dionysius Exiguus
AD 550
(Mohammed begins
Religion of
Islam)
AD 570
Gregory became the
head of the Church of Rome
AD 590
Doctrine of
Purgatory by Gregory
I
AD 593
Latin used in prayer
and worship by Gregory I
AD 600
Mass as known today
established by Pope Gregory
AD 604
Boniface III bishop
of Rome adopted the title Pope
AD 607
Temporal power of
popes by Pepin, King of the Franks
AD 750
Organs first put
into church
buildings
AD 609
Kissing the pope’s
feet begins with Pope Constantine
AD 709
Worship of the
cross, images and relics
AD 786
Use of holy water
with salt blessed by priests
AD 850
Worship of Joseph as
a
saint
AD 890
Canonization of dead
saints
AD 993
College of Cardinals
established
AD 927
Baptism of bells by
Pope John
XIII
AD 965
Canonization of dead
saints by Pope John XV
AD 995
Fasting on Fridays
and during Lent
AD 998
Mass as a sacrifice
begins
AD 1050
Final division of
East/West Church
AD 1054
Celibacy of
priesthood by Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand)
AD 1079
Rosary and praying
with beads by Peter the Hermit
AD 1090
Christian and Muslim
Crusades
AD 1100-1400
Church buildings add
towers and
steeples
AD 1100
Sale of
indulgences
AD 1190
Transubstantiation
of wafer and wine by Pope Innocent III
AD 1215
Confession of sins
to a priest by Pope Innocent III in Lateran Council AD
1215
Adoration of the
wafer (Host) by Pope Honorius
III AD 1220
Bible declared too
holy & forbidden to be read by laymen by Council of Valencia
AD 1229
Scapular first used
(special cloth around neck on front & back)
AD 1251
Wycliffe (1330-1384)
translates Bible into English
AD 1380
John Huss
(1374-1415) reformation
influence AD
1398
Communion cup
forbidden lay people by Council of Constance
AD 1414
Doctrine of
purgatory decreed by Council of
Florence AD 1439
Dogma of seven
sacraments affirmed
AD 1439
Fall of the Roman
Empire
AD 1453
Gutenberg prints
first
Bible
AD 1453
Columbus discovers
America
AD 1492
Reformation: Martin
Luther (1483-1546) 95 Theses at Wittenberg AD
1517
Reformation of
Theology
AD 1517
Tyndal’s English
translation
AD 1520
Zwingli, Calvin,
Knox influence in
Reformation AD
1522
Anabaptists
influence
AD 1525
Beginning of
Separation of Church & State
AD 1525
Pulpit stands, other
pulpit furnishings and elevated platforms
AD 1540
Council of Trent:
Tradition and Scripture of equal authority
AD 1545
Apocryphal books
added to the Bible by Council of Trent
AD 1546
Official Catholic
Creed imposed by Pope Pius
IV AD 1560
King James
translation of the
Bible
AD 1611
John Bunyan’s “The
Pilgrim’s Progress published
AD 1678
Huguenots
Influence
AD 1698
Isaac Watt’s Hymns
and Spiritual Songs published
AD 1707
Moravian Brethren
missionary movement`
AD 1727
Jonathan Edward and
the Great Awakening in America colonies
AD 1735
John Wesley’s
conversion and brother Charles’ influence
AD 1738
Sunday Schools
established in England and later in United States
AD 1738
United States
declares Independence from
England AD 1776
William Carey’s
missionary to
India
AD 1793
Restoration Movement
begun by Campbell brothers
AD 1811
Foreign Missionary
Boards in United States with Judson sailing to India AD
1812
Crusade evangelism
in England & US with Finney, Moody, Sankey, Crosby AD 1830
Beginning of altar
calls and walking the aisle
AD 1830
Rise in false
religions & cults: i.e.,
Mormonism AD 1830
Dispensational
Scripture interpretation by Plymouth Brethren, Darby AD
1830
Immaculate
Conception of Virgin Mary by Pope Pius IX
AD 1854
Hudson Taylor begins
missionary work in China
AD 1854
Spurgeon becomes
pastor in London
AD 1854
David Livingston
publishes “Missionary Travels” about African missions AD 1857
Syllabus of Errors
asserted pope’s temporal authority over all civil rulers AD
1864
William Booth founds
the Salvation Army
AD 1865
Papal Infallibility
in matters of faith and morals by Pope Pius IX
AD 1870
Immaculate
Conception of Mary: Pope Pius
IX AD 1870
Rise in false
religions & cults: i.e., Jehovah’s Witnesses
AD 1872
Student Volunteer
Movement of young people involved in missions AD
1886
Gideon International
organized
AD 1899
Beginning of
airplane flight with Kitty Hawk invented by Wright Brothers
AD 1903
Pentecostal movement
begins with Asuza Street revival
AD 1906
World War I
begins
AD 1914
First Christian
radio broadcast
AD 1921
Worldwide Economic
Depression w/Stock Market Crash
AD 1929
Wycliffe Bible
translators aspire to bring Bible to every language group
AD 1934
Age, sex, grade
grouping & separation of families in churches in United States
AD 1935
World War II begins
in Europe in 1939 w/USA joining in 1941
AD 1939-1941
United Nations
founded
AD 1945
Israel formed as a
nation
AD 1948
World Council of
Churches is
formed
AD 1948
Billy Graham
nation-wide evangelism crusades begin in California
AD 1949
Para-church in US:
i.e., Youth for Christ, Navigators, Campus Crusade
AD 1944-1951
Assumption of the
Virgin Mary (bodily ascension) by Pope Pius XII AD
1950
Cold War begins with
the Soviet Union in 1950(Ends in1992)
AD 1950
Full Gospel movement
begins in United
States AD 1951
Lay Renewal movement
begins
AD 1952
Para-church in US:
i.e., Teen Challenge, Youth with a Mission
AD 1958-1960
Increase in church
building construction in United States
AD 1960
Charismatic movement
grows in United States
AD 1960
Feminist movement
increases in the United States
AD 1960
Home Churches in
China and England
AD 1960
Reformation of
Ecclesiology
AD 1960s
Second Vatican
Council promotes new attitudes and practices
AD 1962
Space travel with
John Glenn orbiting the earth
AD 1962
Mary proclaimed as
Mother of God by Pope Paul VI
AD 1965
Mass media growth
around the world: i.e., Trinity Broadcasting Network AD
1973
Biblical house
churches in United
States
AD 1970s
Rise in Para-church
groups: i.e., Christ for the Nations & Mercy Ships AD
1970-1978
Rise in cults: i.e.
Jim
Jones
AD 1979
Increase in Open
Churches, Churches without Walls, Relational Churches
AD 1985
Surge in
construction of mega-church buildings in United States
AD 1990
Men’s organizations
begin: i.e., Promise Keepers, Prison Ministries spread in US AD 1990
Renewed emphasis of
Ephesians 4 equipping gifted leadership AD
1990
Spontaneous increase
in biblical house churches throughout USA
AD 1990’s
Cold War ended with
collapse of the Soviet Union
AD 1992
Believers in third
world countries experience great persecution and more AD
2000
believers are
martyred in the 20th Century than all previous centuries
combined
Muslim extremists
attack United States and US declares War on terrorism AD 2001
Information Age with
volume of knowledge doubling every three years AD 2002
Heinous crimes
against humanity increase
AD 2002
Population of the
world increases to six +
billion AD 2002
Diseases,
pestilence, famine & earthquakes continue to increase
AD 2003
Christianity
increases in Asia, Africa, S.A & decreases in Europe,
US AD 2004
Biblical house
churches increase throughout the world, i.e. China with
AD 2005
100 million +
believers
Unprecedented growth
of Christianity in the world: Christianity is growing AD 2008
three times faster
than the world’s population with 180,000 converts per
day (i.e. Latin
America- 35,000, China-30,000 and Africa 20,000) at 6.9 growth;
Muslims 2.7; Hindus
2.2; Buddhists 1.7. According to the latest statistics of
Christians in the
world today: Latin America-480 million; Africa-360 million
(42% of population);
Asia-313 million and Europe & North America-200 million
for a total of over
1.35 billion believers.
Worldwide
earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, pestilences, famines,
AD 2009-2011
diseases, epidemics,
Muslim Jihad, religious conflicts, cultural wars between
East and West,
Muslim population explosion and a decrease in the European
Non-Muslim
population.
*Historical
information and dates from Church History including Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and Protestant sources researched and compiled by Dan Hubbell.
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