Major Events in Church History

450–430 BC Book of Malachi, the last book of the Hebrew Bible, was completed. Malachi predicts the coming of a messenger (prophesied John the Baptist) to prepare the way for the Lord and the refining, judgmental "day of the Lord". Malachi 3:1 Malachi 4:5-6 Matthew 11:14

~ 332 BC Alexander the Great takes Holy Land. He spares Jerusalem, honors the Jewish High Priest after recognizing him from a divine dream, which led to granting the Jews religious autonomy. ext link 332 BC Alexander the Great takes Tyre as foretold in Ezekiel 26

250–282 BC, the Septuagint, the Hebrew Bible, was translated into Greek.

In 125 BC the Dead Sea Great Isaiah Scroll was written

63 BC the Roman conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey

The Roman Empire is in Pax Romana (Roman Peace), a 200-year period of stability, prosperity, and minimal internal conflict within the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire at its peak had over 200,000 miles of roads. This is the time of Jesus and the early Church. Ext. Link

4 to 5 BC Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem during the reign of King Herod in Jerusalem. Jesus' family lived in Egypt for some time before returning to Nazareth. Jesus worked as a carpenter in Nazareth before starting His public teaching. (The current Gregorian calendar used by all nations was made in 1582; while good, it missed the birth of Jesus by a few years.) Luke 2 Matthew 2

28–29 CE (AD) Jesus starts His public teaching. Matthew 4:12-25 Luke 4:14-20

The church was founded at Jesus Christ's death in 33 AD.

Friday, April 3, 33 (CE) AD, Jesus' death on the cross (some say April 7, 30), Sunday, Jesus's rise from the dead. The many Roman Soldiers were unable to keep Him in the tomb. Jesus appears to many for 40 days, before rising to Heaven. The Jewish Church, Messianic synagogues grow. Non Jews (Gentiles Greeks, and Romans) come to faith, and the church grows quickly. Mark 15:20-30 Luke 24:1-12 Matthew 27:52-53

~30-36 AD (CE) Paul comes to faith in Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul, from a persecutor, became a primary author of many New Testament Books and a missionary to the Gentiles. The Church grows all over the Roman Empire. Acts 9:1-19

The Church grows quickly over the Roman Empire. The Antioch (Asia Minor, now Turkey), Joppa, Caesarea and Jerusalem Churches were founded in 33 AD. The Samaria Holy Land Church was founded in 34. The Syrian Church, including Damascus and Tyre was founded by St. Peter the Apostle in 37 AD. The Churches in the City of Rome were started as house churches founded in about 40 AD by the Apostles. The Galatia (Asia Minor) was founded in 48. The Church of Alexandria was founded by Saint Mark the Evangelist in Egypt, around 42–61 AD. One of the world's oldest Christian communities. The Churches in Greece: Athens, Philippi, Corinth, Berea, and Thessalonica were founded in 51. The Asia Minor Churches of Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Tarsus, Derbe, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Magnesia, Tralles, Hierapolis, Colossae, Iconium, Lystra, and Smyrna were founded in about 52 by Paul. Church-Thomas Christians was founded by Apostle St. Thomas in Kodungallur, Kerala, India, in 52 AD. He established congregations among the local population, establishing one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world. House Churches were started by Paul on Cyprus, including the cities of Paphos and Salamis. Titus and Paul also started churches on the Island of Crete in 62, starting in the town of Gortyn. Also in 62 that Church was founded in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania (now Libya).

In 40, Saint James brought Christianity to Roman-Hispania (Spain). Saint Paul also indicated his intent to visit Spain, showing that the early Christian communities were present in Roman-Hispania.

50 AD Apostolic Council (or Council of Jerusalem), held, Acts 15, meeting of early Christian leaders—including Peter, Paul, and James. That determined Gentile converts did not need to follow Mosaic laws, such as circumcision, to be saved. This crucial decision affirmed salvation by grace.

In 64, after the Great Fire of Rome, Emperor Nero used this to justify the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Two of the outcomes were that many saw that Christians were willing to die for their faith, leading to more belief. Second, Christians fled the Roman Empire and took the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other empires, like the Parthian Empire (Persia), China, India, and the Kushan Empire. Christians were persecuted, tortured, and executed under emperors including Nero, Decius, and most intensely, Diocletian, until the 313 AD Milan Edict

70 Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman forces, as Jesus foretold, and the Jews were scattered. Jewish worship turns to the synagogue and is works-based, as sacrifices are ended. Ext Link

John the Apostle is the only apostle who did not die a martyr, instead passing away from natural causes in Ephesus (modern-day Turkey) around 98–100 AD, during the reign of Emperor Trajan. As the youngest apostle, he survived all others, living to a very old age. Before his death, he completed the last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation.

Persecuted believers take Christianity eastward from Jerusalem to Persia, India, and China. Persian Churches founded in 62 grew until 651. Early China was founded and is still growing today (see Arnobius).

In 100, the Church was founded in Timgad in North Africa (Algeria), which fell to Islam in 711.

In about 160, the first house Churches at Lyon in Gaul (France) were founded. Saint Irenaeus, was an early leader.

In about 200 the Apostles' Creed was completed. See the Creed page

In about 250 churches in Roman Britain (England), and the Roman Germany/Frankish were founded.

300 AD (CE) 10% of the Roman Empire are now believers, not by force or compulsion, but by teaching, love, and witness of the martyr.

Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337. His mother becomes a believer after seeing how faith changed the lives of her salves. In 312, Constantine had a vision and became a believer. Roman goes from persecuting believers to becoming the first Christian nation. Edict of Milan 313 Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity. In 330, the city of Constantinople was founded, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It gave general tolerance and freedom for all.

In 313, the Edict of Milan was a landmark political agreement between Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius, establishing permanent religious freedom for Christians and restoring their confiscated property. It officially ended state-sanctioned persecution, allowing Christians and all others to practice their faith freely within the Empire.

In 325, the First Ecumenical Council, the Creed of Nicaea, was created. See the Creed page

In 340, the Trier Cathedral was completed in Germany/Frankish, the oldest Cathedral built under Constantine the Great.

In 369, the first Christian Hospital, Basilia, was established by St. Basil of Caesarea. First institutionalized hospital, functioning as a precursor to modern, public, long-term care facilities.

In 430s, Christianity came to Ireland.

In 451, the Council of Chalcedon affirmed Christ is 100% divine and 100% human.

In 489, the first Christian university was founded, the School of Nisibis in Mesopotamia.

In 537, a large Church was completed in Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia. It was commissioned by Emperor Justinian I. The largest Christian church of the Eastern Roman Empire, renowned for its massive, innovative dome. It was converted to a mosque in 1453.

In 637, Jerusalem and Syria fell to Islamic rule. Christians and Jews either fled, were killed, converted to Islam by threat of death, or worship went underground.

In 1054 Formal split between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

In 1071, much of Asia Minor fell to Islamic rule. Christians either fled, were killed, converted to Islam by threat of death, or worship went underground.

In 1088, the University of Bologna was established as a Christian university

In 1095–1291: Crusade wars gave freedom to visit and worship in the Holy Land

In 1096, the University of Oxford was established in England by the Christian church.

From 1099 until the fall of Acre in 1291, the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem ruled the Holy Lands for 200 years. Then returns to Islamic rule till 1917.

In 1215, Magna Carta, Human Rights, from a Church movement.

From 1400 to 1600 Renaissance emerged directly from within Christian Europe, not as a rejection of it, but as a "rebirth" of classical knowledge aimed at revitalizing religious life. Greek Christian texts and the Bible were studied.

In 1443, Constantinople fell to Islamic rule. Greek Bible text moved to Rome. Christians either fled, were killed, converted to Islam by threat of death, or worship went underground.

In 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was printed using movable type, marking the beginning of the information revolution.

From 1478 to 1834 was the Spanish Inquisition. Catholicism tuned on Jewish and Muslim population. From 711 to 720, Muslims invaded and took Spain. It took from 718 to 1492 for Spain to reclaim their nation back from the Muslims. So this was also about land, not just faith. Of the 4,000 killed, many were Muslims invaders.

In 1517, was the start of the Protestant Reformation

In 1534, Martin Luther translated the Bible into German

In 1534, Henry VIII separated the Church of England from Rome.

In 1543, the major birth of Western Medicine occurred at the Padua School of Medicine and hospital. Supported by Church Saint Cosmas (Collège de St. Côme) and Church Saint Damian.

From 1545 to 1563 was the Council of Trent: The Catholic Counter-Reformation responding to Protestantism. It also addressed corruption in the Church.

In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg was signed between Catholicism and Lutheranism in the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1567, the Catholic Church officially stopped selling indulgences (forgiveness)

In 1611, the King James Bible was published. Significant impact on English-speaking Christianity.

In 1620 Mayflower Compact, freedom of worship, human rights

From 1727 to 1750, the Great Awakening. Widespread revival movement. Wesley movement.

From 1780 to 1810, the Second Great Awakening (Cane Ridge Revival)

In 1833, Christians got UK to pass the Slavery Abolition Act, led by William Wilberforce

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in the US, Christian Abolitionists like John Brown and other stated the abolition movement that started the Civil War to end slavery in the US

1896 The Merneptah Stele Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphic tablet from the 13th century B.C. that mentions military triumphs of Pharaoh Merneptah. It contains the earliest known reference to "Israel" as a people.

In 1909, Einstein's Special relativity was first proven true by Alfred Bucherer; all later tests have confirmed Special relativity to be a law. See Relativity page

In 1916, Albert Einstein found that the universe had a beginning, but rejected his findings, due to his and others' atheistic materialist worldview of a static universe.

In 1917, December, British forces captured Jerusalem during World War I, ending 400 years of Ottoman Turkish rule.

In 1919, Einstein's General relativity was first proven true by British astronomer Arthur Eddington; all later tests have confirmed General relativity to be a law. See Relativity page

In 1929, Edwin Hubble published groundbreaking evidence confirming the universe is expanding, and has a beginning, as the Bible states, for 3,500 years. Due to their atheistic materialist worldview, most scientists reject the findings, and stay with wrong static universe.

From 1939 to 1945 World War 2 and the Holocaust 6 million European Jews are murdered by the Nazi regime. Ezekiel 37

In 1946, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, most of which date from about 300 BC, the Hebrew Bible. See Bible page

In 1948, the Rebirth of Israel, British forces departed, and Arab forces attacked the small new nation. Ezekiel 37, Isaiah 11:11-12, Isaiah 66:8, Ezekiel 36:24 and Ezekiel 36:8.

In 1947, Billy Graham's crusades started, last is 2005

In 1949, Fred Hoyle, a "Steady State" fan, coined the negative term "Big Bang', as he hated the fact that the universe had a beginning, called "The Cosmological Singularity" or "Creation event."

In the United States, the Church peaked at 63.3% by 1960. The Church grew in non-Western nations at three times the rate of the general population.

In 1953, the DNA Double Helix was found by Watson and Crick; in 2026, it was found that it is much more complex than anyone had thought.

From 1960 to the 1970s Jesus movement was an evangelical countercultural phenomenon, originating on the US West Coast, that blended hippie culture with conservative Christian theology.

In 1961 The Pilate Stone found in Caesarea containing the name and title of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who sentenced Jesus to be crucified. This confirmed his existence and role.

From 1962 to1965 Roman Catholic Church: The Second Vatican Council modernized the liturgy.

In 1964, Bell Labs found the cosmic microwave background confirms the creation of the universe. Due to their atheistic materialist worldview, most scientists reject the findings.

In the 1980s, Charismatic Renewal, missionary programs to reach closed countries.

In 1980, Alan Guth's Cosmic Inflation theory started the end of "Steady State", after fighting 51 years of evidence that the universe had a beginning.

In 1989, the COBE mission ended the last denial that the universe had a beginning, with detailed background radiation measurements.

IN 1993, the Tel Dan Stele stone was found, discovered in northern Israel, and it contains an inscription (dated to the 9th century B.C.) that includes the phrase "House of David." The first historical evidence of King David outside the Bible

In 1996, the Hubble Space Deep Field image was released: a direct photo of a very young and small universe. Ext Link to NASA Hubble photo

In 2000s, church growth in Africa, by over 11%

In 2003, the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin (BGV) Space-Time theorem, which proves that space-time cannot be eternal in the past and must have a beginning, was formulated. See Space-Time page

In 2007, Duke University found that the appendix is not a "junk" or vestigial organ. This, after millions of healthy appendices have been removed in error, is due to the atheistic materialism Daewin worldview. The same tonsil error was found in the 1980s.

In the 2020s, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches began offering online services.

In 2012 WMAP mission, the age of the universe is now firm. The universe's age is 13.813 ±0.038 billion years. (2018 second report given) Ext. Link to NASA photo of WMAP page

In 2012, the ENCODE project finds that Junk DNA is not Junk.

In 2026, DNA to Proteins (Transcription) is a lot more complex than originally thought