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100
Fall of Jerusalem - 70 A.D.
In AD 70, legions of Roman soldiers led by Titus began a siege on Jerusalem, and Titus sought to destroy the temple.
This destruction of the Temple moved the Christian faith outward and separated it from its Jewish environment.
Significance of this Event:
Pushed the Church outward, continued its separation from Judaism
Left the Church in a state of needing to establish it’s foundation:
Establishing a canon
Establishing leadership
Establishment of creeds -
313
The Edict of Milan - 313 A.D.
Who: Roman Emperors Constantine and Licinius
What: An edict is “An official order of proclamation issued by a person in authority”
Where: Milan, Italy
This edict allowed for the religious freedom of the church and stopped persecution of Christians.
Constantine’s Dream: At noon, he saw the cross with the writing ”by this symbol you will conquer”
Constantine was the Emperor of Western Roman Empire who was later converted to be a Christian. -
325
Council of Nicea - 325 A.D.
The Council of Nicea was the first worldview gathering of the Church, to make final decision on the Power of Christ and God.
An increasing intermingling of the Church and the world
The Views of Council
View #1: Arianism
Stressed that the Father was greater than Christ
View #2: Orthodox View
Jesus and God are both eternally the same
Council’s Decision:
Christ was true God from true God
Christ was Consubstantial with the father
Christ became human for us humans and for our salvation -
451
Council of Chalcedon - 451 A.D.
Council is called together again to discuss the nature of Christ and his divinity:
View 1: Christ has only one nature. The humanity of Christ is so swallowed up by his deity that it disappears.
View 2: Jesus is one person existing in two natures. Known as the “hypostatic union”. Mary is seen as the God-bearer.
View 3: Christ has two separate and distinct natures that are only loosely conjoined.
The Council decided that Christ was one person who existed existed in two natures. -
530
St. Benedict's Rule - 530 A.D.
It is a rule book written for monks written by St.Benedict in 530 AD.
Promoted the idea of Monasticism, which is the state of being secluded from the world in order to fulfill religious vows.
Monks of known for practicing asceticism (self-discipline, avoiding indulgence) which comes from the Greek word askesis, meaning “exercise, training,practice”
Monasticism was a response that was concerned with the success of the Church
The monks would become conscience of the Christendom. -
Dec 25, 800
Coronation of Charlemagne - 800 A.D.
The Pope had just crowned the next roman emperor.
The roman leader rarely chose to be subordinate to the Pope.
The coronation of Charlemagne in 800 AD is significant because:
The people provided a crown to the most powerful ruler in europe showing the synthesis between the church and the roman empire
This action symbolized the synthesis of the sacred and secular sphere of life
The pope became theoretically more powerful than the emperor as he was the spokesperson for God. -
Jan 1, 1054
The Great Schism - 1054 A.D.
In 1054 AD, Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other which leads to splitting of the church into western catholicism and eastern orthodox.
The eastern part of the Roman empire already had their version of the pope, and the roman catholic pope had a bad relationship.
The great schism of 1054 marked the first official split in the Church
While there were various issues the big issue that split things was the question of papal authority. -
Jan 1, 1096
The Crusades - 1096 A.D.
The Crusades were a military campaign brought about from the church to take back Jerusalem from Muslim occupation. The political and economic reason was a need for land.
The Crusades contributed to increase the wealth of the church and the power of the papacy.
The campaigns were originally called by the Pope for the sake of taking back Jerusalem.
Despite mixed results, by the end of the Crusades, the church had grown in its wealth and power in the Roman empire. -
Apr 17, 1521
The Diet of Worms - 1521 A.D.
Luther was brought into the Diet the day after he arrived. It was April 17,1521. He was asked two questions.
Are these books yours?
WIll you recant them?
He hesitated, apparently intimidated by the setting and huge crowd of dignitaries, and he acknowledged the situation.
In 1521 Martin Luther would not recant on his writings in front of the emperor and other gathered at Worms.
These writings changed the Christian faith because they were a powerful reassertion of grace and Christ's sacrifice. -
The Great Awakening - 1730 A.D.
The first great awakening was a religious movement among colonials in the 1730’s and 1740’s. Preacher George whitefield played a major role, traveling he colonies and preaching a style accepting everyone as his audience,
People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. People began to study the bible at home.
First cross-denominational event and it helped to bring Christ to the entire country. -
Edinburgh Missionary Conference - 1910
A conference of missionaries called together at the United Free Church in Scotland in the Edinburgh castle.
Called for the unity that begun in the mission field might extend its influence. Over 100 men and women met over 14 days to discuss the transport of the gospel to the whole world. The concern for mission expanding among protestants, catholics and orthodox believers led to a broader more diffuse expansion of Christianity that had ever happened. The church begins to take on different forms. -
The Church Today - 2016
My impression of the Church today is that there is a lot of separation between the different denominations. I hope that eventually the Church will come back and be more united in our beliefs. God intended for us to be one church united and not a bunch of separate churches who sort of believe the same thing. I want to be a part of the Church because I feel that is a great place to build community and be in fellowship with one another. The church needs to be a place that people want to go to.
