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Period: 470 BCE to 399 BCE
Socrates
Socrates an ancient Greek Philosopher, was lauded by his students as a great man of integrity, self master, and argumentative skill. Socrates was the first western philosopher to seriously explore ethics, and greatly influenced his most famous student, Plato. Socrates so greatly impacted and changed western philosophy that any thinker before him is considered merely pre-socratic. -
Period: 427 BCE to 347 BCE
Plato
Plato was an ancient Greek Philosopher and thinker who is most well known as the author of many philosophical works. Plato is also known as the founder of the Platonic Academy. Many bright young Greeks attended this academy, including Aristotle. The academy focused mainly on mathematics, natural science, astronomy, dialectics, philosophy, and politics. Plato devoted his life to learning and is counted as the father of western philosophy. -
Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle was an ancient Greek Philosopher and scientist. His knowledge covered many areas including biology, botany, chemistry, ethics, history, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, physics, poetics, political theory, psychology, and zoology. He as well is the founder of formal logic. Even throughout the Renaissance and the Reformation Aristotle's views still influence western thought to this day. -
Period: 1 CE to 33
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the son of God and saved the world by dying for its sins circa 33AD. Jesus Christ, or God the Son, is one of the three parts of the Holy Trinity. He was born of man circa year 1 however he has always existed and always will. To this day he seeks a relationship with every human and if you believe in Him you can live with him forever in Heaven. He not only created everything in existence, but he gave man a handbook to live by, which if followed, will lead to eternal happiness. -
Period: 400 to 1400
The Middle Ages
The Middle ages refer to the timespan in Europe between the fall of the Roman empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, a humanistic idea sprung up. Spurred by Thomas Aquinas people began to believe that while their will was fallen their intellect was not, and therefore they had the ability to make lives moral choices without help. This caused mass confusion for people started rejecting God and the Bible and basing all of their decisions on their own moral opinions. -
Period: 1175 to 1236
Berlinghiero Berlinghieri
Berlinghiero Berlinghieri is an Italian Byzantine style painter. His medium of choice was tempera on wood. His most famous painting is the Madonna and Child, a tempera on wood masterpiece depicting the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Not much is known about Berlinghiero Berlinghieri beyond the Madonna and Child. Not even his name is completely confirmed. Our only clue to his identity is the wording "Berlinghiero painted me" inscribed on the back of the Madonna and Child. -
Period: 1225 to 1274
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was one of the foremost theologians of the Middle Ages. As a theologian, he created two great works, Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra gentiles which were a classical systemization of latin theology. He as well wrote many poems and some beautiful yet solemn hymns. Thomas Aquinas believed that while the will of man was fallen, the intellect was not. Therefore he mixed many of the classical philosophers with biblical teaching and began on the road to Humanism. -
Period: 1330 to 1384
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an English theologian and philosopher and in many ways foreshadowed the Reformation with his controversial beliefs. John Wycliffe, much like Luther after him, believed heavily in the Bible being the primary base to live by. He spoke out against the Catholic church for being greedy and taking advantage of is followers. Wycliffe called on the church to give up its worldly possesions and even went so far as comparing the Pope to the antichrist. -
Period: 1370 to 1415
Jan Hus
Jan Hus, born in Bohemia, was a great Religious reformer. Hus, which can also be spelled Huss, was highly influential in helping Europe to transition from the Middle Ages to the Reformation. Hus as well taught at the University of Prague and was at one point a candidate for a doctors degree in theology. Jan Hus throughout his life opposed the catholic church during the Western Schism, and was eventually burned at the stake for his beliefs. -
Period: 1380 to 1441
Jan Van Eyck
Jan Van Eyck was a prolific artist and one of the earliest users of oil painting during the renaissance. Painting with oil allowed Jan to create much brighter and more detailed paintings than painters before him. He used extensive disguised religious symbols in many of his naturalistic paintings. His most famous altarpiece the Ghent Altarpiece, displays many people and angels surrounding a bleeding lamb atop an altar. This lamb was meant to symbolize Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for man. -
Period: 1400 to
Renaissance
The Renaissance is attributed as being a great time of learning. Europe and especially Italy left the Middle or "Dark" Ages with a bound. The Renaissance greatly encouraged philosophy, learning, art and thought. Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, artists and businessmen ever to live were active during the Renaissance period. However, all of this achievement strengthened the humanist notion planted in the early middle ages, that mans intellect alone was the basis for all morals. -
Period: 1452 to 1519
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci took the idea of being a Renaissance man to a new extreme. Leonardos brilliant gifts manifested themselves in the areas of art, science, invention, music, and writing. Leonardo's painting the Mona Lisa, probably the most famous painting ever created, is valued at over $850 million dollars. And his many sketches of advanced machinery and of the human form astound critics to this day. His extraordinary achievements are based on his self expressed unlimited desire for knowledge. -
Period: 1471 to 1528
Albrecht Durer
Albrecht Durer was a great artist and pioneer of the process of mass art production. He pioneered mass art production by initiating the transition from wood carvings which were used before, to metal engravings which greatly increased the detail of his works. He created many great pieces of art including his apocalypse woodcut series and his many Durer as well was a great painter and created many portraits and watercolour masterpieces. -
Period: 1475 to 1564
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo Buonarroti, arguably one of the most famous artists of all time, was a true Renaissance man. A Renaissance man is based on the idea of humanism, which considers man to be the centre of the universe, unlimited in his potential for development, able to master anything. Michelangelo truly embodied this for he not only mastered the art of sculpting, which he is most famous for, but was a great artist, and inventive architect and a prolific poet. -
Period: 1483 to 1546
Martin Luther
Martin Luther, born in Germany, was perhaps one of the most influential men in the history of Christianity. Luther spearheaded the Reformation movement with the posting of his 95 theses, in which he lampooned the catholic church for its excess and lack of morals. Luther relied on the Bible as the basis for Christian morality, and encouraged others in the movement to do the same. This contrasted with the previous humanist view prevalent throughout the Renaissance. -
Period: 1483 to 1520
Raphael
Raphael was an Italian master painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raphael is most acclaimed for his large scale figure compositions and his madonnas. Throughout all of Raphaels Masterpieces clarity of form and ease of composition is evident. While Raphael was considered the "prince of painters" he as well was a talented architect. Raphael was even considered the best architect in Rome for a period of time because of his work on many structures. -
Period: 1509 to 1564
Jean Calvin
Jean Calvin was a very influential French reformer, and spurred on the second generation of the Reformation. His book the Institutes of the Christian Religion influenced Protestants across the world, for it was the first systematic treatise of the Reformation. Calvin displayed his belief in predestination, and Calvinism, one of the various strands of Christianity, is still practiced to this day. -
Period: 1517 to
Reformation
The Reformation was a great cultural and theological upheaval. Contrary to the Renaissance, the Reformation believed not that man was the basis for all morality, but that the Bible was the ultimate authority. This belief is what triggered the great break from the Catholic Church, which up until this period governed much of the day to day life in Europe. Many great artists during this period were actively part of the Reformation, such as Albrecht Durer and Bach. -
Period: to
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Rembrandt, born in Amsterdam, favoured realism over beauty in his paintings. Rembrandt painted many self-portraits and biblically inspired scenes. He typically dark backgrounds with brightly lit characters. This gave many of his paintings an intriguing sense of depth. In his painting Return of the Prodigal Son, he allowed the light to show the importance of the characters, by having the most important characters brightly lit while the lesser characters faded into the black background. -
Period: to
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer, from the Dutch city of Delft, painted amazing compositions based on ordinary moments. He brought these ordinary moments to life through the use of bright colours, precise details, and masterful use of light. Vermeer was not famous during his own time, only truly being noticed toward the end of the 19th century. His relative obscurity until that time is explained by his low volume of production. Vermeer only created around 45 paintings in his life for people in and around Delft. -
Period: to
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a Baroque era German musician and composer. Bach is largely credited as one of the greatest composers ever to live and is credited with being the creator of the Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, and many more masterpieces. Bach was very proud of his family and even traced his genealogy all the way back to his great-great-grandfather who was forced out of Hungary by religious persecution during the Reformation. -
Period: to
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-born English composer, mostly known for his operas, oratorios and some instrumental compositions. Handel wrote one of the most famous oratorios ever, The Messiah. His famous water music group of suites was actually created on request from King George I. and was debuted on the River Thames. Handel loved theatre and many of his oratorios were actually performed on stage instead of in a church. -
Period: to
Charles Willson Peale
Charles Peale is one os the most famous artists of the Revolutionary period in America. He painted over 1,100 portraits, including subjects such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. He also founded his own museum for which he created many works. His museum contained some of his art, curious gadgets, stuffed animals and even contained the first Mastodon unearthed in America. Peale was actually present at the mastodon excavation and even captured it in a painting. -
Period: to
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, widely regarded as the greatest composer of all time, was instrumental in the transition from the Classical era to the Romantic era. Beethovens last two quartets show the shift to more modern and fragmented music from the older styles. Critics have said that later Schoenburg, a heavily modernist musician, took his point of departure from the final quartets of Beethoven. Through his over 700 compositions Beethoven dominated one era of music and helped usher in a new one. -
Period: to
Thomas Cole
Thomas Cole was an American romantic landscape painter. Born in England, Cole came to American with his family when he was 17. He created many beautiful landscapes displaying the majesty of nature. He travelled across America and sketched various pieces of scenery. He would then paint based off of his sketches in his studio during the winter. Whenever a man would appear in his landscapes it was in a subdued manner, showing natures majesty above him. -
Period: to
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and biologist, is greatly tied with the thought of cultural fragmentation today. His theory of evolution gives ground to the thought that everything is random, that everybody just evolved from a bang and do not have any true moral value. This thought, which disregards universal morals in favour of made-up morals, is very responsible for the thought of modern fragmentation. Because if people do not have a purpose humanity has no reason to exist. -
Period: to
Karl Marx
Karl Marx, perhaps one of the most dangerous political ideologists, built his ideology off of manufactured Universals. Universals or Universal truths are necessary for humanities existence. The main universal we have to base our truths on is the Bible, and Karl Marx neglected this. He built marxism on universals he made up and concluded in destroying every country which implemented them. Karl Marx is a great example of what happens when humanity attempts to create its own universal truths. -
Period: to
Winslow Homer
Winslow Homer is considered by many to be the greatest American painter of the 19th century. He began his career as a print maker in Boston but was quickly sent to cover the civil war for the news illustrated journal Harper Weekly. It was during this time that Homer created many of his great civil war paintings. Homer however was not only limited to war paintings but created many other paintings based mainly on the day to day lives of normal people. -
Period: to
Paul Cezanne
Paul Cezanne, while receiving much ridicule throughout his life, greatly influenced post-impressionism. Cezanne was born to a wealthy family and was able to maintain financial security. Many of his early fantastical paintings drew much ridicule and were denied admission to the art Salons. In search of meaning, Cezanne withdrew into nature. He searched for reason in nature, and finally portrayed nature in its most basic shapes. Cezanne influenced many artists including Pablo Picasso. -
Period: to
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a famous French painter and one of the founders of the Impressionist movement. Monet angered critics all throughout his lifetime with his impressionist style. His short uneven highly visible brush strokes offered an element to his art which had not been seen before. Critics described his paintings as looking "unfinished" however their unfinished look lent them a light beauty which had not existed previously. Monet mainly painted nature, and the lives of people around Paris. -
Period: to
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh, while not quite mentally stable, is possibly one of the most famous and influential artists to ever live. His "Starry Night," which was painted from a mental asylum, is one of the most valuable paintings in existence. His influence is seen within much French Impressionist art, as his impressionist/post-impressionist style rebelled against the typical art of the day and paved a way for artists coming after him. -
Period: to
Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy, perhaps one of the greatest French composers of all time, began the French musical shift toward fragmentation. Unlike Schoenberg, Debussy's music did not trend toward non-resolution, instead, it trended towards fragmentation. This fragmentation, first really introduced by Debussy, still influences artists today. Its influence is not limited to Classical music either, fragmentation can be seen in most modern music as well. -
Period: to
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenburg, potentially one of the most influential composers of the 20th century, used his music as a vehicle for modern thought. Schoenberg drew inspiration from Beethoven and carried the modernist thoughts from Beethovens last two quartets into his own music. Schoenberg rejected traditional music and invented the "12 tone row". This way of creating music leads to constant variation with no final resolution. He influenced many other artists with this varying music including John Cage. -
Period: to
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, perhaps the most famous human of all time, gained great acclaim for his many scientific achievements throughout the 1900s. Einsteins' theory of relativity while sometimes mistaken as a philosophy on the randomness of the universe, is actually the opposite. Einstein himself is against the idea of using his idea in this way. He stated in the London Observer that "I cannot believe that God plays dice with the universe". -
Period: to
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso is widely considered one of the most famous artists of all time. While Picasso began with much realism in his paintings, his later works display the fragmentation of his mind. He joined the French Communist Party in 1944 and was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1950 from the Soviet Union. He seemed to portray fragmentation and loss of humanity throughout many of his works, yet when painted something he truly loved, like his wife or kids, he displayed their true beauty accurately. -
Period: to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, Germanies worst leader, is often described as one of the evilest men to ever live. After failing as an artist and finally achieving dictatorial status through the murder of his opposition, Hitler began World War 2 by invading Poland. WW2 in turn lead to the deaths of over 70 million humans. He forced millions of jews into Nazi death camps and caused the economic collapse of Germany. It has been guessed that Hitler was indwelled by Satan, yet this has not been confirmed. -
Period: to
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis, widely considered one of the intellectual giants of our time, published over 30 books and transformed the way many people perceive Christianity. He discussed the base ideas of Christianity in fictional and non-fictional lights. His fictional Chronicles of Narnia break down many beliefs found within Christianity to the simplest level. Due to his achievements as an author and thinker, he was elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University in 1954. -
Period: to
The Age of Fragmentation
The age of fragmentation is what happens when a world ceases to believe in universals and particulars and believes that everything is created by random chance. Humanity is lost and everything becomes inanimate. Francis Schaeffer gives many examples of this worldview prevailing including John Cage, a musician who creates and composes music randomly, and Pablo Picasso who creates paintings about people with no humanity. When universals go away and randomness prevails humanity is lost. -
Period: to
B.F. Skinner
B.F. Skinner, a great American psychologist, wrote many great books, especially about Behaviourism. He believed that behavioural manipulation could potentially lead to a better society. Without solid principles to found a society on, a cultural elite arises. This cultural elite must make up ideas and principles to govern the society as it has rejected the true ones. Skinner is a great representation of these cultural elites. -
Period: to
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa is perhaps considered one of the best people to ever live. She spent her life working to spread the love of God and created places of refuge for the needy all around the world. She, directly and indirectly, influenced the lives of millions of people through her ministry. She joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1928 and taught at St. Mary's school for girls until 1948, when she began her work helping the poor on the streets of Calcutta, India. -
Period: to
John Cage
John Cage is viewed as an avid musical philosopher and director. He viewed the world as a "fragmented" universe and created his music accordingly. John Cage provides the clearest example of the shift of music into the era of fragmentation. He experimented with many different kinds of randomized and fragmented music and even created a machine that leads an orchestra with random movements. Later in his life, he admited that were he to approach food randomly like he did music, he would die. -
Period: to
Francis Schaeffer
Francis Schaeffer is considered one of the most influential Biblical Theologians of our time. He possessed the great ability to reach secular culture while standing on his own beliefs. He believed deeply that truth and love must always be taken together, for one without the other can do great harm. He began the L'abri Fellowship in Switzerland as a retreat/seminary/community for anybody seeking truth or rest. Through his expanding fellowship and books, Schaeffer's influence is felt today. -
Period: to
Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock, perhaps one of the most influential American painters of his time, symbolized emerging cultural values of the developed world. Many of his works were created randomly, he allowed the paint to drip randomly and used different random utensils to create with. This shows an emerging world view, that the earth was created randomly and does not have any meaning. Therefore while being pleasing to the eye, Pollocks paintings symbolize random hopelessness. -
Period: to
World War 1
World War 1 was by far one of the deadliest wars of all time. Started in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, World War 1 raged across much of the world and took the lives of over 41 million humans. Already in a social and moral decline, many countries were plunged into economic chaos after the war. This lead to many evil regimes coming into place, including the Nazi Party in Germany. Many of these regimes disregarded moral absolutes and created their own set of moral laws. -
Period: to
Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr is perhaps one of the most influential figures in American history. His firm Christian beliefs and acceptance of the universal truth that all humans are equal allowed him to spearhead an extraordinary movement, campaigning for the equality of all Americans. He travelled over 6 million miles and spoke 2500 times in an 11 year period. His great work and leadership earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Sadly only 4 years later he was assassinated in his Motel in Tennessee. -
Period: to
World War 2
Resulting from the abandonment of universal morals, WW2 involved every major power of Earth and resulted in the deaths of upwards of 70 million humans. This qualifies it as the deadliest conflict in human history. Beginning with the Nazi invasion of Poland, WW2 demonstrated the evil humans are capable of. The Nazi party resulted from the neglect of universal morals. They attempted to create their own morals and disavowed the existence of God. This lead to the deadliest conflict in history. -
Period: to
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix, one of the most talented guitar players ever to live, symbolized the end of an era. Jimi Hendrix symbolized the drug-taking ideology for most of his career, eventually dying from an overdose. His death really showed the end of drug-taking as an ideology, the harm it did was obvious. While his death symbolized the end as an ideology it did not end drug-taking, people now mainly treated drugs as an escape and not a religion. -
Period: to
The Beatles
The Beatles are perhaps one of the most popular music groups of all time. Formed in the late 1950's in England, their first big hit "Love Me Do" released in 1962. After taking America by storm, the Beatles became a rallying cry for the younger generations. Without having a universal base, many of the younger generation resorted to drugs to give them meaning. The Beatles songs represented this, and they became a rallying cry for this movement away from reality into drugs. -
Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura (1960-present) is an instrumental modern figure in combining Christianity and art. His books have won many awards, and describe art in relation to Christianity. His work on this topic has won him a Religion and the Arts award from the American Academy of Religion in 2014. He has painted contemporary art pieces and has collaborated with many musicians on other projects as well. Most of his paintings have Christian names and meanings including the "Four Holy Gospels" and many more. -
Woodstock
Woodstock is considered the peak of drug culture and the "Hippie" movement. A music event lasting 3 days with over 400 thousand attendees, over 700 people overdosed on drugs throughout the duration. Many popular artists performed including Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead. The huge crowds of people greatly affected the surrounding areas and overwhelmed any chance of adequate sanitation and first aid. While this huge event was proclaimed the "start of a new era" it was in fact the end of one.