Church History Final

50 CE (Peter and Paul)

Council of Jerusalem — Decided Gentile converts didn't have to follow Jewish law to be Christian.

202 CE (Perpetua and Felicity)

Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity — Showed the strength of early Christian faith during Roman persecution.

313 CE (Constantine)

Edict of Milan — Legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, ending persecution.

325 CE (Athanasius / Constantine)

First Council of Nicaea — Defeated Arianism and wrote the Nicene Creed, declaring Jesus is fully God.

367 CE (Athanasius)

Easter Letter of Athanasius — First time the 27 books of the New Testament were officially listed together.

381 CE (Theodosius I)

First Council of Constantinople — Defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit and made Christianity the official state religion.

382 CE (St. Jerome / Pope Damasus I)

Commissioning of the Latin Vulgate — Translated the Bible into Latin, making it accessible to the Western Church.

386 CE (St. Augustine)

Conversion of St. Augustine — His theology on grace and sin shaped Western Christian thought for centuries.

451 CE (Pope Leo I)

Council of Chalcedon — Defined that Jesus is fully divine and fully human in one person.

560 CE (Columba / Columbanus)

Rise of Irish Monasticism — Monks preserved Christian texts and re-evangelized Europe during the Dark Ages.

1054 CE (Pope Leo IX / Patriarch Michael Cerularius)

The Great Schism — The formal split between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

1095 CE (Pope Urban II)

Call for the First Crusade — Launched military campaigns to reclaim the Holy Land, impacting Christian-Muslim relations.

1151 CE (Hildegard of Bingen)

Completion of Scivias — Showcased the powerful role and intellectual impact of women mystics in the medieval Church.

1183 CE (St. Francis of Assisi)

Life of St. Francis — Founded the Franciscan order, embracing radical poverty and reforming Church corruption.

1272 CE (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Writing of the Summa Theologiae — Combined philosophy with theology to form the basis of Catholic intellectual thought.

1376 CE (St. Catherine of Siena)

Letters to Pope Gregory XI — Convinced the Pope to move back to Rome, ending the Avignon Papacy.

1517 CE (Martin Luther)

Ninety-five Theses — Sparked the Protestant Reformation and divided Western Christianity.

1521 CE (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Conversion of Ignatius at Loyola — Led to the founding of the Jesuits to defend and spread Catholic education.

1531 CE (St. Juan Diego)

Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe — Led to massive conversions in the Americas, making the Church truly global.

1540 CE (Pope Paul III)

Papal Approval of the Jesuits — Officially sent the Jesuits out as missionaries and educators to fight the Reformation.

1545 CE (Pope Paul III)

Opening of the Council of Trent — Launched the Catholic Counter-Reformation, correcting abuses and defining Catholic dogma.

1789 CE (French Revolutionaries)

Outbreak of the French Revolution — Forced the Church to face severe secularization, land seizures, and a modernizing world.

1869 CE (Pope Pius IX)

First Vatican Council (Vatican I) — Defined Papal Infallibility when teaching officially on faith and morals.

1885 CE (American Catholic Bishops)

Publication of the Baltimore Catechism — Became the standard school text that shaped American Catholic identity for decades.

1891 CE (Pope Leo XIII)

Rerum Novarum — Set up modern Catholic Social Teaching by defending workers' rights against capitalism and communism.

1910 CE (Protestant Missionaries)

Edinburgh World Missionary Conference — Started the modern ecumenical movement to bring different Christian groups closer together.

1947 CE (Bedouin Shepherds)

Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls — Found ancient biblical texts that proved the historical accuracy of modern Scripture.

1962 CE (Pope John XXIII)

Opening of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) — Modernized Church practices, including changing the Mass from Latin to local languages.

1965 CE (Pope Paul VI / Patriarch Athenagoras)

Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration — Healed historical wounds by removing the mutual excommunications from the Schism of 1054.

2025 CE (Pope Francis)

The Jubilee Year of Hope — Called a global Holy Year focusing on global forgiveness, solidarity, and spiritual renewal.