Christianity: Key Dates & Concepts (Brief Notes)

The Early Christian Church

• Roots in Judaism: Jesus born around $6 ext{-}4\ \,\mathrm{BCE}$; death around $30\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Paul’s missions $30 ext{-}58\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Council of Jerusalem $49\ \,\mathrm{CE}$.
• Early Christian Persecutions: Nero blamed Christians in $64\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Diocletian persecuted from $284 ext{-}311\ \,\mathrm{CE}$.
• Growth and Legalisation: Edict of Milan $313\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Constantine’s conversion $312\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Christian tolerance and expansion.
• Global Schism: Great Schism between East (Orthodox) and West (Roman Catholic) in $1054\ \,\mathrm{CE}$.

The Legalisation, Schisms and Reformations

• 313\ CE: Edict of Milan grants religious tolerance to Christians.
• 312\ CE: Constantine becomes Christian; Eastern Roman Empire Christianized.
• 1054\ CE: The Great Schism separates Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
• 16th–17th\ CE: Catholic Reformation (Counter-Reformation) and Inquisition.
• 1544\–1564\ CE: Council of Trent reforms the Church.

Renaissance and Reformations in Europe

• Renaissance $1250 ext{-}1600\ \,\mathrm{CE}$: rebirth of arts, science, philosophy; emergence of isms (Individualism, Humanism, Secularism).
• Printing Press (15th C): widespread dissemination of ideas; vernacular Bible translations.
• Protestant Reformation: challenge to Church authority; Luther’s 95 Theses in $1517\ \,\mathrm{CE}$; Luther’s doctrine established in $1525\ \,\mathrm{CE}$.
• Key Reformers: Martin Luther (1517\CE), John Calvin (1509 ext{-}1564\CE).
• Catholic Response: Counter-Reformation; Inquisition (16th–17th C); Council of Trent (1544 ext{-}1564\CE).

The Enlightenment

• Nature of the movement: Age of Reason; questioning traditional authorities; human progress through rational change.
• Core ideals: Reason, knowledge, freedom, happiness; pluralism, secularism, democracy, equality, human rights.
• Enlightenment Thinkers: Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft.
• Outcomes: tension between science/reason and religious authority; drives secular governance and civil liberties.

The Age of Discovery and Global Mission

• Missionary activity: 18th–19th C missionaries in Australia; growth of religious congregations (e.g., the Presentation Sisters in Ireland as an example of 19th-century religious orders).
• Social Catholic movement: Rerum Novarum (The Condition of the Labourer) by Pope Leo XIII in $1891\,\mathrm{CE}$ asserting social justice.
• 1789\ CE: French Revolution; shifts toward secular, liberal, and democratic ideas that influenced religious thought.

Key Dates and Concepts (Condensed)

• $30\text{-}CE$: Death of Jesus (approx.)
• $49\text{-}CE$: Council of Jerusalem
• $64\text{ CE}$: Nero persecutes Christians
• $312\text{ CE}$: Constantine becomes Christian
• $313\text{ CE}$: Edict of Milan
• $1054\text{ CE}$: The Great Schism
• $1250\text{-}1600\text{ CE}$: Renaissance
• $1517\text{ CE}$: Luther’s 95 Theses
• $1525\text{ CE}$: Luther’s teachings established (Lutheranism)
• $1544 ext{-}1564\text{ CE}$: Council of Trent
• $1789\text{ CE}$: French Revolution
• $18\text{-}19\text{ CE}$: Enlightenment context and growth of congregations
• $1891\text{ CE}$: Rerum Novarum (social justice)