Verisoph story dossier
From the Edict of Milan through the councils, the Great Schism, the Reformation, and the modern movements, Mormonism included.
From the Edict of Milan through the councils, the Great Schism, the Reformation, and the modern movements, Mormonism included.
also in Religion and ideology, The biblical timeline
About AD 50 the apostles and elders meet at Jerusalem to decide whether Gentile converts must keep the law of Moses. Acts 15 records their decision that they need not be circumcised.
also in Hinges of history, Religion and ideology
Constantine and Licinius agree to tolerate Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, ending official persecution. Christianity moves from outlawed sect toward imperial religion, binding church and European power for over a millennium.
also in Religion and ideology
Constantine convenes the first ecumenical council; it produces the Nicene Creed and the first church-wide definition of orthodox Christian doctrine, condemning Arianism.
also in Religion and ideology
Emperor Theodosius I issues the Edict of Thessalonica, making Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Other Christian sects and pagan cults lose imperial favor.
also in Religion and ideology
The second ecumenical council expands the Nicene Creed, affirming the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The revised creed is still recited in most Christian churches.
also in Religion and ideology
The third ecumenical council condemns Nestorius and affirms Mary's title Theotokos, bearer of God. The dispute drives the Church of the East into a lasting separate existence.
also in Religion and ideology
The fourth ecumenical council defines Christ as one person in two natures, divine and human. Churches in Egypt, Syria, and Armenia reject the formula, creating the Oriental Orthodox split that endures today.
also in Religion and ideology
Benedict of Nursia establishes his monastery at Monte Cassino and writes his Rule for monastic life. The Rule becomes the template for Western monasticism for a thousand years.
also in Religion and ideology
Gregory I takes office and turns the papacy into a governing institution, administering Rome, negotiating with kings, and sending missionaries to England. His pontificate is widely seen as the moment the medieval papacy takes shape.
also in Religion and ideology
Papal legates excommunicate Patriarch Michael Cerularius in Hagia Sophia, and he responds in kind. The mutual excommunications come to mark the lasting break between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
also in Religion and ideology
Pope Clement V moves the papal court to Avignon under French influence, where seven successive popes reside. The long absence from Rome damages papal prestige and helps trigger the Western Schism.
also in Religion and ideology
Rival popes in Rome and Avignon, later joined by a third line, each claim legitimacy and divide Catholic Europe. The Council of Constance ends the schism and strengthens the conciliar movement.
also in Religion and ideology
The Bohemian reformer Jan Hus is condemned for heresy and burned at the stake despite a promise of safe conduct. His death sparks the Hussite movement and foreshadows the Reformation a century later.
Hus was burned at the stake. It was a powerful symbol that the institutional Church was no longer capable of dealing constructively with a movement of reformA History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years , p. 596-599
also in Religion and ideology
Martin Luther publishes ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences, traditionally by posting them on the castle church door. The protest ignites the Protestant Reformation and the permanent division of Western Christianity.
also in Religion and ideology
Huldrych Zwingli starts preaching straight through the Gospel of Matthew at the Grossmunster, breaking with the church lectionary. His scripture-first program launches the Swiss Reformed branch of Protestantism independently of Luther.
also in Religion and ideology
Conrad Grebel and companions rebaptize one another as believing adults, rejecting infant baptism. The act founds the Anabaptist movement, ancestor of the Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites.
also in England 1588, Religion and ideology
Parliament declares Henry VIII supreme head of the Church of England, severing it from papal authority. The break founds Anglicanism, driven by the king's annulment dispute as much as by doctrine.
also in Religion and ideology
John Calvin returns to Geneva and implements his Ecclesiastical Ordinances, organizing church and civic life around Reformed doctrine. Geneva becomes the model and training ground for Calvinist churches across Europe.
also in Religion and ideology
The Catholic Church convenes a long council to answer the Reformation, defining doctrine on scripture, justification, and the sacraments and reforming clerical abuses. Trent shapes Catholicism for the next four centuries.
also in Religion and ideology
English separatist exiles led by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys adopt believer's baptism and form the first Baptist church. Helwys later carries the movement back to England.
also in Religion and ideology
Separatist Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower establish Plymouth Colony after signing the Mayflower Compact. Their settlement begins the transplanting of English dissenting Protestantism to North America.
also in Religion and ideology
John Winthrop's fleet brings roughly a thousand Puritans to found Massachusetts Bay Colony, envisioned as a godly commonwealth. The Great Migration that follows stamps Puritan religion on New England society.
also in Religion and ideology
George Fox gathers the first large followings of the Religious Society of Friends, preaching direct inward experience of God without clergy or sacraments. The Quaker movement grows despite heavy persecution.
also in Anatomy of a superpower: the American state, Religion and ideology
Revival preaching by Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and others sweeps the American colonies, stressing personal conversion over formal religion. The awakening reshapes colonial Protestantism and boosts Baptist and evangelical growth.
also in Religion and ideology
John Wesley feels his heart 'strangely warmed' at a meeting on Aldersgate Street, an experience he counts as his evangelical conversion. The moment launches the Methodist revival movement within and eventually beyond the Church of England.
also in Anatomy of a superpower: the American state, Religion and ideology
Camp meetings and revivals spread evangelical Christianity across the young United States, fueling Methodist and Baptist expansion. The awakening also spawns reform movements and new denominations, including the restorationist churches.
also in Religion and ideology
Joseph Smith formally organizes the church shortly after publishing the Book of Mormon, which he presented as translated scripture. The new faith grows rapidly despite persecution and later migrates west to Utah.
also in Religion and ideology
Sabbatarian Adventists who emerged from the Millerite movement formally organize as the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ellen G. White's writings become central to the denomination's identity.
also in Religion and ideology
Charles Taze Russell publishes the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower, organizing the Bible Student movement. The group adopts the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931.
also in Religion and ideology
A revival led by William J. Seymour breaks out and soon moves to a mission at 312 Azusa Street, marked by speaking in tongues and interracial worship. The meetings launch Pentecostalism, now one of Christianity's largest movements.
also in Religion and ideology
Delegates from 147 Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox churches establish the World Council of Churches. It becomes the main institution of the modern ecumenical movement.
also in Religion and ideology
Pope John XXIII opens a council that modernizes Catholic practice, allowing Mass in local languages and opening dialogue with other faiths. Vatican II is the most sweeping reform of Catholicism since Trent.