Notes on Church History

A Church HistoryTimeline

Compiled by R. Grant
Jones

If there is no timeline to the right,
click here.

Warning:  This is a work in progress,

and doubtless contains errors.

The Pre-Christian Background

First Century
Jesus,
Paul,
Nero,
Clement,

Persecutions under Nero and Domitian,
Synod of Jamnia

Second Century
Persecution under Trajan, Hadrian,and
Marcus Aurelius;
Ignatius of Antioch,
Symeon,
Marcion,

Quadratus,
Aristides,
Bar-Cocheba,
Justin Martyr,

Aristo of Pella,
Polycarp,
Montanus,
Claudius
Apollinaris,
Melito of Sardis,
Tertullian,
Irenaeus,

Victor of Rome,
Polycrates,
Clement of Alexandria

Third Century
Persecution under Septimius Severus,
Decius, and
Valerian;
Origen,
Callistus,

Hippolytus,
Dionysius,
Cyprian,
Stephen of
Rome,
Paul of Samosata,
Diocletian,
the Apostolic
Constitutions

Fourth Century (Part I)
Persecution under
Diocletian;
The council of Elvira,
Alban,
Lucian of
Antioch,
Constantine,
the Edict of Milan,

Alexander of Alexandria,
Arius,
Eusebius of
Nicomedia,
First Ecumenical Council (Nicea),
Eusebius
of Caesarea,
Athanasius,
Marcellus of Ancyra,

Julius of Rome,
Council of Antioch,
Council of
Sardica,
Cyril of Jerusalem

Fourth Century (Part II)
Councils of Sirmium,

Hilary of Poitiers,
Council of Arles,
Council of
Milan,
Liberius of Rome,
The “Blasphemy” of
Hosius,
Anomoeans,
Pneumatomachi,

Aetius,
Basil of Ancyra,
Rival Councils at Rimini
and Seleucia,
Jerome,
Julian the Apostate,

Meletius and Paulinus,
Damasus,
Basil the Great,

Gregory Nazianzus,
Gregory of Nyssa,

Epiphanius,
the Tall Brothers,
Second Ecumenical
Council (Constantinople),
Siricius,
Symeon the
Stylite,
Theodore of Mopsuestia,
Council of
Carthage,
Augustine of Hippo,
John Chrysostom

Fifth Century
Augustine of Hippo,
John
Chrysostom,
the Synod of the Oak,
Alaric Sacks
Rome,
John Cassian,
Pelagius,
Cyril of
Alexandria,
Theodore of Mopsuestia,
Jerome,

Theodoret,
Celestine,
Nestorius,
The
Twelve Anathemas,
Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus),

Vincent of Lerins,
Leo the Great,
Dioscorus,

Eutyches,
the Robber council,
Fourth Ecumenical Council
(Chalcedon),
Attila the Hun,
the end of the Roman
Empire in the West,
Peter the Fuller,
Acacius,

the Henoticon,
Gelasius

Sixth Century
Severus,
Julian of Helicarnassus,

John the Grammarian,
Burgundians renounce Arianism,

Justin,
schism over the Henoticon ends,
Hormisdas,

slaughter of Christians in Yemen,
Boethius,
Dionysios Exiguus,

Justinian,
Benedict,
Council of Orange,
St. Sabbas,

Hagia Sophia,
Pseudo-Dionysius,
Leontius of Jerusalem,

Evagrius,
Agapetus visits Constantinople,
Cassiodorus,

Dionysius Exiguus,
the Condemnation of Origen,
plague,

John Scholasticus,
Vigilius,
defeat of the Gothic
kingdom in Italy,
Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople),
the
Suevis renounce Arianism,
Columba of Iona,
Lombards invade Italy,

Avar invasion,
Persian invasion,
Jacob
Baradaeus,
Maximus Confessor (birth),
Columbanus,

Visigoths renounce Arianism,
Council of Toledo (and the
filioque),
John of Biclar,
Gregory the Great,

Augustine of Canterbury

Seventh Century
Augustine of Canterbury,
the
Persians conquer Jerusalem and take the true cross,
Heraclius,

Sergios,
Honorius,
death of Mohammed,
Isidore of
Seville,
Sophronius,
last Arian king of the Lombards,
Aidan of
Lindisfarne,
the Ekthesis,
John Climacus,
destruction
of the library in Alexandria,
council at Rome (649),
Maximus
Confessor,
the Arab conquest,
the Synod of Whitby,

Wilfrid,
Athanasian Creed,
Benedict Biscop,
the Sixth
Ecumenical Council (Constantinople),
Maronites,
Willibrord,

Quinisext Council

Eighth Century
Arab conquest of Spain,
Coelfrith,

Boniface,
Paulicians,
Leo the Isaurian,

Iconoclasm,
John of Damascus,
the Venerable Bede,

the battle of Tours,
the Khazars,
Constantine
Copronymus,
the Donation of Constantine,
council of Gentily,

synod of Cealchythe,
Empress Irene,
forced conversion of the
Saxons,
Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicea),
the synod of
Frankfort

Ninth Century
Charlemagne,
Alcuin,

Theodore Studites,
the council of Aachen,
Nicephorus,

the University of Constantinople,
the Synodicon of
Orthodoxy,
Gottschalk of Orbais,
persecution in Spain,

Photius,
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals,
Nicholas I,

Cyril and Methodius,
John Scotus Erigena,
Conversion of
Bulgaria,
Ratramnus,
Radbertus,
Hincmar of
Reims,
Mount Athos,
the Synod horrenda

Tenth Century
Cluny,
the Bulgarian
patriarchate,
King Wencelaus of Bohemia,
the Magyars
defeated,
several bad popes,
influence in Denmark,
in
Norway,
in Poland,
in Hungary,
the Wendish Revolt,

Adalbert of Prague,
the conversion of Russia,
Olaf Tryggvason,

influence in Sweden

Eleventh Century
Leningrad Codex,
the
filioque first inserted into the creed in Rome,
Alexius
the Studite,
Phoundagiagitai,
King Stephen of Hungary,

persecution under Caliph Hakim,
Michael Psellus,
the
investiture controversy,
Berengar of Tours,
the East-West
Schism,
Michael Cerularius,
Jaroslav the Wise,

another Wendish uprising,
the Norman conquest,

Christianity imposed in Sweden,
Manzikert,
Hildebrand,

Henry IV,
John Italos,
Constantine the African,
Anselm,

Christodoulos,
the First Crusade,
the Cistercians

Twelfth Century
Basil the Bogomil,
the Holy Fire
in Jerusalem,
the Templars,
St. Cyril Philiotes,
Concordat of
Worms,
Otto of Bamburg,
Gratian’s Decretum,
Constantine
Chrysomallos,
Peter Abelard,
Bernard of Clairvaux,
the Second
Crusade,
the Wendish Crusade,
Peter Lombard,
Synod of
Blachernae,
Synod on John 14.28,
Cathari council in Languedoc,

Thomas Becket,
Euphronsyne of Polotsk,
Joachim of Fiore,

massacre in Constantinople,
St. John of Novgorod,
Saladin,

the Third Crusade,
Richard the Lionhearted,
Teutonic Knights,

Theodore Balsamon,
the Livonian Crusade,
Michael Glykas

Thirteenth Century
the Fourth Crusade sacks
Constantinople,
Stephen Langton,
the Fourth Lateran
Council,
Francis of Assisi,
Dominic,
St. Sava,
Synodicon
of the Holy Spirit,
Papal Inquisition,
Alexander Nevsky,

Mongols,
Thomas Aquinas,
Bonaventure,
council
of Lyons,
council of 1285,
Saint Timofey,
Dante,
Duns
Scotus

Fourteenth Century
Unum Sanctum,
the
Babylonian Captivity of the papacy,
St. Sergius of Radonezh,

St. Gregory Palamas,
the Black Plague,
Serbian
patriarchate,
Council of St. Sophia,
Council of
Blachernae,
Schism of the papacy,
battle of Kulikova,

John Wyclif,
conversion of Lithuania

Fifteenth Century
the synod of Piza,
John
Huss,
the council of Basel,
council of Constance,

Joan of Arc,
the council of Florence,
the printing
press,
fall of Constantinople,
the Judaizer heresy,

Marsilio Ficino,
the first Tsars of Russia,
the Spanish
Inquisition,
Archbishop Gennadi,
Abbot Joseph,

Rodrigo Borgia,
the new world

Sixteenth Century
Non-possessors,
Nils
Sorsky,
John Reuchlin,
Erasmus,
Martin
Luther,
Complutensian Polyglot,
the Aldine
Septuagint,
the Diet of Worms,
Henry VIII,

Suleiman’s Seige of Vienna,
the first complete English Bible
printed,
Calvin,
the Jesuits,
the Roman
Inquisition,
the council of Trent, Mary Tudor,
the
Peace of Augsburg,
the Geneva Bible,
the Bishop's
Bible,
Ivan the Terrible,
the battle of Lepanto,

the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
Ostrozhsky or
Ostrong Bible,
Gregorian
Calendar,
Sixtine
Septuagint,
Russian
Patriarchate,
Brest-Litovsk,
the Edict of
Nantes,
Basil of Mangazeya

Seventeenth Century
Douay-Rheims Bible,
the King
James Bible,
the Thirty Years War,
Philaret of
Moscow,
Josaphat Kuntsevich,
Textus Receptus,

Codex Alexandrinus,
Huguenots,
Cyril
Lukaris,
the English Civil War,
Council of
Jerusalem,
Council of Jassy,
Peter of Moghila,

Nikon,
Peter the Great,
final Turkish seige of
Vienna,
revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
liberation
of Hungary,
Glorious Revolution

Eighteenth Century
Unigenitus,
Moscow
patriarchate abolished,
Melkites,
Gregorian
calendar,
Paissy Velichkovshy,
Jesuits
suppressed,
Kosmas the Aetolian,
the Philokalia

Nineteenth Century
Alexis Khomiakov,
Nikita
the Albanian,
Seraphim of Sarov,
Kollyvades,
John
of Kronstadt,
liberation of Greece from Turkish rule,

Marquis de Custine,
the encyclicals of the Eastern
Patriarchs,
the Crimean War,
Immaculate
Conception,
First Vatican Council,
Westcott and Hort,

The Way of a Pilgrim,
Theophan the Recluse,

Leo XIII

Twentieth Century
Gregorian calendar,

persecution of the Russian Church,
World War II,

Vatican II,
the “embrace of peace”

A partial list of references

Maps*

A Map to Accompany the First Four Centuries

The Patriarchates Circa 451

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your cursor over the map and click on the icon that appears at the lower
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The Second
Century
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Index

105Justin Martyr born.  Died 165.

1073rd Persecution of Christians, under Trajan
(98-117).  Ignatius of Antioch martyred in Rome.
According to Severus, after Trajan discovered that Christians were guilty
of no great crimes, he forbade any additional cruelty against them.

Ignatius stressed the role of the local bishop as
the focus of unity.  He claimed that the bishop was God’s
representative on earth.  By Ignatius’ time, the churches of Asia
Minor were ruled by monarchial bishops, assisted by presbyters and
deacons.  In a letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius wrote, “Be ye
subject to the Bishop and Presbytery ... For even Jesus Christ, our
inseparable Life, is the manifest Will of the Father; as also Bishops, to
the uttermost bounds of the earth, are so by the will of Jesus
Christ.”   Ignatius is the first writer known to apply the
adjective Catholic to the Church:  "Wheresoever the bishop shall
appear, there let the people also be:  as where Jesus Christ is,
there is the Catholic Church."  (Smyrneans.)

From various letters (written around the year
107):

On the deity of Christ:  "...being united and
chosen through his true passion, according to the will of the Father, and
Jesus Christ our God."  (Ephesians)
"There is one physician, both fleshly and
spiritual, made and not made; God incarnate; true life in death; both of
Mary and of God; first passible, then impassible; even Jesus Christ our
Lord."  (Ephesians.)
"...God himself appearing in the form of
a man, for the renewal of eternal life."  (Ephesians)

On the identity of the Son and the Logos:
"God has manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son; who is his eternal
word."  (Magnesians.)

On the Trinity:  "Be subject to your
bishop, and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, according to
the flesh: and [as] the Apostles [were subject] both to Christ, and to the
Father, and to the Holy Ghost."  (Magnesians.)

On baptism:  “For our God Jesus Christ ... was
born and baptized, that through his passion he might purify water, to the
washing away of sin.”  (Ephesians.)

On the eucharist:  “... obeying your bishop
and the presbytery with an entire affection; breaking one and the same
bread, which is the medicine of immortality; our antidote that we should
not die, but live forever in Christ Jesus..."
(Ephesians.)
“I
desire the bread of God which is the flesh of Jesus Christ (of the seed of
David), and the drink that I long for is his blood, which is incorruptible
love."  (Romans.)
“For there is but one flesh of our Lord
Jesus Christ; and one cup in the unity of his blood; one altar...”
(Philadelphians.)

On Sunday:  “For if we still continue to live
according to the Jewish law, we do confess ourselves not to have received
grace. ... no longer observing Sabbaths, but keeping the Lord’s day in
which also our life is sprung up by him...”
(Magnesians.)

Ignatius was martyred under Trajan’s persecution in
107.  He warned influential Christians in Rome not to try to obtain
his release from prison.  That would deprive him of suffering in
union with the Lord.

In his Ecclesiastical History (Book VI,
Chapter 8), Socrates reported that Ignatius introduced responsive chants
into the church in Antioch after a vision of angels "hymning in alternate
chants the Holy Trinity."

We know from the second century account The
Martyrdom of Ignatios that Ignatius' relics were revered, even at that
early date.  For there it is written, “only the harder portions of
his holy remains were left, which were conveyed to Antioch and wrapped in
linen, as an inestimable treasure left to the holy Church by the grace
which was in the martyr.”

Hegesippus (see 170 below) related that
Symeon, son of Clopas, when 120 years of age, suffered martyrdom under
Trajan.  Symeon, reportedly, was a son of the Lord's uncle, and had
been bishop after James the Just.

Hegesippus also indicated that it was about this
time that the heretics moved with vigor to corrupt the Church, the last of
the apostles having died.  He also listed many of these heretical
groups:  the Simoniani, Cleobiani, Dorithiani, Gortheani, Masbothaei,
Menandrianists, Marcionites, Carpocratians, Valentinians, Basilidians, and
Saturnalians - many of whom were resisted by second century apologists
such as Irenaeus and Hippolytus.

110Marcion, leader of a heretical sect, born.  Died
165.  Marcion rejected the Old Testament God, the creator of this
miserable world, and hence he rejected the Old Testament also.  He
believed it impossible that Jesus, the redeemer of mankind, had been born
of a woman.

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia,
lived in this era.  He is the source of the tradition that Mark's
gospel was based on Peter's testimony.  Papias was a chiliast.
Eusebius of Caesarea was of the opinion that Papias learned his
millennialism from a certain John the presbyter.  According to this
view, others (including Irenaeus - see 177 below) understood Papias -
incorrectly - to have gotten his view from the apostle John, and so were
convinced there would be a literal millennium.

112 Pliny the Younger (61/62 - 113), governor of
Bithynia, wrote a letter to the emperor Trajan.  He stated that the
Christians "are accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight, to
sing antiphonally a hymn to Christ as to God, and to bind themselves by a
sacrament not to commit any wickedness."

115 Trajan narrowly survived an earthquake that
devastated Antioch.

116 Hadrian expelled the Jews from Cyprus after
suppressing their revolt, in which many (traditionally 240,000) Greek
inhabitants of the island were massacred.

1184th Persecution of Christians, under Hadrian
(117-138). According to Severus, Hadrian set up “images of demons” on
the temple mount and Golgotha.  Hadrian also set guards to prevent
Jews from approaching Jerusalem.

122-7 Building of Hadrian’s wall.

124 The anonymous Epistle to Diognetus, an
apology for Christianity written to a pagan, "my lord
Diognetus."  The author made it plain that the the Word is not "some
servant of" God's, or "some angel or prince."  In fact, the Word was
God:  "as God he sent him, as man to men he sent him" who was "the
artificer and constructor" of creation.  The author contrasts the
"transient flame" of martyrdom Christians sometimes experience with the
unending torment those who have been unable to see through "the deceit and
error of this world" will endure.

125 Papyrus 52 was written around this time.
It is the oldest extant New Testament fragment, containing parts of John
18:31-33 and 37-38.

126 Quadratus wrote an apology for the Christian
faith, addressed to Hadrian (as did Aristides around the same time).
In his apology, Quadratus mentioned that some of those healed by Jesus
were still living.

127-42 Ptolemy, an astronomer, geographer, and
mathematician flourished in Alexandria.  His earth-centered model of
the universe  held the field until 1542, when Copernicus supplied a
solar-centered model.  Ptology's estimate of the earth's
circumference was 30 percent below the actual value.

130 (132?) The Emperor Hadrian rebuilt
Jerusalem, calling it Aelia Capitolina (after himself - Aelius
Hadrian).  He erected a temple to Jupiter there.  A special tax
was levied on the Jews to pay for the upkeep of the temple Jupiter
Capitolinus.

130 A certain Aquila produced a new, very literal
Greek translation of the Old Testament.  Aquila was a disciple of the
Rabbi Akiba and a proselyte to Judaism.  The purpose of his
translation was to supplant the Septuagint.  (Incidentally, Rabbi
Akiba supported Bar-Cocheba, believing that he fulfilled Messianic
prophecies.)

130The Epistle of Barnabaswas written sometime between the fall of Jerusalem (70) and
this date.  Known only in a Latin version for most of history, the
complete Greek text was brought to light in 1859 with the discovery of
Codex Sinaiticus.  The epistle explains Old Testament events and
practices in an allegorical manner, applying them to Christ and the
Church.  Barnabas identifies the one who became incarnate for our
salvation with him to whom God said, "Let us make man in our
image."

135   Another Jewish rebellion
began, this one led by Bar-Cocheba.  According to Justin,
“In the recent Jewish war, Bar-Cocheba ... ordered that only the
Christians should be subjected to dreadful torments, unless they renounced
and blasphemed Jesus Christ.”

136 Second conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by
the Romans.  More than 500,000 put to the sword.  The emperor
Hadrian forbade the Jews to return to the Jerusalem, and they dispersed
over the earth.

In this year the Alexandrian philosopher
Valentinus, a baptized Christian, but Gnostic thinker, moved to
Rome.  He left the Christian community in 140, when another was
chosen bishop of Rome.  After departing Rome around 160, Valentinus
continued to develop his religious philosophy, reportedly writing The
Gospel of Truth.  His system, like other Gnostic views, supposed
a fundamental dualism between good and evil and salvation through
gnosis.  He was refuted by Irenaeus and Hippolytus.

Basilides was another Gnostic philosopher
from Alexandria.  The school he founded, known as the Basilidians,
still existed in Alexandria in the fourth century.  Basilidians are
thought to be the first to celebrate Jesus' baptism on January 6 (or Jan
10), keeping an all-night vigil.  Basilides used the term "Abraxas"
(thought to have magical significance) for God.

Still another Gnostic group saw Simon Magus
(Acts 8.9-24) as the true God or Father.  God had generated the
first thought (Ennoia) to create the angels, who, in turn, were to create
the universe.  Through jealousy, the angels imprisoned Ennoia in
human flesh, and she was doomed to transmigrate to a new body upon the
death of the old one.  To free her, God had entered creation in the
form of Simon, and he offered salvation to mankind in exchange for their
recognition of his deity.

Mithraism became increasingly popular within
the Roman empire, particularly among soldiers, from around this
year.  In 307, Diocletian dedicated a temple to Mithra at Carnuntum
on the Danube.  Mithra was a sun god, and his faith emphasized
loyalty to the emperor.  After the emperors became Christians,
Mithraism faded.  Mithra had been the most important Persian god
prior to Zoroaster's time.  Mithric sanctuaries were caverns.
Only men attended the ceremonies of this faith, and there was, apparently,
no religious hierarchy.

140Justin Martyr wrote his Apology to the emperor
Antonius Pius (138-61).  He gave a description of the Sunday
service:

“On the day called the Feast of the Sun, all who
live in towns or in the country assemble in one place, and the memoirs of
the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read as time
permits.  Then, when the reader has ended, the President instructs
and encourages the people to practice the truths contained in the
Scripture lections.  Thereafter, we all stand up and offer prayers
together ...

“Our prayers being ended, we salute one another
with a kiss.  Then bread, and a cup of wine mixed with water, are
brought to him who presides over the brethren.  He, taking them,
offers praise and glory to the Father of all through the Name of the Son
and the Holy Spirit, and giving thanks at great length for that we have
been counted worthy to receive these gifts from God; and when he finishes
the prayers and thanksgivings all the people present cry aloud,
Amen.  Amen in the Hebrew tongue means, So be it.

“After the President has given thanks and all the
people have said Amen, those among us who are called deacons give to all
present, sharing it among them, the bread and wine mixed with water over
which thanks has been given, and carry it also to those who are
absent.  And this food is called eucharist by us, of which it is not
right for any one to partake save only he who believes that the things
taught by us are true, and is washed with the washing that is for the
forgiveness of sins and regeneration, and so lives as Christ commanded
us.”

Justin rejected pagan mythology, but respected
Greek philosophy.  He believed in free will, and so was critical of
the Gnostic doctrine that predestination was independent of
morality.  He also believed that the fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecy was a strong proof that Jesus is the Messiah, and so rejected
Marcion’s negative view of the Jewish scriptures.  Justin believed in
a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, accepting the canonicity
and literal interpretation of the Apocalypse.

Justin viewed baptism as a bath of repentance and
knowledge of God, through which the Spirit is imparted, a replacement for
circumcision, and the doorway to the remission of sins.  The
eucharist is the new sacrifice foretold by Malachi.  He interpreted
the words “Do this” to mean “offer this.”  He associated the
eucharist with Christ’s passion and he believed in the Real
Presence:  “We do not receive these as common bread or common
drink.  But just as our Savior Jesus Christ was made flesh through
the Word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we
have been taught that the food that has been eucharistized by the word of
prayer from Him (that food which by process of assimilation nourishes our
flesh and blood) is the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus.”

Justin regarded the Septuagint as the only reliable
Old Testament text.  He viewed Mary as the antithesis of Eve.
Our fall was through a disobedient virgin, but our salvation is through an
obedient one.

140 Aristo of Pella wrote his Disputation
of Papiscus and Jason, a dialogue between a Jew and a Christian
regarding the truth of the Christian faith.  This work is now known
only through second-hand references.

155Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome and found the
Romans did not celebrate Easter as it was done in the East (see year
190).  This was when Anicetus was bishop of Rome.

157 Polycarp burned at the stake in Smyrna.  A
year later, the anniversary of Polycarp’s martyrdom was celebrated.
The first “saint’s day” thus began.

157Montanus, leader of a heretical sect, flourished.  He
was a Phrygian.  Together with two women, Prisca and Maximilla, he
entered ecstatic states and spoke as moved by the Holy Spirit.  They
were chiliasts, believing that the new Jerusalem would land in
Phrygia.  They taught that disagreement with their ecstatic
utterances was blasphemy against the Spirit.  The sect he founded
continued to exist at least until 722.

160 By this year, the grave of Peter was marked by
a shrine.

The annual celebration of Easter may have began in
Rome around this year (see 190).  It had been celebrated in Asia
Minor much earlier.

Tertullian born.  Died 230.

Claudius Apollinaris bishop of Hierapolis in
Asia (160-180).  Apollinaris related that an army of the Emperor
Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius) (161-180) was sent rain on account of the
prayers of Christians, while the enemy force was struck by lightning
bolts. Apollinaris also remarked that the Lord was crucified on the
Passover, the 14th of Nisan, not on the day after.  The Last
Supper, he stated, occurred before the Passover, as John relates (John
13.1).

During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a certain
Alexander the Paphlagonian generated a mystery spectacle involving a holy
serpent named Glycon.

165 Death of Justin Martyr.

Tatian.  Sometime before Justin’s
death, a native of Mesopotamia (called an Assyrian) named Tatian converted
to Christianity after an investigation into philosophy.  His
conversion may have occurred in Rome, where he met Justin.  Tatian
authored a harmony of the gospels, known as the Diatessaron, and an
apologetic Address to the Greeks.  After Justin’s death,
Tatian became enamored of an ascetic Gnostic sect known as the Encratites,
or the “self-controlled,” which had apparently arisen about the year
166.  Tatian moved to Antioch and attracted disciples to this heresy
until his death in 172.

167 According to the Venerable Bede, the bishop of
Rome, Eleutherus, received a request for baptism from a British
king in this year.

168 Theophilus (died 181 or 188) became bishop of Antioch.  Though
reportedly the author of commentaries on the gospels and the book of
Proverbs, his sole surviving work is apologetic in character, addressed to
his pagan friend Autolycus.  (Theophilus also seems to have written a
chronology of the world, based on Biblical dates.  The historian John
Malalas (d. 538) cited a Theophilus, whose identity is otherwise
uncertain, as a source in his historical writings.)

170 Melito of Sardis (died 177, under
Aurelius' persecution) traveled to Palestine where he obtained a list of
books in the Hebrew Old Testament.  His list omits
Esther.

That Melito believed in the deity of Christ is
evident.  He wrote, "...our Lord Jesus Christ ... is perfect reason,
the Word of God; He who was begotten before the Light; He is creator
together with the Father; He who is the fashioner of man; He who is all in
all; ...in the Father, the Son; in God, God."

“For there is no need, to persons of intelligence,
to attempt to prove, from the deeds of Christ subsequent to his baptism,
that his soul and his body, his human nature like ours, were real, and no
phantom of the imagination.  For the deeds done by Christ after his
baptism, and especially his miracles, gave indication and assurance to the
world of the Deity hidden in his flesh.  For, being at once both God
and perfect man likewise, he gave us sure indications of his two
natures:  of his Deity, by his miracles during the three years that
elapsed after his baptism; of his humanity, during the thirty similar
periods that preceded his baptism, in which, by reason of his low estate
as regards the flesh, he concealed the signs of his Deity, although he was
the true God existing before all ages.”

Melito derived the word Pascha from the Greek
paschein, to suffer.  In his Peri Pascha, which dates
to approximately 165, he wrote, “He came on earth from heaven for
suffering man, becoming incarnate in a virgin’s womb from which he came
forth as man; he took on himself the sufferings of suffering man through a
body capable of suffering, and put an end to the sufferings of the flesh,
and through his spirit incapable of death he became the death of death
which is destructive of man ... this is he who in the virgin was made
incarnate, on the cross was suspended, in the earth was buried, from the
dead was resurrected, to the heights of heaven lifted up.”

170Hegesippus flourished around this time.  He was an
early chronicler of Church history.

170Dionysius of Corinth wrote, “it was the custom of the
Romans ... from the beginning ... to assist all the brotherhood in various
ways and send contributions to churches in every city, thus relieving the
want of the needy.”  Dionysius mentioned the martyrdom of both Peter
and Paul in Rome.

~175 In the latter half of the second century, the
Epistula Apostolorum was written.  The work depicts Jesus
commanding his followers to observe the Pascha “until I return from the
Father with my wounds.”  The Pascha in view appears to have been
observed on 14/15 Nisan.

1775th Persecution of the church, under the Emperor Marcus
Aurelius (161-180).  About this time also Gnostic heretics
disturbed the churches of the Rhone valley.  These churches were
largely Greek, having close connections with the churches of Asia
Minor.  The Gnostics provoked much of the work of Irenaeus of
Lyons.

177Irenaeus, a pupil of Polycarp, elected bishop of Lyons,
then called Lugdunum, in Gaul.  Born in 130.  Died 200.
Irenaeus believed that the plan of the new covenant is the
“recapitulation” of the original creation:  by Adam’s sin, the
likeness to God had been lost, but the image had been retained.  By
faith in Christ, man may recover the lost likeness.  For him, the
history of salvation is a progressive education in which God has gradually
brought man forward in a long process by the gospel.  Irenaeus, like
Justin Martyr, believed that Christ will reign on earth for a thousand
years, and he vehemently protested against attempts to allegorize away the
millenarian proof texts.  Irenaeus argued against the Gnostic
doctrine of a secret teaching by appealing to apostolic succession -- if
there had been such a teaching, the apostles would have passed it on to
their successors.  The apostles, he claimed, taught the Rule of Faith
(very similar to our Apostles’ Creed).

Irenaeus wrote, “The tradition of the Apostles is
manifest throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up
those who were, by the Apostles, ordained bishops in the churches, and the
succession of those men to our own time.  If the Apostles had known
hidden mysteries, they would have delivered them, especially to those to
whom they were committing the churches themselves.  For they were
desirous those men should be very perfect and blameless in all things,
whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up
their own place of government to these men.”

Irenaeus viewed baptism as the seal of eternal life
and new birth unto God, through which the Holy Spirit is imparted.
He wrote, “... he came to save all persons himself; all, I mean, who by
him are regenerated unto God:  infants and little ones and children
and youths and older persons.”  (Since infants are said to be born
again, this seems to be a reference to infant baptism.)  For Irenaeus
the eucharist was the “new oblation of the new covenant” offered to God
throughout the world.  Irenaeus associated the eucharist not closely
with Christ’s passion, as Justin did, but sees it primarily as an offering
of first fruits.  But Irenaeus did identify the bread and wine with
Christ’s body and blood.

Irenaeus held that Mary was not
sinless.   He is the earliest source for the church’s observance
of Pentecost as a special feast day.

With regard to the deity of Christ, Irenaeus wrote,
“The sacred books acknowledge with regard to Christ, that as He is the Son
of man, so is the same Being not a [mere] man; and as He is flesh, so is
He also spirit, and the Word of God, and God.”

“But since it would be too long to enumerate in
such a volume as this the successions of all the Churches, we shall
confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through
self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion,
assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the
successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient Church known
to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles,
Peter and Paul, that Church which has the tradition and the faith which
comes down to us after having been announced to men by the Apostles.
For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all Churches must
agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world; and it is in her that
the faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition.”
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies (3,3,2).   The last line
in that passage may also be translated, "For to this Church, on account of
more potent principality, it is necessary that every Church (that is,
those who are on every side faithful) resort; in which Church ever, by
those who are on every side, has been preserved that tradition which is
from the apostles."   This expresses the idea that the church of
Rome is faithful because of the faithful everywhere.

He does state that Peter had been in Rome, and that
Linus had been the first bishop there, having been jointly ordained by
Peter and Paul.

Irenaeus mentioned a group of Gnostics who honored
images, giving the impression that the use of images was relatively
unknown in the Church in his location and time.  He affirmed that the
charismata were still active in his day, noting that demons were
expelled, the future predicted, and the dead raised by members of the
Church.  In refuting one of the Gnostics' peculiar interpretations of
scripture, Irenaeus related the tradition he had received from those who
had known John (and other apostles) to the effect that Jesus had been
nearly fifty years old when he was crucified.

179 Conversion of Bardesanes (154-222) to
Christianity.  Unfortunately, he was influenced by Gnostic thought,
denying the immediate creation by God of the universe and Satan,
introducing a series of intermediate beings instead.  Bardesanes thus
became a leading figure in Syrian Gnosticism.

Mandaeanism originated sometime during the
first three centuries in the Middle East.  In this religion,
salvation is of the soul alone, through esoteric knowledge.  There is
a system of intervening spiritual beings (Archons) between the soul and
God.  In these points, Mandaeanism is similar to Gnosticism.
Unlike many Gnostic systems, however, sexual promiscuity is forbidden and
marriage is encouraged.  Mandaeans consider Jesus a false messiah,
but they have great respect for John the Baptist.

180 Before this time, Christianity was established
in North Africa, as witnessed by the Latin Acts of the Martyrs of
Scillium, written around 180.

Rhodon, about whom little is known, wrote
works against the Cataphrygians and the Marcionites.

Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine,
attested that the churches in Palestine and Alexandria observed Easter
on a Sunday - which contrasts with the practice of thee churches in
Asia Minor (see 190 below).

185Tertullian (160-230), a native of Carthage, converted to
Christianity.  According to Jerome, he was a priest.  Yet it is
clear that he was married.

Tertullian was the first Christian theologian to
write in Latin.  In contrast to Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria,
Tertullian held that Mary’s womb was opened at Christ’s birth, believing
this to have been prophesied in Exodus 13:2.  He assumed that
Mary had normal sexual relations with Joseph and that Jesus’ brothers were
the children of her union with Joseph.

Tertullian regarded the 2nd commandment’s provision
against graven images as binding upon Christians.  However, he does
admit that some images are innocent and are not idols - such as the bronze
serpent, which was symbolic of the cross (On
Idolatry).

In a letter written sometime between 200 and 206,
Tertullian argued against infant baptism.  His reason was not that
infant baptism is not of apostolic origin.  Instead, he seems to hold
that there is no forgiveness of sins committed after baptism.  He
argued that the unmarried should put off baptism until they marry; that
single persons should delay baptism until old age; that widows and
widowers should wait until they remarry or are confirmed in
continence.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia article on
baptism:  “The threefold immersion is unquestionably very ancient in
the Church and apparently of Apostolic origin.  It is mentioned by
Tertullian (De cor. milit., iii), St. Basil (De Sp. S.,
xxvii), St. Jerome (Dial. Contra Luc., viii), and many other early
writers.”

Tertullian believed in the literal millennium,
lasting for a literal 1000 years, centered in the new Jerusalem which will
come down from heaven.

He used the phrase “Vicar of Christ,” but his
reference is to the Holy Spirit (The Prescription Against Heretics,
Chapter 28).  In reference to the Matthew 16, Tertullian wrote
(op. cit., Chapter 22), “Was anything withheld from the knowledge of
Peter, who is called ‘the rock on which the church should be built,’ who
also obtained ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ with the power of
‘loosing and binding in heaven and on earth?’   Was anything,
again, concealed from John, the Lord's most beloved disciple, who used to
lean on His breast to whom alone the Lord pointed Judas out as the
traitor, whom He commended to Mary as a son in His own stead?”
Notice that Tertullian made no distinction between Peter and John in the
degree of their knowledge.  He also makes no claim for Peter’s
supremacy.

Tertullian taught that the Son derived his
substance from the Father and that the Spirit proceeded from the Father
through the Son.  In a work against a certain Praxeas, who taught
that the Father, Son and Spirit were one person, he described the Trinity
as being "susceptible of number without division."  In the same work,
Tertullian indicated that the bishop of Rome (Victor) initially
"acknowledged the prophetic gifts of Montanus, Prisca and Maximilla" but
was persuaded by Praxeas to follow the example of the former bishop of
Rome.  Praxeas himself was persuaded to renounce his patripassionism,
but he soon returned to teaching that error.

In The Prescription Against Heretics,
Tertullian warned against arguing Scripture with heretics, because they
will never be convinced.  The guide to true interpretation, and
confidence in doctrine, is to be found in the transmission of the
apostolic tradition through the Church.

In a work sometimes attributed to Tertullian, the
author identified March 25 as the date of Jesus’ crucifixion, stating, in
agreement with John’s chronology, that the date was also 14 Nisan.

In his On the Apparel of Women, Tertullian
argued for the inclusion of the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) in the
canon.

Tertullian became a Montanist in ~200.  Jerome
wrote, “After remaining a presbyter of the church until he had attained
the middle age of life, Tertullian was, by the envy and contumelious
treatment of the Roman clergy, driven to embrace the opinions of
Montanus.”  (See 157 above.)

185Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem (185-196).  He wrote a work on
the origin of evil.

189 Victor became bishop of Rome.  Died
199.  During Victor’s tenure, the Monarchian controversy arose
as a revolt against the Logos theology of Justin Martyr.  Justin had
taught that the Logos was “another God,” meaning “another in number, not
in will.”  Christians had argued against Gnostics that there was only
one first principle, the creator God, a single monarchia, but the Logos
theology prejudiced this argument.  To circumvent Justin’s incipient
ditheism, Sabellius propagated the view that the Father and the Son
are one and the same, the distinction being in name only.  Sabellius’
doctrine is often called modalism, because the Father, Son and Spirit are
modes of the same being.  In the West, it was called Patripassianism,
meaning that the Father suffers.

190 Victor demanded conformity from the churches
of the East in the date of Easter.  He claimed his method for
setting the date for Easter was established by Peter and Paul.  The
churches of Asia Minor regarded this as autocratic and took offense.
Polycrates (130-196), bishop of Ephesus, wrote to Victor, supporting his
Paschal practice by citing the example of the evangelist Philip, the
apostle John, the martyred bishop Polycarp, and others.  He added,
“I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and
have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through
every Holy Scripture, am not affrightened by terrifying words.  For
those greater than I have said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than man.’
”

Irenaeus of Lyons also wrote to Victor:  “And
those presbyters who governed the church before Soter, and over which you
now preside, I mean Anicetus [(155-66)] and Pius [(140-55)], Hyginus
[(136-40)] and Telesphorus [(125-36)] and Xystus [(115-25)], neither did
themselves observe, nor did they permit those after them to observe
it.  ...Neither at any time did they cast off any for the sake of the
form.  But those very presbyters before thee who did not observe it,
sent the eucharist to those of the churches who did.  And when the
blessed Polycarp went to Rome, in the time of Anicetus, and they had a
little difference among themselves likewise respecting other matters, they
immediately were reconciled, not disputing much with one another on this
head.  For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp not to observe
it, because he had always observed it with John the disciple of our Lord
... and neither did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe, who said he was
bound to observe the practice of the presbyters before him.”

The distinction between the churches that did
‘observe it’ and those that didn’t may refer to the practice of observing
Easter on a Sunday:  the churches in Asia Minor observed the 14th of
Nissan as Easter, regardless of the day of the week that fell on.
There is disagreement over the precise meaning of Irenaeus’ words “to
observe”.  In one interpretation of the events (proposed by Karl Holl
in 1927), Pascha was not observed in any form or on any date
in Rome in Anicetus’ time (circa 155), but was introduced in about
165 when Soter was bishop.

190 About this time, of Clement of Alexandria
became head of the catechetical school in Alexandria, and served there
through 203.  Born about 150.  Died about 215.  Clement was
a lay theologian.  The central principle of his theology was the
doctrine of creation.  Because creation was good, God has implanted
the seeds of truth in all creatures.  Hence, there was much to learn
from the Greek philosophers.  Clement's Stromata describe the
attributes of the Christian gnostic.  He held that marriage is not an
inferior spiritual state to celibacy, and he rejected demands that all
Christians be teetotalers or vegetarians.  In his view, the church is
a school where the lapsed can be restored.  Clement saw the spiritual
life as a never-ending process -- education does not end with death, and
all will need to be purified before entering God’s presence.  Clement
rejected the millennial interpretations of Irenaeus and Justin.
(According to Gwynne’s The Christian Year, Clement mentioned that
Christ’s birthday was observed in his time.  This observance may have
been on January 6, in distinction to the December 25 observance begun in
Rome in the fourth century.)

192 In a work from around this year, Tertullian
mentioned the observance of the Easter vigil.

198 Zephyrinus became bishop of Rome.
Died 217.  The Monarchian controversy continued. Hippolytus
opposed Sabellius with the doctrine that the Father and Son are two
distinct persons. Callistus, an emancipated slave and archdeacon of the
church, had been exiled to the mines of Sardinia sometime between 188 and
193.  The emperor Commodus (d. 193), at the urging of his Christian
concubine Marcia, ordered a general release for all Christians exiled to
Sardinia.  So Callistus was allowed to return.  (In those days,
the Church considered concubinage marriage as long as the Christian
concubine acted as if it were.)  Apparently at Callistus’ urging,
Zephyrinus attempted to steer a middle course between the Monarchians and
the adherents of the Logos theology.  He stated, “I know one God,
Christ Jesus, and beside him I know no other who was begotten and
passible” and “the Father did not die but the Son.”

Hippolytus is said to be the last Roman theologian
to write in Greek.  The transformation of the West from Greek to
Latin was complete by the time of Constantine.  (But see below, year
366.)

In his The Apostolic Tradition, written
sometime between 215 and 217, we read, “And first baptize the little ones;
and if they can speak for themselves, they shall do so; if not, their
parents or other relatives shall speak for them.  Then baptize the
men, and last of all the women; they must first loosen their hair and put
aside any gold or silver ornaments that they are wearing:  let no one
take any alien thing down to the water with them.”  This clearly
indicates the practice of the time at Rome to have been infant baptism,
and the mode was probably immersion.

Hippolytus also gave an account of the preparation
of candidates for baptism before Easter.  These preparations were the
root of the later Lenten fast.  Baptism itself was by triple
immersion:  one immersion for the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, following a confession of each.  Confirmation involved both
the laying on of hands by the bishop (while he invoked the Holy Spirit to
fill those just baptized) and the application of oil (chrismation).

The Apostolic Tradition shows the influence
of Judaistic prayer forms on early Christian worship.  It was
probably written in opposition to Zephyrinus’ lax regard for traditional
ceremony.  Hippolytus comments somewhere that his archenemy Callistus
and his followers, at least, held to the apostolic tradition.

That the eucharist was not understood to be mere
symbolism is seen from the command to keep it safe from animals and the
unbaptized.  “For it is the body of Christ to be eaten by them that
believe and not to be thought lightly of.”

The Apostolic Tradition also contains
apparent references to the sign of the cross:  “when tempted always
reverently seal thy forehead.  For the sign of the passion is
displayed and made manifest against the devil if thou makest it in
faith.”  And it states that the bishop was “chosen by all the
people.”

Hippolytus defended millenarianism.  In the
face of the growing reaction against this doctrine at Rome, which may have
been led by the priest Caius, Hippolytus explained that the thousand years
of Revelation 20.2-5 are not to be taken literally, but are symbolic of
the splendor of the kingdom.

Caius is the source for the following information
about Cerinthus’ (see 100? above) millennialism:  “By means of
revelations which he pretends were written by a great apostle, [Cerinthus]
brings before use marvelous things which he falsely claims were shown him
by angels; and he says that after the resurrection the kingdom of Christ
will be set up on earth, and that the flesh dwelling in Jerusalem will
again be subject to desires and pleasures.  And, being the enemy of
the Scriptures of God, he asserts, with the purpose of deceiving men, that
there is to be a period of a thousand years for marriage festivals.”
This passage has been interpreted to imply that Caius believed Cerinthus
was the author of the book of Revelation.

Caius also engaged in a dispute with the Montanist
Proclus.  In that debate, Caius mentioned the existence of memorial
chapels to Peter and Paul in Rome.

In a commentary on Daniel, Hippolytus stated
that Jesus was born on Wednesday, December 25, in the 42nd year of the
Emperor Augustus (2 BC?).  He identified March 25 as the date of
Christ’s crucifixion, believing this to have occurred on Nisan 14,
following John’s chronology.

Hippolytus is also the first author to state that
Peter had been bishop of Rome.  His lost Chronicon is
quoted to that effect by Eusebius.

200 The Muratorian Canon, a Latin list of
the books of the New Testament, was drawn up in this period.  The
beginning of the manuscript is missing, and the first book listed as
canonical is Luke, followed by John, Acts, Corinthians (two books),
Galatians, Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians (two
books), Philemon, Titus, and Timothy (two books), Jude, two epistles of
John, Wisdom of Solomon, Revelation, and the Apocalypse of Peter.
Hebrews and the two epistles of Peter are absent.  The Shepherd of
Hermas is mentioned as being appropriate for private reading.  See
also 1740 below.

200Serapion (died ~211), eighth bishop of Antioch, wrote that
the Gospel of Peter should be rejected on the grounds that it had
not been "handed down to us."

200?  Papyrus 66: 2nd Bodmer, John, 1956,
"Alexandrian/Western" text-types:  Jn 1:1-6:11, 6:35-14:26, 29-30;
15:2-26; 16:2-4, 6-7; 16:10-20:20, 22-23; 20:25-21:9
P46: 2nd Chester Beatty, "Alexandrian" text-type: Rom
5:17-6:3; 6:5-14; 8:15-25; 8:27-35; 8:37-9:32; 10:1-11:22; 11:24-33;
11:35-15:9; 15:11-16:27; 1Cor 1:1-9:2; 9:4-14:14; 14:16-15:15;
15:17-16:22; 2Cor 1:1-11:10; 11:12-21; 11:23-13:13; Gal 1:1-8; 1:10-2:9;
2:12-21; 3:2-29; 4:2-18; 4:20-5:17; 5:20-6:8; 6:10-18; Eph 1:1-2:7;
2:10-5:6; 5:8-6:6; 6:8-18; 6:20-24; Phil 1:1; 1:5-15; 1:17-28; 1:30-2:12;
2:14-27; 2:29-3:8; 3:10-21; 4:2-12; 4:14-23; Col 1:1-2; 1:5-13; 1:16-24;
1:27-2:19; 2:23-3:11; 3:13-24; 4:3-12; 4:16-18; 1Th 1:1; 1:9-2:3; 5:5-9;
5:23-28. Heb 1:1-9:16; 9:18-10:20; 10:22-30; 10:32-13:25.  P46 is
notorious for scribal errors, having the highest percentage on
record.
P32: J. Rylands Library: Titus
1:11-15; 2:3-8
P64 (+67): Mt 3:9,15;
5:20-22; 5:25-28; 26:7-8, 10, 14-15, 22-23, 31-33
P90:  Jn 18:36-19:1; 19:2-7
P98: Rev 1:13-20

It is thought that the liturgy was translated into
Syriac and Coptic during this century.  In contrast with the West,
the Eastern practice has always been to conduct the church service in the
vernacular.