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

*To view a map at its full size when using Internet Explorer, place
your cursor over the map and click on the icon that appears at the lower
right.

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The Fourth Century

Part 2
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Index

351 Battle of Mursa (the see of
Valens).  Constantius defeated Magnentius.

351First Council of Sirmium.  Sirmium was an important
border town in Illyria, near the Danube.  As such, the emperor was
often in residence there to conduct border wars.  This council ousted
Photinus, bishop of Sirmium.  In opposition to Photinus’ doctrine
that the Son of God did not exist before the Son of the Virgin, the
council asserted that the Old Testament theophanies were appearances of
the pre-incarnate Christ.  Gen 19.24 was mentioned in particular –
the Lord (the Son) rained down fire from the Lord (the Father).  The
council also issued a version of the fourth creed from Antioch
(341).

352Liberius (bishop from 352-366) became bishop of Rome.

353Hilary became bishop of Poitiers.  He violently
denounced people who held that Mary had not remained a virgin after Jesus’
birth, and maintained that Jesus’ brothers were Joseph’s children by an
earlier marriage.

353 Constantius felt that the way to oust the
Nicene bishops, Athanasius in particular, was to have the Western bishops,
historically Athanasius’ supporters, condemn him.  At Constantius’
wish, a council was held at Arles to consider the old charges against
Athanasius.  The council was run by the Arian bishop of Arles,
Saturninus.  Athanasius was found guilty by nearly all present.
However, Constantius was too busy with a war on the frontiers of Gaul to
proceed further against Athanasius at that time.

354 St. Augustine was born in Thagaste, Numidia
(now Algeria).

354/5 Constantius had a council meet at Milan to
condemn Athanasius.  Three bishops who disagreed with Constantius’
desired verdict of guilty were sent into exile.

In this year, Hilary of Poitiers began to induce
bishops of Gaul to withdraw from communion with Saturninus of Arles, and
with Ursacius and Valens, the disciples of Arius who were now influential
with Constantius.  Hilary also wrote a letter to Constantius
protesting that Athanasius had been found innocent by councils long
before, and the Arians guilty – so it was egregious for the condemned to
be allowed to intrigue against the innocent.

356Hilary of Poitiers exiled to Asia after being found guilty
of some unspecified misconduct by a council at Beziers, presided over by
Saturninus.  Many Western bishops who refused to condemn Athanasius
were sent East during this period.

Athanasius was again removed from his see in
Alexandria. George, a radical Arian, became bishop of
Alexandria.

356 The emperor Constantius sent a letter to the
rulers of Axum (Ethiopia) requesting they replace bishop Frumentius with
an Arian.  Natives of Tyre, Frumentius and his brother Aedesius had
been shipwrecked off the Ethiopian coast.  When rescued, they became
slaves of the king of Axum, and used their respective positions as
treasurer and cup-bearer to spread the gospel.  When the king died,
the brothers were freed.  Aedesius returned to Tyre and became a
priest.  Frumentius traveled to Egypt, seeking a bishop for the
Ethiopians; the patriarch there, Athanasius, appointed Frumentius himself
their bishop.  Frumentius returned to Ethiopia and labored for Christ
among that people.  He died around 370.

357Liberius, bishop of Rome was also exiled at about
this time (the dates are somewhat uncertain - 355 is another
possibility).  In a conference with Constantius, Liberius refused to
condemn Athanasius, and was exiled to Thrace.  Liberius returned to
Rome in 358 when Basil of Ancyra gained Constantius’ confidence,
temporarily ousting Valens.  Liberius subscribed to a statement
condemning Athanasius, but under duress.  Athanasius wrote of
Liberius’ fall with sympathy and compassion (History of the Arians,
Part V).

After Constantius banished Liberius, an archdeacon
became Felix II, bishop of Rome.  Upon Liberius’ return, Felix was
forced to remove to Porto.  At one time, Felix was listed as a Roman
Catholic saint.  His feast day fell on July 29.

357 Under the influence of Valens, the Second
Council of Sirmium was held, at which Hosius and Potamius composed
their blasphemy.  This creed insisted upon the unique Godhead of the
Father and deplored both the homoousion (Athanasius and the West)
and homoiousion (Basil of Ancyra and most of the East), along with all
discussion of essence, as unscriptural.  The “blasphemy,” from
Athanasius’ de Synodis:

The Blasphemy of Hosius:  “Whereas it
seemed good that there should be some discussion concerning faith, all
points were carefully investigated and discussed at Sirmium in the
presence of Valens, and Ursacius, and Germinius, and the rest.  It is
held for certain that there is one God, the Father Almighty, as also is
preached in all the world.

“And His One Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, generated from Him before the ages; and that we may not speak of
two Gods, since the Lord Himself has said, `I go to My Father and your
Father, and My God and your God' (John 20.17). On this account He is God
of all, as also the Apostle taught: `Is He God of the Jews only, is He not
also of the Gentiles? yea of the Gentiles also: since there is one God who
shall justify the circumcision from faith, and the uncircumcision through
faith' (Rom. 3.29, 30); and every thing else agrees, and has no
ambiguity.

“But since many persons are disturbed by questions
concerning what is called in Latin `Substantia,' but in Greek
`ousia,' that is, to make it understood more exactly, as to
`Coessential,' or what is called, `Like-in-Essence,' there ought to be no
mention of any of these at all, nor exposition of them in the Church, for
this reason and for this consideration, that in divine Scripture nothing
is written about them, and that they are above men's knowledge and above
men's understanding; and because no one can declare the Son's generation,
as it is written, `Who shall declare His generation' (Is. 53. 8)? for it
is plain that the Father only knows how He generated the Son, and again
the Son how He has been generated by the Father. And to none can it be a
question that the Father is greater for no one can doubt that the Father
is greater in honour and dignity and Godhead, and in the very name of
Father, the Son Himself testifying, `The Father that sent Me is greater
than I' (John 10.29, 14.28). And no one is ignorant, that it is Catholic
doctrine, that there are two Persons of Father and Son, and that the
Father is greater, and the Son subordinated to the Father together with
all things which the Father has subordinated to Him, and that the Father
has no beginning, and is invisible, and immortal, and impassible; but that
the Son has been generated from the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, and that His origin, as aforesaid, no one knows, but the Father
only. And that the Son Himself and our Lord and God, took flesh, that is,
a body, that is, man, from Mary the Virgin, as the Angel preached
beforehand; and as all the Scriptures teach, and especially the Apostle
himself, the doctor of the Gentiles, Christ took man of Mary the Virgin,
through which He has suffered. And the whole faith is summed up, and
secured in this, that a Trinity should ever be preserved, as we read in
the Gospel, `Go ye and baptize all the nations in the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost' (Matt. 28.19). And entire and
perfect is the number of the Trinity; but the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost,
sent forth through the Son, came according to the promise, that He might
teach and sanctify the Apostles and all believers.”

The blasphemy was too shocking for most Eastern
bishops.  In the view of some historians, this council began the
collapse of the Arian cause.

357 Eudoxius became bishop of Antioch.

357 The controversy over the place of the Holy
Spirit in the Godhead reached center stage.  Macedonius of
Constantinople led a group opposed to the divinity of the Spirit.
These became known as Pneumatomachi, or Spirit Fighters.
Athanasius wrote Letters to Serapion, in which he argues for the
Spirit’s divinity.

358 The Sirmium blasphemy was hailed by the
Homoeans, assembled at Antioch.  Under the pretext that Western
bishops had denounced the homoousion and the homoiousion at
Syrmium, Eudoxius advocated the anomoios (dissimilar) theology of
the layman Aetius:  Jesus was not divine at all.  Those
who advocated this view are referred to as Anomoeans.

358 Constantius brought Liberius of Rome from exile
in Thrace to Sirmium. Liberius subscribed to one of the dedication creeds
of 341, and was allowed to return to Rome.

359 On report of the strong influence of Aetius in
Antioch, Basil of Ancyra held a council with local bishops and
drafted a synodical letter which asserted the essential likeness
(homoion kat’ ousion) of the Son to the Father.  He proceeded
to the court of Sirmium, gained the Constantius’ support, and the approval
of the formula at a council.

The anathemas of the council of Antioch
(from Hilary, De Synodis):  “(1) If any one hearing that
the Son is the image of the invisible God, says that the image of God is
the same as the invisible God, as though refusing to confess that He is
truly Son: let him be anathema.  (2) And if any one hearing the Son
say, As the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to the Son
to have life in Himsel (John 5.26), shall say that He who has received
life from the Father, and who also declares, I live by the Father (John
6.57), is the same as He who gave life: let him be anathema.  (3) And
if any one hearing that the Only-begotten Son is like the invisible God,
denies that the Son who is the image of the invisible God (whose image is
understood to include essence) is Son in essence, as though denying His
true Sonship: let him be anathema.  (4) And if any one hearing this
text, For as the Father hath life in Himself so also He hath given to the
Son to have life in Himsef (John 5.26); denies that the Son is like the
Father even in essence, though He testifies that it is even as He has
said; let him be anathema.  For it is plain that since the life which
is understood to exist in the Father signifies substance, and the life of
the Only-begotten which was begotten of the Father is also understood to
mean substance or essence, He there signifies a likeness of essence to
essence.  (5) If any one hearing the words formed or created it and
begat me spoken by the same lips (Prov 8.22), refuses to understand this
begat me of likeness of essence, but says that begat me and formed me are
the same:  as if to deny that the perfect Son of God was here
signified as Son under two different expressions, as Wisdom has given Us
to piously understand, and asserts that formed me and begat me only imply
formation and not sonship: let him be anathema.  (6) And if any one
grant the Son only a likeness of activity, but rob Him of the likeness of
essence which is the corner-stone of our faith, in spite of the fact that
the Son Himself reveals His essential likeness with the Father in the
words, For as the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to
the Son to have life in Himself, as well as His likeness in activity by
teaching us that What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the
Son likewise (John 5.19), such a man robs himself of the knowledge of
eternal life which is in the Father and the Son, and let him be
anathema.  (7) And if any one professing that he believes that there
is a Father and a Son, says that the Father is Father of an essence unlike
Himself but of similar activity; for speaking profane and novel words
against the essence of the Son and nullifying His true divine Sonship, let
him be anathema.  (8) And if any one understanding that the Son is
like in essence to Him whose Son He is admitted to be, says that the Son
is the same as the Father, or part of the Father, or that it is through an
emanation or any such passion as is necessary for the procreation of
corporeal children that the incorporeal Son draws His life from the
incorporeal Father: let him be anathema.  (9) And if any one, because
the Father is never admitted to be the Son and the Son is never admitted
to be the Father, when he says that the Son is other than the Father
(because the Father is one Person and the Son another, inasmuch as it is
said, There is another that beareth witness of Me, even the father who
sent Me (John 5.32) ), does in anxiety for the distinct personal qualities
of the Father and the Son which in the Church must be piously understood
to exist, fear that the Son and the Father may sometimes be admitted to be
the same Person, and therefore denies that the Son is like in essence to
the Father: let him be anathema.  (10) And if any one admits that God
became Father of the Only-begotten Son at any point in time and not that
the Only-begotten Son came into existence without passion beyond all times
and beyond all human calculation: for contravening the teaching of the
Gospel which scorned any interval of times between the being of the Father
and the Son and faithfully has instructed us that In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1.1), let him
be anathema.  (11) And if any one says that the Father is older in
times than His Only-begotten Son, and that the Son is younger than the
Father: let him be anathema.  (12) And if any one attributes the
timeless substance (i.e. Person) of the Only-begotten Son derived from the
Father to the unborn essence of God, as though calling the Father Son: let
him be anathema.”

Basil supported the homoiousion (of like
nature) party, which constituted the majority of Eastern churchmen.
They are sometimes referred to as the Conservative party, and sometimes as
Semiarians.  These bishops were concerned that the Nicene
homoousion led to Sabellianism.  They saw the insertion of the
iota as a means of avoiding a theological confusion of the persons in the
Godhead.

This was Constantius’ theology at the moment as
well.  In a letter sent to the clergy at Antioch, after condemning
their bishop Eudoxius, Constantius wrote:  “Recall to your
recollection the words of which we made use, when we first made a
declaration of our belief; for we confessed that our Savior is the Son of
God, and of like substance with the Father.

Valens of Mursa endorsed the Anomoean
theology.  He sought a formula to replace the Nicene
homoousion, which would permit this dissimilarity.  He did so
by advocating the Homoean view, that the Son is like (homoion) the Father,
but not in essence.  This likeness, not being essential, would be in
Valens’ view an essential dissimilarity

359 For about a year, Valens and Basil of Ancyra
had vied for influence with the emperor.  Valens pushed for his
formula, which stated that the Son is like the Father without
qualification, while Basil argued for the homoousion position.  The
two reached a compromise (essentially, Basil buckled):   at the
Third Council of Sirmium a creed was drafted, known as
the dated creed from the fact that it bears the date May 23,
359.  The creed was written in preparation for the council to be held
at Rimini (Ariminum) and Seleucia, as a trial solution.  It held that
the Son is like the Father, according to the scripture, but prohibited the
use of the term ousia.  This statement did not specify that
the likeness is essential, which is the maneuvering room Valens desired;
but it also didn’t claim that the Son was unlike the Father – a position
Constantius would not agree with.  The dated creed, according to
Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History:

“The catholic faith was expounded at Sirmium in
presence of our lord Constantius, in the consulate of the most illustrious
Flavius Eusebius, and Hypatius, on the twenty-third of May.

“We believe in one only and true God, the Father
Almighty, the Creator and Framer of all things: and in one only-begotten
Son of God, before all ages, before all beginning, before all conceivable
time, and before all comprehensible thought, begotten without passion: by
whom the ages were framed, and all things made: who was begotten as the
only-begotten of the Father, only of only, God of God, like to the Father
who begat him, according to the Scriptures: whose generation no one knows,
but the Father only who begat him. We know that this his only-begotten Son
came down from the heavens by his Father's consent for the putting away of
sin, was born of the Virgin Mary, conversed with his disciples, and
fulfilled every dispensation according to the Father's will: was crucified
and died, and descended into the lower parts of the earth, and disposed
matters there; at the sight of whom the (door-keepers of Hades trembled):
having arisen on the third day, he again conversed with his disciples, and
after forty days were completed he ascended into the heavens, and is
seated at the Father's right hand; and at the last day he will come in his
Father's glory to render to every one according to his works.

“[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit, whom the
only-begotten Son of God Jesus Christ himself promised to send to the
human race as the Comforter, according to that which is written:  ‘I
go away to my Father, and will ask him, and he will send you another
Comforter, the Spirit of truth. He shall receive of mine, and shall teach
you, and bring all things to your remembrance.’ As for the term
‘substance,’ which was used by our fathers for the sake of greater
simplicity, but not being understood by the people has caused offense on
account of the fact that the Scriptures do not contain it, it seemed
desirable that it should be wholly abolished, and that in future no
mention should be made of substance in reference to God, since the divine
Scriptures have nowhere spoken concerning the substance of the Father and
the Son. But we say that the Son is in all things like the Father, as the
Holy Scriptures affirm and teach.”

359 Constantius called an ecumenical council
to meet in two locations:  the West in Italy at Rimini
(Ariminum), and the East at Seleucia in Asia Minor
(Isauria).  At Seleucia, 160 bishops attended.  It is estimated
that ¾ of them were Conservatives or Semiarians (Basil’s party),
while the remaining quarter were either uncompromising Arians or loyal to
the Nicene creed.  The Lucianic creed of the Council of Dedication
(341) was adopted.  The Arians were excommunicated, and a successor
was named for the Arian bishop Eudoxius of Antioch.

The council at Rimini endorsed the Nicene
formula.  Each council sent a deputation to Constantius.

At Nike in Thrace, Valens hoodwinked the deputation
from the Western council into signing a version of the dated creed, saying
that the Son is `like the Father in all things, as Scripture says.' The
statement, apparently, was what Constantius wanted - a broad statement
that everyone could interpret as he liked and agree to.  Valens thus
regained Constantius’ favor, at Basil of Ancyra and the Semiarian party’s
expense.  The creed of Nike, as given by Athanasius in de
Synodis:

“We believe in One God, Father Almighty, from whom
are all things;

“And in the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten from
God before all ages and before every beginning, by whom all things were
made, visible and invisible, and begotten as only-begotten, only from the
Father only, God from God, like to the Father that begat Him according to
the Scriptures; whose origin no one knows, except the Father alone who
begat Him. He as we acknowledge, the Only-begotten Son of God, the Father
sending Him, came hither from the heavens, as it is written, for the
undoing of sin and death, and was born of the Holy Ghost, of Mary the
Virgin according to the flesh, as it is written, and convened with the
disciples, and having fulfilled the whole Economy according to the
Father's will, was crucified and dead and buried and descended to the
parts below the earth; at whom hades itself shuddered: who also rose from
the dead on the third day, and abode with the disciples, and, forty days
being fulfilled, was taken up into the heavens, and sitteth on the right
hand of the Father, to come in the last day of the resurrection in the
Father's glory, that He may render to every man according to his
works.

“And in the Holy Ghost, whom the Only-begotten Son
of God Himself, Christ, our Lord and God, promised to send to the race of
man, as Paraclete, as it is written, `the Spirit of truth' (John 16.13),
which He sent unto them when He had ascended into the heavens.

“But the name of `Essence,' which was set down by
the Fathers in simplicity, and, being unknown by the people, caused
offence, because the Scriptures contain it not, it has seemed good to
abolish, and for the future to make no mention of it at all; since the
divine Scriptures have made no mention of the Essence of Father and Son.
For neither ought Subsistence to be named concerning Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost But, we say that the Son is Like the Father, as the divine
Scriptures say and teach; and all the heresies, both those which have been
afore condemned already, and whatever are of modern date, being contrary
to this published statement, be they anathema.”

The Semi-Arianswere defeated by Valens’ influence
at court, swept from their sees and replaced by Homoeans.

Jerome wrote of the council of Rimini,
“the world groaned to find itself Arian.”

360 A council in Constantinople, called to
celebrate the dedication of the church of Sancta Sophia, promulgated a
creed (a version of the Nike creed of 359) that stated the Son is like the
Father, without further qualification.  (Aetius, who could not agree
to say that the Son is like the Father in any way, was exiled.)  Soon
thereafter, Basil and Macedonius of Constantinople were deposed on charges
of misconduct. Though Macedonius was deposed, the Pneumatomachi
were clearly marked off as a party.

Eudoxius of Antioch became bishop of Constantinople
(see year 357).

360 Athanasius, head of the homoousios
party, realized that he and the homoiousios (“like in substance”)
party (led by Basil of Ancyra) were really allies.   He wrote,
“Those who accept the Nicene creed but have doubts about the term
homoousios must not be treated as enemies...”  He pointed out
that though properties may be alike, essences cannot be, but are either
the same or different.  When the homoiousians realized this,
he believed, they would come over to his side.

360 Meletius, formerly bishop of Sebastea,
was elected bishop of Antioch when Eudoxius was translated to
Constantinople. Within a few weeks, Meletius, who expressed too much
sympathy for the Nicene position, was banished by Constantius, and
replaced by Euzoios, an Arian.

360 By this year, the church in Edessa observed a
festival of All Martyrs on May 13th.

361 Constantius died, November 3, 361.
Julian “the Apostate” became emperor.  He died in 363 during a
campaign against the Persians. Julian proclaimed his paganism and, in
hopes of further disrupting the church, published an edict recalling all
bishops exiled by Constantius.  Julian also gave permission and
provided funds for the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.  This
project was terminated by an earthquake.

Ambrose mentions (Letter 40) that the Jews burned
two basilicas in Damascus, others in Gaza, Ascalon, Berytus and Alexandria
during Julian’s reign.

361 First mention of Epiphany in the West.
Its observance in Gaul was noted by Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan.
Curiously, there is no record of December 25 observance in transalpine
Gaul during the fourth century.

362 On Feb 9, Julian published an edict that
recalled the bishops who had been exiled by Constantius.

362Athanasius restored to his see.  End of his third and last
exile prolonged exile.  Athanasius was to be forced to depart from
Alexandria for short periods in 362/3 and 365 also.

362 A famous ascetic named Paulinus was
elected bishop of Antioch.  He was ordained by Lucifer of Caralis
(Cagliari, Sardinia), a strict adherent to the Nicene formula.
Meletius was already bishop of Antioch.  He had been banished
(see 360) by Constantius, then returned soon after Julian’s edict of
February 9.

362 A new group, known as the Tropici,
appeared in the Nile delta.  They denied the deity of the Holy
Spirit, terming him simply a ministering spirit, and were condemned at the
council in Alexandria.

362 Athanasius called a council in Alexandria to
deal with (1) terms under which to accept the Arians back into communion
and (2) to sort out the succession at Antioch (see below).  It was
decided to accept the Arians on the grounds of their subscription to the
Nicene formula and their repudiation of Arianism, including the doctrine
that the Holy Spirit is a creature.  This council was of key
importance.  Jerome said that by its judicious conciliation it
“snatched the world from the jaws of Satan.”  Exiles returned across
the empire (see year 356) and the example of this council was followed,
reunion being accomplished on Nicaean, not Homoean, grounds.

There were three rival bishops in Antioch, two of
whom are anti-Arian, Meletius and Paulinus.  In the course of the
council, Athanasius began to act on the principle that orthodoxy is a
matter of intentions, not of formulas.  One logomachy dealt with the
use of the term hypostases.  The anti-Sabellian tradition following
Origen had spoken of three hypostases, meaning three entities existing in
their own right, as a safeguard against the notion that the Father, Son
and Spirit are just descriptions of different divine attributes.
But, to some, “three hypostases” seemed like tritheism.  Meletius
spoke of three hypostases, but Paulinus of one.  Based on loyalties,
Rome and Athanasius recognize Paulinus as rightful bishop of Antioch, but
they considered Meletius orthodox.

362 The colossal statue of Apollo in Antioch of
Syria, made of gold with jewels for eyes, was destroyed by fire.

363 The council of Laodicea (in the Lycus
valley, Phrygia) enumerated the canon of scripture in Canon 60, which is
of doubtful authenticity.  The New Testament canonical books were
those we now receive, with the exception of Revelation, which Laodicea did
not accept.

The Old Testament agreed with the modern Protestant
Old Testament, with the addition of Baruch and the Epistle.  (Unlike
Athanasius, Laodicea included Esther.)

Theologians of the Alexandrian school generally
agreed with Athanasius:  Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nazianzus,
and Epiphanius, for example. The Antiochene school, John Chrysostom and
Theodoret was more favorable towards the "Apocrypha."  Though the
East was generally hesitant about the Apocrypha, the West was
favorable.

The synod’s fifty-nine other canons affirmed the
lawfulness of receiving the remarried and contrite to communion;
determined that Montanists who converted were to be baptized; and forbade
Christians from praying in the graveyards of heretics, honoring heretical
martyrs instead of faithful ones, receiving the blessings of heretics,
praying with heretics or schismatics, marrying their children to heretics,
holding “love feasts” in the church, judaizing by resting on Saturday,
receiving portions from the feasts of heretics or Jews, or clubbing
“together for drinking entertainments.”  The council also passed
various canons regarding propriety in the worship service and the Lenten
season.  It addressed the travel of bishops for synods and forbade
the travel of priests and other clergy without the bishop’s
permission.  It forbade the clergy from being magicians, from
manufacturing magic amulets, and from seeing plays at weddings and
banquets.

The exact date of this synod is not known.  It
has been placed as early as 343 and as late as 381.

363 A council met in Antioch in this
year.  By this time, the Arians were split into three groups:
the Acacians who, following Acacius, said that the Son was like the Father
, without making further clarification; the Semiarians, or homoiousions;
and the Aetians, who held that the Son was unlike the Father.  Later,
the Aetians would by termed Eunomians.  This council of Antioch has
been termed an Acacian synod.

364 Valentinian I (364-75) became
Emperor.  He restored the division of the empire, taking the West and
entrusting the East to his brother Valens (364-78).  Valens’ wife
swayed him in favor of Eudoxius, the Arian bishop of Constantinople, and
then in favor of his Arian successor, Demophilus.

364Basil, later bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, ordained to
the priesthood.  About this time he wrote his books against
Eunomius.  Eunomius was a follower of Aetius, who formed an
ecclesiastical sect centered in Constantinople. Eunomius was condemned at
the second ecumenical council in Constantinople in 381 and died
~394.

According to Sozomen (vi, 26), Eunomius was
accused of being the first to baptize with single immersion.
Theodoret adds that he also abandoned the invocation of the Trinity at
baptism.

364 At a council in Lampsacus, the
Semiarians opposed the councils of Arminium (359) and Constantinople
(360), reissuing instead the Lucianic creed of Antioch (341).  They
also deposed Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine.

365 On May 5, the emperor Valens sent the bishops
whom Julian had permitted to return to their sees (see 362) back into
exile.  Meletius, one of three rival bishops in Antioch,
remained in that city.

366 Semiarian deputies sent to Liberius in Rome
from the council of Lampsacus.  They subscribed to the Nicene creed,
thus demonstrating their orthodoxy.

366 Liberius, bishop of Rome, died.  He had
subscribed to an Arian creed (see year 358), but continued to govern the
church in Rome. Damasus and Ursinus battled for the bishopric of
Rome.  At the end of one day, 137 corpses were counted in the
Liberian basilica.  Damasus won and ruled through 384.  In
Damasus’ time, Latin was used in the Roman liturgy for the first
time.

Damasus wrote that Rome was the “first see of the
apostle Peter” and the “apostolic see.”  He began the habit of using
the “plural of majesty” in his writings, and he addressed his fellow
bishops for the first time as “sons,” instead of the traditional
“brothers.”  Damasus claimed to be the “exclusive inheritor of all,
and more than all, that the New Testament tells us of the prerogative of
St. Peter.”  He also claimed that the authority of the council of
Nicaea was based on its acceptance by Sylvester, his predecessor.
Much of this verbiage may have been induced by the pretensions of
Constantinople (see 381).

That the bishop of Rome enjoyed temporal power in
this time is illustrated by the pagan official Praetextus’ words to
Damasus:  “Make me bishop of Rome and I will turn Christian.”

367 The council of Tyana accepted the
restitution of the Semiarian bishops.  (Was this an ecclesiastical
validation of Julian’s edict of 362?)

367 In his annual “festal letter,”
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, listed the canon of
scripture.  His canon was very close to the modern Protestant
Bible, listing the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach, Esther (!),
Judith, and Tobit specifically as outside the canon.  It is probable,
however, that he meant to include the Greek additions to the Hebrew books
in the canon.  He does not mention the books of
Maccabees.  (Athanasius’ listing is identical to that of Laodicea,
363, except for his inclusion of the book of Revelation.)  This was
the first listing of the 27 books of the modern New Testament as being
canonical, without also including certain books not considered canonical
in our time.

367Epiphanios (Epiphanius) became bishop of Salamis in
Cyprus.  Served through 403.  Found a curtain in a church porch
in Palestine decorated with a picture of Christ or some saint.  He
tore it down and lodged a vehement protest with the bishop of
Jerusalem.  [This may be an apocryphal account, invented by
iconoclasts.]

Epiphanios stated that Mary, not Eve, is the mother
of all living.  He neither affirmed nor denied her death.  Most
Eastern theologians believed that Mary was sinful, in need of
redemption.

367 Britain raided by a combined force of Irish,
Scots and Saxons.

367 The West Roman emperor Valentinian I (364-75)
gave the bishop of Rome the right to judge cases against other
bishops.

367-9 Christians in Gaul persecuted during the
Eastern emperor Valens’ Gothic war.

368 Probable year of John Chrysostom’s
baptism.  Meletius, bishop of Antioch, probably
presided.  John served as Meletius’s aide during the period
368-371.

370 The “Cappadocian Fathers” came to the
forefront of the post-Nicene debate. Basil became metropolitan of
Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia.  He replaced Eusebius and
served through 379.  Basil set about to build a solid Nicene party in
Cappadocia by appointing orthodox candidates to vacant sees.
Associated with Basil were his younger brother Gregory, who
became bishop of Nyssa (372-75, 375-395), and his friend Gregory
whose father [Gregory] (see year 381) was bishop of Nazianzus before
him.

Gregory of Nazianzus is also known as Gregory
the Theologian.  Basil supported the cause of Meletius at Antioch
- they agreed on the “three hypostases” foormula.  (His father had
been persuaded to accept Christianity through the efforts of his wife
(Gregory’s mother) Nonna, and soon afterwards became bishop of
Nazianzus.  Gregory was born after his father’s conversion and
ordination.)

St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote, concerning the state of
the dead:  “When he has quitted his body and the difference between
virtue and vice is known he cannot approach God till the purging fire
shall have cleansed the stains with which his soul was infested. That same
fire in others will cancel the corruption of matter, and the propensity to
evil.”

Basil was instrumental in curbing the excesses of
individualism among the ascetics.  Basil stressed obedience, even
over poverty and chastity, in the monasteries in his province.

When criticizing Epiphanios, Basil implied that the
view that Mary had children with Joseph after Jesus was born is not
unorthodox.  Gregory of Nyssa  (as well as Athanasius) held that
Mary was a virgin before, during, and after Christ’s birth.  Gregory
also held that Mary and her virginity ended the reign of death.

371 St. Martin became bishop of
Tours.  A child of pagan parents, Martin had become a Christian
when he was 10 years old.  He was forced into the Roman army, but
petitioned the Emperor Julian the Apostate, and was eventually
discharged.  He then became an evangelist, working in Pannonia and
Illyricum.  In 360, he joined Hilary of Poitiers in that city, then
founded the first monastery in Gaul, at Liguge (near Poitiers).  As
bishop, Martin continued to act as an evangelist, especially in Touraine
and the countryside where the faith was little known.

371 When the emperor Valens set up headquarters in
Antioch, Meletius was forced into exile.  He returned to his home in
the region of Armenia (perhaps near Sebastea, along the river
Halys).  Meletius remained in exile until Gratian’s edict of
toleration, after the battle of Adrianople in 378.

372 The Eastern emperor Valens reduced Basil of
Caesarea’s power by dividing Cappadocia in two.  He directed that
Tyana be considered the chief town in the new province.  A canon of
Nicaea had tied ecclesiastical provinces to civil provinces, so the
division diminished Basil’s jurisdiction as metropolitan of
Cappadocia.

372 Basil made Gregory Nazianzus bishop of the tiny
village of Sasima.  For Basil, this was a tactical move to assist him
against the rival bishop of Tyana.  Antithimus, bishop of Tyana,
argued that he should have privileges equal to Basil’s.

373 Athanasius died.
Apollinarius of Laodicea in Syria, his friend, asserted a
Christology in which the Logos replaced the human mind of the Son.
This implied that Christ was not fully human, which has unwanted
implications for soteriology.  Christologies of the “Word-Flesh” type
(like that of Apollinarius) were common coming from Alexandria, while
Antioch championed a “Word-Man” theology.  The former type had the
potential to do disservice to Christ’s humanity, while the latter had
difficulty with the fusion of the two natures, human and divine, into one
person.

373 Ambrose became bishop of Milan.
Served through 397.  Ambrose believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity,
though, at first, he was reluctant to do so.  Ambrose wrote that St.
Peter had “a primacy of confession, not of office; a primacy of faith, not
of rank.”  During Ambrose’s time, the capital in the West was at
Milan, and Ambrose had considerable influence over the emperor.  The
bishop of Rome was forced to surrender control of the church in northern
Italy to the bishop of Milan.  (Milan had originally become the
capital of the West in 286 when Diocletian divided the empire.  But
the imperial court had resided for some time at Trier before returning to
Milan in 383.)

374 St. Epiphanios, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus,
published his Ancoratus.  It contained two creeds, the first
of which is nearly identical to that of Constantinople (381).  It
included the phrase, “the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who
proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is
worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.”

374 When Auxentius, the Arian bishop of Milan,
died, Ambrose was elected bishop in his stead - though only a catechumen
at the time.  St. Ambrose sent a deputation to St. Basil to collect
the body of St. Dionysius, the late Catholic bishop of Milan.

374 For his opposition to Arianism, St.
Macarius (d. 390) the Egyptian was banished to an island in
the Nile by bishop Lucius of Alexandria.  Macarius had become a
hermit in the desert of Scete in around 330, and lived there for much of
the following 60 years.  Macarius had gifts of healing and
prophecy.  He was the author of 50 Spiritual Homilies, which
describes the ascent of the spirit, through work, discipline, and
meditation, toward the vision of light.

375 Basil of Casarea published his On the
Holy Spirit.  His argument in favor of the Spirit’s divinity was
based largely on tradition in baptism and doxology.

375 Epiphanios (see 335), bishop of Salamis
in Cyprus (367-403), launched an attack on the orthodoxy of Origen.
He wanted to bring Origen (or, rather, his corpse) to trial, and he was
troubled by the influence of Origen’s writings on certain Egyptian monks,
namely, Ammonius and three brothers, known collectively as the Tall
Brothers.  Evagrius moved to Egypt and put himself under Ammonius’
direction, where he became the Tall Brothers’ literary spokesman.

Epiphanios was a scholar.  According to
Jerome, he knew Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, and some Latin.  He
was also an energetic defender of the Orthodox faith.  His chief
written works are the Panarion, written by about 377, which
describes 80 heresies, and the Ancoratus, a compendium of church
teachings dating to 374.   In his works, Epiphanios denounced a
sect called the Collyridians, which worshipped Mary.  He also
described a group of Quartodecimans in Asia Minor who taught that Jesus
was crucified on March 25 and who celebrated Easter invariably on that
date.

In the Panarion, also known as the
Refutation of all the Heresies, Epiphanios wrote, “The Savior was
born in the 42nd year of Augustus, emperor of the Romans ... on 8 before
the Ides of January” (January 6).  He asserted that the wedding in
Cana occurred on the same date, but held that Christ’s baptism was on
November 8.  Palestine excepted (and Epiphanios was from there), the
East held 6 January as the date of the Lord’s baptism also.

376 Upon the death of the Arian bishop of Antioch,
Euzozios, he was succeeded by Dorotheos, another Arian.

377 The Eastern emperor Valens allowed Goths into
the empire.   As part of the deal worked out by Valens and the
Gothic leader Fritigern (according to the historian Sozomen), Fritigern
agreed to adopt the emperor’s Arian faith and to persuade his followers to
do likewise.  Other tribes - Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Sueves, and
Vandals - also adopted Arianism after entering imperial territory.

377 Jerome visited Evagrius in
Antioch.  Evagrius won him over to the party of bishop Paulinus (who
was opposed by the supporters of Meletius, including Basil of Caesarea) in
the contention over the see of Antioch.  The overwhelming majority of
Christians in Antioch supported Meletius.  (See 362).

377 Damasus realized the implications of
Apollinarius’ Christology and held a council that condemned his
teachings.  Its sentence was confirmed by synods in Alexandria in 378
and Antioch in 379.

378 Paulinus ordained Jerome a priest in
Antioch.  Jerome became a disciple of Gregory of Nazianzus.

378 Gratian (375-83), emperor in the West,
supported the bishop of Rome’s claim to authority over other bishops in
the West.  At Gratian’s request, Ambrose wrote the first two books of
De Fide.

378 On 9 August, the Eastern emperor Valens died
in the battle of Adrianople against Fritigern and his Goths.
More than 2/3 of Valens’ army was slain.  Valens’ nephew Gratian, a
supporter of Nicaea, promptly published an edict recalling exiled
bishops.  Meletius of Antioch returned to his see after a seven-year
exile (371-78).

378Diodore became bishop of Tarsus.  Served through
390.  Teacher of John Chrysostom.  Diodore (from the Word-Man
school) came into conflict with Apollinarius over the nature of
Christ.  Apollinarius suspected Diodore of believing that Jesus was
simply a uniquely inspired man.  Diodore refused to call Mary
Theotokos unless it was balanced by saying Mary was the “mother of man” as
well.

379 On January 1, St. Basil the Great died.

379 Theodosius became Eastern Roman
emperor.  Ruled through 395.  Christianity became an ingredient
of good citizenship, and many pagan temples were closed.  Pagans
themselves were generally tolerated.

Theodosius made it clear that he wanted conformity
with the creed of Nicaea.  Bishops not in communion with Pope Damasus
and Athanasius’ successor at Alexandria, Peter, would not be
recognized.  He soon discovered, however, that Meletius of Antioch
was capable of bringing the Greek world to unity.  Paulinus refused
to be co-bishop with Meletius, so he was abandoned.  Meletius later
presided at the council of Constantinople (381).

380 In an edict promulgated on 28 February,
Theodosius recognized the bishops of Rome (Damasus) and Alexandria (Peter)
as the guardians of the true faith.  He reserved the title “Catholic
Christians” to those who espoused their doctrines (the Nicene
theology).

380 The canons of the synod of Saragossa
(Caesaraugusta), Spain, made the first mention of Advent as a
season of preparation for Epiphany.  The council also condemned the
teachings of Priscillian, later bishop of Avila, Spain.  From about
375 Priscillian taught that bodies were created by the Satan, that
souls were imprisoned in bodies as punishment for sins, and that angels
and human souls were emanations from the Godhead.  Eleven sermons
ascribed to Priscillian were published in 1889.  They teach that the
Son differs from the Father in name only.

380 About this year, Christmas was
celebrated on December 25 for the first time in
Antioch.

381Second Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople -
practically, the end of the battle against Arianism.  Theodosius made
Meletius of Antioch president (note that Meletius was not in communion
with the bishop of Rome, who had backed Paulinus for the contested
episcopacy at Antioch).  No representatives from Rome were
present.  The homoousios was reasserted. The council
recognized the bishop of Constantinople as second in standing to Rome,
because “Constantinople is the new Rome” (Canon 3).

The creed of the Council of Constantinople,
popularly known as the Nicene creed, sometimes known as the Creed of the
150 Fathers, may not have been adopted at the council at all.  That
is, however, the tradition, and it was the understanding of the Council of
Chalcedon.  The creed:

“We believe in one God, the Father All
Governing, creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and
invisible;

“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all time, Light
from Light, true God from true God, begotten not created, of the same
essence as the Father [homoousion to patri], through whom all things came
into being.  Who for us men and for our salvation came down from
heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and
became man.  He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and
suffered and was buried, and rose on the third day, according to the
Scriptures, and ascended to heaven, and sits on the right hand of the
Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the
dead.  His kingdom shall have no end.

“And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and
life-giver, Who proceeds from the Father, Who is worshipped and glorified
together with the Father and Son, Who spoke through the prophets; and in
one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.  We confess one baptism for
the remission of sins.  We look forward to the resurrection of the
dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.”

The influence of Basil of Caesarea is seen in the
phrase “Who is worshipped and glorified together with the Father and Son,”
and in the fact that the Son is begotten, while the Spirit
proceeds.

The addition “by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin
Mary” was a bulwark against Apollinarius’ heresy (see 373).
Apollinarius denied the human nature of Christ, believing his human soul
to have been replaced by the Divine Logos and his flesh to have come, not
from the Virgin, but directly from heaven.

In addition to his unorthodox Christology,
Apollinarius wrote “about the resurrection from a mythical, or rather
Jewish, point of view; urging that we shall return again to the worship of
the Law, be circumcised, keep the Sabbath, abstain from meats, offer
sacrifices to God, worship in the Temple at Jerusalem, and be altogether
turned from Christians into Jews” (Basil, L263.4).  Since
Apollinarius’s heresies were condemned in Canon 1 of the Second Ecumenical
Council, no Orthodox eschatology can contain any of these elements.

The first canon of the council:  “The
faith of the three hundred and eighteen fathers assembled at Nicaea in
Bithynia shall not be set aside, but shall remain firm.  And every
heresy shall be anathematized, particularly that of the Eunomians or
Eudoxians, and that of the semi-Arians or Pneumatomachi, and that of the
Sabellians, and that of the Marcellians, and that of the Photinians, and
that of the Apollinarians.”

381 For a while, just before and during the
council, Gregory of Nazianzus was made bishop of Constantinople, in the
face of an angry, Arian mob.  He presided over the council until he
was deposed on a technicality.  In his writings, Gregory mentioned
the story of a virgin who implored Mary to help her in her time of
peril.  He related it as if there is nothing strange about it,
indicating this may have been a common practice by this time.

381 A council was held at Aquileia,
which condemned the doctrines of Palladius and Secundianus.
Ambrose of Milan was present.  About this time, Ambrose completed his
De Spiritu Sancto, in three books.

382 The emperor Theodosius settled the Tervingi, a
Gothic tribe that had been allowed into the empire in 376 (377?), in
Moesia.  These Goths had defeated Valens at Adrianople in 378.
The head of the embassy requesting this settlement was Ulfila, Arian
bishop of the Goths.

382Jerome (340-420) became an adviser to Damasus in
Rome.  Jerome initially rejected Mary’s virginity in childbirth,
which he later came to accept, along with her perpetual virginity
thereafter.  Jerome was responsible for the theory that Jesus’
brothers were actually cousins, and that Joseph as well as Mary was a
virgin.  He attacked the view that virginity and marriage are to be
valued equally.

Jerome wrote: “It is not the case that there is one
church at Rome and another in all the world beside. Gaul and Britain,
Africa and Persia, India and the East worship one Christ and observe one
rule of truth. If you ask for authority, the world outweighs its capital.
Wherever there is a bishop, whether it be at Rome or at Engubium, whether
it be Constantinople or at Rhegium, whether it be at Alexandria or at
Zoan, his dignity is one and his priesthood is one. Neither the command of
wealth nor the lowliness of poverty makes him more a bishop or less a
bishop. All alike are successors of the apostles.” (Letter CXLVI to
Evangelus)

However, Jerome’s principle for solving
ecclesiastical and theological problems was unity with the bishop of
Rome.  He is the earliest authority for the claim that Peter was
bishop of Rome for 25 years.

Jerome believed that the Devil and those who have
denied God will be tortured for eternity, but that reprobate Christians
will eventually be saved.

Jerome created a new translation of the Bible into
Latin (now known as the Vulgate).  Unlike the Old Latin version,
Jerome’s Vulgate relied on the Hebrew Old Testament rather than the
Septuagint.  His translation was declared authoritative at the
council of Trent (Fourth Session, 1546).  Jerome began work on this
translation during a stay in Rome (382-85) when Damasus was bishop,
working initially on the psalms and the New Testament.  He completed
his translation, the Vulgate, while living in Bethlehem, in
405.

382 Gratian ordered the removal of the image of
Victory from the forum in Rome.

382 A council meeting at Rome stated that Roman
primacy is not founded on synodical decisions (referring to
Constantinople, 381), but on the promise of Christ to Peter.  It
asserted a hierarchy:  the prime see is at Rome, the second at
Alexandria, and the third at Antioch.  Rome did recognize
Constantinople as second in rank in 869, at the synod held to condemn
Photius.

384 Siricius (384-99) became bishop of
Rome.  He was the first Roman bishop to use the title
“pope.”  Siricius claimed for his rescripts and decretals the
same binding force as synodal decrees, since “the care of all the
churches” was “committed to him.”  He threatened sanctions against
those who disobeyed him.

384 A synod meeting in Bourdeaux (Burdigala,
Aquitania), attended by Martin of Tours, condemned Priscillianism (see
380, Saragossa).  Though Martin opposed the killing of heretics, the
Emperor Magnus Maximus (383-88) had Priscillian executed.

385 After Damasus’ death, and under fire for his
criticism of the Roman clergy, lax monks, and hypocritical virgins, and
for his correction of the gospel texts, Jerome left Rome for the Holy
Land, and settled in Bethlehem.

385The Pilgrimage of Silvia, written about this time,
described the journey to Palestine by a devout lady (Sylvia) from
Gaul.  Silvia stated that on Ascension Day (40 days after Easter)
there was a solemn procession to the Mount of Olives.  The procession
ended at the church of the Ascension built on the mount by the Empress
Helena.  The Pilgrimage also mentions the Feast of
Purification (February 2) as being then observed in Jerusalem.
That feast came to be called Candlemas because of the words of
Simeon (Luke 2.32).

Also this year, a new basilica was consecrated in
Milan.

385-6 The bishop of Rome, Siricius (384-99),
wrote a letter to Himerius of Tarragona (Tarraco, Spain)
criticizing the practice of performing baptisms at times such as
Christmas, Epiphany, and the festivals of saints and martyrs.  By
this time, in Rome, baptism was performed on Pascha and Pentecost
only.  In the letter, Siricius also commanded celibacy for
priests.  This was the first decree on the subject.
In support of his position, Siricius quoted Romans 8.8:  “those who
are in the flesh cannot please God.”  The letter to Himerius contains
a reference to Matthew 16.18-19 as supporting papal rights.  This is
the earliest such interpretation of that passage extant.

385 St. Theophilus (385-412) became bishop
of Alexandria.  The Roman practice of Easter baptism was unknown in
Alexandria at this time.

385 According to a letter written by St. Ambrose,
the Metonic cycle (used in calculating the date of Easter, named after an
Athenian astronomer named Meton who died circa 433) was in use at this
time.

387 John succeeded Cyril as bishop of
Jerusalem.

387St. Ambrose baptized St. Augustine in Milan.

389St. Gregory of Nyssa composed his Commentary on the
Canticle of Canticles.  In this commentary, in his Life of
Moses, and in other works, Gregory enunciated his mystical
theology.  Against the pagan notion that change is imperfection -
which had led, in Origen, to the notion that men might fall into sin
again, even in the future life - Gregory described the perfection of man
as an eternal ascent into ever-increasing holiness.  No changeless
state is achievable, because God is wrapped in an impenetrable divine
darkness - no created being can ever know him complletely.

390 Theodosius had thousands of Thessalonicans
massacred for killing a barbarian army commander.  Ambrose, bishop of
Milan, brought the emperor to public penance.

390Symeon the Stylite born.  Died 459.  Lived on top
of a column at the monastery in Telanissos in Syria.  He became so
prestigious that his assent was required to the verdicts of the councils
of Ephesus in 431 and Chalcedon in 451.  His imitator, Daniel
(409-493), lived for 37 years atop a column near Constantinople.

390 Death of St. Gregory Nazianzus.  Death of
St. Ephraim the Syrian (303-390).  Many of Ephraim’s
theological works are in the form of hymns.

390 At the Synod of Side in Pamphylia, the
Messalian heresy was condemned (they were then called
Adelphians).  The Messalians believed that Satan was Christ’s
elder brother.  On account of his pride, he had rebelled against the
Father and created the material world, which they considered wicked.
Each person’s soul was held to be inhabited by a demon, which the
Messalians sought to eject in the form of mucous or saliva through
prayer.  The only prayer they said, however, was the Our
Father.  Those who succeeded in expelling the demon could be unified
with the Holy Spirit and behold God.  When they had reached this
state, sin was impossible for them:  Messalians had a reputation for
licentious behavior.  They refused to reverence the cross or the
Virgin Mary, since the cross was the instrument of Jesus’s death, and Mary
was simply the mother of a human, Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit later
inhabited.  Effectively, Jesus was reduced to a teacher or
example.  Epiphanios (Ephanius) reported that if a Messalian were
asked, “Are you a Patriach?  Prophet?  Angel?  Jesus
Christ?” he would always respond with “Yes.”  Messalians were also
known as Euchetes (praying people) or Enthusiasts.

391In two edicts issued this year and in 392,Theodosius made
Christianity the official religion of the empire.  Paganism
was proscribed.

391 Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, had the
temple of Serapis (the Serapeum) dismantled.  In doing
so, he was enforcing recent imperial legislation suppressing pagan
temples.  The Serapeum was the world's largest temple to Serapis, a
god of the sun, healing, and fertility.  Gnostics sometimes
identified Serapis with the godhead.

392Theodore (392-429) became bishop of Mopsuestia in
the Cilician plain. Served through 428.  Theodore developed Diodore’s
Christology.  His concern was to protect Christ’s human nature, which
he considered necessary to human redemption.  He taught Christ as one
person (prosopon) in two natures.  Diodore and Theodore are
representative of the “Word-Man” Christology.

Theodore became spiritual head of the
exegetical school at Antioch.  Instead of the allegorical
interpretive method employed at Alexandria, Theodore stressed the literal
sense.  He argued that those who interpret Scripture allegorically
“turn everything backwards, since they make no distinction in divine
Scripture between what the text says and dreams....”

Though influenced by Origen, Theodore’s
exegesis of Mt 16.17-18 did not identify the Rock with Christ, but with
Peter’s confession of faith.  According to Theodore, the church is
built on Peter’s confession of faith (Rom 10.9).  So also Chrysostom
(see 398 below).

393 A  council at Hippo set the canon
along the lines approved by Augustine - including the Deuterocanonical
books.  Augustine’s Old Testament list:  Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the four books of
Kings (Samuel and Kings), the two books of Chronicles, Job, Tobias,
Esther, Judith, two books of the Maccabees, two books of Esdras (Ezra and
Nehemiah), Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom,
Ecclesiasticus, the twelve minor prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and
Ezekiel.  Augustine’s New Testament agreed with the modern
listing.

393 Jerome and Epiphanius of Salamis attacked
John of Jerusalem for adhering to the views of Origen.
Epiphanius incited the monks of Palestine to anti-Origenism.  John
refused to baptize their converts or bury their dead.

393 A synod in Caesarea concurred with Siricius’
(bishop of Rome, see 384) support of Flavian I as bishop of Antioch and so
ended a schism in the Antiochian church.

394 Siricius of Rome arbitrated a dispute within
the Arabian church over the bishopric of Bosra (Bostra).

394Olympic games abolished.

397 Ninian established a monastery on
Whithorn Island in Scotland with a whitewashed stone church - the Candida
Casa (White House) - said to be the only church in Britain built from
stone.  From that base, he labored for the conversion of the Picts
and Celts.  Ninian’s school on Whithorn was the only educational
institution in the north of Britain.  Born in Scotland in about 360,
Ninian had traveled to Rome in around 380, where he eventually met bishop
Siricius and Jerome.  Siricius commissioned him to evangelize
Scotland, and provided him priests as companions, along with vestments,
relics, books and sacred vessels.  Along the road back to Scotland,
Ninian met Martin of Tours.

395Augustine bishop of Hippo (in North Africa).  Died
430.  Author of the Confessions, the City of God,
etc.  Apart from being the most influential Western theologian
of the early church, Augustine was a strong exponent of Mary’s permanent
virginity.  He held that Mary was sinless, though not through her own
will (as the Pelagians would have it) but by virtue of a special
grace.  Mary had, however, been born subject to original sin like all
other humans.  But she had been delivered from its effects by the
grace of rebirth.

Augustine commented on Matthew 16.18:
“All were asked, but Peter alone answers, Thou art the Christ; and it is
said to him, I will give thee the keys; as if he alone had received the
power of loosing and binding; whereas he both spoke for all, and received
in common for all, being, as it were, the representation of unity.”
This recalled Cyprian’s interpretation.

Augustine on infant baptism:  “If anyone
should ask for divine authority in this matter, though that which the
whole church practices and which has not been instituted by the councils
-- but was ever in use -- is very reasonably believed to be no other than
a thing delivered by the authority of the apostles, yet we may besides
take a true estimate, how much the sacrament of baptism does avail
infants, by the circumcision which God’s former people received.”

On infant communion:  “If then, as so
many divine testimonies do agree, neither salvation nor eternal life is to
be hoped for by any, without baptism and the body and blood of our Lord,
it is in vain promised to infants without them.”

Augustine wrote On the Trinity, in which he
argued that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.  In
Latin translations of the Creed of Constantinople (381), this
“filioque” clause was inserted eventually.  It was thought to
be an indispensable anti-Arian proposition.

Augustine held that damnation for the lost is
eternal, but that the torture of unbaptized children will be the most mild
of all.  Christians who have become entangled with earthly delights
will have to undergo a purification by fire.

At some point in his career, Augustine
attended a council at Milevita (see 419 below).  The council
excommunicated those who carry appeals beyond the seas.
Representatives from Rome produced fraudulent copies of the declarations
of Nicaea (325) which purported to give Rome the right to hear appeals
from Africa.  The African bishops sent to Constantinople for copies
of the canons of Nicaea, and discovered the Roman deception.

396 Jerome published a scathing attack on John of
Jerusalem.  The occasion was the visit of Epiphanius to
Jerusalem.  Epiphanius preached against Origenism, while John
vocalized against Anthropomorphism - the opposite extreme.  A breach
ressulted between the two, and Jerome took Epiphanius’ side.  In the
period from roughly 393-403, the condemnation of Origenism was
widespread.  The quarrel between Jerome and John was
short-lived.  [These events may have occurred in 393 - see note
above.]

397 Jerome and John of Jerusalem were reconciled
through the mediation of Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria.  John
became neutral on the Origen issue, while argument continued between
Jerome and his former colleague, Tyrannius Rufinus.
Theophilus himself now opposed Origenism.

398 Death of Didymus the Blind
(~313-398).  Blind from birth, Didymus was appointed by St.
Athanasius to head the catechetical school in Alexandria.  He was an
opponent of Arianism, but certain of his teachings may have been condemned
by the Fifth Ecumenical Council in its tenth anathema directed against
Origen (see 553).  The ancient epitome of the Quinisext council’s
(see 691) first canon mentions Didymus together with Origen and Evagrios
(see 399) as denying the resurrection of the flesh, teaching that hell
will be temporary, “and other innumerable insane blasphemies.”
Didymus may also have been the author of certain works formerly attributed
to Basil the Great (pseudo-Basil).

398John Chrysostom became bishop of Constantinople.
Served through 404.  John held that Mary was not without fault. In
commenting on Matthew 12.46-49, for instance (Homily 44 on Matthew),
Chrysostom wrote, “For in fact that which she had essayed to do was of
superfluous vanity, in that she wanted to show the people that she has
power and authority over her Son.”  Then, later, “He both healed the
[in the context, her] disease of vainglory, and rendered the due honor to
His mother, even though her request was unreasonable.”

Chrysostom’s view of Peter’s place in the church
was complex.  Writing on the “Rock” passage, he said (Volume X,
Homily LIV):

“What then saith Christ? ‘Thou art Simon, the son
of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas.’  ‘Thus since thou hast
proclaimed my Father, I too name him that begat thee;’ all but saying, "As
thou art son of Jonas, even so am I of my Father." Else it were
superfluous to say, “Thou art Son of Jonas;” but since he had said, “Son
of God,” to point out that He is so Son of God, as the other son of Jonas,
of the same substance with Him that begat Him, therefore He added this,
‘And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my
Church;’ that is, on the faith of his confession. Hereby He signifies that
many were now on the point of believing, and raises his spirit, and makes
him a shepherd.”

He was not at all concerned with the continuing
primacy of the See of Peter.  Instead, he defended the dignity and
majesty of the Christ:

“Seest thou how He, His own self, leads Peter on to
high thoughts of Him, and reveals Himself, and implies that He is Son of
God by these two promises? For those things which are peculiar to God
alone, (both to absolve sins, and to make the church incapable of
overthrow in such assailing waves, and to exhibit a man that is a fisher
more solid than any rock, while all the world is at war with him), these
He promises Himself to give; as the Father, speaking to Jeremiah, said, He
would make him as ‘a brazen pillar, and as a wall;’ but him to one nation
only, this man in every part of the world.”

“I would fain inquire then of those who desire to
lessen the dignity of the Son, which manner of gifts were greater, those
which the Father gave to Peter, or those which the Son gave him? For the
Father gave to Peter the revelation of the Son; but the Son gave him to
sow that of the Father and that of Himself in every part of the world; and
to a mortal man He entrusted the authority over all things in Heaven,
giving him the keys; who extended the church to every part of the world,
and declared it to be stronger than heaven. ‘For heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my word shall not pass away.’  How then is He less,
who hath given such gifts, hath effected such things?”

399 After initially supporting the Tall Brothers’
criticism of the Anthropomorphites, Theophilus of Alexandria
expelled the Origenists.  They moved to Constantinople and made their
case to John Chrysostom.  (Recall that Alexandria was jealous of
Constantinople’s elevation by the council of Constantinople in 381.)
In 400, a council convened at Theophilus’ behest condemned Origen.

399 Death of Evagrios of Pontus (known as
“the Solitary”).  Evagrios, born around 345, had been ordained reader
by St. Basil the Great and deacon by St. Gregory of Nazianzen. After
attending the council at Constantinople in 381, he went to Egypt in 383 to
become a monk.  Evagrios, like St. Gregory of Nyssa, believed in the
eventual salvation of all - a position later condemned at the Fifth
Ecumenical Council in 553.  He also wrote on practical matters, such
as the spiritual discipline of the Desert Fathers.  John Cassian was
a disciple of Evagrios’ - though Cassian rejected his universalist
error.

399 When Yezdegerd I ascended the throne of Persia
in this year, he halted the persecution of Christians in his realm.

400 The first consolidated edition of canon law
published about this time (in the East).  Comprised the canons of
many fourth century councils.  (See 545 below.)

400 The Peshitta, a translation of the Bible
into Aramaic, was completed around this time.  (This statement is
disputed by George Lamsa, who claims that it is far more ancient.)
The Old Testament contains the so-called “Apocryphal” books.  The New
Testament lacks 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

~400 Chrysostom refers to a feast of All Martyrs
being celebrated in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost.