SUBJECT - CHURCH HISTORY // UNIT - 2 // LESSON – 2 // A BRIEF OUTLINE OF CHURCH HISTORY CENTURY BY CENTURY //

 

LESSON – 2

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF CHURCH HISTORY CENTURY BY CENTURY

First Century

0-100 A.D Century of Jesus and the Apostles (Beginnings) Key Event: Jesus crucifixion and resurrection

Key Thought: Jesus died for our sins, He rose again and He is Lord.

 

Second Century          

101-200 A.D Century of the Church Fathers - Expansion Christianity was mainly an urban movement meeting in homes for worship, fellowship and teaching. Expanding in Southern Europe and reaching Britain. Key Thought: Christianity is Authentic

 

Third Century

201-300 A.D Century of Great Persecutions - Embrace the world or be distinguished Monasteries begin as Church suffers severe persecution Key Thought - The Blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the church Tertullian

 

Fourth Century

301-400 A.D Political Acceptance - Debate Constantine accepts Christianity in 313 A.D and Christianity became the official Roman religion in 380. The Council of Nicaea maintained that Christ is both divine and human. In him divinity became man in order that we might become like Him

 

Fifth Century

401-500 A.D Defining Councils Clarification Amidst the collapse of the Roman Empire Christianity clarifies its teaching on Jesus and the Holy Spirit Key Thought The heart is restless until it finds its home in God Augustine

 

Sixth Century

501-600 A.D Continued Expansion Consolidation The church grows rapidly in the Middle East, Asia and Ethiopia. Benedict of Nursia builds monasteries all over Europe Gregory the Great becomes Pope Key Thought: Life should be a balance of work and rest, study and recreation, public worship and private prayer Benedict of Nursia.

 

Seventh Century 601-700 A.D

Islam begins – Challenge Muhammad writes the Koran and Islam spreads rapidly in North Africa and Asia Minor. Church in the East and West begin to separate over differences in emphasis and practice. The teaching of the church in the west had a more judicial focus while the teaching of the church in the east is more relationship focused. Key Thought Prayer is the mean through which believers work out their own salvation as they learn to bring their wills, choices and deeds into harmony with the will of God. Maximus the Confessor

 

Eighth Century 701-800 A.D

Beginnings of the Holy Roman Empire - Christendom Boniface takes the Gospel into central and Northern Germany. The Iconoclastic Controversy

 

Ninth Century 801-900 A.D

The Carolingian Renaissance – Rediscovery In 800 Charlemagne came emperor and encouraged learning all over Europe including the classics Key Thought: Make the monks familiar with language, culture and theology and enable the people through them to read and write.

 

Tenth Century 901-1000 A.D

Slavic Christianity - Instability. At the end of this century 50% of former Christian areas were under Islam.              Christianity expanded into Norway and Greenland and the Ukraine. The Christian life should be more than routine or habit but a personal experience of the Living Christ Symeon the New Theologian