A Timeline of Global Christianity

One Thousand Significant Dates for Christianity across the Planet—And Beyond

Brett Knowles

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781532618222, 9781498243612
• eBook ISBN: 9781498243605
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

This timeline comprises one thousand significant dates for global Christianity. It includes events across all inhabited continents (and also in Antarctica and outer space), emphasizing those occurring in the non-Western world. The detailed annotations on each date are intended as provocative "ignition points" to spark historical curiosity, functioning as "launchpads" into further exploration in global Christianity. For example:-739: What did the finding of the Rotas-Sator palindrome on the walls of an eighth-century Sudanese cave dwelling indicate? -1346: Who were the mysterious Christians in the Javanese Royal Court of Majapahit?-1969: Why was the "secret communion" on the Moon hushed up by NASA?-1992: Why was Paraguay the only Latin American country to include an indigenous language as a national language?Since previous histories of Christianity usually have a European or North American perspective, students will find this book useful for its global coverage. It can be used in three ways. Firstly, it can be used chronologically as a continuous global timeline. It can also be used as a sampling of Christianity in each country, or as an index of significant figures in the history of global Christianity. Each section is cross-referenced to the timeline, making it a valuable resource for historical study.

Timeline

This timeline contains one thousand entries from all six inhabited continents (and from Antarctica and Outer Space), as well as an additional category for the Greco-Roman world (which overlapped parts of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa up to 565). The numbers of entries for each continental category are generally proportional to the span of time covered, although entries for Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania are weighted by a factor of three over those for the Greco-Roman World, Europe, and North America. Europe is deemed to be that part of the Eurasian continent west of the Urals and north of the Caucasus.

The timeframes of each continental division are as follows:

•The Greco-Roman World: from 30 (the Crucifixion of Jesus) to 565 (the end of Justinian’s reign)

•Asia: from 52 (the arrival of Thomas in India) up to the present

•Africa: from 356 (the arrival of Frumentius in Aksum) up to the present

•Europe: from 432 (the date of Patrick’s arrival in Ireland) up to the present

•Latin America and the Caribbean: from 1492 (Columbus’s discovery of America) up to the present

•Oceania: from 1521 (the entry of the first European explorers, i.e. Magellan’s expedition, into the Pacific) up to the present

•North America: 1607 (the founding of the first colonial settlements in Virginia) up to the present

A continental categorization follows each timeline entry, in most cases together with a reference to its modern-day equivalent location. This is derived from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) website;1 those territories not listed in the website are enclosed in rounded brackets, e.g. (Ceuta), (Taiwan), (Tibet), etc. Entries relating to Christianity in outer space are also enclosed in rounded brackets, e.g. (Moon: Mare Tranquillitatis), etc. Greenland, although included in the North American continent in the UNSD website, was historically seen as being part of Europe (i.e. a Norwegian or Danish colony) and is so treated here.

Year and Event

ca.30 Forty days after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the promised Holy Spirit fills the disciples on the Day of Pentecost and the witness of the Church begins. [Greco-Roman World: State of Palestine]

ca.46 The Apostle Paul begins the first of his three missionary journeys to Cyprus and Asia Minor: later journeys would take him further west into Greece, Illyricum (Albania), and, eventually, to Rome and (possibly) Spain. [Greco-Roman World: Albania, (Cyprus), Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey]

49 The First Church Council meets at Jerusalem and discusses whether the requirements of the Jewish Law are binding on Gentile converts to Christianity. [Greco-Roman World: State of Palestine]

ca.49 Riots break out in Rome between Christians and Jews in the reign of Claudius, resulting in the expulsion of all noncitizen Jews. [Greco-Roman World: Italy]

50 The Apostle Paul begins writing his letters to the churches in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. [Greco-Roman World: Greece, Italy, Turkey]

52 The Apostle Thomas arrives on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India, where local Indian traditions credit him with founding seven churches (Cranganore, Quilon, Paravur, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Palayur, and Cayal); his tomb is believed to be located at Mylapore near Chennai (Madras), on the east coast. [Asia: India]

62 The Sadducee Ananias (then the High Priest) brings James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem, before the Sanhedrin as a lawbreaker; James is stoned to death. [Greco-Roman World: State of Palestine]

64 The Emperor Nero persecutes the Christians as scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. [Greco-Roman World: Italy]

ca.65–ca.95 The writing of the Gospels begins, with Mark being the first (ca.65) and John the last (ca.95) of the canonical Gospels to be composed. [Greco-Roman World: Italy, State of Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey]

66–73 The First Jewish War with the Romans leads to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70. [Greco-Roman World: State of Palestine]

ca.80–100 An unknown writer compiles “The Lord’s Instruction (i.e. the Didachē) to the Gentiles through the Twelve Apostles,” a compendium of recommendations on morality, community organization, and liturgy; this is possibly the earliest extant Christian writing outside the New Testament. [Greco-Roman World: Syrian Arab Republic]

96 Clement of Rome writes as the secretary of the church in Rome on behalf of its college of presbyters to the church of Corinth, rebuking them for the disorderly deposition of their presbyters. [Greco-Roman World: Greece, Italy]

104 Addai ordains Pkidha as the first Christian bishop of Arbela in Adiabene; the church there had built upon the conversion of an earlier king of Adiabene to Judaism, which (as also in the Mediterranean world) provided a beachhead for later Christian expansion. [Asia: Iraq]

ca.107 Ignatius of Antioch writes seven letters to the Christians in Asia and Rome while on his way to martyrdom. [Greco-Roman World: Italy, Turkey]

ca.112 Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, writes to the Emperor Trajan seeking advice on how he should deal with those brought before his court on the charge of being Christians. [Greco-Roman World: Turkey]

ca.120–160 Basilides (fl. ca.120–145), a teacher in Alexandria, begins to expound Gnostic ideas, interpreting Christianity through a dualistic mindset which focusses on the acquisition of gnōsis (secret esoteric knowledge); this interpretive framework is further spread in Egypt by his disciple Valentinus (fl. ca.136–160), gaining numbers of adherents there and, after 136, in Rome also. [Greco-Roman World: Egypt, Italy]

ca.130–140 Aristeides of Athens and Quadratus of Asia Minor write the first Christian apologies, addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, in which they defend the Christians against the popular accusations made against them. [Greco-Roman World: Greece, Turkey]

132–135 Simon Bar Kochba leads a messianic Jewish revolt (also known as the Third Jewish-Roman War) in the Roman province of Judea. [Greco-Roman World: State of Palestine]

144 Marcion of Sinope teaches that the Jewish Yahweh is an evil Demiurge (a subordinate creator deity) and thus different from the Father of Jesus Christ; he rejects the entire Old Testament and most of the New (except for Luke’s Gospel and ten of Paul’s letters), on the basis that only Paul had really understoo...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword by Tim Cooper
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Timeline
• Continent and Country Index
• Name Index
• Selected Resources