Church history timeline
Major events and periods by year.
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33–100
The birth of the Church at Pentecost and the preaching of the apostles in the 1st century.
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64–313
Early Christianity and the Persecutions
From Nero's persecution to the Edict of Milan in 313.
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300–1400
From the Egyptian desert fathers of the 4th century to Mount Athos and the Russian lavras.
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325
The First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325)
Convened by the Emperor Constantine, the Council condemned the teaching of Arius and confessed the Son consubstantial with the Father.
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325–787
The seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787) formulated the dogmas of the Trinity, of Christ and of the veneration of icons.
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330–1453
Constantinople as the centre of the Orthodox world: Hagia Sophia, the Liturgy, hymnography.
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381
The Second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 381)
The Council confirmed the Nicene faith, confessed the divinity of the Holy Spirit and completed the Creed.
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431
The Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus, 431)
The Council condemned the teaching of Nestorius and confessed the Virgin Mary as Theotokos.
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451
The Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon, 451)
The Council confessed one person in Christ in two natures — “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation”.
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553
The Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 553)
Under the Emperor Justinian the Council condemned the “Three Chapters” and interpreted the Chalcedonian definition in the spirit of St Cyril.
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680–681
The Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 680–681)
The Council confessed two natural wills and two energies in Christ, condemning Monothelitism.
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787
The Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 787)
The Council condemned iconoclasm and affirmed the veneration of holy icons.
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988
The adoption of Christianity by Kievan Rus under Prince Vladimir in 988.
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1054
The mutual anathemas of 1054 and the gradual estrangement of East and West.
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1448–2000
History of the Russian Church: from Metropolis to Patriarchate and the 20th century
Milestones: autocephaly 1448, Patriarchate 1589, the Synodal period, the Council of 1917–1918, the persecutions of the 20th century.