page_title: Timeline of the Catholic Church
section_title: Early Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the Catholic Church / Early Christianity
context_page_description: As traditionally the oldest form of Christianity, along with the ancient or first millennial Eastern Orthodox Church, the non-Chalcedonian or Oriental Churches, and the Church of the East, the history of the Catholic Church is integral to the history of Christianity as a whole. It is also, according to church historian, Mark A. Noll, the "world's oldest continuously functioning international institution." This article covers a period of just under two thousand years
  Over time, schisms have disrupted the unity of Christianity. The major divisions occurred in c.144 with Marcionism, 318 with Arianism, 451 with the Oriental Orthodox, 1054 to 1449 during which time the Orthodox Churches of the East parted ways with the Western Church over doctrinal issues and papal primacy, and in 1517 with the Protestant Reformation, of which there were many divisions, resulting in over 200 denominations.
context_section_description: Dates in the Apostolic Age are mostly approximate, and all AD.
  34 AD: Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is stoned to death in Jerusalem.
  40: Traditional date of Our Lady of the Pillar showing up to James the Great in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
  46: Paul begin his missionary journeys, with Barnabas.
  50: Council of Jerusalem determines that Gentile converts to Christianity do not have to abide by Mosaic Laws. This will gradually lead to the separation of Christianity from Judaism.
  50-58: Paul' seven undisputed epistles written
  52: Traditional arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle to Kerala, marking the founding of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
  64: The Neronian Persecution begins under Nero after the Great Fire of Rome. Martyrdom of Saint Peter. Persecution of Christians continues intermittently until 313 AD.
  67: Martyrdom of Saint Paul outside of Rome. Pope Linus becomes the second pope after Saint Peter.
  68: Neronian Persecution ends with the suicide of Nero.
  69: Gospel of Mark completed.
  70: Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.
  72: Martyrdom of Saint Thomas the Apostle at Mylapore.
  76: Martyrdom of Pope Linus.
  80s Gospel of Matthew completed.
  80s: Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles completed
  90-96 Persecution of Christians under Emperor Domitian
  95 Book of Revelation written. (2nd).
  96: Traditional date of First Epistle of Clement attributed to Pope Clement I written to the church in Corinth.
  100: St. John, the last of the Apostles, dies in Ephesus.
  100: Gospel of John completed
  110: Ignatius of Antioch uses the term Catholic Church in a letter to the church at Smyrna, in one of the letters of undisputed authenticity attributed to him. In this and other genuine letters he insists on the importance of the bishops in the church and speaks harshly about heretics and Judaizers.
  150: Latin translations (the Vetus Latina) from the Greek texts of the Scriptures are circulated among non-Greek-speaking Christian communities.
  154: The teachings of Marcion, the gnostic Valentinus and pentecostal Montanists cause disruptions in the Roman community. Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire continues.
  155: Justin Martyr composes his First Apology in Rome.
  156: Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, disciple of John, and teacher of Irenaeus, is martyred.
  177: Irenaeus becomes bishop of Lyons, France.
  180: Irenaeus's Adversus Haereses brings the concept of "heresy" to the fore in the first systematic attempt to counter Gnostic and other aberrant teachings. In the same work, he taught that the most reliable source of apostolic guidance was the episcopacy of Rome.
  195: Pope Victor I, first African Pope, excommunicated the Quartodecimans in an Easter controversy.
  200: Tertullian, first great Christian Latin writer, coined for Christian concepts Latin terms such as "Trinitas", "Tres Personae", "Una Substantia", "Sacramentum"
  248: Origen of Alexandria writes Contra Celsum, the most important apologetic writing of antiquity alongside Augustine's City of God.
  249: Pope Fabian is said to have sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Gatien to Tours, Trophimus to Arles, Paul to Narbonne, Saturnin to Toulouse, Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Martial to Limoges.
  250: Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.
  312: Emperor Constantine leads the forces of the Roman Empire to victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Tradition has it that, the night before the battle, Constantine had a vision that he would achieve victory if he fought under the symbol of Christ; accordingly, his soldiers bore on their shields the Chi-Rho sign composed of the first two letters of the Greek word for "Christ" (ΧΡΙΣΤΌΣ).
caption: The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601) by Caravaggio
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