{"id":28277,"date":"2025-05-05T09:04:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T13:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/?page_id=28277"},"modified":"2025-05-05T10:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:34:31","slug":"church-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/church-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Church History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Church History<\/span><\/h2>

We are a Greek Orthodox parish, part of the oldest Christian tradition dating back to 33 A.D., the day of Pentecost.
We trace our roots back to the Apostles and their teachings.
We are a stronghold of the moral, theological, liturgical and spiritual traditions of the Early Church.
We invite you to come and join us to experience the worship of Early Christianity in the modern setting.<\/span><\/p>

DISCOVERING ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 video presentations<\/em><\/span><\/p>

Chronology of Church History<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>

A timeline of key events in the life of the Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>

The Apostolic Age and Early Persecutions (33\u2013313)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

  • 33 Pentecost \u2013 The Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles and gives birth to the Church.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 33\u2013100 \u2013 Known as the Apostolic Age. Rapid spread of the Church throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 45\u201380 \u2013 Apostles Paul, Peter, James, John, and Judas write their epistles. Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke are written.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 49 \u2013 Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) establishes precedent for addressing Church disputes in Council. James presides as bishop. Gradually, Sunday (called the Lord\u2019s Day) replaces the Sabbath as the day of worship.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 60\u2013150 \u2013 Several Gnostic sects appear which attempt to infiltrate Christian communities.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 64\u201367 \u2013 Persecution of Christians in Rome under Emperor Nero. St. Peter and Paul become martyrs.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 69 \u2013 Bishop Ignatius consecrated in Antioch as heart of New Testament era. St. Peter had been the first bishop there. Other early bishops include James, Polycarp, and Clement.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 70 \u2013 Destruction of Jerusalem, foretold by Jesus (Matt. Ch. 24).<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 95 \u2013 Book of Revelation written by the Apostle John on island of Patmos; later John writes his Gospel.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 96\u201398 \u2013 Persecution of Christians under Emperor Domitian.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 110 \u2013 St. Ignatius of Antioch writes a number of letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 150 \u2013 St. Justin Martyr describes the structure and worship of the Church centered in the Eucharist. Liturgical worship is rooted in the Old and New Testaments.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 202 \u2013 St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons is martyred, author of foundational theological works.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 215\u2013290 \u2013 The rise of Christian schools in Alexandria and Antioch.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 244\u201349 \u2013 The Roman Emperor Decius persecutes Christians.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 258 \u2013 St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, author and theologian, is martyred.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 300 \u2013 Christianization of Britain.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 303 \u2013 St. Alban is martyred.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • 300\u2013305 \u2013 The Emperor Diocletian vows to vanquish Christianity. Thousands of Christians, including St. George, St. Barbara, and St. Catherine are martyred.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>

    Imperial Support and the Ecumenical Councils (313\u2013787)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

    • 313 \u2013 Emperor Constantine ends persecution of Christians and gives them the right to freely exercise their faith. The Edict of Milan marks an end to the period of Roman persecution of Christianity.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 325 \u2013 The Council of Nicea settles the major heretical challenges to the Christian Faith posed where the heretic Arius asserts Christ was created by the Father. St. Athanasius defends the eternality of the Son of God. Nicea is the first of Seven Ecumenical (Church-wide) Councils (325\u2013787).<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 326 \u2013 Empress Helena finds the Cross of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Later this builds the Church of the Resurrection on the place of Christ\u2019s Resurrection, where each year on the Orthodox Pascha (Easter) the Holy Fire descends.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 330 \u2013 Beginning and spread of monasticism in Egypt: St. Anthony and Pachomius.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 343 \u2013 St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, reposes.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 330\u2013410 \u2013 Period of the great Fathers of the Church: St. Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, and countless others.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 381 \u2013 The Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople reaffirms the need to have five Patriarchates: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 397 \u2013 Synod of Carthage affirms Biblical Canon.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 410 \u2013 Alaric, leader of the Germanic Visigoths, takes Rome.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 451 \u2013 Council of Chalcedon affirms apostolic doctrine of two natures in Christ.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 563 \u2013 The Great Church, Hagia Sofia, consecrated in Constantinople.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 584 \u2013 St. Saba founds his monastery in the Judean wilderness, where later the Typicon for church services is developed.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 589 \u2013 A local synod of the Roman Catholic Church in Toledo, Spain, adds filioque to the Nicene Creed. This error causes division between the Eastern and the Western Churches.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 630 \u2013 First the Persians, then the Arabs threaten the Byzantine Empire, persecute Christians, and destroy churches.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 685 \u2013 The spread of monasticism on Mt. Athos begins.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 726 \u2013 Emperor Leo the Isaurian starts his campaign against the veneration of icons.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 771 \u2013 Arabs and Jews argue.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 780s \u2013 St. John Damascene the author of the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • 787 \u2013 The era of Ecumenical Councils ends at Nicea; the Seventh Council restores the veneration of icons to the churches.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>

      Evangelization and the Great Schism (864\u20131204)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

      • 864 \u2013 The Prince Boris of Bulgaria is baptized. About this time Ss. Cyril and Methodius spread the Orthodox faith among the Slavs.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 988 \u2013 Prince Vladimir is baptized and begins conversion of the Rus (Russians) to Christianity.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 1054 \u2013 St. Anthony and Theodosius found monasteries near Kiev.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 1054 \u2013 The Roman Pope inserts the filioque into the Nicene Creed. The Photian Schism (880) further complicates the debate.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 1066 \u2013 Norman conquest of Britain. Orthodox hierarchs are replaced with those loyal to Rome.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 1095 \u2013 The Crusades, begun by the Roman Church, weaken the Eastern Orthodox churches in Palestine and Syria.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

      • 1204 \u2013 The Sack of Constantinople by the crusaders adds to the estrangement between East and West.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>

        Defenders of Orthodoxy and Modern Shifts (1333\u20132005)<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

        • 1333 \u2013 St. Gregory Palamas defends the Orthodox practice of hesychast spirituality and the use of the Jesus Prayer.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1438 \u2013 St. Mark of Ephesus defends the Orthodox faith at the Council of Florence.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1453 \u2013 Turks overrun Constantinople; Byzantine empire ends.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1455 \u2013 Gutenberg prints the Bible.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1517 \u2013 Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the Roman Church in Wittenburg; begins Protestant Reformation.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1529 \u2013 Church of England begins pulling away from Rome.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1782 \u2013 First publishing of the PHILOKALIA, a classic of spirituality.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1794 \u2013 Russian missionaries, St. Herman and others arrive in Alaska; introduce Orthodoxy to North America.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1870 \u2013 Papal infallibility becomes Roman Dogma.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1917 \u2013 The revolution in Russia begins. Christians are persecuted and martyred.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1918 \u2013 Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco becomes Patriarch of Russia.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1988 \u2013 1000 years of Orthodoxy in Russia, as Orthodox Church worldwide maintains fullness of Apostolic Faith.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 1990 \u2013 Beginning of renewal of Orthodoxy in Russia.<\/span><\/p><\/li>

        • 2005 \u2013 1,972 years of Orthodox Christianity.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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          Church History We are a Greek Orthodox parish, part of the oldest Christian tradition dating back to 33 A.D., the day of Pentecost.We trace our roots back to the Apostles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28277","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"campaignId":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28277"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28342,"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28277\/revisions\/28342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stbarbarasrq.org\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}