A Word About Church History !
Scholars estimate there are over 2,600 groups today who lay claims to being the Church, or at least the direct descendants of the Church described in the New Testament Repeat: 2,600 !
But for the first thousand years of her history, the Church was essentially ONE!
Five historic Patriarchal centers: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople, formed a cohesive whole and were in full communion with one another. There were occasional heretical or schismatic groups going their own way, to be sure, but the Church was unifed until the 11th century.
Then, in events culminating in A.D. 1054, the Roman Patriarch pulled away from the other four, pursuing his long-developing claim of universal headship of the Christian Church !
Today, nearly a thousand years later, the other four Patriarchates remain intact, in full communion, maintain that Orthodox Apostolic Faith of the inspired New Testament record.
The history of the Orthodox Church is described herein, from Pentecost to present day.
NEW TESTAMENT ERA
+ 33 A.D. Pentecost - The Birthday of the Christian Church.
+ 49 Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15) establishes precedent
for addressing Church disputes in Council.
James presides as Bishop !
+ 69 Bishop Ignatius consecrated in Antioch in heart of New
Testament era – St. Peter had been the first Bishop there.
Other early Bishops include James, Polycarp and Clement.
+ 95 Book of Revelation written, probably the last of the New
Testament books.
+ 150 St. Justin Martyr describes the liturgical worship of the
Church, centered in the Eucharist. Liturgical worship is
Rooted in both, the Old and New Testaments
+ 313 The Edict of Milan marks an end to the period of Roman
persecution of Christianity, by Emperor Constantine the Great.
SEVEN ECUMENICAL COUNCILS (325 – 787)
+ 325 The Council of Nicea settles the major heretical challenge
to the Christian Faith posed when the heretic Arius asserts
Christ was created by the Father. Nicea is the first of Seven
Ecumenical (Church-wide) Councils.
+ 451 Council of Chalcedon affirms apostolic doctrine of two natures
in Jesus Christ.
+ 589 A Synod in Toledo, Spain, adds the filiouque to the Nicene Creed
(asserting that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son).
This error is later adopted by Rome.
+ 787 The era of Ecumenical Councils ends at Nicea; the Seventh Council
restores the centuries-old use of icons to the Church.
+ 988 Conversion of Russia begins.
+ 1054 The Great Schism occurs. Two major issues include Rome’s claim to
a universal papal supremacy and her addition of the filiouque clause
to the Nicene Creed.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
+ 1066 Norman conquest of Britain. Orthodox hierarchs are replaced with
those loyal to Rome.
C R U S A D E S (1095 - 1291)
+ 1095 The Crusades begun by the Roman Church. The Sack of
Constantinople (1204) adds to the estrangement between
East and West.
+ 1333 St. Gregory Palamas defends the Orthodox practice of hesychast
spirituality and the use of the Jesus prayer.
+ 1453 Turks overrun Constantinople - Byzantine Empire ends.
+ 1517 Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the Roman Church
in Wittenberg, starting the Protestant Reformation.
+ 1529 Church of England begins pulling away from Rome.
+ 1794 Missionaries arrive on Kodiak Island in Alaska – Orthodoxy
introduced to North America.
+ 1870 Papal Infallibility becomes Roman dogma.
+ 1988 One thousand years of Orthodoxy in Russia, as Orthodox Church
world-wide maintains fullness of the Apostolic Faith.
+ 2013 17th Centennial Anniversary of the Edict of Milan (313 – 2013)
in the Serbian City of Niš.
First Christian Emperor Constantine the Great was born in Naissus, Serbian City of Niš today. Emperor Constantine the Great, ruled the Western part of the Roman Empire from the 306 to 337 A.D.
With the beginning of the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the establishment of Constantinople, Constantine laid the foundation of the future empire which will last for 1,000 yaers. As the first Christian emperor and founder of the Christian Church, after his death he was canonized (337) while in Eastern Orthodox churches, including our Serbian Orthodox Church, he is regarded as the saint and the Emperor equal to Christ’s Disciple.
The Edict of Milan brought an end to the three centuries long persecution of Christians, return of their seized property and allowed them to profees their religion in public without suffering any consequences for it.
Through the Edict of Milan, which enabled “each one to have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases”, Christianity got a solid foundation and point from which it could further grow, and thus only several decades
later (380 A.D.) under Emperor Theodosius the Great, it had become a religion of the state.
In our Serbian Orthodox Church we celebrate: "Holy Equal-to the- Apostles Emperor Constantine and (his mother) Helen", on 3rd of june !