Timeline of Biblical and World Events (After Christ's Birth)

New Testament Timeline

Date(s) A.D./C.E.	Bible-related	Cultural/historical	Global Perspective
5 B.C.-5 A.D.	c. 4 B.C. birth of Jesus	*30 B.C.-180 A.D. Pax Romana* (Roman peace) unites Mediterranean world**	* 30 B.C.-- death of Cleopatra; Rome annexes Egypt; Rome shifts from Republic to Empire under Augustus
6	Quirinius' census Zealots' tax revolt	heavy hand of Rome on Palestine	* Rome consolidates power * Golden Age of Latin literature: Virgil, Ovid, etc.
30s	The adult life and ministry of Jesus Rabbi Hillel the Elder, Babylon	14-37 Emperor Tiberius
c. 36-69	Oral transmission of message and story of Jesus 48-64 Letters of Paul c. 60 ["Q" document] 68-70 Dead Sea Scrolls hidden in caves	church in Jerusalem c. 47-57 missionary travels of Paul c. 67, Peter martyred	* China: Buddhism introduced * 64 Rome: Emperor Nero, Great Fire; persecution of Christians
c. 70-150	Last books of OT Apocrypha written Gospel compilation and editing c. 70 Mark c. 80 Matthew c. 90 Luke and John **** c. 110 Didache c. 80-150 Non-canonical gospels	70 Jewish revolt against Rome fails; Jerusalem sacked, Temple destroyed by Romans center of Christianity shifts from Jerusalem to Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome; martyrdoms under Domitian, Trajan, etc.	* 70 Josephus writes The Jewish War * 79 Pompeii: Mt. Vesuvius erupts * 117 Greatest expanse of Roman Empire * 100s Greatest expanse of Han Chinese empire
90s	Council of Jamnia, formation of Hebrew Bible canon 1st Epistle of Clement	Church's early structure established: bishops, presbyters, and deacons rabbinic movement develops from Pharisees	* Clement I, Bishop of Rome
c.125-225	Christian apologists defending their faith Gnostic writings such as Nag Hammadi manuscripts Marcionism, Montanism c. 125 The Shepherd of Hermas Mishnah, Talmud written down	c. 160 Marcion dies c. 200 Irenaeus dies Origen (Egypt) Tertullian (North Africa)	* 220 Goths invade Asia Minor * Iron smelting technology develops in East Africa
250-400	325 Council of Nicaea 367 Athanasius lists 27 N.T. books 381 Council of Constantinople 397 North African Council, Carthage, determines canon Jerome translates Vulgate Nag Hammadi writings hidden	250 persecution under Decius 303 persecution under Diocletian 313 Constantine converts to Christianity	* 361 Emperor Julian (the Apostate) tries to restore Roman religion; dies young * birth of Attila the Hun
400s	431 Council of Ephesus 451 Council of Chalcedon	St. Anthony of the Desert (Egypt) Desert Fathers and Mothers early monasticism St. Ambrose of Milan St. Augustine of Hippo (North Africa) St. Cyril of Alexandria murder of Hypatia	* 406 Franks invade Gaul * 410 Goths raid and sack Rome * c. 450 Chief Hawaii-Loa discovers Hawaiian Islands * c.450 Bodhidharma founds Zen Buddhism, India; takes to China * Britain: Picts, Scots, Celts expelled by Angles, Saxons * 476 fall of Rome to Goths
500s	525: Dionysius Exiguus sets birth of Jesus and Christian calendar at Dec. 23, A.D. 1	Justinian, Emperor in the East, rebuilds St. Sophia in Constantinople	* 542-594 plague cuts population of Europe in half
600s		640 Library of Alexandria with 300,000 manuscripts completely destroyed	* Muhammed writes Quran, establishes Islam; conquers Eastern Mediterranean
700-800s	c. Bede translates some scriptures into Anglo-Saxon Slavonic translation	Greek monks evangelize Slavs controversy over icons	* Arabs begin African slave trade along Indian Ocean coasts * Arabs conquer Spain
900s	Masoretic text of Hebrew Bible finalized	Northwest Europe: Celtic monks struggle against raiding Norsemen to preserve Christian writings	* 939 Vietnam gains independence from China * 988 Vladimir converts, brings Christianity to Kiev & Russia
1000s-1200s		1054 East-West church schism Crusades begin Norman, then Gothic cathedrals are built	* first European universities * China: gunpowder invented for use in fireworks * Genghis Khan conquers much of Asia
1300s	1380-97 Wycliffe translates Bible into Middle English	"Babylonian Captivity" of papacy in Avignon	* Mongols invade China, Russia * 1340s bubonic plague kills 30% from Europe to India * 1368 China: Ming dynasty
1400s	1456 Gutenberg Bible (Vulgate) is printed	Western European Renaissance begins 1453 fall of Constantinople to Turks	* 1450 invention of printing press * 1480s Portuguese explorers * 1492 Columbus sails west; * Jews, Moors driven out of Spain
1500s	Tyndale, Coverdale translate Bible into English; Luther into German 1536 King Henry VIII breaks with Church of Rome 1546 Council of Trent begins 1549 Book of Common Prayer 1560 Geneva Bible 1572 Bishops' Bible 1592 Sixto-Clementine Vulgate	1517 Luther acts at Wittenberg; Reformation begins (northern Europe) 1534 Society of Jesus (Jesuits) founded 1546 Scottish Reformation 1572 massacre of Protestants in France	* Spanish conquer Aztec, Inca civilizations in the "New World" * African slave trade increases to serve Spanish and Portuguese colonies * 1533-84 Ivan the Terrible rules Russia * 1564 birth of Shakespeare
1600s	1611 King James Bible published, becomes Authorized Version 1648 Westminster Confession	Wars of Religion in Germany 1640-60 English Civil War and Protectorate	* English, French, Dutch colonize North America, East and West Indies, South Africa;kill or enslave and evangelize native peoples
1700s	Established churches preach acceptance of status quo as will of God	John and Charles Wesley use King James Bible and Book of Common Prayer, preach to common people Oppression of Jews everywhere, Catholics in Britain	* Industrial Revolution begins * 1776-81 American Revolution * European Enlightenment en-hances concept of Natural Law versus Divine Law * 1789 French Revolution
1800s	1885 British Revised Version of the Bible German scholars begin to apply historical-critical methods to the Bible Missionary organizations translate Bible into many languages	Missionary activity intensifies in colonized regions of world 1848 Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital (Capital) 1859 Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, with theory of evolution	* 1815 defeat of Napoleon * 1820s independence of most Latin American countries * Immigration of many Catholics and Jews to U.S. * 1856 birth of Sigmund Freud * Height of European colonization of Asia and Africa
1900s	1901 American Standard Version 1907 Pope Pius X condemns Modernist movement of Biblical Criticism 1923 J. Gresham Machen, fundamentalist leader, writes Christianity and Liberalism Critical methods develop; Biblical criticism becomes academic discipline 1945 Nag Hammadi Library discovered 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls discovered	Some Christians die as martyrs in holocaust (Edith Stein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer); Other Christians, such as the Ten Booms, shelter Jews or do other forms of resistance Ecumenical organizations (World Council of Churches, National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A) are founded. 1948 State of Israel established	* 1914-18 World War I * 1917 Communist revolution in Russia; religion suppressed * 1922 Ataturk creates secular state in Turkey * 1926 Scopes Trial pits literal reading vs. modern understanding of Bible * 1939-45: World War II; Nazi holocaust murders Jews, other minorities * 1949 Communist revolution in China; religion suppressed
late 1900s	1952 Revised Standard Version Emergence of women's, Third-world, and liberation Bible scholarship 1989 New Revised Standard Version Dead Sea Scrolls made widely available 1995 New Jerusalem Bible	Arab-Israeli conflicts in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 1960s key time for Civil Rights movement in U.S. Rise of fundamentalism 1980s upsurge of terrorism internationally Intifada--Palestinian nationalist movement	* 1959 Chinese invade Tibet * 1960s post-colonial independence of most African, Asian countries * Economy globalizes * 1989 fall of Berlin Wall results in breakup of Soviet Union, * regional wars * 1990s end of apartheid laws in South Africa * Internet technology globalizes communication and access to written sources

This study is a resource from:
The Women's Division
General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church
E-mail: umw@gbgm-umc.org.
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/