Major Religious Events in the Church

Birth Of the Church (Pentecost)

33

• Pentecost and coming of the Holy Spirit but known as the Birth of the Church.
• Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were together in Jerusalem
• the new community experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spiri
• described as tongues of fire settling on their heads
• it enabled them to speak the good news of Jesus in all languages.

Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem

70

• Emperor Titus sent an army to restore order.
• Romans surrounded the city and breached its outer walls.
• Romans destroyed the temple that served as the centre of Judaism.
• After the destruction they slaughtered thousands.
• Some Jews were taken as slaves and some were killed publicly in Rome.

Division of Rome

285

• The Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into halves with the Eastern Empire governed out of Byzantium
• Western Empire governed from Rome.
• Roman Empire so vast that it was no longer feasible to govern all provinces from central Rome.
• Both sections were still know as the Roman Empire.
• It is said the empire split to make it easier with communications and military threats.

Council of Nicaea

325

• An order of the first Christian Roman Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine.
• He spoke to a group of bishops and other leaders with the purpose of defining the nature of God.
• Christian doctrine at the time was inconsistent when it came to the central question of Jesus' relationship to God. -It affirmed the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were listed as three co-equal and co-eternal Persons. -It resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed.

Council of Chalcedon

451

• Focused on the critical issue of Jesus' identity in relationship to humanity.
• Tried to find the language that keeps in balance th two natures of Jesus, his humanness and his divinity.
• It took many centuries to clarify these issues.
  
• The belief that Jesus is both human and divine is the cornerstone of Christian faith.
• Church came to understand and teach clearly that Jesus fully God and fully man.

Black Death

Mar 14, 1320

• Spread by rat fleas on rodents
• Started in the Goni desert in the 1320s
• Reached Constantinople in 1347
• Killed 7000 a day in Cairo
• The most common symptom was the appearance of buboes on the body.

Saints and Leaders of the Catholic Reform

Mar 15, 1517

• New religious orders and groups were founded to help in Catholic renewal.
• Reforming popes were St Pius V , Gregory XIII and Sixtus V.
• Some groups were the Capuchins and the Jesuits.
• Erasmus and Luther fought for change.

Reformation

Oct 13, 1517

• Schism from the Roman Catholic Church.
• Cause was Martin Luther attacking indulgences in general
• Political, intellectual and cultural upheaval.
• Reformers questioned the Church’s ability to define Christian practices. -Argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible reading pastors.

Council of Trent

Mar 14, 1545

• Paul III convened the council.
• He led the church between 1534 - 1549.
• The council forbade corrupt practices among priests, bishops and cardinals.
• It declared that salvation came from faith and good actions.
• Stated no one was to be appointed bishops until they had been ordained for 6 months.

First Vatican Council

Mar 14, 1869

• Held between 1869 and 1870.
• Attended by 744 bishops.
• Reviewed and summarised Catholic faith.
• Dealt with the authority of the pope.
• The pope had supreme power over the while church and is 'infallible' or free from error when he teaches a doctrine that is to be believed by the whole church.

The Second Vatican Council

Mar 14, 1962

• Held between 1962 and 1965.
• Turning point in the Church's openness to the modern world.
• Met for 3 months in every year in 4 years.
• More than 2600 bishops.
• Announced by Pope John XXIII