There ya go!

I love, love, love history.  However, until my freshman year at Middlebury College, I hated all history classes.  (This is the kid who bought a set of encyclopedias just to read through the ‘W’ section on the World Wars.)  At my high school the history teachers were the Physical Education Teachers or the Coaches who needed to do something else besides inflict shame and punishment upon unsuspecting gym students in adolescent angst.  And it was not good.  We actually celebrated when the history/phys-ed teacher was promoted to be Vice Principal.

Do you really want this guy teaching your kid history?

Anyway, finally for my Freshman year at Middlebury, I was able to get into this class with this amazing History Teacher, who was teaching his last class after something like 120 years of teaching at Middlebury.  The class was basically a close look at a number of individuals who personally affected the tide of history.  These were people that made a difference.  And the professor, who was legendary at Middlebury by this time, made them, not only interesting, but fascinating.  This was the way history was supposed to be taught!  Vibrant, passionate, effective and interesting!  The fact that he was a balding, ancient man with wisps of hair all strewn about and virtually danced across the stage for an hour (we had a pool going on whether he would have a heart attack during a lecture before he retired–he would not have minded going out like that, I think) without notes helped his mystique.

Since that time, I have looked for those events, people, places, things of history that are either what Thomas Cahill calls “Hinges” (something upon which history turns, an event that changes everything), what Dr. Who would call “fixed points” (things that must happen, and cannot change otherwise the fabric of time would come apart).  What Dr. Honeycutt, my current Church History professor at Covenant Seminary, would call, ‘timeline’ events.

Weebly, Wobbly, Timey Wimey, Stuff

So this series of blog posts are my attempt to imitate what that ancient, whispy, energetic history professor did with history at Middlebury, and to satisfy a class assignment for the Timeline.

Based on your reading of Gonzalez, provide a timeline of Church history for the last 500 years (approximate), listing what you believe to be the 50 key dates of people and events.  You may be as creative as you like, providing me a hard copy of the timeline, or you may use something like timerime.com, tiki-toki.com, or xtimeline.com to generate an online version.

 * Justo Gonzales, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day (  )

The man has a hammer, are you going to disagree?

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it begins to approach the passion of those involved in some of these events.

(1) Erasmus publishes the Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1503) – Desideratus Erasmus published a book called The Handbook of the Christian Soldier and quickly became known as the prince of the humanists.  A ‘humanist’ at this time was a scholar who sought to restore the literary glories of antiquity and the study of all “humanities” subjects.  (This idea was eventually abased to the large number of 20th century humanities majors who sought to abuse them.)  Erasmus and his fellow humanists sought reformation of customs, the practice of decency and moderation, and a combination of learning and meditation that shaped and changed human behaviors.  In short, they valued doctrine, but they valued obedience even more.  Erasmus’ writings encouraged many of the reformers, and though he would part ways doctrinally with them, his works could be considered some of the tinder upon which the sparks of Luther’s passion caught flame.

Remember, children, it is a metaphor!

(2) Luther Nailing the 95 Thesis on the door at Wittenberg (1517) - October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a professor at the University of Wittenberg, posted a paper in Latin on the cathedral door designed to spark debate among the clergy at the University.  His last attempt at teaching some radical ideas had received  little more than yawns, he perhaps held out little hope for this paper.  He probably expected it to get no farther than the local theological journal.  But someone translated it into German and it caused an uproar because it spoke against the very method that the lord and prelates and the church itself used to reap monetary profit – the sale of indulgences.  These 95 theses set off the spark that became the protestant reformation.

How the Pope might view Luther today…

(3) Luther before the Imperial Diet at Worms (1521) - In 1521, Luther was called before the Diet of Worms (what a name, right!?) to answer for his treasonous statements.  He was called to recant his writings or to be excommunicated from the church.  Luther had never sought separation from the church, but had encouraged reformation of the church from within.  But the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope  had decided that this rebellion needed to be squelched.  Luther asked for a night to consider (smart move), but on the next day he uttered words that encourage all who hold to the authority of scripture.  “My conscience is held captive by the word of God.  I cannot and will not recant for to obey one’s conscience is neither just nor safe.  God help me.  Amen.”  Luther did not blink and the reformation was unstoppable.

The Diet of Worms, by Lego?

(4) Luther at Wartburg translates the new Testament into German (1521 – 1523) – Originally Luther had been ‘kidnapped’ after his capture had been called for by the emperor.  It turns out the kidnappers were friends or supporters of Luther who took him to Wartburg.  While in ‘hiding’ there he translated the New Testament into the ‘vulgar’ or common German language.  Aside from just providing a translation of the New Testament for Germans to read and study for themselves, this translation (and his later Old Testament translation) served to standardize the German language itself and lead to a phase of literary German that had not occurred prior.

Luther's study at Wartburg, the inkwell was stolen some time ago…

(5) Founding of the Anabaptists and the Baptism of Blaurock & Grebel (1525) - Every movement of change has its radical members.  One such group was founded by the mutual re-baptism of the founders of the Anabaptists, Blaurock and Grebel.  The Anabaptists (or re-baptizers) were a group of Christians who felt that only believers should be baptized and that all infant baptism, or baptisms performed only as a ritual to become a member of a church were not valid.  They believed only in the baptism of professing believers.  They also believed there should be a contrast or a separation between the structure of the church and the structure of government.  Both of these beliefs were seen as a threat to the established order since the church and its rituals were part of the social and political fabric of the times.  For this reason they were persecuted by both protestants and Catholics.

Taller than the mountains of Switzerland, George Blaurock!

(6) Confession of Schleitheim (1527) (bonus if you can pronounce it) – In response to the Catholic states of Switzerland and the Council of the Government of Zurich (protestant) condemning them to death, the Anabaptists wrote down the seven fundamental beliefs which they believed.  Carrying on the confessional nature of Christianity, they judged it only fair that if they would be condemned in both civil and ecclesiastical courts, then the world ought to know why they were being condemned.

After a few failed attempts, re-baptism by immersion outdoors in the wintertime was abandoned

(7) Turks defeated at Vienna (1529) - In the midst of the turmoil created by the reformation, the fragile alliance of various powers of Christendom was critical.  The reformation was allowed to grow in part because of the threat of an external power, the Muslim Turks.  The Holy Roman Emperor could not afford to alienate his alliance of princes by any strong force of power against the protestants when the Turks were seeking to take territory from him.  The breaking of the siege at Vienna required an alliance of many major powers, both protestant and Catholic.  The Turks were defeated at Vienna, but their continued threat forced the Emperor to allow the princes to continue to practice their Protestantism in order for him to have their continued support.

The Polish Calvary arrived at Vienna "bright-eyed and bushy tailed"

(8) Augsburg Confession (1530) – Charles V returned to Germany to attend the Diet of Augsburg.  He has not listened to Luther in 1521, but this time he ordered an exposition of the points at issue.  The result of this request, written by Philipp Melanchthon, is now known as the Augsburg Confession.  This confession presented a summary of the protestant beliefs and was signed by most of the Princes and Lords of Germany to present a united front to the Emperor.  Despite the Emperor’s call to recant, the Princes held firm in their resolution.  For some time after this the Lutherans referred to themselves as “Christians of the Augsburg Confession.”  The Emperor eventually signed the Peace of Nuremburg in 1532 with the Princes allowing them to practice their faith.

This copy was saved from the Emperor's Shredder

(9) The Act of Supremacy (1534) – England’s King Henry VIII had originally been a great supporter of the Catholic church against the ‘scourge’ of Luther’s heresy, but eventually he came into conflict with the Pope.  While Henry did not agree with Protestantism, he did not appreciate what he believed was the Papacy’s interference with the authority of the Crown.  In 1534, at his behest, Parliament declared Henry the “supreme head of the church of England” and annulled his marriage to Catherine.

Did he have to go sideways through doors, or did they widen them?

 (10) Calvin goes into Exile in Switzerland (1535) – In 1533 at the College Royal in Paris, a close friend of Calvin, Nicholas Cop, devoted his inaugural address to address the need for reform and renewal in the catholic church.  Cop who was branded a heretic and Calvin was implicated in his offense and forced into hiding for a year.  After Francis I of France decided he would no longer tolerate Protestantism, Calvin fled to Switzerland where he joined Cop in Basel.  Later the majority of Calvin’s ministry would be spent in Geneva.

It's much prettier than France, trust me.

(11) First Edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion published (1536)  – Only one year after arriving in Switzerland, the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion was published.  It would undergo several more published editions before Calvin died (no one is quite sure whether Calvin was actually finished, but God must have felt he was).  This work went form 6 chapters in the first edition to 4 books in the final edition of 1559.  It was the first work of systematic theology from the Protestant reformation and as such would influence all systematic doctrines to follow.  It was developed to formulate the proper doctrine from the Bible and from previous theologians, back to Augustine in a form that could be widely read and understood in order to combat the heresies and errors of the age.

That looks suspiciously like a 'puppy pad' underneath

Notice the importance of the written word to the historical faith.  In both confessions of belief, systematic theology and, above all, in translations of the Bible, the Christian faith is a faith of words.

(12) Council of Trent (1545) – Luther and other reformers had called for a universal council to be called in order to reform the church.  It was not until after the separation between the reformers and the Catholics that Pope Paul III called for a council.  At the request of the Emperor the council met in Trent in December 1545.  The council of Trent did not consider a single issue, but every issue questioned by the reformers and tended toward the idea of uniformity in orthodoxy, a departure form the type of inclusive orthodoxy espoused by the earliest councils,. Such as Chalcedon, which had setup the boundaries within which orthodoxy could vary.  The Council lasted until 1563 and made many decrees, reforming and transforming the Roman Catholic church and marked the birth of the Modern Catholic church.

Shouldn't they take their hats off inside?

(13) Peace of Augsburg (1555) – The Peace of Augsburg was a sort of truce between the Emperor and his Princes. It ensure that the princes or rulers, both Catholic or protestant, we able toe chose for themselves the religion of their territories.  The subjects who wished to migrate to a different territory based upon their beliefs could do so,  this agreement included only the protestants who subscribed to the Confession of Augsburg, the others, including the Calvinists, were still considered heretics and subjected to persecution.  This arrangement maintained a relative peace in Germany for more than 50 years until the 30 years war.

Notice the graffiti on the back of the benches

(14) Founding of the Church of Scotland (1558) – In 1557, in response to the pro-Catholic tendencies of Queen Mother Mary of Guise, the Protestant leaders in Scotland united and formed what became known as he Lords of the Congregation.  They established ties with the English protestants and called John Knox back from Switzerland as they formed the Church of Scotland in 1558.  Throughout conflict with French armies requested by he Queen Mother, Knox encouraged the protestants.  Eventually the French armies withdrew and the Church Of Scotland was firmly established, despite the Queen Mother’s efforts to overthrow it.

The Original Founder of the college of Hard Knox

(15) Opening of the Genevan Academy under Beza (1559) – Under the direction of John Calvin, Theodore Beza founded the Genevan Academy, which would later become the University of Geneva.  This was a lifelong dream of Calvin and it educated students under Calvinist principles.  Under its influence, Calvinism was spread to almost every part of Europe leading to the founding of reformed churches in many countries.  Under the direction of Beza even after Calvin’s death it continued to educate reformers for generations and sent them out in all directions.

It's still there and operating today, a testimony to an idea

(16) Thirty Nine Articles promulgated by Queen Elizabeth (1562) – These articles serve as a the doctrinal foundation for the church of England.  While it rejects several specifically Roman Catholic doctrines, it does not force a choice between any of the competing Protestant views.  These articles laid the foundation for doctrinal inclusiveness of the Anglican church and those churches derived from it.

Her head seems a bit small in this outfit.

(17) Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day (1572) – In France, Protestantism had a very difficult an bloody start.  The Kings variously supported and persecuted Protestants (known in France as the Huguenots).  Charles IX, convinced that there was a Protestant plot to take his throne from him, and the leader of that plot being the French protestant leader, Coligny, ordered a massacre for St. Bartholomew’s day, August 24, 1572.  Over 2,000 were killed in Paris and even in the Louvre itself, and the killing spread throughout the country, eventually resulting in tens of thousands killed, including entire families.

Bloodlust spreads fast in fertile hearts

(18) Edict of Nantes (1598) – Finally after years of war, King Henry IV of France (the winner of the ‘War of the Henries’ – no kidding), though he had become a Catholic to win the French throne, did not forget his former faith.  He proclaimed the Edict of Nantes and granted the Huguenots freedom of worship in all places where they had churches by the previous year, except Paris.  They were allowed to keep the secured towns they had possessed by 1597.  At least for a time, the bloody religious battles in France were over.

If you want to ensure people remember something, put it in stone

(19) Publication of the Vizsoly Bible in Hungarian (1607) – Much like the publication of the New Testament in German was beneficial for the German language, the publication of the Bible in Hungarian, the Vizsoly Bible, was beneficial to both the spiritual welfare of the Hungarian people and their language.  This Bible was important for it provided a translation for a country in which as many as four fifths of the population was protestant.

Anyone read Hungarian?

(20) Publication of the “Remonstrance” (1610) – The publication of the Remonstrance in 1610 in Holland documented the five articles under debate in Holland between Gomarus (a pure ‘Calvinist’) and Arminius (who appeared to disagree on some points with Calvin).  The publication of the Remonstrance was you clarify the beliefs of the “Arminian Party” in relation to the Gomarus Party of the Dutch church.  Since the church was supported by the government at the time, any potential heresy was akin to treason against the government, so the debate was very serious.  This publication was designed to garner public support for the Remonstrant beliefs and clarify their beliefs in response to criticisms of heresy (such as Pelagianism).  The matter would not be settled until the Synod of Dort.

Those collars make me think cummerbunds were not so bad after all

(21) Publication of the King James Version of the Bible (1611) – Despite the conflict between the Puritans in the House of Commons and King James over church government, they were able to collaborate to publish the King James version of the Bible in English.  The English language was at a high point in its development.  In 1611, Shakespeare had just finished writing the Tempest.  The “thee’s” and “thou’s” of the King James Version (the KJV for short) would continue for years, continuing to befuddle young elementary students in the 21st century.  The English language was standardized and only minor spelling changes were made to the text for many years.

Of course for many in my generation, Monty Python's Flying Circus has forever changed how we view such typesetting.

(22) Thirty Years War (Defenestration of Prague) (1618-1648) – The Peace of Augsburg was coming apart at the seams in the opening years of the seventeenth century.  The Duke of Bavaria felt called to stamp out Protestantism and forcibly convert people to Catholicism.  Bohemian Protestants revolted against the King of Bohemia’s representatives’ and threw them out of a window.  The lived because they landed in a pile of manure.  These events and a series of alliances and political maneuvering lead to a conflict involving all major powers in Europe in the bloodiest and most devastating war in Europe prior to the twentieth century.

Apparently this event is frequently re-enacted. Hmmm.

(23) Synod of Dort (1619) – In order to respond to the Remonstrants and their five articles, the Dutch called the Synod of Dort and invited theologians from reformed all over Europe to join in the council.  The council responded to each of the five articles of the Remonstrants, crafting what as become known as the five points of Calvinism.  (Calvinism of course, being made up of four books, has more than five points.)  After the work of the synod, Arminianism, as the beliefs of the Remonstrants came to be called was condemned as heretical and those believing it were persecuted by exile or imprisonment.  It was largely through other churches (such as Methodists) that the Arminian beliefs would gain strength.

TULIP is the Mnemonic for the Five points of Calvinism, coincidence or Dutch florist plot?

(24) Mayflower Compact and the Landing of the Pilgrims (1620) – The Pilgrims were Puritan separatists, who were seeking a place they could practice their religion as they wished.  They had set out for Virginia, but ended up much farther North at Plymouth.  The Mayflower compact was their first draft of a Government founded on their Puritan principles and morality, but still under the English King (though not the church of England).  Their settlement barely survived that first winter, but it was their celebration of the following harvest that we now celebrate as Thanksgiving.

This is the entire document. If only our politicians today could be so brief

(25) Founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628) – Unlike the Pilgrims who founded Plymouth, the Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were not separatists.  They were seeking a place to follow more closely the practices they found in the new Testament, including the ideal rules of Government.  They saw the colonies as a place they could seek to establish that new form of government without too much interference from England.  The colonies ended up becoming a haven for Puritans as Archbishop Laud persecuted them in England.

Dude, break out the Townsend and Getty!

(26) Roger Williams Founds Rhode Island on Religious Freedom (1636) – Despite the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s desire to separate themselves from the influence of the English Government and to escape the persecution of the Puritans in England, the colony still enforced a particular religion upon the people.  Roger Williams eventually founded the colony of Rhode Island in Providence based upon the ideas that “freedom is required as part of the very obligation to worship God.  Worship must be sincere and all efforts to force it actually weaken it.”  Williams believed there must be a clear separation of church and state in order to allow the proper worship of God and practice of religion.  Eventually the church he founded became Baptist.

Preaching from Canoes? That could be a challenge.

(27) Long Parliament Convened (1640) – In England, King Charles I was having difficulty in raising funds to fight against the Scottish rebels in the North so assembled what eventually became known as the Long Parliament.  Instead of following his wishes, the Parliament declared that it could not be dissolved by the King without its own agreement.  Then it began investigating the persecution of Puritans by the King’s men.  This eventually lead to a civil war in England between parliament and the king.  Both Charles and his Archbishop Laud (who had been so ardent in his persecution of the Puritans) were captured and executed. While it pursued war against the crown and justice against persecutors, parliament also took on the reformation and the ‘purification’ of the Church of England.

I am not sure why this picture of the 'Long Parliament' has a German title...

(28) Publication of Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)  – No modern History of the Church could be complete without addressing the work of Descartes.  In 1641, the work he is most widely known for was published, Meditations on First Philosophy.  It was originally intended to answer the skeptics and critics who had claimed that the new reason and rationalism had rendered the need for God obsolete.  Instead he ended up solidifying the skepticism of the time and his ideas (called cartesianism) promulgated the idea of universal doubt and the idea of separation of the soul and the body.  His statement “I think therefore I am” is still giving undergraduate philosophy students (and graduate Theology Professors) much to write about today.

"Oh man, do I have to think in order to exist? I am so done."

(29) Solemn League and Covenant (1643) – When the Long Parliament was at war with the King, Irish Catholic troops were joining the King’s royalist forces.  Parliament sought an alliance with the Scottish rebels .  The Scots promised to aid Parliament on the condition that the Scottish form of Church Government (Presbyterianism) was adopted in England.  While this document as a treaty would not hold the alliance for very long, it began changes in the Church of England that would affect the Westminster confession later released by  parliament.  It virtually assured that  the form of government espoused in the Westminster Confession would be Presbyterianism.

The Scots had the English over a barrel... of scotch? was it single malt or double?

(30) Westminster Confession Published (1646) – Parliament convened an assembly to restructure the church of England.  Representatives from both England and Scotland participated in the development of a creedal confession (the Westminster Confession of Faith, WCF) and associated catechisms (larger and shorter).  Though these documents were rejected when the Monarchy was restored in 1660, the Scottish church, the Presbyterian Churches around the world and many other denominations still use the Confession as their creedal statement, often requiring some level of subscription to its statements for their pastors.  The confession presents statements similar to the Synod of Dort, but is more comprehensive in its coverage, including issues primarily relevant to the current time in England.

Who Knew? Ben Franklin made money selling copies of the WCF!

(31) Peace of Westphalia (1648) – After the death of Ferdinand II in 1637, a long and complicated negotiation began that resulted in the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Year’s War.  Sweden and France were granted large portions of Land, and the power of the German Princes were increased with respect to the Holy Roman Emperor in order to balance the Emperor’s influence.  All people were then allowed to follow their religion (as long as they were Catholic, Lutheran or Reformed).  But the war also led to the founding of the modern state  that ignored religion in order to prevent the sort of bloodshed that resulted from it during the Thirty Years War.

One of these people is (Richelieu) not like the others

(32) Spener begins “colleges of Piety” (1670) – Jakob Spener has been called the father of Pietism, though the roots of Pietism precede Spener. Pietism was a “response to the dogmatism of the theologians and the rationalism of the philosophers” and the Thirty Years War, and it emphasizes the living faith that is at the heart of Christianity and demonstrated in a holy life and works.  As a Pastor in Frankfort, he began groups of Bible study and devotion that he called colleges of piety and devotion.  In his book about these groups, Pia Desideria, he emphasized the need for the laity to be devoted to study of the scriptures and to go beyond the dogma into a personal obedience to the scriptures.  It was the pietist followers of  Spener who first began to send protestant missionaries out to foreign lands.

Spener, is this the man you want leading your small group?

(33) The Great Awakening (c. 1734-1742) – The Pietism movement eventually reached the shores of England and especially America causing a revival movement called the Great Awakening.  Many of the leaders of the Great Awakening were orthodox Calvinist who underscored the need for an experience of conviction of sin and divine forgiveness.  Through the preaching of Jonathon Edwards, and then George Whitefield, and Wesley in England (and occasionally in America) thousands were converted and many churches were renewed in spirit.  While the movement was begun by the Congregationalists and Presbyterians, it spread to the Baptists and Methodists who took t to the frontier where those denominations became most numerous.

Whitefield calling the crowd to sunrise salutations. This is Warrior pose.

(34) John Wesley meets the Pietists (1735) - One of the most important Pietists in terms of impact upon the later church was John Wesley.  He had grown up in England, the son of an Anglican priest, and he had studied at Oxford where his brother had founded a religious society that came to be known as the ‘Holy Club.’  Wesley met a group of Moravians (a Pietist group) on his way to Georgia to take up a preaching position and their faith had greatly moved him.  When he returned to England after failing at his preaching position in Georgia he sought out the Moravians.  Peter Boehler became his spiritual advisor.  While his experience with the Moravians brought him assurance in his salvation and an appreciation for their faith, he stayed in the Anglican church and began preaching during the Greta Awakening at the behest of George Whitefield.  Wesley’s pietistic influence is still felt in many of the denominations today that were founded on his beliefs and ideas.

Where Wesley met the Moravians, why couldn't they meet at Starbucks like normal people?

(35) American Revolution (1776) – The American revolution greatly affected the church, both negatively and positively.  Negatively, John Wesley and other English preachers spoke out against the rebellion of the colonists and called for Christians to refuse to join the rebellion.  The Pope spoke out democracy and as late as 1864 the Pope condemned the democratic form of government practiced in the United States (Syllabus of Errors).   Many of the churches were founded in terms of a national church within a single nation ended up creating uniquely American churches.  The Presbyterian Church of the USA, The Protestant Episcopal Church (Anglican), American Methodists (after 1776, the British Methodist Pastors all left for England) were all created shortly after the revolution began.  In the midst of the separations, the Unitarian church was founded by those with more rational and deistic beliefs.  For better or worse the America churches were now on their own.

Separation of church and state or just separation?