A Quick Summary Of Two Thousand Years Of Christian History

Summarizing Our Heritage: On Christian History

I do not claim to have the most detailed summary of the two millennia of Christian history, but the following is how I roughly categorize our heritage:

1. Jesus and Apostles (Apostolic Age): 0-70 AD
2.  Universal Christianity (Age Of Church Fathers): 70-312 AD
3.  Christian Empire (Roman Christianity): 312-590 AD
4.  Medieval Christendom: 590-1517 AD
5.  The Reformation: 1517-1648 AD
6.  Enlightenment Degeneration: 1648-Current AD
   • Secular Idols and Pushback: 1648-1914 AD
   • Ideological Idols: 1914-1990 AD
7. Our Modern Era: 1990-Current AD

For a brief summary of the seven “ages”:

1. The model age, from which we should base off of. Jesus and the original apostles, until John’s death. The Christian Church, as we perceive it today, is officially formed. The original twelve apostles spread the Good News.
2. The age of martyrdom and heresies. They devoted much time to exposing false beliefs and the cults, and spent a lot of time simply trying to survive in (mostly) house churches. Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean.
3. Constantine converts an empire. Key era of developing doctrine and formalizing true Christianity versus the cults. An explosion in openly proselyting nonbelievers.
4. The Fall of Western Rome marked a turning point in Christianity. Spiritual change abounds. Christianity becomes the dominant faith in Europe. The long process of forming a Christian West began blossoming during this time. Alongside this was monasticism, crusades, and even a Great Schism affecting the unity of the West.
5. The excesses of the Roman Catholic Church caused another major split away from a centralized Christian institution. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and plenty of other big names appear to fill the spiritual void that was festering in the West at that time.
6. Thus begins the Great Fall of Christendom. ‘Reason’ itself became man’s god. Secularism and subjective morality exploded. Christianity was thrown out in favor of secular idols/ideologies like Libertarianism, leftism, and fiscal conservatism. In the words of Judges, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”. Since the World Wars, mankind has adopted ideologies as their god, ignoring the identity (nation) that God created us to focus on. We have become a living Tower of Babel. During this era, evangelicals formed with the goal of fighting to restore God to public life, but ended up falling into heresy on their own in the process. This age saw the rise of Judeo-Christianity, ecumenism, the idol worship of the modern state of Israel, the cults like Mormonism, and other modern degenerations.
7. Regardless of any title chosen, we should subtitle this: “The Christian Remnant Among The Ashes”. The Enlightenment has run its course, almost all are indoctrinated into Enlightenment beliefs over that of Christian beliefs. Few true Christians are left, and most of the self-proclaimed ones are completely blinded by the world to the point of being lapdogs of evil. The spirit-filled remnant exists in a civilization emptied of its original beauty. A remnant without shepherds; with entire nations fallen away. One of the greatest times for leaders, but with very few of them arising.

This is how I consolidate our vast history. I welcome critiques/clarifications of the above. Put them in the comments.

Knowing our history is imperative to recognize where we are heading, and to learn how we can be an influential person in that transition.

To aid you in this study, I highly recommend a read of “The History of Christianity” by Paul Johnson. I also recommend subscribing to The Christian History Magazine by CHI. Both are great starting points. I am not endorsed (or even known) by either of these, but they are both tremendous resources for getting knowledge of our history fast. CHI in particular is outstanding and has magazines dating back to 1982 all completely for free online.

Even if you are not Christian, you should know this stuff. If you live in the West, this is your heritage. Learn our tradition; become fully immersed into it.

Once you do, you’ll soon realize why it is such a travesty that we lost Christendom. And why we must so desperately fight to get it back.

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