The Imperial Church: 305-476

305 The end of the Diocletian persecution

310 b. Apollinaris, the heretic who said that Jesus had a human body but not a human mind; He had the divine mind. Gregory of Nazianzus' reply: "What has not been assumed cannot be restored"

311 b. Ulfilas

312 Constantine defeats Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge and becomes Emperor of the West. Constantine had had a vision, and used the letters chi and rho (the first two letters in "Christ") as his symbol during the battle

312 Caecilian elected bishop of Carthage. He was lax toward the Traditores, who had saved themselves by handing over scriptures during the Diocletian persecution. And he seemed unenthusiastic about the martyrs. A group in Carthage rejected Caecilian's election on the grounds that he was ordained by a traditore. They elected a rival bishop named Majorinus

313 Edict of Milan gives Christians equal rights. It is issued by Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East, but Licinius soon withdraws his committment to it

314 By this date, there is a significant number of Christians in Britain

315 Majorinus dies, Donatus is his successor. This party becomes known as the Donatist party

316 The Donatists appeal to Constantine, but he rules against them. Then he outlaws them and banishes them in an effort to unite the church

324 Constantine defeats Licinius and becomes Emperor of both East and West. Constantine favored Christianity, which effects the face of the church even today

325 Council of Nicea condemns Arianism. Arius, in Alexandria, taught that Christ was the first created being, that there was a time when He was not. The council declared that Jesus was begotten, not made, and that He is Homoousios, of the same substance as the Father

328 Athanasius becomes bishop of Alexandria

328 Constantine revokes the sentence against Arius

329 b. Basil the Great of Cappadocia, the monk who created the basic Rule for the Eastern Orthodox monks that is still in use today. Basil taught communal monasticism that serves the poor, sick, and needy. One immediate effect of the disappearance of persecution is the rise of monasticism to replace the old martyr witness

335 b. Martin of Tours, a great monk who is famous for his compassion for the poor

337 d. Constantine

339 b. Ambrose the Churchman, who fought Arianism and the revival of paganism, and promoted the power of the Church.

340 d. Eusebius of Caesarea

340 Ulfilas converted to Arian Christianity. He takes it to the Germanic tribes, gives them an alphabet, and translates the Bible into their language. Most of the Germanic tribes became Arian Christians

345 b. John Chrysostom, "Golden Mouthed." He was a bold and reforming preacher, who used the Historical-grammatical method of exegesis. This was unusual, because exegetes had been looking at the allegorical interpretation ever since Clement of Alexandria and Origen

346 d. Pachomius

347 b. Jerome, the great Bible scholar and translator, author of the Vulgate

353 Emperor Constantius releases his pro-Arian campaign and drives Athanasius from Alexandria

354 b. Augustine

356 d. Anthony, at a very old age

361-363 Reign of Julian the Apostate, who converted from Christianity to paganism and restored paganism in Rome

361 Julian the Apostate removes the restrictions against the Donatists

369 b. Pelagius

367 A letter of Athanasius names the 66 books of the canon

373 d. Athanasius
379 d. Basil the Great of Cappadocia

379-395 The reign of Theodosius, who establishes Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire

381 Council of Constantinople. The Nicene position becomes dominant again, and the legal religion of the Empire. Jesus Christ is truly human, contrary to Apollinarianism, which held that Jesus had a human body but a divine mind. The Great Cappadocians are the inspiration behind the defeat of Arianism at this council. They are St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and St. Gregory of Nyssa

382 A council in Rome affirms the authority of the New Testament canon. It is important to remember that the content of the canon was not a conciliar decision. The church recognized, or discovered, the canon. The church did not determine the canon

383 d. Ulfilas

386 Augustine was converted in a garden in Milan after hearing a child saying "Take up and read!" He took up Romans 13: 13-14.

387 Augustine baptized by Ambrose
c.

389 b. St. Patrick. He was a British Romanized Christian who established Christianity in Ireland

390 d. Apollinaris

390 b. Leo the Great, an outstanding pope. He was influential in Chalcedon. He also argued for papal supremacy and showed political leadership in his negotiations with Attila the Hun

391 Augustine ordained a priest in Hippo, North Africa

393 The Council of Hippo recognizes the canon. To be recognized as canonical, a book had to be Apostolic, fit in with the other scriptures, and have been of fruitful use throughout the church up to that time

395 Augustine becomes bishop of Hippo

397 d. Martin of Tours

397 The Council of Carthage agrees with the Council of Hippo

398 John Chrysostom becomes bishop of Constantinople

397-401 Augustine writes Confessions

400 d. Nestorius, the heretic who said that Mary was the bearer of Christ (christokos), but not the bearer of God (theotokos). He could not call a three month old Jesus God. So he said that Jesus Christ was two persons, whose only union was a moral one

407 d. Chrysostom

410 The Fall of Rome to Alaric and the Visigoths

411-430 Augustine's Anti-Pelagian writing. Pelagius rejected the idea that we all fell in Adam (Federal Headship), original sin, and the sin nature. We could earn our salvation by works, so grace is not necessary.Augustine insisted that we all sinned in Adam, and spiritual death, guilt, and our diseased nature is the result. God's grace is necessary not only to be able to choose to obey God's commands, but to be able to choose to turn to God initially for salvation.

413-426 Augustine writes The City of God. Some people blamed the fall of Rome on the Christians, saying it happened because Rome abandoned paganism. This is Augustine's response, along with many diversions.

418 The Council of Carthage anathematized the teachings of Pelagius.

420 d. Jerome

420 d. Pelagius

429 Arian Vandals cross into Africa. After this, Western Emperors became puppets of Germanic generals

430 d. Augustine

431 Council of Ephesus. Jesus Christ is one person, contrary to Nestorianism, which held that Christ was two persons, one divine and one human

448 Leo writes an epistle to Flavian, The Tome of Leo, to encourage him. It encapsulates the Christology of the church, drawing from Augustine and Tertullian

449 The Latrocinium (Robber's) Council. Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, presided. This Council declared Eutychianism, which held that Christ had only one nature, to be orthodox. According to this heresy, His humanity was not like ours. This would make redemption impossible. The council deposed Flavian, the orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople

451 Council of Chalcedon. Eutychianism is condemned, Dioscorus is deposed, The Tome of Leo is confirmed. Jesus Christ is "two natures, the Divine of the same substance as the Father (against Arianism), the human of the same substance as us (against Eutychianism), which are united unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably(against Nestorianism)." The church remains divided over these issues for the next 200 years
c. 461 d. St. Patrick

461 d. Leo the Great

476 The last Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, is deposed by Odoacer, a German general