…We’ve tackled “Salvation History,” so now let’s deal with the traditional understanding of the history of the church through events, times, dates, places, etc. Beginning with Jesus starting the Catholic Church through Peter, it has been a history that is at the heart of all of civilization.
Setting aside the Gospel’s account of Jesus establishing His church with Peter, the best way to bracket the history of the Catholic Church is to put it in context with Salvation History. Jesus set the stage, but also clearly stated that there would be a time for this to begin, and His promise was fulfilled with Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to His Apostles and other disciples. This, we call “the birthday of the Church”. This will be our starting point and we will begin our overview of our Church’s history with this event.
At the end of this topic are two excellent videos that will take you further along this journey.
You will notice just how much upheaval there has been during the history of the Church. Just keep in mind as well that the Church is always renewing itself. Events like the Protestant Reformation are often viewed as the major crisis in Church history, but as you will read, the world constantly is in battle with the Church, and yet it endures.
Age of Martyrs (Approximately 33-313)
After Pentecost, the “Way” was really just an extension of Judaism. The early followers generally viewed Jesus as the fulfillment of scripture and many Jewish traditions were still followed. However, the intense debate came about (regarding circumcision, for example) that brought up important points as to whom this “way” was meant for. Peter and Paul were key to this debate. In around 50 AD, the Council of Jerusalem convened, and enough comprises were met, that from this point forward the “way” would evangelize to all the world. Paul was let loose on his legendary mission across the region, detailed in Acts and his various Epistles.
From this point on, Christianity became spread far more with Gentiles than with Jews, but the good news of Jesus Christ was open to all. This is where the use of “Catholic” came in. One translation of “Catholic” means “universal”, and it was applied to the Church to clearly state that it is open to all.
The Jewish leaders redoubled their efforts to crush these Christians, and now the church had to deal with a far greater threat – Rome.
During this era, there were two forces at work within the Church. First, and mostly pertaining to Peter, the Church knew it needed to start to form as an institution. Formal practices, a hierarchy, organization of scripture, etc. were deemed to be necessary for the growth of the movement. At the same time, Paul and other Apostles and disciples were fervently pushing missionary work around the known world. It is important to note here, that the general feeling was that Christ was going to come back any day, so missionary work took on the greater of these two efforts early on.
The missionary work of the Church during the early part of this stage is well documented in Acts and the Epistles, but the efforts to formalize the Church are not as well known. Three of the major achievements during this time were the establishment of the Church Clergy, the formation of the New Testament, and the codification of Creeds, which established an explicit and universal set of stated beliefs.
There are three other major aspects of this early stage of the Church:
- The Resurrection was key to the start of the Church. There were many, many prophets during this time claiming to be the Messiah. They came and went and were forgotten in history. But the good news of Jesus Christ instead spread like wildfire. Not only that but becoming a part of this “way” meant a death sentence. The Apostles and other disciples, that witnessed Christ Resurrected had no fear and traveled to the ends of the earth to spread the word. Christianity without the Resurrection is nonsense.
- During the early Church, these believers knew Christ, witnessed the Resurrection, or were just steps away from those eyewitnesses. These followers practiced and believed in much of what the Protestant Reformation abandoned: the Eucharist as the real body and blood of Jesus, baptism of the young, confessions to clergy, devotion to Mary, understanding the Old Testament should not be abandoned but understood that Jesus was the total fulfillment of this prior covenant, faith and good works are needed, and on and on.
- This is an era marked by martyrdom. and the Romans used the word “Christian” explicitly as a term for a traitor and someone that will be put to death simply by acknowledging that belief. Christianity was spread only because its believers were willing (joyfully) to die for Christ. If you read about any great figure in the Church during this time, almost a person, died the death of a martyr. That all changed with Emperor Constantine, but first a bit about an important overlapping era.
The Patristic Era (overlaps the Age of Martyrs, so from 33 AD-8th Century)
“Patristic” refers to the Latin “Pater” meaning “Father”. From the time of Christ up until about the 8th Century (there was no clear event that ended this era), the early Church fathers were instrumental in forming the Catholic faith. As clearly stated in scripture, Jesus Himself and then the Pentecost granted authority to the Apostles and other disciples authority and to pass it down through the ages to convert the world.
The Church was in a constant fight for its very existence, and enemies emerged not only in the form of the political (Rome) but even more importantly, the heresies of bad theology were of constant danger. It is important to understand that without the contributions of Church Fathers such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, Tertullian, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, John Chrysostom, and Jerome and Augustine, Christianity would not have survived.
Stage 2: The Ban on The Catholic Church is Lifted (313-600 AD)
In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine, after being victorious in battle, which he attributed to the “Christian God,” made Christianity legal (via the Edict of Milan) and then in 325 AD made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Church now started to grow rapidly. With the Church now representing the “official” religion, many people joined that were afraid of persecution before, while others joined just because it was beneficial to their status. Either way, the first task at hand was to establish large and numerous places of worship.
So up until now, Bishops were the only ones tending to worship services. Now, this just wasn’t feasible as the faithful were growing by leaps and bounds. Now we have the establishment of another level of clergy under the Bishops that would tend to a group of faithful and these were called priests. These priests were the ones assigned to the newly formed local “parishes.”
During this time as well, a major issue emerged dealing with clergy that previously denied the faith due to persecution. This is one of the early Church battles, and thanks to St. Augustine, the issue was handled. During this time the way that major theological and dogmatic decisions were dealt with began to take shape.
Perhaps the most dangerous of all of these early heresies was Arianism. This was started by a man named Arian that claimed that Jesus was not divine. This deeply divided the early Church, and to this day the resolution is felt at Mass as we all say the Creed, which dispels Arianism in its declarations of faith.
Now that the Church was legal, during this era, major centers of Christianity appeared in Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem.
Stage 3: The Church Alone
In the end part of the last era, during the 5th and 6th centuries, the political power of Rome greatly declined. Constantinople became a more powerful political entity, so the Church stood alone as the only source of structure for most of Western Europe. During this time, Popes became much more powerful, simply due to the fact that there were no other major political powers to speak of.
For several hundred years, Western Europe contained no dominant political or cultural entities save the Catholic Church. The opposite was true in the East, where in Constantinople and the other hubs of the church, society thrived politically and culturally. This will lead up to the schism of the church in 1054. What is the catastrophe of this schism, is that it really wasn’t necessary, and it was not until the last 80 years or so when that separation has begun to heal.
Monastic orders began to flourish during this era, but so did the confusion and corruption associated with various levels of authority in the Church. Europe itself was in the midst of the “Dark Ages,” and would have been in complete chaos and darkness if it were not for the presence of the Church.
Stage 4: The Rebirth (1000-1517 AD)
1054 did see the great schism with the Church, separating the East from Rome, but soon after reform would start to take place. In 1059, for example, the election of the Pope was reformed. The Church would be freed from secular influences, which had led to much corruption. Now that Bishops were entirely under control by the Church and not just put in place by local rulers throughout Europe, the Church underwent a dramatic transformation in purpose and holiness.
Universities first emerged about halfway through this era, with Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris writing his Summa Theologica, one of the most important publications in the history of Christianity, theology, and philosophy.
Monasteries, which had their own issues with corruption in the previous era, thrived during this time, getting back to living simply, caring for the poor, and revitalizing the faith. These sprung up all over Europe and beyond during this time.
Two major aspects of this era include the Crusades and the Renaissance. While the Crusades were certainly often questionable in motive, they did galvanize the Church in purpose. The Renaissance brought forth major advances in art and music, and glorious Cathedrals and Christian art were created all around the known world, much of which exists today and is still regarded as the apex of the forms.
The sciences took major leaps forward. Together with the Renaissance, almost all of these advances were commissioned by the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, the reforms of the Church at this time did not reach far enough. Clergy was often not educated, and the scandal was often the norm in parishes too far off of Rome’s radar. As the 15th and 16th centuries came about, the Catholic Church was ripe for a blow-up.
Stage 5: Reform & Turmoil (1517 – 1962 AD)
Because the era of rebirth left several major issues festering such as poorly educated clergy, corruption, and heresies such as the selling of indulgences, the Church was a powder keg heading into the 15h century.
There were many reformers within the Church, but their voices were not being heard, and starting with the posting of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation was underway.
From the Catholic Church’s perspective, a major failing up until this point in its history is that it really didn’t have much in terms of formal declarations of the theology and practices of the Church. There were many particular documents and decrees, but no real base structure to all of the beliefs of the Church.
In 1569, the Council of Trent brought uniformity to the Church in terms of Liturgy and other practices, but the Reformation was already too well established, and the divergence of much of the faithful was underway.
What is not discussed much about this time is the incredible amount of violence, destruction, and murder that the Protestant Reformation brought to Europe. It was a dark time for Christianity.
During this era of reform and turmoil came an age where the Catholic Church was continually adjusting to its place in the world. Secular movements grew, and the age of Enlightenment seemingly waged war on organized religion.
However, as the Church was in the midst of chaos in Europe, the missionary work of the Church exploded around the world. The Church spread to the new world, Africa and Asia, and the Marian apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico brought more converts to the Catholic Church than all that was lost to the Protestant Reformation.
Stage 6: Vatican II and the Modern Era
Vatican II brought forth many updates and reforms to the Catholic Church, but perhaps its underlying major theme was bringing the “laity” or the average believer much more into the Church. Mass was brought into local languages, Liturgy was updated, and there was a call to all believers to take part in the growth of the Church.
There were also many clarifications and codifications about how the Catholic Church relates to other churches and reaffirms the Eucharist as our source and summit of the faith.
Unfortunately, the implementation of Vatican II was not undertaken well in many parts of the world. Homilies became wishy-washy with a lack of focus on the scripture, and a tendency of priests to try to “relate” to the crowd. The quality of Catechism dropped drastically, and to this day most modern Catholics don’t know much about the most important aspects of their faith.
A good overview of how Christianity fits into history:
A very long and thorough history of the Catholic Church from a purely historical perspective:
Next up… taken from scripture, the 7 Sacraments are one of the great gifts of the Church to the world, providing wonderful encounters with Christ.
Next Topic >> The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Synopsis
The history of the Catholic Church mirrors much of the history of the world. The church’s history is filled with a constant theme of renewal after great adversity. Era after era, the Catholic Church endures and then discovers a new rebirth, continuing to this very day.
Suggested Reading
“History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium” by James Hitchcock
“Lives of the Saints” by Alban Butler
Top Image
St. Peter’s Basilica, located in the Vatican, is a masterpiece of the Renaissance and stands tall as a symbol of Rome and all of Christendom. The enormous building is one of the four major basilicas in the world and was constructed on the tomb of St. Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.
Pope Julius II ordered the construction of the building in 1506; it took about 120 years to complete. The greatest Renaissance painters and architects, like Michelangelo and Raphael, contributed to the building. On this website, you can read about everything that makes this Cathedral an architectural marvel.