The History of Christianity: An Overview

The history of Christianity includes some vastly different eras. The two most significant events, as far as their affect on church history, are the marriage of mainline Christianity with the government of Rome under the reign of Constantine the Great and the Reformation, which ended the Middle Ages.

There are seven different eras we will look at:

1. The Apostolic Era: From Christ until the death of the last apostle, John, around A.D. 100
2. Early Christianity: From the apostles until the Council of Nicea under Constantine in A.D. 325
3. The Post-Nicene Era: The general ecumenical church councils from A.D. 325 to 451
4. The early Middle Ages: From the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to the Great Schism in 1054
5. Late Middle Ages: From the Great Schism to the beginning of the Reformation in 1517

Tomb of John, the last apostle to die


6. Reformation Era: The era of state churches, from the Reformation until the colonization of the Americas
7. Modern Era: The era of free churches, from 1600 or so until the present day

This section is meant to give you a complete overview of the history of Christianity in under an hour. In fact, I am relatively certain that all seven sections can be read in under half an hour.

Having a general understanding of the history of Christianity is a pleasure in itself; however, with this outline as a basis, you will also find remembering the specific stories in the other sections much easier.