Church History – A Basic Time Line

Before we begin to explore church history at this blog, we first need to establish some dates, if for no other reason, it helps create boxes to put people, places, and events in.


Here is a basic time line that we can play with. This is certainly not the only timeline and the dates are definitely open to debate. Few things occur out of the blue and a date chosen as a border marker, for example, 1648 and the end of the 30 Year War, wasn't a one-time happening obviously, we could just as easily mark it 1618 and the beginning of the war, or the pre-cursors to the war, or … well you get the drift.


Here are some dates that maybe helpful to you in understanding at least Western Church History.

Basic Breakdown

Apostolic Era (33-100 AD)

Early Church (100-305)

Christian Empire (305-475)

Middle Ages (475-1517)

Early (475-999)

Middle (1000 - 1299)

Late (1300-1517)

Reformation and Reason (1517-1648)

First Great Awakening (1648 - 1789)

Second Great Awakening (1789-1914)

Age of Ideologies (1914 - Now)



I would love to hear from the Korean side of the blog readers. How is Korean church history measured? 


Bonus points for anyone who can tell me why these dates were chosen