Four threads that run through every chapter

Where the centre of gravity of Christianity sat in each period. It starts in Galilee and Jerusalem, moves to the cities of the Roman Mediterranean and to Constantinople, reaches east across Asia, shifts to western Europe in the Middle Ages and the Reformations, crosses the oceans with the missions, and ends in Africa, now home to more Christians than any other region. Numbers are chapter numbers; follow them in order.

Each point marks the place a chapter treats as the centre of its period, not the only place Christians lived; from the first century on there were churches in many regions at once, and the line between points is a reading order, not a route. A centre outside the frame is pinned to its edge. Coastlines from Natural Earth (public domain).

When each idea arrives

The first datable appearance of each idea and practice, with the text or document that attests it. Read top to bottom and the series' argument is visible: the earliest record is of a Jewish movement that expected the end soon; the words "Christianity", "catholic" and "Trinity", the 27-book New Testament, the creeds and Christmas all arrive later, each with a date.

1. within a few years of c. 30–33 CE A crucified Messiah raised from the dead Majority view 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, a creed Paul says he "received" The oldest datable statement of Christian belief: Christ died, was buried, was raised and appeared to Cephas, the Twelve, James and others. The belief is dated; the event is outside historical method.
2. c. 48–49 CE Gentile believers without circumcision Majority view Galatians 2:1–10 The Jerusalem "pillars" agree that Paul's gentile converts need not be circumcised; the Antioch quarrel that follows shows how much was left unsettled.
3. by c. 50 CE (formula older) Jesus addressed in prayer as Lord Majority view 1 Corinthians 16:22: maranatha, "Our Lord, come!" An Aramaic prayer left untranslated in a Greek letter, so it goes back to Aramaic-speaking followers. How early this amounts to worship of Jesus as divine is debated.
4. c. 54 CE The words over the bread and cup Consensus 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 Paul's account of the last meal, introduced as a tradition he had received, is older than any Gospel.
5. c. 66–74 CE A written Gospel Majority view The Gospel of Mark The first narrative of Jesus' life, written around the Roman destruction of the Temple; Matthew and Luke later used it.
6. Acts, c. 80–90 CE (event earlier) The name "Christians" Majority view Acts 11:26: "in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians" Christianoi, "Christ people", is attached to Antioch by Acts; the movement was still a Jewish group when the name appeared.
7. c. 110 CE "Christianity" set against "Judaism" Consensus Ignatius of Antioch, To the Magnesians 10 The word Christianismos is first attested here, as the opposite of Ioudaismos.
8. c. 110 CE One bishop over each city's church Majority view Ignatius of Antioch, To the Smyrnaeans 8 Ignatius' letters are the first to insist on a single bishop at the head of each church and the first to speak of the "catholic church".
9. c. 144 CE A fixed list of scripture Majority view Marcion's canon: one Gospel and ten letters of Paul Marcion, in Rome, made the first fixed collection of Christian scripture, with no Old Testament; the church's own lists followed.
10. c. 150–155 CE A Sunday service of readings and Eucharist Majority view Justin Martyr, First Apology 67 The first description of a Sunday gathering: the "memoirs of the apostles" and the prophets are read, then bread and wine are shared.
11. c. 180 CE Four Gospels, and only four Consensus Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1 and 3.11.8 Irenaeus names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and argues there can be neither more nor fewer than four.
12. c. 180 CE God called a trias Consensus Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 2.15 The first use of the Greek word for a triad of God, his Word and his Wisdom; the doctrine was defined only in the fourth century.
13. c. 213 CE Trinitas: three persons, one substance Majority view Tertullian, Against Praxeas The Latin vocabulary of the later doctrine appears in an argument against Monarchians.
14. 325 CE The Son "of one substance" with the Father Consensus The Creed of Nicaea (homoousios) Nicaea adopted a non-biblical word to exclude Arius; the post-Nicene struggle over it lasted another half century.
15. 336 CE (in the Chronograph of 354) Christ's birth on 25 December Majority view The Depositio martyrum of the Chronograph of 354 The first secure attestation of the date as a feast in Rome; an earlier mention in Hippolytus is disputed, and why the date was chosen is contested.
16. 367 CE The 27 books of the New Testament Consensus Athanasius, 39th Festal Letter The first list of exactly the 27 books; no council of the whole church chose them.
17. 380 CE Nicene Christianity as the religion of the empire Majority view Theodosius I, Cunctos populos Addressed to Constantinople and aimed at rival Christians, the edict was later read and codified as establishing Nicene Christianity across the empire.
18. 431 CE Mary as Theotokos, "God-bearer" Consensus Council of Ephesus The council deposed Nestorius and affirmed the title Theotokos for Mary.
19. 451 CE Christ "in two natures" Consensus Definition of the Council of Chalcedon The formula that split the East into Chalcedonian, Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East families.
20. c. 530 CE A Rule for monks Majority view The Rule of Benedict Benedict's Rule, drawing heavily on the anonymous Rule of the Master, became the standard of Western monasticism.
21. 591 CE Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner Majority view Gregory the Great, Homily 33 Gregory merged her with the sinful woman of Luke 7 and Mary of Bethany and read her sins as sexual; the Roman calendar separated them again in 1969.
22. 635 CE arrival; stele 781 Christianity in Tang China Consensus The Xi'an Stele Alopen of the Church of the East reached Chang'an in 635; the stele erected in 781 tells the community's story.
23. c. 1014 CE The filioque sung in Rome's creed Majority view Roman liturgical practice under Henry II Long used in Spain and the Frankish church, the addition "and the Son" entered the creed at Rome in the early eleventh century.
24. 16 July 1054 Mutual excommunications of the papal legates and the patriarch Majority view The bull laid on the altar of Hagia Sophia One event in a long drift; the sack of Constantinople in 1204 made the break real, and the excommunications were lifted in 1965.
25. 1215 CE Transubstantiation and annual confession Consensus Fourth Lateran Council, canons 1 and 21 The council defined the change of bread and wine and required every adult to confess and receive communion at least once a year.
26. 1274 CE Purgatory set out in a council Consensus Profession of faith accepted at the Second Council of Lyon Prayers for the dead are early; the noun purgatorium appears in the late twelfth century, and Lyon II gave the first conciliar statement.
27. 1517–1520 Justification by faith alone; Scripture as supreme authority Consensus Luther's Ninety-five Theses and treatises of 1520 Luther's programme: sinners are justified by faith, Scripture stands above popes and councils, and all baptised believers are priests.
28. January 1525 Adult baptism of believers Consensus First adult baptisms in Zurich The Anabaptist movement begins, rejecting infant baptism.
29. 1537 Indigenous Americans declared rational and free Consensus Paul III, Sublimis Deus The bull declared that the peoples of the Americas were truly human and could not be deprived of liberty or property.
30. April 1546 The canon fixed as dogma, with the deuterocanonical books Consensus Council of Trent, Session IV Trent defined the list of biblical books as a matter of faith for the first time.
31. 24 May 1738 The heart "strangely warmed": evangelical conversion Consensus John Wesley's journal, Aldersgate Street The experience at the root of Methodism and of the evangelical religion of the heart.
32. 1774–1778 A historical Jesus written against the Gospels Consensus Reimarus' fragments, published by Lessing The first attempt to reconstruct the historical Jesus in opposition to the Gospel accounts.
33. early 1830s A pre-tribulation Rapture Majority view John Nelson Darby among the Brethren Darby developed the teaching that believers will be caught up before a final tribulation; the Scofield Reference Bible spread it from 1909.
34. 1854 Mary's Immaculate Conception defined Consensus Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus Defined as dogma for Catholics, long after it had become a widespread belief.
35. 18 July 1870 Papal infallibility Consensus First Vatican Council, Pastor aeternus The council defined that the pope speaking ex cathedra on faith and morals is infallible.
36. 1 January 1901 Speaking in tongues as Spirit baptism Consensus Agnes Ozman at Parham's Bethel Bible School, Topeka One of several starting points of Pentecostalism; the Azusa Street revival followed from 1906.
37. 1944 A woman ordained priest in the Anglican Communion Consensus Florence Li Tim-Oi, Hong Kong Ordained in a wartime emergency; the Church of England ordained women priests from 1994.
38. 1963 The Mass in the vernacular Consensus Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 36 The council allowed the use of the vernacular to be extended; the reformed Mass of 1969–1970 then replaced Latin almost everywhere.
39. 28 October 1965 Collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion rejected Consensus Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate 4 The council rejected charging the Jews, then or now, with Christ's death.

Text stratigraphy

Which text belongs to which century, and which stream it belongs to. Bars show composition or compilation ranges, not single dates: the New Testament books are dated by internal evidence, and the oldest manuscripts are much later than the texts. Hover any bar for its note.

Bar opacity tracks confidence in the dating: solid for consensus, faded where contested. Two things this view makes obvious: Paul's letters are older than every Gospel (§3); and the creeds that define Christian belief were written three and four centuries after the events they describe (§6).

Women in the churches, tracked

Not an assertion that things got better or worse, but a cited datapoint at each stage, from the women at the tomb and Junia "prominent among the apostles" to the first Anglican woman priest in 1944 and the debates of today.

1. c. 28–30 or 33 CE ▲ Women travel with Jesus and witness the cross Majority view Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna follow Jesus and support the group from their own resources; all four Gospels make women the witnesses of the crucifixion and the empty tomb. Luke 8:1–3; Mark 15:40–41; 16:1–8
2. c. 56–57 CE ▲ A woman deacon and a woman apostle Majority view Paul commends Phoebe, a deacon of Cenchreae and his patron, and greets Junia as "prominent among the apostles". Romans 16:1–7
3. c. 100–120 CE ▼ "I permit no woman to teach" Majority view The Pastoral letters, written in Paul's name after his death, forbid women to teach or hold authority over men. 1 Timothy 2:12
4. 2nd century ◆ Thecla teaches and baptises Contested The Acts of Paul and Thecla has a young woman baptise herself and teach; around 200 Tertullian complains that some women cite her to claim the right to teach and baptise. Acts of Paul and Thecla; Tertullian, On Baptism 17
5. c. 157–172 CE ◆ Women prophets lead the New Prophecy Majority view Priscilla and Maximilla prophesy with Montanus in Phrygia; the movement is condemned by other churches. The New Prophecy in Phrygia
6. 7 March 203 ▲ A martyr's own account Majority view Vibia Perpetua, a young mother, is executed at Carthage with the enslaved Felicity; most scholars think the prison diary in her Passion is substantially her own. Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
7. 4th century ▲ Desert mothers and a woman pilgrim Consensus Amma Syncletica among the desert mothers; the Melanias found monasteries in Jerusalem; Egeria writes an account of her pilgrimage in about 381–384. Sayings of the desert mothers; Egeria's Itinerarium
8. 591 ▼ Mary Magdalene becomes the penitent sinner Majority view Gregory the Great's Homily 33 merges her with the sinful woman of Luke 7 and Mary of Bethany and reads her sins as sexual; the image of a former prostitute follows in art and legend. Gregory the Great, Homily 33
9. 664 ▲ An abbess hosts a synod Consensus Hilda, abbess of the double monastery at Whitby, hosts the synod that settles the date of Easter in Northumbria. Bede, Ecclesiastical History
10. c. 1141–1179 ▲ Hildegard of Bingen Consensus The abbess of Rupertsberg records her visions in Scivias, writes on medicine and music and corresponds with popes and emperors; declared a Doctor of the Church in 2012. Scivias
11. 1310 ▼ A beguine burned Consensus Marguerite Porete is burned in Paris for The Mirror of Simple Souls; the Council of Vienne condemns beguine life in 1311–1312. Council of Vienne
12. 1525 ◆ Convents closed, clergy marry Consensus Protestant reformers reject monastic vows; Luther marries the ex-nun Katharina von Bora. Luther's marriage, 1525
13. c. 1560–1630 ▼ The witch trials Majority view About 40,000–60,000 executions in Europe between 1450 and 1750, most in 1560–1630, roughly three-quarters of the victims women. Behringer; Levack
14. 1853 ▲ A woman ordained in America Consensus The Congregationalist Antoinette Brown is ordained; Quakers, Salvationists and some holiness groups also have women preachers. Ordination of Antoinette Brown
15. 1944 ▲ The first woman Anglican priest Consensus Florence Li Tim-Oi is ordained priest in Hong Kong in a wartime emergency. Ordination of Li Tim-Oi
16. 1994 ▲ Women priests in the Church of England Consensus The Church of England ordains women priests from 1994 and bishops from 2015, and in 2025 names Sarah Mullally Archbishop of Canterbury. Church of England
17. December 2025 ▼ No women deacons, for now Consensus A Vatican study commission advises against ordaining women as deacons and proposes new lay ministries; the Catholic and Orthodox churches do not ordain women as priests. Vatican study commission synthesis, December 2025