Christian History by the Century Archives

In 2025–2026, we published a series focusing on Christian history called “Christian History by the Century.” Below you’ll find all the posts related to that series.

Welcome to our relatively ambitious—but hopefully helpful—series offering Bible and Beyond readers a chronological reference for events and major ideas that influenced the evolution of various Christianities. We’ll identify key events and people who influenced both the immediate and future generations of those who came to identify as followers of Jesus.

One must first understand that Christianity was not born the day Jesus arrived on earth, and there never was a single, unified way in which everyone understood Jesus during or after his time on earth. Technically, our series should be titled “Christianities by the Century.”

Some historical details are well documented, while others—such as the year of Jesus’s birth (!)—are best estimates. Scholars have worked hard to piece together the chronological order of events, people, and ideas relevant to the evolution of Christian thought, but interpretations continue to shift as new evidence emerges.

This historical series offers readers an opportunity to engage in the collective rethinking of how Christianities have evolved across the centuries—past, present, and future.

Here is a summary of what you’ll learn from each post:

5th Century BCE — The Noble Death
Socrates’ execution established the ancient ideal of the “noble death,” later shaping Jewish and Christian ideas of martyrdom.

4th Century BCE — Greek Philosophy and Hellenism
Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophy, spread widely through Alexander the Great’s conquests, created the intellectual world that later influenced Jewish and Christian thought.

3rd Century BCE — Angels and Demons
Jewish apocalyptic writers developed vivid traditions about angels, demons, and cosmic powers that later shaped Jewish apocalyptic thought and early Christian theology.

2nd Century BCE — Martyrdom and Apocalyptic Hope
The Maccabean revolt linked faithful suffering with hope of resurrection, while apocalyptic visions reshaped Jewish expectations of God’s coming kingdom.

1st Century BCE — Roman Judea
Roman rule and the reign of Herod the Great intensified political tensions and messianic hopes surrounding the birth of Jesus.

1st Century CE — Jesus and the Temple Crisis
The life and crucifixion of Jesus, followed by the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, reshaped Judaism and the emerging Jesus movement.

2nd Century CE — Creative Christianities
Early Christian teachers and writers produced a remarkable diversity of gospels and interpretations of Jesus, giving rise to many forms of early Christianity.

3rd Century CE — Identity Through Suffering
Christian martyrs and church leaders increasingly defined Christian identity through suffering and persecution.

4th Century CE — Imperial Christianity
Constantine’s conversion and imperial support transformed Christianity from a persecuted minority movement into an imperial religion.

5th Century CE — Defining Orthodoxy
Councils such as Ephesus and Chalcedon sought to define Christ’s nature as Christianity expanded across a changing post-Roman world.

6th Century CE — A Century of Crisis and Reorientation
Crisis, plague, monastic life, and Neoplatonism reshaped 6th-century Christianity, laying the foundations of medieval beliefs and traditions.

7th Century CE — At the beginning of the seventh century, Jews everywhere faced intense persecution from Christians. Both Visigoths in Spain and the Byzantine authorities from the east forced Christian conversions, legally banned Jewish religious practices, and frequently stirred up riots. Even though social interaction persisted between Jews and Christians, the Church formally prohibited Christians from participating in Jewish celebrations, attending synagogues, or utilizing Jewish medical services.

Christianity by the Century: Seventh Century CE (600-700)

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-05-11T22:12:59-04:00May 13th, 2026|Tags: Chaos, Christian History by the Century, Christianity, Fear and Protection, Mandaeans, Religious Boundaries|

In the 7th century, Christianity was not only taught—it had to be proven. Christian truth was increasingly measured in power: to heal, to command loyalty, to hold territory, and to outlast rivals.

Christianity by the Century: Sixth Century CE (500-600)

By Website Admin|2026-05-08T04:33:08-04:00April 8th, 2026|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christian History by the Century, Climate, Concepts of God, Greco-Roman, Theology|

For many ordinary people, daily life was overshadowed by catastrophe. The Plague of Justinian… swept across the Mediterranean world, killing millions and leaving entire regions depopulated.

Christianity by the Century: Fifth Century CE (400-500)

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-05-08T04:33:47-04:00March 11th, 2026|Tags: Christian Heresies, Christian History by the Century, Early Christian Communities, Early Church, Manichaeism, Mary|

While Nicene Christianity remained dominant in the Eastern Empire, Arian rulers governed much of the West, often tolerating Nicene Christians but maintaining separate ecclesiastical systems. Thus theological division mirrored geopolitical division.

Christianity by the Century: Fourth Century CE (300-400)

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-09T02:32:55-04:00February 11th, 2026|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Martyr, Meaning of Life, Violence, Women|

The fourth century stands as a decisive turning point in Christian history. Communities that had once defined faith through suffering and martyrdom now faced the challenges of legitimacy, authority, and power.

Christianity by the Century: Third Century CE (200-300)

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-09T02:24:25-04:00January 14th, 2026|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Martyr, Meaning of Life, Violence, Women|

It was during the third century CE that suffering became a defining marker of Christian identity—socially, politically, and theologically. By the start of the third century, the term ‘Christian’ began to gather specific meaning.

Christianity by the Century: Second Century CE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-09T02:26:33-04:00December 11th, 2025|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Concepts of God, Early Jesus Followers, Irenaeus, Marcion, Valentinus|

The second century CE was a time of upheaval and creativity. Jesus’s followers wrestled with questions of identity, authority, and faith. Amid trauma and transformation, the century gave birth to Christianity’s astonishing diversity and its enduring theological foundations.

Christianity by the Century: First Century CE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2026-03-09T02:23:35-04:00November 12th, 2025|Tags: Chaos, Christian History by the Century, Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism, Violence|

Jesus was remembered as a towering moral and spiritual presence amid a century of turmoil. The memory of Jesus as victor—not as a defeated Jew—became the defining theme.

Christianity by the Century: First Century BCE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-12-11T17:25:25-05:00October 8th, 2025|Tags: Chaos, Christian History by the Century, Christmas, Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist, Violence|

The first century BCE reshaped Judea through Roman domination, Herod’s brutality, and the fragile hope and expectancy of David’s royal lineage. Into this turbulent landscape Jesus was born, carrying both the peril and promise of Bethlehem’s Davidic heritage.

Christianity by the Century: Second Century BCE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-09-07T07:45:23-04:00September 10th, 2025|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Christianity, Greco-Roman, Judaism, Violence|

The second century BCE was a crucible for Christian evolution. Jewish heritage provided the containment for the melting and fusing of new materials from Greek culture—the flowering of seeds planted in this tumultuous century.

Christianity by the Century: Third Century BCE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-08-07T19:03:22-04:00August 13th, 2025|Tags: Ancient Writings, Christian History by the Century, Dead Sea Scrolls, Demons, Greco-Roman|

What older scholarship once dismissed as a “silent” era—an apparent gap between the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic writings and later Jewish literature—turns out to have been a crucible of creativity.

Christianity by the Century: Fourth Century BCE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-08-07T04:22:24-04:00July 23rd, 2025|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Christianity, Concepts of God, Plato|

Plato’s influence was initially more significant than Aristotle’s for early Christianity. However, the long-term influence of both of them was not due to their ideas alone, but also to historical circumstances—especially, the timing and scope of Alexander’s military success.

Christianity by the Century: Fifth Century BCE

By Shirley Paulson, PhD|2025-08-07T04:30:22-04:00June 25th, 2025|Tags: Christian History by the Century, Christianity, Martyr, Plato|

Engage in the collective rethinking of how Christianities evolved across the centuries—past, present, and future. In this post we look at the 5th century BCE.