downloadTheology & History
Worship During The Fourth And Fifth Centuries Part II
The fundamental pattern of early Christian worship continued to develop through the fourth and fifth centuries. However, "families" of liturgical practice began to emerge, and styles of worship varied from one Christian region to the other. By this time, one can begin to speak of "Eastern" and "Western" characteristics of Christian liturgy.
Key Events in the History of Christian Worship
Source: James F. White, Documents of Christian Worship: Descriptive and Interpretive Sources (Lousville: Wesminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 11–13.
| Century | Liturgical Documents/Writers | Church Events/Persons | World Events/Persons |
| 1st | Didach | N.T., a.d. 50–135 | fall of Jerusalem, 70 |
| First Clement | Neronian persecution | ||
| 2nd | Letter of Pliny | spread of church around Mediterranean | |
| Irenaeus | sporadic persecution | ||
| Polycarp | monastic origins | ||
| Ignatius | |||
| Justin Martyr | |||
| Clement of Alexandria | |||
| Epistle of Barnabas | |||
| 3rd | Tertullian | empire-wide persecutions | |
| Apostolic Tradition | |||
| monastic origins | |||
| Origen (c. 185–c. 254) | |||
| Cyprian (d. 258) | |||
| Didascalia | |||
| 4th | Apostolic Church Order | conversion of Constantine, 312 | Christianity made legal, then official |
| Sarapion | Council of Nicaea, 325 | division of empire | |
| Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315–86) | Trinitarian controversies | barbarian invasions | |
| Egeria | Council of Constantinople, 381 | ||
| Apostolic Constitutions | gradual conversion of northern tribes | ||
| Eusebius of Caesarea | |||
| Epitome | |||
| Basil (c. 330–79) | |||
| Chrysotom (c. 347–407) | |||
| Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350–428) | |||
| Ambrose (c. 339–97) | |||
| Jerome (c. 342–420) | |||
| Augustine (354–430) | |||
| Testamentum Domini | |||
| 5th | Canons of Hippolytus | Christological controversies | fall of Rome, 455 |
| Cassian (c. 360–435) | Council of Ephesus, 431 | ||
| Council of Chalcedon, 451 | |||
| 6th | Benedict of Nursia | organization of Western monasticism (c. 480–c. 550) | |
| Gregory I (590–604) | |||
| 7th | Ordo Romanus Primus | spread of Islam | |
| 8th | Hadrianum sent to Charlemagne | John of Damascus (c. 675–c. 749) | |
| Iconoclastic controversy | |||
| Council of Nicaea, 787 | |||
| Bede (c. 673–735) | |||
| 9th | supplement added | Charlemagne crowned, 800 | |
| Benedict of Aniane (c. 750–821) | learning revived | ||
| Ratramnus (d. 868) | |||
| Paschasius Radbertus (c. 790–865) | |||
| 10th | low ebb of Rome and papacy | ||
| Cluniac monastic reforms | |||
| 11th | Berengarius (c. 999–1088) | schism East and West, 1054 | emperor intervenes in Rome |
| Lanfranc (c. 1005–89) | Anselm (1033–1109) | ||
| Gregory VII (1073–85) | |||
| Crusades begin | |||
| 12th | Suger (c. 1081–1151) | invention of gothic | |
| Hugh of St. Victor (c. 1096–1141) | Cistercian monastic reforms | ||
| Peter Lumbard (1905-1159) | |||
| 13th | Innocent III (1198–1216) | Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) | |
| Thomas Aquinas (c. 1125–74) | scholastic theology | ||
| Fourth Lateran Council, 1215 | mendicant orders | ||
| Fourth Lateran Council, 1215 | |||
| Crusades end | |||
| 14th | John Wycleffe (c. 1329–84) | Avignon papacy, 1309–77 | |
| split of papacy, 1378–1417 | |||
| 15th | Decree for Armenians, 1438 | John Huss burned, 1415 | fall of Constantinople, 1453 |
| Council of Basel, 1431–49 | invention of printing | ||
| Columbus reaches America, 1492 | |||
| 16th | Martin Luther (1483–1546) | Erasmus (c. 1466–1536) | colonization of Latin America |
| Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) | Reformation begun, 1517 | defeat of Spanish Armada 1588 | |
| Martin Bucer (1491–1551) | founding of Jesuits, 1540 | reign of Elizabeth I, 1588–1603 | |
| Menno Simons (1496–1561) | Council of Trent (1545–63) | ||
| John Calvin (1509–64) | missions expand | ||
| John Knox (1514–1572) | Bible translations | ||
| Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) | Schleitheim Confession, 1527 | ||
| revised Roman books, 1568–1614 | Marburg Colloquy, 1529 | ||
| Thomas Cartwright (1535–1603) | |||
| 17th | Millenary Petition, 1603 | age of baroque art | colonization of North America |
| Westminster Directory, 1645 | Puritan ascendancy | Isaac Newton (1642–1727) | |
| Robert Barclay's Apology, 1676 | Quakers originate | ||
| Christopher Wren (1632–1723) | age of Jansenism | ||
| 18th | John Wesley (1703–91) | latitudinarianism | age of enlightenment |
| Sunday Service, 1784 | Synod of Pistoia, 1786 | American Revolution | |
| American BCP, 1789 | Febronianism | French Revolution | |
| J. S. Bach (1685–1750) | Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) | ||
| 19th | Charles G. Finney (1792– 1875) | scientific study of the Bible | Charles Darwin (1809–82) |
| John Nevin (1803–86) | Christianizing of the American | Karl Marx (1818–1883) | |
| Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) | Oxford movement | age of reform | |
| Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875) | worldwide missions | abolition of slavery | |
| A. W. N. Pugin (1812–1852) | Pius IX (1846–78) | women's rights | |
| 20th | Fanny Crosby (1825–1915) | Pentecostal churches | World War I |
| Pius X (1903–14) | anti-modernism | World War II | |
| Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960) | liturgical movement | atomic age, 1945 | |
| Mediator Dei, 1947 | Vatican II, 1962–1965 | space age, 1957 | |
| BEM, 1947 | Karl Barth (1886–1968) | Korean War | |
| revised R.C. rites | Karl Rahner (1904–1984) | Vietnam War | |
| LBW, 1978 | Faith and Order, 1927 | Iraq War | |
| BCP, 1979 | World Council of Churches, 1948 | ||
| ASB, 1980 | |||
| UMH, 1989 |