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TIMELINE OF
ORTHODOX
CHURCH HISTORY Last Updated: 01/12/09
Colour Code | Symbol Code |
Red - Latest Additions to Timeline
Dark Green – Events concerned with the Syrian Church
Light Green – Events concerned with the Indian Church
Orange – Events concerned with the Coptic Church
Dark Blue – Events concerned with the Ethiopian Church
Light Blue – Events concerned with the Eritrean Church
Purple – Events concerned with the Armenian Church
Brown – Events concerned with other local churches.
Black – Events concerned with no local Church in particular
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~ = Date in question is but an approximation (most dates listed cannot be regarded with absolute accuracy; however, ~ will be used to signify those dates of a higher level of uncertainty). * = Date in question is contested amongst scholars (many dates are contested as such; however, only those of some key significance will be noted). # = Indication of the existence elsewhere on the site of materials concerned with the subject at hand. |
68 - The Coptic Orthodox Church’s legacy as ‘Church of the Martyrs’ is set in motion with the martyrdom of her founder, St Mark the Evangelist and Apostle. Having successfully sowed the seeds of Grace amongst the first-century Alexandrian community, St Mark’s divine ministry provoked the envy of the Enemy who thus roused anger and hatred in the hearts of the pagans. The Feast of the Resurrection coincided at that time with the eve of the pagan feast of the god Serapis, and so the pagans, consumed by unrighteous zeal, thought it a fitting time to attempt to deal a blow to the Christian Church of Egypt by seizing the Holy Apostle as he celebrated the Divine Liturgy, tying a noose around his head and dragging him through the streets of Alexandria. The Holy Apostle’s celebration of the Holy Resurrection was not halted, however, but rather continued through the way he prepared himself to be the Coptic Church’s first-fruits of those entering the promise of the Resurrection; and so, as the rocks of the earth ripped away St Mark’s flesh, and as the dirt collected his blood, the Valiant Evangelist all the while prayed joyfully, “Thanks be to thee, O Lord, because thou hast made me worthy to suffer for thy holy name”. After being imprisoned, St Mark received final consolation directly from the Risen Christ, Who appeared to him and healed all his wounds. These miraculous feats only further fueled the anger of the pagans, who then dragged St Mark by the neck through the streets once more until his holy head was severed from his body. An attempt by the pagans to burn his body to ashes was defeated by the Lord through earthquakes, heavy rain, and mighty winds, in order that the holy body of the Saint might be preserved by the Church as a testimony to her heroic foundation and a living vehicle of God’s ever-flowing Grace to those who seek the Saint’s blessings and who nurture and defend the living Church, the sake of which he sacrificed his life for.
301 – St Gregory the Illuminator and Evangelist persuades King Tiridates III of Armenia (later recognised a Saint in the Armenian Church) to accept the Christian faith after miraculously curing him of an illness which he in the first place incurred because of his religious persecution of St Gregory; Christianity is thence declared the state religion of Armenia, making Armenia the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as its national religious creed. 328 – Athanasius of Alexandria is elected Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria at approximately thirty years of age. He was recommended thrice by his predecessor Pope Alexander whilst on his deathbed, and unanimously chosen by the local clergy and faithful. In humility, St Athanasius sought to escape being selected for such an honoured position, yet the will of God would not permit him. His election to the papacy was soon hotly contested by the Melitians, but their protests were ultimately to no avail. 404 – St Mesrob devises the Armenian alphabet. Prior to St Mesrob’s ingenious endeavour, the Armenian language was but used in oral communication. Theological and liturgical texts at the time were written in Greek and Syriac, effectively depriving the common Armenian believer of proper spiritual edification. St Mesrob’s achievement thus not only fundamentally contributed to the shaping of Armenia’s national identity, but most significantly enhanced the religious life and experience of the common Armenian Orthodox Christian. 868 – The tax poll (known as the jizyah) enforced by Muslim rulers over Egypt’s Coptic Christians is doubled. At this time pockets of Coptic Christians began to rebel against Muslim authorities on account of their oppressive measures. In response, the Caliphates further increased their discrimination against, and persecution of, the Copts. This in turn lead to a rapid increase in Christian apostasy to Islam, which in turn lowered the overall tax poll revenue; the doubling of the Jizyah on the remaining Copts was an attempt to compensate for that loss in tax revenue. l854 - Under the bold initiative and revolutionary impetus of the great Coptic Patriarch, Pope Cyril IV, Egypt’s first school for women is established in the Cairo district of El-Darb El-Wasi, despite the popular and governmental sentiments adverse to female education at the time. This school, as with all others established under the Pope’s inspiration and legwork, was open to Copts and Muslims. This feat was--amongst countless others--reflective of the Patriarch’s renowned love for knowledge and wisdom and his compassionate concern for equality.
1936 - The birth of a contemporary Pillar of Orthodox Monasticism: the Superior of the Coptic Orthodox Convent of St Philopateer Merkorious, Tamav Irini. The delivery of the infant Tamav Irini took place at her parents’ home; although it was wrought with difficulties that demanded imminent medical attention, Tamav Irini’s mother and mother’s father sought, in their simple and pure piety, refuge in the intercessions of the Saints. The mother tearfully plead for the help of the Holy Theotokos whilst her father, with bold faith, left his daughter and headed to the nearby church of St George to cry for the supplications of the Great Martyr. The Saints responded accordingly to their great faith. St George appeared before Tamav Irini’s mother and mysteriously prompted the smooth and immediate birth of Tamav Irini through the invocation of the Holy Trinity by three light taps to her back. The Holy Virgin then appeared, taking the infant Tamav Irini from her natural mother into her own motherly embrace. Upon making the sign of the Cross on the beautiful baby girl, the Holy Virgin returned Tamav Irini to her natural mother and declared the heavenly destiny of the child, saying, “She is not yours; she is ours. Care for her well, and raise her uprightly.” Not understanding the prophetic utterance of the Holy Virgin, the family interpreted it to mean that the beautiful infant would soon die. Soon after, the infant Tamav Irini was bitten by a scorpion. Upon the mother crying out for the help of St Shenoute the Archimandrite, the Saint immediately appeared, blowing in the face of the infant Tamav Irini and healing her. Having saved her life, he dispelled from the family their misapprehension of the Holy Virgin’s words, and then proceeded to echoe them once more: “Do not be afraid; she is ours.” Only much later in Tamav Irini’s life would her family realise that such declaration was testimony to her eventual forsaking of the world for the heavenly life of monasticism.
1960 - The opening of Ethiopia’s first Orthodox Theological College. The very criteria of student selection for study at the Theological College, as well as the curriculum so designed for prospective students was such as to reinforce the Orthodox perspective of theology as a primarily spiritual, rather than academic, discipline and endeavor. In his speech at the inauguration of the Theological College, Armenian Orthodox Bishop Terenig Polandian, the first Dean of the School, asserted that worthy candidates to the College’s program would be those who prove to have "outstanding backgrounds, whose minds can penetrate into profundity and whose souls could be receptive to spiritual insight." He went on to reveal that not only the student’s grades, but also their spiritual progress and religious conduct would be evaluated during their first term in residence for determination as to their continued enrolment at the college. In line with a uniquely Orthodox vision of the relationship between knowledge and spirituality, His Eminence expressed the Theological college’s central goal as being the production, not simply of learned academics, but of “students as well as…steward[s] of the mysteries of God,” who heroically “sacrifice themselves for the service of their church, and nation, and for the welfare of the whole world”; who “step forward out of the light and illuminate the darkness around [them]”; who serve to “prevent…untold suffering”; and whose "presence serves as a benediction to the place of entrance."
1981 – In a similar vein to his ancient predecessors (Sts. Athanasius and Dioscorus to name a couple), H.H. Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria is persecuted by the State for boldly speaking out in defiance against threats to the well-being of his flock and their fundamental right to worship the Lord God in peace and tranquillity. He was arrested, “suspended” of his ecclesial authority, and exiled to the desert of Wadi al-Natrun by President Sadat for protesting the Government’s ineptness/negligence in dealing with the rising wave of Islamic extremism against Coptic Christians at that time.
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