Church History in Plain Language

Era 2 · 70 – 312

Catholic Christianity

An illegal, often despised minority builds a "catholic" (universal) church, with bishops, creeds and a Bible, under the shadow of persecution.

Shelley calls this period, from the fall of Jerusalem to Constantine's conversion, the age of "Catholic Christianity." He does not mean the Roman Catholic Church in its later sense. Catholic comes from the Greek katholikos, "universal" or "according to the whole." Around AD 110 Ignatius of Antioch first used the phrase "the catholic church" to mean the whole worldwide body of believers, as opposed to scattered local groups or breakaway sects.

In these two and a half centuries Christianity was illegal and sometimes savagely persecuted. Yet it grew from perhaps a few thousand believers to several million, maybe a tenth of the empire's population. And under pressure from outside and arguments from within, it built the three pillars that would hold it up for the next two thousand years:

  • a Bible (the Old Testament plus a New Testament),
  • a creed or "rule of faith" summarizing core beliefs, and
  • a ministry of bishops, priests and deacons claiming continuity with the apostles.

It was also a period of brilliant thinkers, such as Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Origen. They explained the faith to educated pagans and defined it against rivals. And, as MacCulloch especially stresses, Christianity was already spreading east, beyond Rome's borders, into Syria, Persia, Armenia and perhaps India. The "countries of the sunrise" are a part of the story many Western histories forget.

Timeline: Catholic Christianity (70 – 312)

10015020025030064 Nero's persecution in Rome96 1 Clement: Roman church writes to Corinth100 The Didache describes baptism and Eucharist140 Valentinus teaches in Rome144 Marcion expelled by the Roman church144 Marcion's shortened canon155 Polycarp of Smyrna burned at the stake155 Justin describes Sunday worship in Rome155 Justin's First Apology addressed to the empe…156 Montanus and his prophetesses begin preachin…170 Tatian compiles the Diatessaron in Syriac178 Celsus writes True Word attacking Christiani…180 Irenaeus writes Against Heresies180 Irenaeus insists on four Gospels190 Pope Victor tries to impose Rome's Easter da…200 Muratorian Fragment (date debated) lists acc…200 Christianity well established in Edessa215 Apostolic Tradition (attributed to Hippolytu…215 Apostolic Tradition describes the catechumen…224 Sasanian Persian Empire founded230 Origen moves to Caesarea232 House church at Dura-Europos decorated250 Decius orders empire-wide sacrifice251 Roman church supports 1,500 widows and poor254 Origen dies after torture under Decius301 Armenia becomes the first Christian kingdom …311 Galerius' edict ends persecution in the East
Selected key dates from each chapter of this era. Click an event to read its chapter, or see every date in this era on the master timeline.

Chapters in this era

  1. 1Persecution and MartyrsFrom Nero to Diocletian: the causes, waves and meaning of Roman persecution.
  2. 2Gnostics, Marcion and the Rise of OrthodoxyHow Gnosticism, Marcion and Montanism pushed the church to develop the rule of faith, a canon and apostolic succession.
  3. 3Forming the BibleThe slow process by which the church recognized which books belonged in its Bible.
  4. 4Bishops and Church OrderHow the early church organized itself, why bishops became central, and how Rome gained special status.
  5. 5Apologists and ThinkersHow the first Christian intellectuals defended and explained the faith using philosophy.
  6. 6Worship and Daily LifeHow early Christians worshiped, became members, used their money, and lived differently from their neighbors.
  7. 7Countries of the SunriseThe early spread of Christianity beyond the Roman Empire, into Asia and Africa.