Spreading and defending the Gospel
Spreading and defending the Gospel
Catholic teaching in plain English: the Catechism, the Mass, the saints, and honest answers to hard questions.
Debate
Questions and objections
Answering IslamMuslim objections to Christianity, answered from the Qur’an, the hadith and Islamic history.Read
Answering AtheismDoes God exist? Did Jesus rise? What reason and history say.Read
A Call to Our Jewish FriendsWhy is Jesus of Nazareth Israel’s Messiah? In the Tanakh’s own words, with respect.Read
About 33PentecostThe Holy Spirit comes down and the Church is born.The Holy Spirit comes down on the apostles gathered in Jerusalem. Peter preaches that day, and three thousand people are baptized. The Church counts this day as its birthday.
67 and afterRome’s first leadersAfter Peter: Linus, Anacletus, Clement.After Peter and Paul are martyred in Rome, the Church of Rome is led in turn by Linus, Anacletus and Clement. Linus is named in one of Paul’s letters (2 Tim 4:21). Irenaeus writes the list down around 180.
About 96Clement writes to CorinthRome steps into a quarrel in Corinth.Clement, bishop of Rome, intervenes in a dispute in the Church of Corinth and asks that the priests who were removed be restored. The apostle John is most likely still alive at the time.
Late 1st centuryThe DidacheThe first Christians’ little handbook.This short handbook, also called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, describes the life of the first Christians. It plainly forbids abortion and infanticide, says that if there is no running water one may baptize by pouring water on the head three times, and asks for fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays.
About 107“The Catholic Church”The name “Catholic Church” is written for the first time.Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, writes letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome. In them he becomes the first person known to use the phrase “Catholic Church”, and he describes the order of bishops, priests and deacons. Tradition holds that he was a disciple of the apostle John.
About 107Those who reject the EucharistThe Eucharist is the body of Christ.Ignatius writes to the Church of Smyrna: the heretics stay away from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.
About 112A Roman governor’s reportThe first Christians through pagan eyes.In a letter to the Emperor Trajan, the pagan governor Pliny the Younger reports that Christians meet before dawn on a fixed day, sing hymns to Christ as to a god, and bind themselves by an oath (sacramentum).
About 155The oldest description of Sunday MassA Sunday Mass in the second century.In his defense of the faith addressed to the emperor, the philosopher Justin describes the Sunday gathering: the writings of the apostles and prophets are read, a homily is given, prayers are said, and bread and wine are offered. This food is not ordinary bread, he says; it is the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus.
About 155Polycarp in RomeDifferent calendars, the same communion.Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of the apostle John, goes to Rome to discuss the date of Easter with Pope Anicetus. They do not agree, but their communion is not broken: Anicetus lets Polycarp celebrate the Eucharist in his own church.
About 156Bones more precious than goldVeneration of the martyrs’ relics begins.The account of Polycarp’s martyrdom says that the Christians of Smyrna gathered his bones as “more precious than precious stones and finer than gold,” and kept the day of his martyrdom every year.
About 160Over Peter’s tombThe first monument on Peter’s tomb.On the Vatican hill in Rome, a small monument (tropaion) is built right over Peter’s tomb. The altar of Constantine’s basilica and today’s high altar stand exactly above this spot. The custom of building altars over martyrs’ tombs and placing relics in the altar stone goes back to this tradition.
2nd and 3rd centuriesThe witness of the catacombsPrayers to the martyrs, the first image of Mary.Inscriptions in the Roman catacombs ask the martyrs to pray for the living, and pray for loved ones who have died. In a fresco in the Catacomb of Priscilla, Mary appears with the Child Jesus in her lap, long before Christianity became the state religion.
About 180Irenaeus and RomeEvery church must agree with Rome.In a work written while he was bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus of Smyrna says that every church must agree with the Church of Rome, founded by Peter and Paul, because of its pre-eminent authority, and he lists the bishops of Rome one by one from Peter to his own day.
About 204The sign of the crossEverything starts with the sign of the cross.Tertullian writes that Christians trace the sign of the cross on their foreheads whenever they begin anything: setting out, bathing, sitting down to eat.
About 215A prayer still said at MassAn ancient prayer still said today.The Apostolic Tradition, written in Rome and attributed to Hippolytus, gives the Eucharistic prayer of consecration word for word. Eucharistic Prayer II, said at Mass today, is largely based on this text.
About 244Infant baptismBaptizing infants comes from the apostles.Origen of Alexandria writes that the Church received the tradition of baptizing infants directly from the apostles.
3rd centuryThe oldest prayer to Mary“We fly to your protection.”A papyrus fragment found in Egypt preserves the oldest known prayer to Mary: “We fly to your protection, O Mother of God.” The prayer is still said today.
251The Church as motherThe Church is mother, God is father.In his work on the unity of the Church, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, writes: no one can have God as father who does not have the Church as mother.
325The Council of NicaeaThe Creed is born.The bishops gathered at Nicaea proclaim, against Arius, that the Son is “of one substance” (homoousios) with the Father. This Greek word, which is not found in the Bible, shows that the Church can speak in its own words to protect the faith. The first form of the Creed is written at this council.
About 325Eusebius’ History of the ChurchUnbroken lists of bishops.In the first history of the Church, Eusebius of Caesarea lists the bishops of Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria without a break from the apostles to his own day. He also records how the books of the New Testament were discussed and discerned.
4th centuryThe oldest complete BiblesThe Bible with its deuterocanonical books.The Sinai and Vatican manuscripts are the oldest great copies of the Bible we have. Their Old Testament includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom and the other books that Protestants later removed, alongside the rest.
About 350“Ask for the Catholic Church”Ask, “Where is the Catholic Church?”Cyril of Jerusalem advises those preparing for baptism: when you go to a city, do not just ask “Where is the house of the Lord?”, because the heretics call their places that too; ask “Where is the Catholic Church?”
393 and 397The 27 books of the New TestamentThe New Testament list is approved.The councils held at Hippo and Carthage approve the 27 books of today’s New Testament and the Old Testament list, including the deuterocanonical books. The same list is proclaimed again at the councils of Florence (1442) and Trent (1546).
397Augustine’s wordsNo Gospel without the Church’s authority.Augustine of Hippo writes: I would not believe the Gospel either, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to it.
About 400Written and unwritten traditionWritten and unwritten tradition together.John Chrysostom says that the apostles did not hand everything down by letter, that they passed on much without writing, and that both are equally worthy of belief. “It is a tradition; seek no further.”
About 427Perseverance to the endPerseverance is a grace to be prayed for.Augustine writes that even someone baptized and born again can lose salvation through grave sin, and that persevering to the end is a further grace that must be asked for.
431The Council of EphesusMary is the Mother of God.The council gathered at Ephesus proclaims that Mary is the “Mother of God” (Theotokos), because the child she bore is Jesus, one single person who is both God and man.
451The Council of Chalcedon“Peter has spoken through Leo!”At Chalcedon, today’s Kadıköy in Istanbul, more than 500 bishops hear Pope Leo’s letter on the two natures of Christ in one person, and cry out: “Peter has spoken through Leo!”
About 529Benedict and the monasteries“Pray and work.”Benedict of Nursia founds his monastery at Monte Cassino and writes his Rule, built on the principle “pray and work.” After the fall of Rome, monasteries living by this Rule keep books and learning alive in the West for centuries.
590Gregory the GreatThe pope who held Rome together.As pope, Gregory holds Rome together through plague and war, has the chants of the liturgy put in order, and in 597 sends missionaries to the English. He calls himself “the servant of the servants of God,” a title the popes still use.
787The Second Council of NicaeaThe veneration of icons is defended.Meeting again at Nicaea, the council defends the veneration of icons: the honor goes not to the image but to the person it shows. Worship belongs to God alone.
1054East and West divideThe Great Schism.Tensions between Rome and Constantinople end in a break, with each side excommunicating the other. The excommunications were lifted in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, and prayer for unity continues today.
1215The Fourth Lateran CouncilTransubstantiation, and confession once a year.The council uses the word “transubstantiation” to describe how the substance of the bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ, and asks every Catholic to confess at least once a year and receive Communion at Easter.
1265-1274The Summa TheologiaeFaith and reason do not conflict.Thomas Aquinas writes his great work showing that faith and reason do not conflict. Six hundred years later, Pope Leo XIII will make his thought the foundation of Catholic education.
1442The Council of FlorenceThe list of 73 books is proclaimed again.The council lists the books of the Bible one by one: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and Maccabees are on the list. So the 73-book Bible was the Church’s official list a century before the Reformation.
About 1455The Gutenberg BibleThe first great printed book.The first great book printed on a press is the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Bible of the Catholic Church. The deuterocanonical books are in it too.
1517The 95 ThesesThe Reformation begins.The Augustinian priest Martin Luther publishes his 95 theses on indulgences in Wittenberg. What starts as a call to debate ends up dividing Western Christianity.
1522Luther’s New TestamentLetters moved to the end, “alone” added.In his German New Testament, Luther calls the Letter of James “an epistle of straw”; he puts Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation unnumbered at the end of the book. In Romans 3:28 he also adds the word “alone” (allein), which is not in the Greek: “justified by faith alone.”
1529Luther and Zwingli“This is my body.”At the meeting in Marburg, Zwingli argues that the Lord’s Supper is only a symbol. Luther insists that Christ is truly present in the bread, and chalks on the table: “Hoc est corpus meum,” this is my body.
1520s and 1530sThe Reformers and MaryThe Reformers also believed Mary was ever-virgin.All his life Luther believed that Mary remained a virgin before, during and after giving birth. Zwingli too held that Mary was ever-virgin and called her the “Mother of God.”
1534The Luther BibleThe deuterocanonical books between the Testaments.Luther’s complete German Bible does not throw out the deuterocanonical books; he places them between the two Testaments under the heading “books not held equal to Holy Scripture, but useful and good to read.”
1536The death of TyndaleThe translator of the English Bible dies.William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English, is executed for heresy by imperial authorities at Vilvoorde, in today’s Belgium. Two years earlier England had broken with Rome over Henry VIII’s divorce; Henry too had banned Tyndale’s translation.
1541-1564Calvin’s GenevaA city run by strict rules.Calvin writes that the “brothers” of Jesus were his relatives and that Mary remained a virgin. In Calvin’s Geneva, missing services, dancing or opposing his teaching was punished with fines, prison or exile; Servetus was burned for heresy in 1553.
1545-1563The Council of TrentThe Church renews itself from within.In answer to the Reformation, the Church undertakes a great renewal from within: the 73-book Bible, the seven sacraments and the unity of faith and works are proclaimed again, and seminaries are founded to train priests.
1571LepantoA victory won with the Rosary.At the naval battle of Lepanto, Pope Pius V calls on all Christians to pray the Rosary. After the victory he declares 7 October the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
1826The books taken out of the BibleThe 66-book Protestant Bible.After a long debate, the largest Bible society in the Protestant world decides to stop supporting editions that include the deuterocanonical books. From then on, Protestant Bibles are printed with 66 books instead of 73.
1845Newman becomes CatholicTo know history is to cease to be Protestant.John Henry Newman, one of Anglicanism’s most brilliant defenders, becomes a Catholic while studying the early Church, and writes: “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”
1854The Immaculate ConceptionMary was preserved from original sin.Pope Pius IX proclaims as a dogma that Mary was preserved from every stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. Four years later at Lourdes, Mary introduces herself to Bernadette: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
1870The First Vatican CouncilPapal infallibility is defined.The council defines papal infallibility: the pope is protected from error only when, from the chair of Peter, he proclaims a teaching on faith or morals that binds the whole Church. His personal opinions and everyday decisions are not covered.
1879Aeterni PatrisThomas Aquinas back at the center.Pope Leo XIII makes the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas the foundation of seminary training and of the defense of the faith once again.
1891Rerum NovarumCatholic social teaching begins.This encyclical of Leo XIII begins Catholic social teaching: it defends workers’ right to a just wage and to organize, and rejects both unbridled capitalism and state socialism.
1893Providentissimus DeusScripture is inspired and without error.Leo XIII calls Catholic Bible scholars to engage with the historical and linguistic studies of the age, while restating that Scripture is inspired and without error.
1896Apostolicae CuraeAnglican orders are declared invalid.Leo XIII declares Anglican orders “absolutely null and utterly void” because of the changes made to the form and intention of the rite of ordination during the English Reformation.
1910The Oath against ModernismAgainst watering down the faith.Pope Pius X asks priests, pastors and teachers of theology to swear an oath of loyalty to the faith against Modernism, which treated doctrine as something that changes with the times.
1917The Code of Canon LawThe Church’s first single book of law.Replacing centuries of scattered rulings, the Church’s first single book of law (Codex Iuris Canonici) is published.
1929The Lateran TreatyVatican City becomes a state.The treaty signed between the Holy See and Italy establishes Vatican City as an independent state and settles the “Roman Question” that began with the fall of the Papal States in 1870.
1931Vatican RadioThe pope’s voice around the world.Vatican Radio, founded by Guglielmo Marconi, carries the voice of Pope Pius XI to the whole world with no government in between.
1937Mit brennender SorgeAn open condemnation of Nazi racism.Pius XI has the encyclical, written in German rather than Latin, smuggled into Germany and read in every Catholic church on the same Sunday. It openly condemns Nazi racism and the totalitarian state.
1939-1950Peter’s tomb is foundPeter’s tomb beneath the high altar.Excavations under St Peter’s Basilica uncover, right beneath the high altar, the 2nd-century monument and the inscriptions written in his honor. In 1950 Pope Pius XII announces that Peter’s tomb has been found.
1943Divino Afflante SpirituThe Bible is studied in its original languages.Pope Pius XII encourages Catholic scholars to study the Bible in its original languages, using the methods of archaeology, linguistics and history.
1950The Assumption of MaryMary is taken up body and soul into heaven.Pius XII proclaims as a dogma that at the end of her earthly life Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.
1962-1965The Second Vatican CouncilEveryone is called to holiness.Bishops from all over the world allow local languages in the liturgy, strengthen dialogue with other Christians and stress that everyone is called to holiness.
Learn
What the faith is, and why
Why We're CatholicIs there a God? Who is Jesus? Why the Catholic Church? Straight answers.Catechism598 questions and answers on faith, the sacraments, morality and prayer.The BibleHow to pick a Catholic Bible in English, and which translations the bishops have approved.FAQThe most common questions about the Catholic faith.Becoming CatholicThe OCIA process for those who want to become Catholic, step by step.The Parables of JesusThirty-two parables, plainly explained.
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Saints, miracles and two thousand years of history