Truth you can trace · the church’s story
The church through history
The New Testament ends with a small, persecuted movement. Two thousand years later, Christianity is the largest religion on earth, divided into three great families (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) that share a common core yet differ sharply. Here is the story in between. We state the facts and, on every point where the traditions divide, give each side’s view in its own terms and pick no winner.
From outlaws to the empire's faith: Constantine and legalization
For nearly three centuries Christianity was illegal or merely tolerated, and periodically it was violently persecuted, most severely under the emperors Decius (250) and Diocletian (the "Great Persecution," 303–311).
Romans 13:1 · Matthew 22:21
ReadDefining the faith: the ecumenical councils and the creeds
As the church grew, it had to say precisely what it believed, and it did so at a series of ecumenical ("worldwide") councils whose decisions Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches still accept.
Matthew 28:19 · John 1:1 · 2 Timothy 3:16
ReadThe Great Schism of 1054: East and West divide
The first enduring split of the mainstream church was between the Greek-speaking East (centered on Constantinople) and the Latin-speaking West (centered on Rome).
John 15:26 · Matthew 16:18
ReadThe medieval Western church: power, reform, and the seeds of protest
Across the Middle Ages the Western church became the central institution of European life, crowning kings, running universities, preserving learning in its monasteries, and shaping law and art.
Acts 17:11 · 2 Timothy 3:16
ReadThe Reformation: Luther, Calvin, and the Protestant break
In 1517 a German monk and professor, Martin Luther, posted (or circulated) his Ninety-Five Theses protesting the sale of indulgences, payments said to reduce punishment for sin.
Romans 1:17 · Ephesians 2:8 · Romans 3:28
ReadThe Catholic response: Trent and the Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church did not stand still. Its answer, the Counter-Reformation (or Catholic Reformation), reformed abuses the Reformers had attacked while firmly reaffirming the disputed doctrines.
James 2:24 · James 2:17
ReadThe branches today: one faith, many traditions
Out of this history come the three great families of Christians alive today, which together with the ancient Oriental Orthodox make up the whole.
John 17:21 · 1 Corinthians 1:10 · Ephesians 4:5
ReadThe modern era: mission, division, and renewed dialogue
The last few centuries carried Christianity far beyond Europe.
Matthew 28:19 · Acts 1:8
ReadThe honest bottom line
Two thousand years turned a persecuted Galilean movement into a global family of billions, legalized under Constantine, defined at Nicaea and Chalcedon, split East from West in 1054, fractured again at the Reformation…
John 17:21 · Matthew 16:18
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This is the shared history of Christians who now divide into Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. On every contested turn, the authority of the pope, the filioque, whether justification is by faith alone, we give each tradition’s view in its own terms and pick no winner; each should find its own described fairly. The backbone is Philip Schaff’s public-domain History of the Christian Church, with the Nicene Creed and the councils’ own definitions, synthesized in our words.
9 chapters, every one citing its sources. See our sources and licences.
On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.