Son shine every day
Heavenly Son shine like the month of May
When the living God shines the light my way

Son shine Heavenly son shine
Son shine every day
Son shine Heavenly son shine
Son shine like the month of May

Son shine come warm my heart
Heavenly son shine and set this ground apart
And let the living Word find a brand new start

Son shine light up my soul
Heavenly Son shine and let the good life grow
And let the living Word plant His roots below

Before him are the souls of men
     Bound for heaven or hell;
An open Bible in his hand,
     And yet he will not tell
All the truth that’s written there;
     To them ‘twould be an offense.
The joys of heaven, the woes of hell.
     A preacher on the fence.

Now surely God has called a man
     To battle for the right;
‘Tis his to ferret out the wrong,
     And turn on us the light. 
And yet he dare not tell the truth;
     He fears the consequence;
The most disgusting thing on earth
     Is a preacher on the fence.

If he should stand up for the wrong,
     The right he’d not defend.
If he should stand up for the right,
     The wrong he would offend.
His mouth is closed; he cannot speak
     For freedom or against.
Great God, please deliver us
     From a preacher on the fence!

But soon both sides will find him out,
     And brand him as a fraud.
A coward who dares not to please
    the devil or his God.
Oh Lord, free us from fear of man;
     From cowardly pretense;
Cleanse out the dross and fear of loss,
     And keep us off the fence!

Download the pocket guide:
Atonement - pdf

What’s Wrong With Modern Translations?

The Old Testament has been faithfully preserved by the Jews in what is known as the Masoretic Text. There are few translation problems with the Old Testament.

However, most modern translations, from the Revised Standard Version (RSV) to the New International Version (NIV), use as their source for the New Testament a Greek Text based upon the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus of the fourth century. This text, publicized by Westcott and Hort, is also known as the Alexandrian Text. It originated in Egypt and has been massaged by “higher critics” down through the ages. These manuscripts, used in the RSV, represent less than 5% of known Greek Biblical manuscripts, but are supposedly more authentic because they are “old.”

The bulk of New Testament manuscripts were copied century after century from earlier ones as they wore out. Older copies did not survive because these texts were used until worn out. This text, the so-called “Received Text” or “Byzantine Text” (also termed “Syrian”, “Antioch”, or Koine text) was used in the King James Version. Nearly 4,000 manuscripts of this Byzantine or Official Text agree almost perfectly with each other, and are a far better standard to go by than corrupt copies no matter how early they were made. Located primarily at Mt. Athos in Greece, copies of the Official Greek Text give us a very reliable record of the New Testament scriptures.

Proof the Received Text is Correct

Jay P. Green, Sr., General Editor and Translator of the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, states in his preface:

“The market-place is being glutted with new books which are being represented as versions of the Bible. Each one claims to be the very word of God, yet there are literally thousands of differences between them . . . . they all leave out dozens of references to the deity of Jesus Christ, and they add words which tend to question His virgin birth, His substitutionary, fully satisfying atonement. This is due to their decision to depend upon an Alexandrian [Egyptian] textbase, instead of that body of God’s words which has been universally received and believed in for nineteen centuries, known to us as the Received Text. These new versions [such as the NIV, New Jerusalem Bible and others] are not only marked by additions, but also by subtractions, since some four whole pages of words, phrases, sentences and verses have been omitted by these new versions. And these are words attested to as God’s words by overwhelming evidence contained in all the Greek manuscripts . . . .

” . . . it has been written, ‘For I say to you, Until the heavens and the earth pass away, in no way shall pass away one iota or one point from the Law, until all things come to pass.’- -Matthew 5:18 [Green's paraphrased] . . . .

“What then is the evidence these Bible-alterers offer to persuade you to give up the precious words they have removed from their versions? Mainly, they cite two manuscripts, admittedly old, but also admittedly carelessly executed. The Sinaiticus was so poorly executed that seven different hands of ‘textual critics’ can be discerned as they tried to impose their views on the Bible . . . it was discarded, found in a wastebasket fourteen centuries after it was executed. The Vaticanus manuscript lay on a shelf in the Vatican library at Rome until 1431, and was considered so corrupt that no one would use it . . . . they have systematically removed Luke’s witness to the ascension of Christ–and of course they have done away entirely with Mark’s witness to the ascension, simply because these last twelve verses do not appear in those two corrupt manuscripts, the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus . . . .

” . . . Origen, an early textual critic . . . said, that ‘the Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written’ . . . . given the opportunity, many like Origen will actually alter the manuscripts to make them say what they understand them to mean….Justin Martyr, Valentinus, Clement of Alexandria, Marcion, Tatian, and a horde of others practiced their ‘textual science’ by operating on manuscripts, or by writing their own ‘versions’ . . . .

” . . . Today there are more than 5,000 manuscripts and lectionaries in Greek as witnesses to the New Testament text. And 95% of them witness to the Received Text readings [contained in Green's Interlinear and the King James Version]. Partly due to the fact that ancient manuscripts containing the Received Text were worn out by use, while the Alexandrian textbase manuscripts were preserved by the dry conditions of Egypt, some have sought to discredit the Received Text because they say it is not ancient. But now that manuscript portions from the second century are being unearthed, it is found that many of the readings of the Received Text which had been tagged scornfully as ‘late readings’ by nearly unanimous consent of the ‘textual scientists’ are appearing in these [newly found] manuscripts. Readings which were before called late and spurious have been found in these early-date manuscripts . . . . Yet strangely, in textual criticism classes, such discoveries are swept under the rug, not reported to the class.”

We use the King James Version exclusively as our main study Bible, only using other translations to aid study of certain passages, to get another perspective. The fact that modern versions slavishly depend on the Egyptian and Vaticancorruptions of the New Testament should make us avoid them as a “main Bible.”

This is part 7 of a 7 part series and covers 1900 A.D. — 2000 A.D.

Part 1: 44 B.C. — 99 A.D.
Part 2: 100 A.D. — 499 A.D.
Part 3: 500 A.D. — 999 A.D.
Part 4: 1000 A.D. — 1399 A.D.
Part 5: 1400 A.D. — 1599 A.D.
Part 6: 1600 A.D. — 1899 A.D.
Part 7: 1900 A.D. — 2000 A.D.

1901 American Standard Version of the Bible, a revision of the RV, is published. It included words/phrases preferred by Americans and follows Greek order of words.

1901 Pentecostal Church formed in Topeka, Kansas in reaction to loss of evangelical fervor among Methodists and other denominations.

1901 Agnes Ozman, on January 1, is noted as the first person of the 20th century to experience speaking in Tongues. From this event in Topeka, KS., the modern-day Pentecostal movement is born and flourishes under Charles Parham and black pastor William Seymour at the Azusa Street Revival in Southern California. Noteworthy also for its integrated worship services in an age of racial segregation. Parham will eventually separate from Seymour over the latter’s welcoming Occultists and Spiritists into the revival. Parham, a white supremist, will eventually join the Ku Klux Klan. 

1910 – 1915 The Fundamentals, a 12-volume collection of essays by 64 British and American scholars and preachers, becomes the ideological inspiration and foundation of Fundamentalism.

1913: Ohio-born Methodist evangelist George Bennard introduced his new hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross,” during a revival he was conducting at Pokagon, Michigan.

1913 – 1924 James Moffat Bible writes the first one-man translation in almost 400 years

1914 William Durham founds the Assemblies of God, what will eventually be the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.

1917 Reported apparition of Mary in Fatima, Portugal – “miracle of the sun” witnessed by between 70,000 and 100,000 people and considered “worthy of belief” by the Catholic Church.

1918: Brazil’s first Pentecostal Church was established by missionaries Daniel Berg and Adolf Gunnar Vingren. The new congregation was registered as an “Assembly of God” church.

1925 Scopes Trial, in which John T. Scopes is convicted of teaching evolution in a public school.

1925: The United Church of Canada was formed, uniting both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations of Canada. The merger also took in 3,000 independent Canadian Congregational churches.

1933 William Branham, who will eventually be hailed as the “End-Times prophet Elijah”, and whose name will be legend within many Pentecostal groups, begins his ministry. Throughout his career he will evidence a host of supernatural events in his ministry, ostensibly done through the power of an angel. Branham will teach a Holiness-based doctrine of salvation and will deny the Trinity. Many will consider him a false prophet over his beliefs.

1934: Wycliffe Bible Translators held its first study course in linguistics at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. The training session lasted 3 months.

1936: The Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) was organized in Philadelphia. In 1938 the denomination changed its name to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

1942: Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM) was incorporated in Philadelphia. Today this interdenominational mission agency works in a dozen countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa.

1948 Israel formed as a nation.

1949 Discovery of Qumran (Essene?) scrolls, aka Dead Sea scrolls

1950 All missionaries forced to leave China.

1957 United Church of Christ founded by the ecumenical union of Evangelical and Reformed Christians with Congregationalists; comprised of both Calvinists and Lutherans.

1962 – 1965 Second Vatican Council, the 21st ecumenical council, was called by Pope John XXIII in 1959 and produced 16 documents which became official after approval by the Pope. Its purpose was to renew “ourselves and the flocks committed to us” (Pope John XXIII).

1963 William Branham dies in a car wreck.

1966 RSV Catholic Edition, a joint effort between Catholics and the Church of England, is published, representing a big step towards a common Catholic/Protestant Bible.

1967 Israel ‘recaptures’ Jerusalem.

1970: The complete New American Standard Version of the Bible (NASB) was first published. (The completed NASB New Testament had been released earlier, in 1963.)

1971 New American Standard Bible written, updating the ASV using recent Hebrew and Greek textual discoveries.

1973: The American Society of Missiology was founded in St. Louis. The ecumenical organization seeks to stimulate an academic interest in Christian missions, and publishes the journal Missiology: An International Review.

1975 first woman rabbi ordained

1977 Ordination of the first female Episocopal priest.

1977: Joseph Lason was installed as Bishop of Biloxi, Mississippi, becoming the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop consecrated since the 19th century.

1978 New International Version published. It used eclectic Greek text, Massoretic Hebrew text, and current English style.

1978: Through the voice of its president Spencer W. Kimball, the Mormon Church reversed a 148-year-long policy of spiritual discrimination against African-American leadership within the denomination.

1979 – 1982 New King James Bible, a complete revision of the 1611 KJV, updates archaisms while retaining style.

1983: The Presbyterian Church (USA) was formed in Atlanta, through a reunification of the United Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA) and the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS).

1984 Italy ends Roman Catholicism as a state religion.

1994 In October, Belgian homeopathic preacher Luc Jouret leads his cult of roughly 50 followers to their deaths in Canada and Switzerland.

2000 Pope John Paul II offers apology and asks for forgiveness for Catholicism’s history of “violence in the service of truth.”

This is part 6 of a 7 part series and covers 1600 A.D. — 1899 A.D.

Part 1: 44 B.C. — 99 A.D.
Part 2: 100 A.D. — 499 A.D.
Part 3: 500 A.D. — 999 A.D.
Part 4: 1000 A.D. — 1399 A.D.
Part 5: 1400 A.D. — 1599 A.D.
Part 6: 1600 A.D. — 1899 A.D.
Part 7: 1900 A.D. — 2000 A.D.

1600 Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for supporting Copernican astronomy.

1604 The homosexual King James of England (actually a Scot) (1566 – 1625) of England commissions the “King James” translation of the Bible. He also bans the Jesuits.

1608 John Smyth (c. 1570 – 1612) establishes the Baptist Church.

1609 Christianized Muslims, called Moriscos, are expelled from Spain, depriving Spain of much of its learned class.

1611 First appearance of the King James Bible. 

1616 The Church prohibits Galileo from further scientific work.

1618 Protestant uprising in Bohemia begins the Thirty Years’ War.

1619 On February 9, Humanist Lucilio Vanini is tortured and burnt at the stake for atheism.

1620 English Puritans, known as Pilgrims, establish a colony in America at Plymouth Rock to escape religious pluralism in England.

1621 Church bans Johann Kepler’s The Epitome of the Copernican Astronomer.

1622:june 6 Gregory XV published the bull Inscrutabili Divinae, which reminded the Church of its mission to the newly discovered native populations in the recently discovered Americas.

1622-1625  Execution of Christian missionaries to Japan reaches its high point.

1633 On June 21, Galileo is forced by the Inquisition to renounce theories of Copernicus. Descartes stops publishing in France in response to the Church’s attacks on Galileo.

1636 Harvard founded as a religious college.

1637 Japanese outlaw Christianity, foreign books, and contact with Europeans.

1641 Catholics massacre Protestants in Ulster.

1642 - 1649 Puritans and Prebyterians on one side battle with Anglicans and Catholics on the other side in the English Civil War.

1646 Presbyerianism is established as the national religion in England by the Long Parliament. Lasts through English Civil War and afterward, during interregnum.

1648, George Fox (1624 – 1691) founds the Society of Friends (Quakers), repudiating the use of violence and oathswearing. Quakers also worship without ministers or liturgy, teaching the existence of an “inner light” of divine revelation.

1648 Thirty Years’ War ends with the Peace of Westphalia, with Germany divided between Catholic and Protestant states.

1650 Archbishop James Ussher of Ireland cites Bible to calculate life emerged on Sunday, October 23, -4004.

1655 Cromwell permits the Jews to return to England.

1660 The Amsterdam Synagogue officially petitions the municipal authorities to denounce Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza as a “menace to all piety and morals.”

1662 Book of Common Prayer established as the only legal form of worship in England by the Act of Uniformity.

1664 First women condemned as witches in the New World.

1670 Jews banished from Austria.

1670 German pastor Philipp Jacob Spener (1635 – 1714) leads the German Pietism movement, which emphasizes pious living and personal experiences of faith.

1673 Roman Catholics and nonconformists in England are deprived of public office by the Test Act.

1689 Dissenters from the Church of England are granted rights by the Act of Toleration. Catholics excluded from the English throne by the English Bill of Rights.

1692: Bridget Bishop became the first person hanged for witchcraft, during the ordeal known to history as the “Salem Witch Trials.” In all, 20 people died before theological jurisprudence was restored in this isolated Puritan community in Massachusetts

1706 Irish churchman Francis Makemie (c. 1658 – 1708) establishes the Presbyterian church in America.

1719 Jesuits expelled from Russia.

1720 – 1760 American colonies experience the Great Awakening, involving widespread conversions to charismatic Protestant churches emphasizing personal piety and individual interpretations of the Bible.

1723 England allows Jews to take oaths without the words, “On the true faith of a Christian.”

1732: Englishman James Oglethorpe received a royal charter to form the American colony of Georgia. It was to be a place of refuge for sectarian Protestant believers, persecuted in England.

1738 Methodist Church founded by Rev. John Wesley (1703 – 1791).

1739: English founder of Methodism John Wesley stated in his journal: “I look upon all the world as my parish.”

1767 Jesuits expelled from Spain, Parma, and the Two Sicilies.

1773: Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: “Duty is our part; the care is His.”

1776: Francis Salvador, a plantation owner from South Carolina, became the first Jew to die for American independence, when he was killed in a skirmish with the British.

1777 Christianity is introduced into Korea.

1784 John Wesley writes the Deed of Declaration, the basic work of Methodism.

1784: In the first step toward formal organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., Father John Carroll was appointed superior of the American missions by Pius VI.

1789 Protestant Episcopal Church is founded in America as an independent branch of Anglicism.

1799 Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768 – 1834) publishes Religion: Speeches to Its Cultural Despisers, initiating the Romantic movement which emphasized religious emotions over 18th century rationalism.

1799: Richard Allen (1760-1831), first African- American bishop in the U.S., was ordained a deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.

1825 French law makes sacrilege a capital offense.

1827 Mormon Church founded by Joseph Smith as a result of reported visions of the Angel Moroni.

1831 London Presbyterian pastor Edward Irving and associates start the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement by encouraging Spiritual Gifts at Regents Square Presbyterian Church.

1832 Church of Christ (Disciples) organized. It was primarily comprised of Presbyterians in distress over Protestant factionalism and decline of fervor.

1834 Spanish Inquisition finally abolished.

1834: English Baptist missionary pioneer William Carey died at 73. Having translated portions of Scripture into as many as 25 languages, he is known by some today as the “father of modern missions.”

1850: Birth of David C. Cook, pioneer developer of Sunday School curriculum. In 1875, Cook founded the David C. Cook Publishing Co., headquartered today in Elgin, Illinois.

1850: The American Bible Union was founded, organized by church leaders who had broken from the American and Foreign Bible Society

1852  - 1922  Life of Charles Taze Russell, who founded the Jehovah’s Witnesses movement in the 1870s.

1854: Eventually to become the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop, James Augustine Healy, 24, was ordained a priest in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.

1858 Reported apparition of Mary in Lourdes, France, considered “worthy of belief” by the Catholic Church.

1861 Vatican Council I affirms Papal Infallibility when the Pope speaks ex cathedra.

1867 Start of the American Holiness movement by the Methodists, who proclaim that a second blessing of sanctification is available to believers. This will eventually grow into the concept that Baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in Tongues, is a second blessing for Christians.

1869 – 1870 First Vatican Council, 20th ecumenical, affirms doctrine of papal infallibility (i.e., when a pope speaks ex cathedra on faith or morals he does so with the supreme apostolic authority, which no Catholic may question or reject).

1874: Patrick Francis Healy was inaugurated president of Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in America. Healy at the same time became the first African-American to head a predominantly white university.

1882: Blind Scottish Presbyterian clergyman George Matheson penned the words to the hymn, ” Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.”

1881  - 1894  Revised Version of the Bible, called for by Church of England, is created. It used the Septuagint (B) and (S) as well as the Massoretic text for the OT and included the Apocrypha.More accurate than previous versions, its scholarship was never disputed.

1889: Death of Horatius Bonar, 81, Scottish preacher and author of the hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.”

1896 Billy Sunday (1863 – 1955), American Presbyterian evangelist, begins preaching. His road shows attract huge crowds and foreshadows evangelists and televangelists in modern America.

This is part 5 of a 7 part series and covers 1400 A.D. — 1599 A.D.

Part 1: 44 B.C. — 99 A.D.
Part 2: 100 A.D. — 499 A.D.
Part 3: 500 A.D. — 999 A.D.
Part 4: 1000 A.D. — 1399 A.D.
Part 5: 1400 A.D. — 1599 A.D.
Part 6: 1600 A.D. — 1899 A.D.
Part 7: 1900 A.D. — 2000 A.D.

1400 Czech students of John Wycliffe bring Wycliffism to the Bohemian capital of Prague. Preacher John Hus (1373-1415 CE) adopts Wyclif’s theories to support his own claims against ecclesiastical extravagance.

1401 England introduces de Heretico Comburendo, giving the Church power over heresy.

1408 Council of Oxford forbids translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular unless and until they were fully approved by Church authority; sparked by the Wycliffite Bible.

1409 Council of Pisa attempts to end the Great Schism by declaring both rival popes deposed and electing a third: Pope Alexander V. Previous two popes remain instransigent, resulting in three rival popes.

1409 Pope Alexander V publicly burns 200 of John Wycliffe’s writings.

1414 A Lollard uprising in England fails. Some Lollards retreat underground and aid the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.

1415 John Hus travels to the Council of Constance to propose his reforms for the Church. Upon his arrival at the Council, Hus is tried for heresy and burned. His death encourages futher revolt by his followers.

1417 The Council of Constance, the largest Church meeting in medieval history, finally ends the Great Schism. The council gains secular support and elects Martin V as pope, deposing all three rival popes. It also replaces papal monarchy with a conciliar government, which recognizes a council of prelates as the pope’s authority, and mandates the frequent meeting of the council. This new period is known as the Italian territorial papacy, which lasts until 1517 CE.

1420 Hus’ supporters defeat German “crusaders.” The lower-class Hussites are led by General John Zizka.

1427 Thomas a Kempis writes The Imitation of Christ, a manual directing the individual through Orthodox mysticism. Originally in Latin, it is translated into European languages for the lay audience. Its major themes concern the path of Christian piety for those active in everyday life, communion with Christ, biblical meditation and a moral life. The only sacrament suggested is the Eucharist.

1429 Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc; 1412 – 1431), a peasant girl in France, seeks out the French leader and relates her divinely-inspired mission to drive the English out of France. She takes control of the French troops and liberates most of central France.

1430  Joan of Arc is captured and taken to England. The English accuse her of being a witch and condemn her for heresy. Joan is publicly burned in the city of Rouen.

1451 (Pope) Nicholas V bans social contact between Christians and Jews.

1453 The last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI, leads a force of 4,000 troops and succeeds in holding off 160,000 advancing Turks for seven weeks. The Ottomans defeat the Byzantine Empire and continue expanding into the Balkans. The Ottoman Turkish Empire moves its capital from Bursa to Istanbul (Constantinople). After 1500, the Moguls (1526-1857 CE) and the Safavids (1520-1736 CE) follow the military example set by the Ottomans and create two new empires

1456 Gutenburg Bible printed.

1473 Sistine Chapel built under supervision of Giovanni de Dolci.

1478 Spanish Inquisition established by Ferdinand and Isabella with the consent of Pope Sixtus IV. The main goal was to punish and persecute all of the “converted” Jews who still managed to practice their old faith in secret.

1483 Martin Luther born at Eisleben, Germany, November 10.

1484 Pope Innocent VIII officially denounces pagan practices.

1487 Henry VII of England removes the right of the accused heretics to know the names of their accusers.

1488 (Pope) Eugenius IV prohibits anti-Jewish sermons.

1488 - 1569  Life of Miles Coverdale, an Augustinian friar who left the Order, repudiated Catholicism and became the first Protestant Bishop of Exeter.

1491 – 1569 Life of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order (see 1534).

1492 The Jews are expelled from Spain.

1492 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain. With the help of Tourquemada, Grand Inquisitor, they also force the conversion or expussion of all Jews in Spain.

1499 Francisco Jime’nez forces mass conversion of Moors.

1501 Church orders books against papal authority burned.

1505  - 1572   Life of John Knox, Protestant reformer in Scotland

1506 Pope Julius II orders the old St Peter’s Basilica torn down and authorizes Donato Bramante to plan a new structure, demolition completed in 1606.

1506 Approximately 3,000 converted Jews are slaughtered in a Lisbon riot.

1507 Martin Luther ordained and celebrates first Mass.

1508 Martin Luther has the revelation that a man is saved by faith in Christ alone, apart from either works or the Sacraments.

1508 Michelangelo frescoes the Sistine Chapel’s vaulted ceiling.

1509 Pope Julius II excommunicates the city of Venice.

1509 – 1564 Life of John Calvin. Calvin preached predetermination and that good conduct and success were signs of election.

1514 Albrecht becomes archbishop of Mainz and sells indulgences in return for contributions to building the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

1516 (Pope) Paul IV creates Jewish ghettos in Venice.

1517 Luther nails his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg.

1518 At meeting of Augustinians in Heidelberg, Martin Luther defends his theology. In October, Luther appears before Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg, but refuses to recant. In December, his prince, Frederick the Wise, refuses to hand him over to Rome.

1519 Martin Luther claims to understand the “righteousness of God” as “passive righteousness with which God justifies us by faith” [some scholars date this discovery earlier].In July he debates Catholic Professor John Eck at Leipzig and denies supreme authority of popes and councils.

1520 Papal bull Exsurge Domine gives Luther 60 days to recant or be excommunicated. Luther writes his 3 seminal treatises, To the Christian Nobility, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of a Christian. Luther burns the papal bull excommunicating him as well as books of canon law.

1520 Anabaptist movement develops in Switzerland and Germany. Anabaptists are harshly persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants. Anabaptists deny any efficacy in infant baptism and renounce the use of violence.

1521 Luther excommunicated.

1521 Martin Luther is condemned as a heretic and outlaw at the Diet of Worms in April. On trial before Emperor Charles V and other leaders of church and state, he refuses to recant his writings. After the Diet of Worms, he is “kidnapped” by Frederick the Wise and hidden at Wartburg Castle. There he begins translating the New Testament.

1522 In March, Luther comes out of hiding and returns to Wittenberg, helping to reestablish order there.

1522 Martin Luther finishes New Testament translation, first published in September.

1522 Zwingli condems priesthood celibacy.

1524 South German peasant uprising, inspired by Luther’s reform work but repressed with Luther’s support, begins 150 years of religious wars.

1525 - 1534 Tyndale’s translation of the NT from the Greek text of Erasmus (1466). Used as a vehicle by Tyndale for bitter attacks on the Church, it reflects the influence of Luther’s NT of 1522 in rejecting “priest” for “elder,” “church” for “congregation.”

1529  Luther publishes Large Catechism and Small Catechism.

1529 The term “Protestant” originates at the Diet of Speyer when supporters of Luther formally protest the imperial efforts to limit the spread of Lutheranism.

1529 Royal decree in Denmark makes Lutheranism the sole religion.

1530 Luther, as an outlaw, cannot attend Diet of Augsburg, held in attempt to end religious division in the Holy Roman Empire. Philipp Melanchthon, Luther’s co-worker, presents the Augsburg Confession, a statement of Lutheran beliefs and thus founds the Lutheran church. Luther and Zwingli (Swiss Protestant leader) agree on 14 of the 15 articles of faith, but disagree on the significance of the Lord’s Supper.

1531 Reported apparition of Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico; considered “worthy of belief” by the Catholic Church.

1531 Comet, eventually named “Haley’s” creates wave of superstition.

1531 Inquisition begins in Portugal.

1531 Lutheran states form the Schmalkaldic League as an alliance against the Holy Roman Empire.

1534 Luther publishes complete German Bible.

1534 Henry VIII breaks England away from the Catholic church, confiscates monastic property, and declares himself its head, thus beginning the Episcopal Church.

1534 Jesuit order founded by Loyola (1491-1556) which helped reconvert large areas of Poland, Hungary, and S. Germany, and sent missionaries to the New World, India, and China.

1535. John Calvin writes his famed work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin’s writings will forever influence the Protestant movement from that time forward. Calvin himself will cold-heartedly execute (in some cases by torture) more than 50 people he considers heretics, before his death.

1535 - 1537   Coverdale’s Bible (see 1488), used Tyndale’s (1525) translation along with Latin and German versions. It included the Apocrypha at the end of the OT (like Luther) as was done in later English versions. The 1537 edition received royal license, but was banned in 1546.

1536 Luther agrees to the Wittenberg Concord on the Lord’s Supper in an attempt to resolve differences with other reformers, but the Zwinglians do not accept it.

1536: Ten Articles of Religion were published by the English clergy, in support of Henry VIII’s Declaration of Supremacy. The Anglican Church had begun defining its doctrinal distinctions, after breaking with Roman Catholicism.

1536 Tyndale put to death.

1536 John Calvin publishes the first edition of his work Institutes of the Christian Religion, destined to become one of the most influential works of Protestantism. The book details his theology of humanity’s depravity, the necessity of grace for salvation and predestination.

1537  - 1551  Circulation of the Matthew Bible by John Rogers (1500-1555). This translation was based on Tyndale and Coverdale and received royal license, but was not authorized for use in public worship. There were numerous editions.

1538 Luther writes Against the Jews.

1539-1569 Circulation of the Great Bible by Thomas Cromwell. This was the first English Bible to be authorized for public use in English churches. While defective in many places, it was based on Tyndale’s NT of 1534-1535 and corrected by a Latin version of the Hebrew OT, the Latin Bible of Erasmus, and the Complutensian Polyglot. The last edition appeared in 1569; it was never denounced by the Church of England.

1540 Ignatius founds the Jesuit order.

1541 The Moslems seal up the Golden Gate to prevent, as the Jewish tradition asserts, the the entrance point of the Messiah into Jerusalem.

1541 – 1564  Calvin heads a theocratic Protestant government in Geneva, Switzerland.

1542 Pope Paul II establishes the Universal Inquisition in Rome. Dominican cardinals try alleged heretics with no legal counsel.

1543 Spanish Catholics begin burning Protestants at the stake.
Nikolaus Copernicus refuses to publish De Revolutionibus Orbitum Coelestium out of fear of Church censure.

1544 Sweden makes Lutheranism the official state religion and bans Catholic worship.

1545 Council of Trent forms to respond to the schism started by Luther, eventually ratifying a number of key doctrines which affect the Catholic church to this day. Included are: Faith alone is not sufficient for salvation; Scripture and tradition hold equal value; the seven Sacraments are necessary for salvation; Transubstantiation formally acknowledged; priests forbidden to marry; Catholic canon of Scripture formally ratified.

1545 Luther writes Against the Papacy at Rome, an Institution of the Devil.

1545 - 1563   Council of Trent.This council marks the beginning of the Catholic Reformation, or counter-reformation. It sought to meet the challenge of Protestantism and clearly define an official theology.

1546 Luther dies.

1546 King Henry VIII forbids anyone to have a copy of Tyndale’s or Coverdale’s NT.

1546 On August 3, Etienne Dolet is hanged and burnt at the stake as a heretic and blasphemer for printing the works of humanists, including Erasmus.

1549 St. Francis Xavier arrives in Japan and introduces Christianity.

1549 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church) is adopted in England, establishing a liturgy and practice for the Church of England.

1549: In England, Parliament established a uniformity of religious services and the first Book of Common Prayer, as Anglicanism became the newly established national faith.

1553 – 1558 Catholic Queen Mary (1516 – 1558) reigns in England, persecuting Protestants and restoring Catholicism as the official religion.

1555 Peace of Augsburg reduces religious hostilities in Holy Roman Empire by allowing princes to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism for their subjects.

1555 Pope Paul IV orders a wall built to create the first Jewish ghetto.

1558 Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) succeeds Mary as Queen of England and restores Protesantism as the official religion. The Puritan movement develops among those dissatisfied with her reforms of the church.

1560 Publishing of the Geneva Bible. The NT was a revision of Matthew’s version of Tyndale with the use of Beza’s NT (1556); the OT a thorough revision of Great Bible. It was appointed to be read in Scotland (but not England), and there were at least 140 editions.

1560 Scotch Presbyterian Church founded by John Knox (1505-1572), a disciple of Calvin, due to disagreement with Lutherans over sacraments and church government.

1562 (Pope) Gregory introduces his famed calendar, changing the New Year from April 1 to January 1.

1562 War of Religion begins in France between Catholics and French Protestants (Huguenots).

1563 Thirty-nine Articles of faith are adopted by the Anglican Church as orthodox beliefs.

1564 To commute his death sentence from the Inquisition for dissecting human bodies, Andreas Vesalius makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

1570 Pope Pius V (1504 – 1572) excommunicates English queen Elizabeth I.

1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day in France: Thousands of French Calvinists are murdered.

1577 Orthodox creeds of Lutheranism are established as Lutheran churches accept the Book of Concord.

1582 Douay Version of the New Testament (English translation) is completed. After the Old Testament translation is completed in 1610, this becomes the first English translation of the Bible authorized by and for Roman Catholics.

1582 Gregorian calendar is introduced into Roman Catholic countries.

1584 Reginald Scot attacks superstition in The Discoverie of Witchcraft.

1587 Christians persecuted in Japan for the first time. Hideyoshi bans Christianity from Japan when he is refused sex for religious reasons.

1593 Diet of Uppsala in Sweden upholds Martin Luther’s doctrines.

1596 Ukranian Catholic Church forms when Ukranian subjects of the king of Poland are reunited with Rome; largest Byzantine Catholic Church.

1598 French king Henry IV (1553 – 1610) issues the Edict of Nantes, ending the bloody Wars of Religion and granting religious freedom to Protestants.

This is part 4 of a 7 part series and covers 1000 A.D. — 1399 A.D.

Part 1: 44 B.C. — 99 A.D.
Part 2: 100 A.D. — 499 A.D.
Part 3: 500 A.D. — 999 A.D.
Part 4: 1000 A.D. — 1399 A.D.
Part 5: 1400 A.D. — 1599 A.D.
Part 6: 1600 A.D. — 1899 A.D.
Part 7: 1900 A.D. — 2000 A.D.

1000: Scandinavia and Hungary converted to Christianity.

1032: (Pope) Benedict IX, a teenage boy, made Pope through bribery. He becomes perhaps the worst pope in recorded history and is driven out of Rome by an enraged populace.

1054: Schism between the Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches finalizes long-standing split between the chuches. Pope Leo IX (1002 – 1054) and Patriarch Michael Cerularius exchange anathemas of excommunication.

1059: The College of Cardinals is established as the body responsible for electing popes.

1071: Turkish armies are victorious over Byzantine forces in the Battle of Manzikert, leading to a sharp decline in the power of the Byzantine Empire.

1073: Pope Gregory VII (c. 1020 – 1085) begins his widespread and famous reforms of church practice, liturgies and administration.

1074: Pope Gregory VII excommunicates all married priests.

1075: The Investiture fight begins between Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman emperor Henry VI (1050 – 1106), in which Gregory denies Henry the traditional right to appoint bishops. Henry, who does not accept this quietly is eventually excommunicated and deposed in 1077, but Henry and his supporters, along with an army, drive Gregory into exile during an invasion of Italy (1081 – 1083).

1080: Order of the Hospital of St. John founded in Italy. This special order of knights was dedicated to guarding a pilgrim hospital, or hostel, in Jerusalem. Order not officially acknowledged until 1113 by the Pope.

1085: At the Council of Clermont, the First Crusade (out of a total of eight official crusades) is called by Pope Urban II (c. 1035 – 1099) against Muslims in the Holy Lands.

1095: The first of eventually seven crusades begin in the Holy Land at the behest of (Pope) Urban II.

1096-1099:  First Crusade actually carried out in an effort to aid Byzantine Christians against Muslim invaders.

1099: Crusaders sack Jerusalem, killing 40,000.

1100: A new asceticism is sought for monks who wish to engage in contemplation and self-examination. Two new orders are created: the Carthusian and the Cistercian. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, leader of the Cistercians, establishes 343 monasteries before he dies. Accompanying the fervent worship of Jesus during this period is the pronouncement of the Virgin Mary as a saint. This is the first time a woman is given central significance in the Christian religion.

1100-1300: Construction of the famous cathedral in Chartres, France.

1119: Hugues de Payens founds the Order of Knights Templars in Jerusalem. Name comes from the fact that their headquarters was on the site of Solomon’s Temple.

1122: Diet of Worms finally brings an end to the long-standing investiture fight with a compromise which retains church authority over Europe.

1123: First Lateran Council. Summoned by Pope Calixtus II to signal the end of the investiture controversy by confirming the Concordat of Worms (1122). It was held in the Lateran Palace, Rome, making it the first council to be held in Western Europe. Many of the council’s decrees became part of the evolving corpus of medieval Latin canon law.

1135: Maimonides, father of modern Sephardic Judaism, born; his writings forever influence both Judaism and Islam.

1136: The abbé Suger develops the rose window.

1139: Second Lateran Council. Convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Innocent II, the council attempted to heal the wounds left by the schism of the antipope Anacletus II (d. 1138) and condemned the theories of Arnold of Brescia.  Among the council’s canons were prohibitions of clerical concubinage and marriage and of the use of bows and crossbows in fighting Christians; simony and usury were also condemned.

1147: Second Crusade begins following an appeal by St. Bernard of Clarivaux. Lasts until 1149.

1155: Pope Adrian IV gives Ireland to Henry II of England.

1170: Thomas a Beckett, archbishop of Canterbury since 1162, is executed for opposing the king’s attempts to limit the church’s power.

1179: Third Lateran Council. Convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Alexander III after the Peace of Venice (1178) had reconciled him with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, it included an envoy from the Orthodox Greeks. The most important legislation was the first canon, which confirmed that the election of the pope was thereafter to be in the hands of the cardinals alone, two thirds being necessary for election. The council also condemned usury, tournaments, and brigandage. The Albigenses and Waldenses were condemned. The legislation from this council formed an important part of the evolving canonical tradition in the 12th and 13th centuries

1118-1314: AD Palestina

Templars keep in Jerusalem the most important relics of Christendom. Philip of France arrests all of them, accusing them of
heresy. Someone of them survives in Spain, England, Scotland, Germany and Hungary.

1182: Philip II banishes the Jews from France.

1189: Third Crusade begins, lead by Frederick Barbarossa, Philip of France and Richard of England. Frederick drowns the next year on the way to Palestine – German folklore develops that he is hidden in a mountain waiting to return and lead Germany to a new and brighter future. Crusade ends in 1192.

1189: Jews massacred at the coronation of Richard I.

1198 - 1216:  Power of the medieval papacy reaches its height with the reign of Innocent III (1161 – 1216) who manages to excommunicate both Holy Roman emperor Otto IV (1182 – 1218) and King John of England (c. 1167 – 1216) in 1209.

1200(?): The Jewish mystic movement Cabala develops in France and spreads to Spain. Cabalists believe that every word, letter and number in the Bible can reveal hidden mysteries via cabalistic interpretation.

1202: Fourth Crusade is launched.

1204: Venetians convince the soldiers of the fourth crusade to attack Constantinople before moving on to the Holy Land. The residents of the City suffer the worst devastation in Constantinople’s history, and Venice reaps the spoils. After Constantinople is sacked by Western Crusaders on the Fourth Crusade, Latin domination of the Eastern Church begins. Thomas Morosini of Venice is installed as patriarch of Constantinople, increasing the rivalry between Eastern and Western churches.

1206: St Dominic is supposedly given the rosary by the Virgin Mary.

1206: St. Francis of Assisi, at the age of twently-five, begins his twenty year allegiance to Christ until his death in 1226 CE. He founded of the Franciscan order which seeks to imitate the life of Jesus by embracing poverty. St. Francis wins the support of Pope Innocent III.

1208: St. Francis of Assisi renounces wealth to follow Christ.

1208: Crusade against the Albingensians (also known as Cathars) and Waldensians is launched in southern France by Pope Innocent III. In Beziers alone in 1209, at least 20,000 people are massacred.

1208: First recorded witchcraft trial in England. Gideon, alleged to be a sorcerer, is acquitted.

1212:  Spain reconquers the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims in the name of Christianity.

1212:  Childrens’ Crusade is launched. More than 50,000 children sold into slavery.

1215: Innocent III organizes the Fourth Lateran Council in Rome in order to discuss and define central dogmas of Christianity. It was one of the most important councils ever held, and its canons sum up Innocent’s ideas for the church. It recognizes the necessity of the Eucharist and penance as sacraments for salvation. This council established the requirements of confession at least once a year and communion at Easter time as the minimum requirement for church membership, called the Easter duty. Priests are forbidden to participate in trials by ordeal. The Council also called for the Fifth Crusade to be warred under papal guidance by sea.

1215: Pope Innocent III nullifies the Magna Carta.

1216: Spanish theologian Dominic (1170 – 1221) founds his own Dominican order of monks, who are dedicated to preaching, scholarship and teaching. The order is authorized by Innocent III. Its purpose is to convert Muslims and Jews and to put an end to heresy. The Dominicans eventually become the main administrators of inquisitorial trials.

1217: Fifth Crusade ends in failure.

1222: András II of Hungary issues A Golden Bull exempting clergy from taxation and refusing land or offices to Jews or foreigners.

1225 - 1274: Life of theologian Thomas Aquinas, who codifies the Catholic theology in works such as Summa Theologica, marking the high point of the medieval scholastic movement.

1228: Sixth Crusade.

1229: Inquisition forbids reading of Bible by lay persons.

1232: (Pope) Gregoory IX appoints the first inquisitors. 

1233: The Holy Inquisition is established by Pope Gregory IX (c. 1155 – 1241) in order to abolish heresy wherever it can be found. Domincans are assigned responsibility to carry out the Inquisition.

1248: Seventh Crusade

1258: The papacy approves the use of torture for religious disobedience, following Innocent III’s brutal “inquisitions” against heresy (namely the Waldensian and Albigensian heretics).

1258: Flagellants begin physically punishing themselves in the belief that this will prevent plagues.

1260: Date which a 1988 Vatican-sponsored scientific study places the origin of the Shroud of Turin.

1261: Michael Palaeologus (1224 – 1282) finally drives the Latin rulers out of Constantinople and reestablishes local Eastern Orthodox Rule.

1263: Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachmon wins a theological debate in Barcelona over Catholic scholars and is driven out of Spain. Jews thereafter, while forced into theological debates, are restricted in the way they may present arguments.

1269: Louis IX of France orders Jews to wear a purple badge.

1272: The last crusade ends.

1277: Roger Bacon is imprisoned for heresy.

1290: The Jews are expelled from England by Edward “Longshanks” (the evil king in Braveheart)

1291: Saracene armies capture Acre, the last Christian outpost in Palestine, thus officially ending the Crusades.

1302: Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – 1303) issues the papal bull Unum Sanctum, which declares that the pope has supreme and final authority in all matters, both civic and spiritual.

1302: On January 27, Dante Alighieri is fined and exiled from Florence by the Catholic Church.

1303: (Pope) Bonafice VIII issues the first papal letter to the Christian church; this is the first de facto use of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, although it isn’t formally ratified until the 1800s.

1303: Pope Boniface VIII is kidnapped by supporters of French King Philip IV (1268- 1314) after threatening to depose Philip. Boniface dies within a month.

1305: The 70-year “Babylonian Captivity” of the papacy begins when Pope Clement V (1260 – 1314) moves the papal residence and administrative offices to Avignon in France in order to escape the political turmoil raging in Italy.

1306: Philip IV expels the Jews from France.

1316: Pope sends eight Dominican monks to Ethiopia in search of Prester John, a legendary Christian emperor.

1322: Pope John XXII forbids contrapuntal music in churches.

1327: Born in 1260, German Dominican Master Eckhart defines the individual soul as a “spark” of the divine at its most basic element. By renouncing all knowledge of the self, one is able to retreat into that “spark” and reach God. Most of his teachings are condemned by the papacy. Two bands of mysticism arise from Eckhart’s theories: heterodox, the belief in the unification of God and man on earth without the aid of priests as intermediaries, and orthodox, the belief in the possibility of joining the soul with God and the awareness of divine presence in everyday life.

1335: Pope Benedict XII issues sweeping reforms of the monastic orders.

1343: William of Ockham’s Dialogues argue for separation of church and state.

1345: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, is completed.

1348: Jews blamed for Black Death and systematically persecuted.

1357: Earliest verifiable record of the Shroud of Turin. 

1376: John Wycliffe, an Oxford don, writes Civil Dominion calling for reforms in the Church

1378: The “Great Schism” begins when the election of Urban VI (c. 1318 – 1389) to the papacy is challenged by French cardinals, who in turn elect Clement VII (d. 1394) to the same office. Clement becomes known as the “antipope” and resides in Avignon. Both Rome and Avignon have rival popes for the next 40 years.

1382: John Wyclif publishes the first English Bible translated from the Vulgate.

1382: John Wycliffe is expelled from Oxford University because of his opposition to traditional Church doctrines.

1394 - 1423:  Benedict XIII is antipope at Avignon.

1391: Spanish Jews are forced to convert to Catholisicm for the sake of “social and sectarian uniformity.”

1399: In England, the death penalty becomes the punishment for heresy, and many Lollards, Wycliffe’s lay followers, convert.