Old Testament Writing Dates

• c. 2166 to c. 1876 Job
• c. 1446 to c. 1406 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
• c. 1406 to c. 1050 Joshua, Judges
• c. 1050 to c. 931 Ruth, Samuel, Psalms, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
• c. 875 Obadiah, Joel
• c. 790 Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah
• c. 732 to c. 726 Nahum, Zephaniah
• c. 640 Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk, Kings, Daniel, Ezekial
• c. 586 to c. 538 Haggai, Zechariah
• c. 458 Chronicles, Ezra, Esther
• c. 444 Nehemiah, Malachi

New Testament Writing Dates

• c. 50 I Thessalonians, II Thessalonians,
• c. 53 Galatians
• c. 55 Romans, I Corinthians,
• c. 57 II Corinthians, James (40 – 60 A.D.)
• c. 60 Mark, Luke, John, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon
• c. 62 I Timothy, II Timothy, Acts, Titus,
• c. 64 I Peter
• c. 66 II Peter
• c. 68 to 80 Hebrews
• c. 70-80 Mathew
• c. 90 I John, II John, III John, Jude
• c. 95 Revelation

4004 B.C.

• God created this world. Adam and Eve were His finishing touch. Gen.1
• The seven-day weekly cycle was established. Gen. 2:2
• The seventh-day Sabbath (rest) was instated. Gen. 2:1-3
• Evil entered this world. Gen. 3
• A deliverer was promised. Gen. 3:15
• Adam and Eve’s first two children, Cain and Abel, were born. Gen. 4:1-2
• The first murder was committed. Cain killed Abel and then moved to the eastern land of Nod. Gen. 4:3-16

3900 B.C.

• Cain’s first child, Enoch, was born. Enoch fathered sons and daughters. No dates or years were given in the line of Cain. Many discoveries and inventions were ascribed to the mental activity of Cain’s posterity.
• Seth was born to Adam and Eve. Seth lived 912 years and fathered sons and daughters. Seth carried on Adam’s godly family line.
• Cain’s first grandchild, Irad, son of Enoch was born.

3800 B.C.

• Seth’s first son, Enos, was born. Enos lived 905 years and fathered sons and daughters. According to Arabian tradition Enos prohibited intermarriages with the Cainites (descendants of Cain).
• Cain’s great grandchild, Mehujael, son of Irad was born.

3700 B.C.

• Seth’s first grandchild, Cainan, son of Enos was born. Cainan lived 910 years and fathered sons and daughters. (The Arabians have a tradition respecting Cainan that he held universal empire, and was celebrated for his wisdom and miraculous powers.)
• Cain’s great-great grandchild, Methusael, son of Mehujael was born.
• Seth’s great grandchild, Mahalaleel, son of Cainan was born. Mahalaleel lived 895 years and fathered sons and daughters.

3600 B.C.

• Cain’s great-great-great grandchild, Lamech, son of Methusael was born. (Lamech married two wives making him the first polygamist on record.)
• Seth’s great-great grandchild, Jared, son of Mahalaleel was born. Jared lived 962 years and fathered sons and daughters. (According to an ancient Arabian tradition Jared was the first of the line of Seth who broke through the command of Enos, which prohibited intermarriage with the Cainites that tended greatly to the obliteration of every moral and religious principle. Genesis 6:1-2
• Lamech’s children were born: Tubal-cain (” He was a furbisher of every cutting instrument of copper and iron.” The “VULCAN” of the Greeks.) Gen. 4:22, Jabal (father of cattle men.) Gen 4:20, Jubal (father of all who handle the harp and organ.) Gen. 4:21 and Naamah (a daughter whose name means loveliness.)

3500 B.C.

• Intermarriage of the godly descendants of Seth and the ungodly descendants of Cain began. Or, fallen angels married humans and gave us Nephilim. Genesis 6:1-2
• Immorality, violence and godlessness increased.
• Adam, Seth, Enoch, Cainan, Mahalaleel and Jarad continued communicating with their descendants.
• Adam talked with Seth 800 years, with Enos 695 years, Cainan 605 years, Mahalaeel 535 years, Jared 470 years, Enoch 308 years, Methuselah 243 years and with Lamech 56 years.

3400 B.C.

• Seth’s great-great-great grandchild, Enoch, son of Jared was born. Enoch lived 365 years and fathered sons and daughters. (“The Arabian name of Enoch is Edris, and their traditions of him are that he was an eminent astronomer, mathematician and prophet of God.”)
• Seth’s great-great-great-great grandchild, Methuselah, son of Enoch was born. Methuselah lived 969 years, making him the oldest of the ancient ones, and the oldest man to ever live. (Methuselah’s name means, “At his death, it will come.” Methuselah died the year of the flood.) Methuselah fathered sons and daughters.
• After Methuselah’s birth, the Bible records that Enoch developed an especially close relationship with God leading to his translation to heaven at the age of 365. “And Enoch walked with God 365 years and begat sons and daughters,” Gen. 5:22 “And he was not for God took him.” Gen. 5:24

3300 B.C.

• The marriage of brother and sister was common until prohibited by the Law of Moses in 1491 B.C.
• “It is said of Seth and his posterity that they were very good and virtuous, and very happy, without any considerable misfortunes for seven generations.” Josephus
• “Seth and his posterity were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order.” Josephus

3200 B.C.

• The Cainites held greater and greater influence over the godly descendants of Seth as intermarriage became more and more pervasive. Gen. 6:1-2
• Violence, debauchery and immorality characterized a growing percentage of human society. Gen. 6:1-2,4-5, 11
• Seth’s great-great-great-great-great grandchild, Lamech, son of Methuselah was born. Lamech lived 777 years and fathered sons and daughters. Lamech was the first man on record who died a natural death before his father. Lamech was able to talk with Adam 56 years (He learned of the Garden of Eden, etc., directly.), his grandsons Japheth, Shem and Ham 98 years, and thus became the intervening link that could bring the eyewitness history from the “Creation” to the death of Shem after the flood. This was a period of 2158 years.

3100 B.C.

• Methuselah talked with Seth 355 years, Enos 453 years, Cainan 548 years, Mahalaleel 603 years, Jared 735 years and with Enoch 300 years.
• Adam died at the age of 930. (3474 B.C.)
• Enoch was translated in 3017 B.C. at the age of 365.

3000 B.C.

• Seth died at the age of 912. (2962 B.C.)
• Seth’s great-great-great-great-great-great grandchild, Noah, son of Lamech was born. Noah lived 905 years and fathered three sons.

2900 B.C.

• Enos died at the age of 905. (2864B.C.)
• With intermarriage now common, the Cainites held pervasive influence over the godly descendants of Seth. High moral, social and religious principles were fast becoming extinct.
• Violence, debauchery and immorality now characterized almost the entirety of human society. Gen. 6:11

2800 B.C.

• Noah talked with Cainan 179 years, Mahalaleel 243 years, Jared 366 years and with Lamech 595 years.
• Cainan died at the age of 910. (2769 B.C.)
• Mahalaleel died in 2714 B.C. at the age of 895.

2700 B.C.

• Wickedness continued to increase. The great ages of the people allowed for an unparalleled pool of united experience, appetite and imagination applied to any given pursuit.

2600 B.C.

• Jared died at the age of 962. (2582 B.C.)
• Society essentially became corrupt. Only a few godly people remained.

2500 B.C.

• Noah’s sons were born. Shem the elder son carried on Seth’s godly line. Shem lived 600 years and fathered five sons. Shem was 98 at the time of the flood. Gen. 10:21 Japheth, the middle son, fathered seven sons. And Ham, the younger son, fathered four sons. Gen. 9:24
• Noah was called to build the ark and warn of the coming flood. (Circa. 2466 B.C.) Gen. 6
• Noah began 120 years of prophesying about the coming flood. God asked him to conduct this warning for humanity.

2400 B.C.

• Lamech died five years before the flood at the age of 777. (2353 B.C.)
• Methuselah died shortly before the flood at the age of 969. (2348 B.C.)
• The ark was completed. (Circa. 2348 B.C.) Gen. 7
• The 120 years of warning came to an end. Gen. 7
• The flood deluged the earth. (2348 B.C.) Gen. 7 (Noah and his family were in the ark one year and ten days. They entered in 2348 B.C. and exited in 2347 B.C.) The Deluge: Different Dates Assigned: Usher and English Bible, 2348 B.C.; Hebrew Bible, 2288 B.C.; Playfair Bible, 2352 B.C.; Clinton Bible, 2482 B.C.; Samaritan Pent, 2998 B.C.; Josephus, 3146 B.C.; Dr. Hales, 3155 B.C.; Septuagint, 3246 B.C.
• Meat, grain and vegetables were given to humanity as food items. Gen 9:2-4
• Murder was forbidden. Gen 9:5
• Death penalty for murder, by either animals or humans, instated. Gen. 9:5-6
• The rainbow covenant was instated. God covenanted with humanity and the animal kingdom to never again destroy the earth by flood. The first rainbow was seen. Gen. 8:21-22 and Gen. 9:8-17
• Noah’s three sons, Shem, Japheth and Ham began to repopulate the earth.
• Shem had four of his five sons: Arphaxad, who lived 438 years and carried on Seth’s godly family line, then Elam, then Asshur “Builder of Nineveh” and finally Lud. Gen. 10:11
• Japheth had three of his seven sons: Comer, Magog and Madai. (No dates or years are given for Japheth’s descendants.)
• Ham had four sons: Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. (No dates or years are given for Ham’s descendants.)
• Shem’s first grandchild, Salah, son of Arphaxad was born. Salah lived 433 years, and carried on Seth’s godly posterity. He fathered a number of sons and daughters.

2300 B.C.

• Ham’s first grandchild, Nimrod (also known as Izdhubar), son of Cush was born. Nimrod founded Babylon (or Chaldea, the capital was Ur). The Tower of Babel was started. (“The Tower of Babel” the probable “Temple of Jupiter Belus” in Babylon was seen and described by Herodotus in 440 B.C. It was a quarter of a mile square at the base and in eight stories rose 650 feet high.) Gen.10:10
• Shem’s fifth son, Aram, was born. Aram had four sons. Gen. 10:23
• Shem’s great grandchild, Eber (or Heber), son of Salah was born. Eber lived 464 years and fathered two sons.
• Ham’s second and third grandchildren were born. Sidon founded Sidon (the Sidonians and Ammonites) and Heth, the sons of Cannan.
• The destruction of the Tower of Babel caused the dispersion of Babylon‘s population, sending it to the ends of the earth. It was 101 years from the flood to the “Confusion of Tongues” and the “Dispersion.” (2247 B.C.) Gen. 11:1-9
• (Exaggerated Chronologies. “Exaggerated chronologies are common to a large number of nations. Critical examination has (in all cases but one) demonstrated their fallacy; and the many myriads of years postulated for their past civilization and history by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Hindus, Chinese, and others have been shown to be pure fiction, utterly unworthy of belief. Cuneiform scholars confidently place the beginning of Babylon about B.C. 2300, of Assyria about B.C. 1500. The best Arian scholars place the dawn of the Iran civilization about B.C. 1500, of India about B.C. 1200. Chinese investigators can find nothing solid or substantial in the past of the ‘Celestials’ earlier than B.C. 781, or, at the furthest B.C. 1154.” Rawlinson (The “Temple of Jupiter Belus” was named by Nebuchadnezzar. “The Temple of the Seven Lights of the Earth” at Borsippa-Barzipa. ie, Tower of Tongues, located eleven miles from the north ruins of Babylon was described thus by Nebuchadnezzar in the “Borsippa Inscription.” “A former king built it, but he did not complete its head. SINCE A REMOTE TIME PEOPLE HAD ABANDONED IT, WITHOUT ORDER EXPRESSING THEIR WORDS. Since that time the earthquake and the thunder had dispersed its sun-dried clay; the bricks of the casing had been split, and the ear of the interior had been scattered in heaps. Merodach, the great lord, excited my mind to repair this building. I did not change the site, nor did I take away the foundation stone. As it had been in former times, so I founded, I made it as it had been in ancient days, so I exalted its summit.” Smith’s Bible Dictionary.)
• Shem’s great-great grandchild, Peleg, son of Eber was born. Peleg’s name means, “division.” “During his lifetime the people of the world were divided into different language groups and dispersed” Gen 10:24 Peleg lived 239 years and fathered sons and daughters. His brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan had 13 sons.)
• The descendants of Japheth dispersed, populating Greece, Parthia, Russia and northern Europe.
• Javan, son of Japheth settled Greece or Ionia. (Attica, Arcadia and Sparta) (The Greeks are said to have been the descendants of Javan, the fourth son of Japheth.)
• The descendants of Ham dispersed, populating Africa and Egypt.
• Mizraim or Egypt began to be established. (First through sixth Dynasties) (Old Empire or Native Dynasties 2450 B.C. or 2250 B.C. to about 1750 B.C.)
• The descendants of Canaan settled Phoenicia or Canaan. (The city of Sidon was early celebrated for its textile fabrics, and Tyre for its commerce in purple. The people were the most eminent navigators and traders of antiquity. From Phoenicia came the original Roman alphabet.)
• The descendants of Shem dispersed forming the Semetic people of the Middle East, including the Arabs and the nation of Israel.
• Shem’s great-great-great grandchild, Reu, son of Peleg was born. Reu lived 239 years and fathered sons and daughters.
• Fohi (or Yao) founded China. He was supposed to be the Noah of the Bible. Chinese historians state that Fohi was a divine personage and that he invented a symbolic mode of writing. He also invented music, dressmaking and the custom of sacrificing at the solstices. First Dynasty, Hiah began. (2240 B.C.)

2200 B.C.

• Ninth Dynasty of Thebes began. (Date not known)
• Shem’s great-great-great-great grandchild, Serug, son of Reu was born. Serug lived 230 years and fathered sons and daughters.
• Shem’s great-great-great-great-great grandchild, Nahor, son of Serug was born. Nahor lived 148 years and fathered sons and daughters.
• Shem’s great-great-great-great-great-great grandchild, Terah, son of Nahor was born. Terah lived 205 years. Terah had three sons.

2100 B.C.

• Shem’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, Haran and Nahor, sons of Terah were born. Haran and
• Nahor were the brothers of Abraham.
• Nahor, son of Serug died at the age of 148. (2007 B.C.)
• Peleg died at the age of 239. (2008 B.C.)

2000 B.C.

• Noah died at the age of 950. Noah lived after the flood 350 years and died two years before Abraham was born. (1998 B.C.)
• Terah’s third son, Abraham, was born. Abraham was called “The Father of the Faithful” and “The Friend of God.”
• Haran‘s daughter, Milcah, was born.
• Terah’s daughter, Sarah, was born.
• Haran‘s daughter, Iscah, was born.
• Reu died at the age of 239 years. (1978 B.C.)
• Haran‘s son, Lot, was born.
• Nahor and Milcah married. (Milcah was niece and wife to Nahor.)
• Serug died at the age of 230. (1955 B.C.)
• Sarah and Abraham married.
• Terah left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. He stopped short of his goal, however, and settled in the village of Haran.
• Nahor’s son, Bethule, was born.
• Lot‘s two daughters are born.
• Terah died at the age of 205. (1921 B.C.)
• God called Abraham to leave Ur. He and Lot left and journeyed to Canaan. They settled in Shechem (Sichem). (There are 427 years from the flood to the “Call of Abraham.” In the call Abraham was promised descendants, and that though him “all the families of the earth will be blessed.”) Genesis 12:1-3 (1921 B.C.)
• A famine drove Abraham and Lot into Egypt. (1919 B.C.)
• Abraham and Lot returned to Canaan and in 1916 they separated. (1917 B.C.)
• The Elamites invaded Sodom. Chedoralaomer took Lot and all the people of Sodom captive. Abraham pursued and recaptured all. He killed the four kings. Genesis 14 (1913 B.C.)
• Hagar, Sarah’s slave mistress, bore Abraham a son, Ishmael. Ishmael lived 137 years. He fathered 12 sons and became the father of the Arab nations.
• Arphaxad died at the age of 438. (Arphaxad talked with Abraham 88 years.) (1908 B.C.)

1900 B.C.

• This was the beginning of the Hykso’s (or Shepherd Kings of Egypt) three dynasties. The three rulers of this century were: Set (or Saites) for 19 years, Bnon for 40 years and Pacchnan for 36 years. This era was termed the “Middle Empire.” (1750 B.C. to 1500 B.C.)
• God repeated his promise of a son to be born to Abraham and Sarah. The covenant of circumcision was made (the sign and seal). Abraham’s name was changed from Abram to Abraham, and Sarah’s from Sarai to Sarah. (1898 B.C.)
• Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Lot along with his two daughters and wife were evacuated from the city by angels. Lot‘s wife looked back, in disobedience to an expressed command, and became a pillar of salt. (1898 B.C.)
• Sarah gave birth to Isaac in her nineties.
• Hagar and Ishmael were banished from Abraham’s camp and returned to the EuphratesRiver area.
• Ishmael’s blood descendants formed the Arabs, but all Moslems, including the Persians, trace ancestry back to Abraham through Ishmael.
• Lot‘s two daughters each bore a son by their father. They were Moab, father of the Moabites, and Ben-Ammi, father of the Ammonites. Gen 19:30-38
• Bethuel, son of Nahor and Milcah, fathered Laban and Rebekah.
• Salah died at the age of 433. Salah talked with Abraham 118 years and outlived the burning of Sodom by 19 years. (1878 B.C.)
• Sarah died. (1859 B.C.)
• The first immigration into Greece by Inachus began. Greece was already in the possession of powerful tribes, called “The Pelasgi” when the four immigrations of Inachus, Cecrops, Cadmus and Pelops brought Greece into historic notice. From the earliest account of Greece to the Trojan War (1184 B.C.) is termed “The Fabulous Age.” (1856 B.C.)
• Whang-ti became Emperor of China at 12 years of age. “He spoke as soon as weaned…discovered the use of the magnet, and made many astonishing inventions.” Chinese History (1852B.C.)
• Isaac and Rebekah married. Isaac was 40 at the time.
• Assyria, a colony from Babylonia, capital Asshur, became independent under Ismi. Dagan (1852 B.C.)
• Shem died at the age of 600. Shem lived after the flood 502 years and after Noah 152 years. He talked with Abraham 150 years and with Isaac 50 years. He outlived Lot‘s wife by 52 years. (1846 B.C.)
• Twin sons, Esau and Jacob, were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob carried on Adam, Seth, Shem and Abraham’s godly family line. Esau founded the nation of Edom. (1836 B.C.)
• Abraham died at the age of 175. (1821 B.C.)
• Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentils. Gen. 25:29-34
• God passed on Abraham’s covenant promise to Isaac. Gen. 26:1-5
• Eber died at the age of 464 years. Eber outlived Abraham by four years, and overlapped Isaac 79 years, and Jacob 20 years. (1817 B.C.)

1800 B.C

• Egypt‘s “Middle Empire” continued. This century’s rulers were Staan for 50 years, Archles for 49 years, Apepi (or Apophis) the last king, for 61 years. Joseph was chief minister of Apepi.
• Jacob moved to Mesopotamia. God passed on the covenant promise to him.
• Ishmael died at the age of 137. (1773 B.C.)
• The second dynasty, Shang, began in China. (1756 B.C.)
• Jacob married both Leah (by trickery) and Rachel. Leah bore Jacob six sons and one daughter. Her maid, Zilpah, whom she caused to be a surrogate mother for her, bore Jacob two sons. Rachel bore Jacob two sons and her maid, Bilhah, whom she caused to be a surrogate mother for her, bore Jacob two sons. In total Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. The family tree is traced from Adam to the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom sprang the “Twelve Tribes” of the Israelites. (Circa.1752 B.C.)
• Levi’s second son, Kohath, was born. Kohath lived 133 years and was the family line through which the Levitical priesthood came. He was a direct ancestor of Moses and Aaron. (1735 B.C.)
• Jacob was called by God to move back to Canaan. He began his journey. On the way he wrestled with an angel who changed his name to “Israel.”
• Rachel died on the way back to Canaan. (1732 B.C.)
• Joseph was sent captive to Egypt at the age of seventeen. (1728 B.C.)
• Isaac died at the age of 180. (1716 B.C.)
• Joseph was made governor of Egypt. (1715 B.C.)
• Jacob, now called Israel, and his family went into Egypt. Of Jacob’s children and grandchildren, sixty-six went down to Egypt. These plus the nine wives of his sons made 75 people in all. It was 215 years after the “Call of Abraham” that Jacob and his family moved to Egypt. Two hundred and fifteen years later Moses led them out of Egypt and received the Law on Mt.Sinai. Acts 7:14 and Gal. 3:17 (1706 B.C.)

1700 B.C

• Pelasgi, from Ardacia, settled Italy (or Latium). The Pelasgi were the primitive inhabitants of Greece and Italy and probably belonged to the Indo-Germanic race. From the Pelasgi came the Dorians, Aeolians and Ionians, all three being Heilenes or Greeks. (1694 B.C.)
• Jacob elevated Ephraim and Manasseh to the same status as his sons, creating the twelve tribes of Israel (Thirteen tribes actually, but Levi was elevated to the status of priesthood, leaving twelve to divide up the land).
• All Babylonia was permanently united. The capital, “Babylon the Great,” for some 1700 years stood as the queen city of the world. Pliny says, “It was the greatest city the sun ever shone upon.” “Its walls, 300 feet high and 75 feet wide, enclosed an area of 225 square miles. Its temples, palaces, fortresses, brazen gates, quays, artificial mountains and lakes, made it one of the Seven Wonders of the World.” Strabo.
• Jacob died at the age of 147. (1689 B.C.)
• Aahmes became Pharoah of Egypt. He ruled for 25 years, expelling the Hyksos and restoring the temples. (Circa. 1655 B.C.)
• Kohath’s son, Amram, was born. Amram fathered Moses, Aaron and Miriam. (1646 B.C.)
• This was believed to be the time of the book of Job. Job, of Idumea, an Arabian sage, was supposed by some to be identical with Jobab who was a grandson of Easu. (Circa. 1655 B.C.)
• Levi’s daughter, Jochebed, was born. (Jochebed later became the wife of Amram and the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam.)
• Genesis, the Bible’s first book, came to an end. Genesis embraced 2369 years of history. The Bible’s second book, Exodus, began.
• Joseph died at the age of 110. (1635 B.C.)
• Levi died. (1632 B.C.)
• Krishna flourished about this time in India.
• Amen-Hotep the First became Pharaoh of Egypt. He reigned 24 years. Horses and wheeled carts were first represented on monuments.

1600 B.C.

• Thothmes I became Pharaoh in Egypt and ruled 22 years. He first invaded Asia.
• A little over half of Israel‘s 215 years in Egypt had passed.
• Amram and Jochebed married. (Circa 1589 B.C.)
• Miriam was born to Amram and Jochebed. (Circa. 1580 B.C.) Miraim became a prophetess and leader in the Israelite exodus.
• Thothmes II became Pharaoh of Egypt and reigned 13 years.
• Atlas, the Astronomer, came on the scene. (1588 B.C.)
• Aaron was born to Amram and Jochebed. (1574 B. C.) Aaron lived 123 years and fathered four children. It was through Aaron’s line that the Levitical priesthood was founded.
• Hatasu became Queen of Egypt (daughter of Thothmes) and reigned 20 years. (It is said she wore men’s clothing).
• Moses was born to Amarm and Jochebed and was adopted into the Egyptian royal court. At the age of 12 he was taken to live with the Egyptian royal family. (Troy, Athens and Thebes were founded during the days of Moses.) (1571 B.C.)
• Cecrops, from Egypt, founded Athens. (1556 B.C.)
• Thothmes III, The Great, became Pharoah of Egypt and reigned 40 years. As Egypt‘s greatest conqueror Thothmes III, became known as “The Egyptian Alexander.” He adorned Egypt with magnificent temples and works of art and erected the New York Obelisk. “Egypt was at her climax, under Thothmes III. His conquests embraced the then known world of Arabia, Syria, Assyria, Babylonia, Phoenicia, Armenia, Asia Minor, the Isles of the Daniai (probably in the Archipelago), Cyprus, Ethiopia, Libya and Nubia.” Dr. Birch.
• Scamander founded the kingdom of Troy. Homer immortalized its history. (1546 B.C.)
• Joshua, son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, was born. Joshua lived 110 years and became the leader of Israel after Moses’ death. (1536 B.C.)
• Moses escaped Egypt and settled in Midian. (Circa.1530 B.C.)
• Moses and Zipporah married.
• Aaron’s sons, Nadab, Eleazar, Abihu and Ithamar were born.
• Moses’ sons Gershom and Elezer were born.
• Amen-Hotep II became Pharoah of Egypt and reigned 31 years.
• Amram died. (1509 B.C.)
• The institution of the Areopagus was founded in Greece. (1504 B.C.)

1500 B.C.

• Panathenaean games began. (1495 B.C.)
• The Roman alphabet was developed. “Cadmus was said to have brought the fifteen Phoenician letters into Greece. They gradually changed in form, until they became the ground of the Roman letters now used in Europe and America.” Arundelian Marbles. “Cadum did first the wondrous art devise, of painting thought and speaking to the eyes.” (1493 B.C.)
• Moses saw the burning bush and was called by God to deliver His people from Egypt. Moses arrived in Egypt. The ten plagues occurred. The Passover was instituted. The Israelites left Egypt, loaded with riches given them by the Egyptians. The Red Sea was crossed. The Egyptian army was wiped out. The Law was given. The tabernacle was made. Aaron became the first High Priest. The Theocracy, under God, began and lasted 396 years. The book of Exodus ended its 145-year history. The Book of Leviticus was written in one month. The book of Numbers began. The census was taken. The camp was organized. Canaan was reached. The 12 spies were sent out. The people murmured and were turned back into the wilderness for 40 years. The journey in the wilderness began. Aaron died on Mt. Hor. Eleazar succeeded Aaron as High Priest. Numbers 20:28 (1491 B.C.)
• Lacadaemmon married Sparta. The City of Sparta was founded. (1490 B.C.)
• Helen came to power in Greece. (The mythical ancestor of all the Greeks.) (1459 B.C.)
• The book of Numbers ended its 39-year history of the wanderings of the Israelites. (Circa. 1452 B.C.)
• The twelve tribes of Israel reached the Promised Land. The book of Deuteronomy was written in five weeks. Joshua was made the leader of the Israelites. Moses died on Mt.Nebo at the age of 120. (Moses was taken to heaven. Jude 1:9 and Luke 9:28-33.) Israel entered Canaan 41 years after the Exodus from Egypt. Jericho was taken and the invasion of Palestine began. Joshua defeated the five kings of Canaan. (Joshua 10) The book of Joshua was begun. Palestine became the home of both the Canaanites and the Children of Israel. (1451 B.C.)
• The Book of Joshua concluded its 25-year history. Joshua died at the age of 110. (1426 B.C.)
• This was the time of the Elders. From the death of Joshua there was a span of 17 years before the first Judge appeared. The Elders who outlived Joshua filled the role of leadership to Israel for a portion of these years. Israel “served the Lord” during this time. Once these Elders died the nation began to abandon the Theocracy. Leadership was weak and for the most part the people did “every man what is right in his own eyes.” Judges 2:7,10, Judges 2:10-13 and Judges 21:25
• The Israelite’s first servitude to Mesopotamia (Syria). It lasted for eight years. Judges 3:1-8 (1417 B.C.)
• The first judge, Othnel, ruled for 40 years. Judges 3:9-11 (The chronology of the Judges is very uncertain because we are not told where overlapping occurs. This is one possible alignment.) (1409 B.C.)

1400 B.C.

• Nineteenth Dynasty of Thebes. Ramesses I ruled for one year in Egypt. (Circa. 1399 B.C.)
• Seti I (or Sesostris), Ramesses’ son, began his 25-year rule of Egypt. Seti I built the “Grand Hall of Columns” at Karnak, began Belzoni’s tomb, dug the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea and made the “Great Table of Abydos.” (Circa.1398 B.C.)
• Troas came to power in Troy. He founded the city of Troy. (1373 B.C.)
• Ramseese II, The Great, son of Seti I, began his 61-year rule of Egypt. Ramseese II was the most famous of the Egyptian kings. He was termed the King of the Persecution. He built cities and magnificent temples, one of which is the Rock Temple of Ipsambul with its four Colossi, 70 feet high. He also built the great wall, 30 miles long, the Raameseum at Thebes and introduced polygamy in Egypt. He was the father of 59 sons and 60 daughters. (Circa.1373 B.C.)
• Israel‘s second servitude by Elgon, king of Moab, lasted 18 years. (1369 B.C.)
• Israel‘s second judge was Ehud. Judges 3:30 states that the land was at rest for 80 years after he started to rule. (Usher, however, allowed Ehud only a 13-year span of leadership.) Judges 3:12-30. The third judge was Shamgar. His length of service was not recorded. Judges 3:31 (1356 B.C.)
• Israel‘s fourth servitude under Jaben and Sisera lasted 20 years.
• Israel‘s fourth period of Judges was under the leadership of Deborah and Barak and lasted for 40 years. Judges 4 and 5 (1338 B.C.)
• Israel‘s fifth servitude to Midian lasted for seven years.
• The Institution of the Isthmian Games by Sisyphus was established. (1326 B.C.)
• Menepthah, son of Ramesses II came to power in Egypt. He ruled 10 years. (Circa.1310 B.C.)

1300 B.C.

• Siculi, from Italy, settled Sicily. (Circa. 1293 B.C.)
• Israel‘s fifth Judge, Gideon, ruled for 40 years. Judges 6 – 8 (1291 B.C.)
• This was the beginning of the Twentieth Dynasty of Thebes. Set-Net was the ruler for about 3 years. He restored order. Ramesses III, his son, who ruled for about 35 years, succeeded him. Ramesses III is known as the “Egyptian Solomon.” He “built the Temple of Ammon at Meoinet-Abou. He was the last of the heroic Kings of Egypt, uniting the valor of David with the luxury of Solomon.” D. S. Birch. (1280 B.C.)
• Assyria and Babylon united under Tiglathninip I, son of Shalmaneser I. He was the first to assume the title, “King of Nations” as king of Sumir and Akkad. (1271 B.C.)
• Tyndareus, father of Helen, became ruler of Sparta. (Greece) (1266 B.C.)
• Temple of Apollo at Delphi was built. Argonautic Expedition, under Jason, to Colchia was accomplished. (First Naval Expedition on record.) (1263 B.C.)
• Palamedes invented dice. (1244 B.C.)
• Hercules (or Heracles) became ruler in Mycenae. (1240 B.C.)
• The time of the Book of Ruth was in progress. Ruth married Boaz, a relative of her mother-in-law. (1256 B.C.)
• Israel‘s sixth Judge, Abimelech, one of Gideon’s sons, killed his brothers and appointed himself as Judge. His term lasted 3 years.
• Israel‘s seventh Judge, Tola, ruled for 23 years. Judges 10:1-2 (1251 B.C.)
• Troy was captured by the Argonauts. (1239 B.C.)
• Theseus, the King in Attica, gathered his people into one city, which he named Athens. (1234 B.C.)
• Rimmon became king of Babylon beginning its separation from Assyria. (1230 B.C.)
• Israel‘s eighth Judge, Jair, ruled for 22 years. Judges 10:3-5
• King Theseus of Attica carried off Helen, daughter of Tyndareus, King of Sparta. (She was rescued by Castor and Pollux, and married to Menelaus, who succeeded Tyndareus as King of Sparta.) (1228 B.C.)
• Philistine and Ammonite oppression of Israel lasted for 18 years.
• The decline of Egypt began. Art almost disappeared and literature was wanting. (1225 B.C.)
• Priam, father of Paris, became ruler of Troy. Babylon and Assyria became separate nations again. (1220 B.C.)
• Israel‘s ninth Judge, Jephthah, ruled for six years. Judges 10:6 -12:7 (1206 B.C.)
• Israel‘s tenth Judge, Ibzan, ruled for seven years. Judges 12:8-10 (1200 B.C.)

1200 B.C.

• Third Dynasty, Tchou, of China began. The first sovereign was Ven Vang (Circa. 1132 B.C.)
• Paris, son of Priam, visited Greece and carried away Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Menelaus assembled the princes of Greece with their forces, under the command of Agamemnon, the brother of Menaiaus, and with a large armament sailed to Troy. (1194 B.C.)
• After a siege of ten years, known as the Trojan War, the Greeks, under Agamemnon, took the city of Troy by stratagem and destroyed it. (The Trojan horse entered history.) (1184 B.C.)
• Israel‘s eleventh Judge, Elon, ruled for 10 years. Judges 12:11-12 (1193 B.C.)
• Israel‘s twelfth Judge, Abdon, ruled for 8 years. Judges 12:13-15 (1183 B.C.)
• The seventh servitude of Israel, under the Philistines, lasted for 40 years.
• Israel‘s thirteenth Judge, Samson, ruled for 20 years. Judges 13 – 16 (1175 B.C.)
• The Book of First Samuel began its 115-year record of history. (1171 B.C.)
• Israel‘s fourteenth Judge (and Priest), Eli, ruled for 40 years. 1 Samuel 1:3 and 4:18
• The Book of Judges concluded its 271-year history. (1155 B.C.)
• Israel‘s eighth servitude, under the Philistines, lasted 20 years.
• Israel‘s fifteenth Judge, Samuel the Prophet, ruled for 20 years. 1 Samuel 3:19-21 and 4:1 (1115 B.C.)

1100 B.C.

• Sadua (or Simmas-Sipak) became King of Babylon. He ruled for 17 years. A break of 220 years began in Babylonian history. The biarchy of Sparta began at the death of Aristodemus, in 1100 B.C. His twin sons succeeded him. The Twenty-first Dynasty of Tanis began in Egypt. (????Usurpation of High Priests. Hur-Nor, High Priest of Amnon, first ruler, 26 years.????) Egyptian history was a blank. A Chinese dictionary containing 40,000 characters was completed by Pa-out-she. ? (1100 B.C.)
• The Theocracy ended and the Jewish Monarchy began. Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, became the first King of Israel. From the crossing of Jordan River and the entrance into Canaan in 1451 B.C., to King Saul in 1065 B.C., was a period of 365 years. (1095 B.C.)
• Beginning with 1080 B.C. few Assyrian inscriptions were known for about 150 years. The Hebrew kings, David and Solomon, became strong as Assyria became weak.
• David began writing his Psalms.
• David, son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, became king of Israel. The book of First Samuel ends its 115-year history. The Book of Second Samuel was begun. (1055 B.C.)
• David defeated the Jebusites and Jerusalem became the capital of Israel. (1048 B.C.)
• Solomon, David’s son by Bathsheba, was born. (1033 B.C.)
• Absolom revolted, was defeated and died. (1023 B.C.)
• The book of Second Samuel was concluded. Second Samuel covered 38 years of history. First Kings, the eleventh book of the Bible, began its 119-year history.
• Solomon, son of David, became King of Israel. His reign is called “The Glorious Kingdom.” These were Israel‘s greatest years. (1015 B.C.)
• Solomon’s Temple was built.

1000 B.C.

• Solomon’s books, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon were written.
• Syria lost to Israel in 980 B.C. Hadad (or Benhadad) was the ruler of Syria. He was hired by Asa, King of Judah, to make war on Bassha, King of Israel.
• Solomon died. The fight for his throne resulted in the twelve tribes of Israel dividing, creating the Great Schism. The two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, maintained Jerusalem as their capital and became the Kingdom of Judah under the ruler ship of Rehoboam. He reigned 17 years. The Kingdom of Judah continued, with 20 kings from the reign of Solomon, for 387 years. The ten northern tribes of Israel revolted and became the kingdom of Israel under the ruler ship of Jeroboam. He reigned 21 years. Israel continued, with 19 kings from the reign of Solomon, for 254 years. Israel made Samaria its capitol. (975 B.C.)
• Abijah became the king of Judah. (958 B.C.)
• Asa became the king of Judah. Asa reigned 41 years and was noted as a good and godly king. (955 B.C.)
• Nadab became the king of Israel. (954 B.C.)
• Baasha became the king of Israel. Baasha reigned 23 years. (“There was war between Asa and Baasha all their days.”) 1 Kings 15:32 (952 B.C.)
• Elah became the king of Israel. He reigned 10 years. Asshur-Dayan II became the king of Assyria. (930 B.C.)
• Benhadad, son of Hadad, became the king of Syria. He was at war with King Ahab of Israel for two years. (Circa. 925 B.C.)
• Zimri made himself king of Israel. He reigned for seven days. (920 B.C.)
• Omri became the king of Israel. He reigned for 10 years. (920 B.C.)
• Ahab became the king of Israel. He married Jezebel and reigned for 21 years. During this time, Elijah was the prophet in Israel. (918 B.C.)
• Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became the king of Judah. He reigned for 25 years. Jehoshaphat was noted as a good king. (914 B.C.)

900 B.C.

• Benhadad besieged Samaria. A severe famine resulted. Miraculously the Syrian army panicked and fled, producing a great plenty. Ahaziah became the king of Israel. He reigned one year and was noted as an evil king. (891 B.C.)
• The book of Second Kings began its 308-year record of history. (890 B.C.)
• First and Second Chronicles appeared in this century. First Chronicles was written in entirety, providing a genealogical history from the Creation to the death of David in 1015 B.C. Second Chronicles began its 427-year history, spanning from the death of David to the captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C.
• Joram became the king of Israel. He reigned 12 years. (892 B.C.)
• Jehoram became the king of Judah. He reigned four years. (889 B.C.)
• Ahaziah became the king of Judah. He reigned one year. (885 B.C.)
• Hazael became the king of Syria. He reigned 40 years.
• Jehu became the king of Israel, reigning 27 years and Athaliah became the queen of Judah, reigning 6 years. (984 B.C.)
• Nebo-Baladan became the king of Babylon. A boundary was fixed by treaty with Assyria. (880 B.C.)
• Joash became the king of Judah at seven years of age, under the guidance of Jehoiadah the High Priest. Joash reigned 39 years. While Jehoiadah lived Joash was noted as a good king. At Jehoiadah’s death Joash turned evil. He was finally slain. (878 B.C.)
• Dido, from Tyre, sister of Pygmhlion, founded Carthage. (“Dido purchased, for her city, as much land as a bullock’s hide would enclose; then cutting it into a very fine string made it enclose a large space.”) (869 B.C.)
• Jehoahaz became the king of Israel. He reigned 16 years. (857 B.C.)
• During this time Elisha the Tishbite was a prophet in Israel. He served for about 55 years.
• Jehoash became the king of Israel. He reigned 16 years. (841 B.C.)
• Amaziah became the king of Judah. He reigned 29 years. (839 B.C.)
• Jeroboam II became the king of Israel. He reigned 41 years. (825 B.C.)
• Caranus founded Macedon. (813 B.C.)
• Uzziah, became the king of Israel. He reigned 52 years. (810 B.C.)

800 B.C.

• Jonah was called to preach to Nineveh. The book of Jonah was written. (785 B.C.)
• Amos prophesied. The book of Amos was written. At this time, according to Archbishop Usher, there was an inter-regnum of 11 years in Israel. During this period Zechariah reigned for one year and Shallum for one month. (784 B.C.)
• The first Olympiad was held. (July 1, 776 B.C.)
• Romulus, the founder of Rome, was born. (770 B.C.)
• Menahem became the king of Israel. He reigned for 11 years.
• A remarkable eclipse of the sun was noted in the Assyrian Chronological Canon. The date proved correct. (763 B.C.)
• Pekahiah became the king of Israel. He reigned two years. (761 B.C.)
• Isaiah became a prophet in Israel. The book of Isaiah started. Isaiah prophesied for about 62 years. (760 B.C.)
• Pekah became the king of Israel. He reigned 20 years. (759 B.C.)
• Joel prophesied. The book of Joel was written. (758 B.C.)
• Rome was founded by Romulus. He ruled 38 years. (April 21, 753 B.C.)
• Jotham became the king of Judah. He ruled for 16 years and “did right.” (758 B.C.)
• Tiglathpileser II became the king of Assyria. He conquered Babylon. (745 B.C.)
• Ahaz became the king of Judah. He ruled for 16 years and “did not right.” (742 B.C.)
• Anarchy reigned in Israel. (739 B.C.)
• Babylon and Assyria became one nation under Assyria. Shalmaneser IV was king. (731 B.C.)
• Hoshea became the king of Israel. (730 B.C.)
• Hezekiah became the king of Judah. He reigned 23 years and was noted as “good.” Shalmaneaser invaded Israel. Israel, under King Hoshea, became a tributary to Assyria. (728 B.C.)
• Hosea prophesied. He was called to reprove Israel for their sins and idolatry and warn Judah. Hosea prophesied for 60 years. Hoshea revolted against Assyrian domination. (725 B.C.)
• Assrya invaded Israel. (724 B.C.)
• The Ethiopian twenty-fifth Dynasty began in Egypt. Shabak was ruler for 12 years. (723 B.C.)
• The kingdom of Israel came to an end. Samaria was taken and Israel, comprised of the 10 northern tribes of the “Children of Israel,” was carried away into Assrya, never to return. (They disappeared into the lands across the north, vanishing from worldview. Hence they are called “The Lost Tribes.”) (721 B.C.)
• Micah prophesied. The book of Micah was written. (710 B.C.)
• Media revolted against Assrya. Deioces became the king of Media and Persia. He ruled for 53 years. (705 B.C.)

700 B.C.

• Bablyon was destroyed and Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib, the king of Assryia. Nahum prophesied. The book of
• Nahum was written. (700 B.C.)
• Manasseh became the king of Judah. He reigned 55 years and was noted as the most wicked of Judah‘s kings. During a short captivity Manasseh repented of his wickedness. He was restored to his kingdom and sought to reverse the effects of his earlier evil actions. (698 B.C.)
• Esarhaddon restored Babylon. (681 B.C.)
• Chinese historian, Sematsin, affixed the first dates to Chinese history. King-Vang I was ruler of China. (651 B.C.)
• Amon became the king of Judah. He ruled two years and “did evil.” (643 B.C.)
• Josiah became the king of Judah. He ruled 31 years and is noted as a “noble king.” (641 B.C.)
• Zephaniah prophesied. The book of Zephaniah was written. (630 B.C.)
• Jeremiah’s prophesying began. He continued for 41 years. The book of Jeremiah started. (629 B.C.)
• Nabopolassar became the king of Babylon. Uniting with Necho of Egypt and Cyaxares of Media, he took Nineveh and ended the Assyrian Empire. Thales, first of the seven sages, or wise men of Greece, suggested that the earth was round. (626 B.C.)
• Aesop was born. He lived 56 years. (620 B.C.)
• Rome flourished under Tarquin. (616 B.C.)
• Jehoahaz became the king of Judah. He ruled for three months. Pharoah Neco of Egypt then deposed and imprisoned him, installing his son, Jehoiakim as king. Jehoahaz was taken prisoner to Egypt where he died. Jehoiakim became the king of Judah. He ruled for 11 years. Habakkuk prophesied. The book of Habakkuk was written. This is the time of Sappho, the Greek poetess. (610 B.C.)
• Babylon invaded Judah. Daniel and his fellows, and “all the princes and all the mighty men of valor and all the craftsmen and smiths were carried away into Babylon.” Daniel arose on the prophetic scene. His lived 72 years. The book of Daniel was started. 2 Kings 24:10-17 (606 B.C.)
• Nebuchadnezzar became the king of Babylon. He ruled 43 years. The Chaldee-Babylonian Empire extended from the TigrisRiver to the NileRiver. Daniel 11:38 (605 B.C.)

600 B.C.

• Babylon again invaded Judah and took captives. (595 B.C.)
• Ezekiel prophesied. The book of Ezekiel started. (595 B.C.)
• Babylon invaded Jerusalem and brought Jewish independence to an end. From this time on the Jews are under Babylon, Persia, Egypt, Syria and Rome until 70 A.D. when they were scattered around the world. On the tenth of Loos, Solomon’s temple burned. The kingdom of Judah existed 133 years after the ten tribes, comprising the Kingdom of Israel, were carried away into Assyria. (588 B.C.)
• Obadiah written. (587 B.C.)
• Cyrus became ruler of Media. Confucius was born in China. He lived 88 years. (559 B.C.)
• Daniel was cast into the Lion’s den. (554 B.C.)
• The Temple of Diana, the third wonder of the world, was built at Ephesus. (552 B.C.)
• Cyrus conquered Asia Minor. A republic was established in Carthage. (550 B.C.)
• Thespis, Greek poet and tragedian. What about him? Born? (Circa. 549 B.C.)
• Pisistratus founded the first public library at Athens and collected the poems of Homer. (544 B.C.)
• Cyrus conquered Babylon, setting Darius on the throne as an under-king. The city of Babylon was 15 miles square. It had walls 350 feet high and 87 feet thick which incorporated 25 brass gates on each side. (538 B.C.)
• Zerubbabel was sent up to Judah with 42,360 people to rebuild the Temple. Zerubbabel was governor of Jerusalem. The book of Ezra started its 80-year history. Pythagora, of Magna-Graecia visited Egypt. Pythagoras discovered the forty-seventh problem, the multiplication table and suggested ideas of which the Copernican system was the full development. (536 B.C.)
• Cambyses became the king of Persia. (529 B.C.)
• The dynasty of the Pharaohs ended and Egypt became a PersianProvince. (527 B.C.)
• Confucius remodeled the sacred books of the Chinese. The books of Haggai and Zechariah were written. (520 B.C.)
• Darius I became the king of the Persian Empire. (521 B.C.)
• Jeshua became the High Priest in Jerusalem. (515 B.C.)
• The ruler of Carthage made the first alliance with Rome. (503 B.C.)

500 B.C.

• Sophocles, the dramatist was born. He lived 90 years and wrote 113 plays. Only 7 are existent today. (495 B.C.)
• Xerxes became the king of Persia. He ruled 21 years and was succeeded by Artabanus for 1 year. (485 B.C.)
• Herodotus was born. Herodotus was called the father of history. He lived 84 years. (484 B.C.)
• Joiakim became High Priest in Jerusalem.
• Artaxerxes I Longimanus, (Long-hands) (also known as Xerxes or Ahashuerus) became the king of Persia. He ruled 40 years. The story of Esther occurred during his rule. Artaxerxes I was succeeded by Sogdianus for 1 year. (483 B.C.)
• Euripides was born. He lived 74 years. (Oct 20, 480 B.C.)
• Socrates was born. He lived 70 years. (469 B.C.)
• Hypocrites known as the “The Father of Medicine” was born. (460 B.C.)
• Ezra was sent to govern Jerusalem. (458 B.C.)
• Nehemiah was sent to “restore and rebuild” the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 2:5-8. The book of Nehemiah started. (445 B.C.)
• Eliashib was high priest in Jerusalem. (433 B.C.)
• Plato was born. He lived 82 years. (429 B.C.)
• The book of Malachi began in 420 B.C. (Malachi was completed in 397 B.C.)
• Egypt became free of Persian rule. The Egyptian freedom lasted 63 years. Joiada was High Priest in Jerusalem. (413 B.C.)
• Soldiers were first paid in Rome. (406 B.C,)
• Artaxerxes II Mnemon (Memory) became the king of Persia. (405 B.C.)

400 B.C.

• Delhi founded in India. (400 B.C.)
• The 39 books of the Old Testament ended. Four hundred years of Biblical silence started. (397 B.C.)
• Aristotle was born. He lived 62 years. (384 B.C.)
• John was the High Priest in Jerusalem. (373 B.C.)
• Philip II became the king of Macedon. He first married Olympias, then Cleopatra. (359 B.C.)
• Alexander III, The Great, succeeded his father at the age of 20, as the king of Macedon. He swept across the then known world creating the Macedonian Empire and after conquering the “world” died at the age of 33. (336 B.C.)
• Alexander the Great defeated the city of Tyre. Alexandria, in Egypt, the walls of which were six miles in circumference was built by Alexander the Great. It became the residence of the Ptolemies, the Greek sovereigns of Egypt. (332 B.C.)
• Persia fell to Alexander the Great. (330 B.C.)
• The Macedonian empire divided into: Egypt under Ptolemy I Lagus (Reputed son of Philip, half brother of Alexander); Syria, under the King of Phrygia, Anticonus; Cappadocia, Asia Minor, under Eumenes; Bithynia, under Bas; Pergamus, under Lysimachus; Greece, under Cassander; Thrace, under Lysimachus; and Macedon under, Philip Aridaeus III. (323 B.C.)
• Alexander was buried in Alexandria. (322 B.C.)
• Rome waged war and made conquests everywhere.
• Onias became High Priest in Jerusalem. (321 B.C.)
• Appius Claudius constructed the first Roman military road, 350 miles long and called the “Appian Way.” (312 B.C.)

300 B.C.

• Time was first divided into hours by a sundial of L. Papirius, Cursor at Rome. (293 B.C)
• The sixth wonder of the world, the Brass Colossus of Rhodes, was built. (290 B.C.)
• Archimedes was born. He invented, among other things, the screw and lever. (287 B.C.)
• The Alexandrian Library was built by Plolemy-Philadelpohus. It contained 700,000 volumes. (284 B.C.)
• The Pharos of Alexandria, the seventh wonder of the world was built by Plolemy-Philadelphus. It was 550 feet high. (280 B.C.)
• The Forth Dynasty, Tsin, began in China. Chi-Hoang-Ti was the first Emperor. The “Great Wall ” of China was started by Chihoang-Ti. (263 B.C.)
• The first Roman fleet was built. (260 B.C.)
• The Parthian Empire is started. Arsaces was the first ruler. “There was always a second power in the world, civilized or semi-civilized, that in a true sense balanced Rome, acted as a counterpoise and check, and had to be consulted or considered. That power for nearly 300 years (64 B.C. to 225 A.D.) was Parthia.” Rawlinson (250 B.C.)
• The “Great Wall” of China was completed. The wall was 1,500 miles long, averaging a height of 20 feet, with a tower every 300 feet. It crossed mountains 5,000 feet high. (236 B.C.)
• Hannibal became the ruler of Carthage. He ruled for 37 years. (220 B.C.)
• Hannibal defeated the Romans. (221 B.C.)
• Simon became the High Priest in Jerusalem. (217 B.C.)

200 B.C.

• The Jewish Sanhedrin was first mentioned. ? (198 B.C.)
• The Greek Bible (Septuagint) was translated at Alexandria, in Egypt by 70 Hebrew scholars. This translation was authorized by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem in order to give Jewish exiles a scripture in the language of their exile. (? B.C.)
• Onias became the High Priest in Jerusalem. The Rosetta stone was created. Britain appeared with Caswallon as the king. (195 B.C.)
• Jason became the High Priest in Jerusalem. (175 B.C.)
• The streets of Rome were paved. (174 B.C.)
• The first public bakery was started in Rome. (170 B.C.)
• Macedon was conquered by Rome. (168 B.C.)
• Jud was vaascant ???in Jerusalem. (165 B.C.)
• The Jews signed a treaty with the Romans. The first treaty with the Jews on record. (161 B.C.)
• Hipparchus of Nice, Bithynia, laid the foundations of Geographical and Astronomical Science. Elder Pliny called him “the confidant of nature” and “Patriarch of Astronomy.” He flourished between 160 B.C. and 125 B.C.
• Simon became the High Priest and governor in Jerusalem. (150 B.C.)
• Greece became a Roman province under the name of Athens. Carthiage was taken by Scipio and became a part of Rome. (146 B.C.)
• Hyrcanus became the High Priest in Jerusalem. (136 B.C.)
• Spain became a Roman province. Pergamus became a Roman province. (133 B.C.)
• John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple on MountGerizim. (130 B.C.)
• Hyrcanus, the High Priest of Jerusalem, took the title “King of the Jews.” (107 B.C.)
• Cicero, Roman orator and philosopher was born. He lived 63 years.
• The government of the Maccabees began in Palestine. (The priest Mattathias took refuge in Modin with his five sons, the Maccabees. Mattathias gave the signal for the attack. The Hassidaeans joined him. Judas Maccabaeus led the revolt after Mattathias died.) Janneus became the King of the Jews. (106 B.C.)

100 B.C.

• Britain was first known to be an island by the Romans who sailed around it. (84 B.C.)
• Alexandra, Janneus’ widow, became Queen of the Jews. 79 B.C.
• The poet Virgil was born. He lived 51 years. Odin settled Scandinavia. (70 B.C.)
• Hyrcanus became the ruler of the Jews. (69 B.C.)
• Horace, the poet was born. He lived 57 years. (65 B.C.)
• The first Triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Crassus and Pompey were formed. (60 B.C.)
• Crasus invaded Parthia and was destroyed. (53 B.C.)
• The Sanhedrin took over ruler ship of the Jews. Pompey of Rome conquered Jerusalem. (57 B.C.)
• Pompey was defeated at Pharsatia. Syria became a part of Rome. (August 9, 48 B.C.)
• Antipater ruled the Jews. (47 B.C.)
• Ovid, “the love-poet of the Romans” was born. He lived 61 years and authored over 54 books. (46 B.C.)
• Caesar, then dictator for four years, was slain in the Senate House by Brutus and Cassius, and fell at Pompey’s statue, He sustained 23 wounds. He was known as a great general, statesman and warrior. (March 15, 44 B.C.)
• Octavius, Lepidus and Mark Antony formed the second Triumvirate. (43 B.C.)
• The Roman Senate appointed Herod, an Idumean Arab, King of Judea. He ruled for 34 years. Herod began construction of the great Jewish Temple on Mt.Moriah in Jerusalem. (37 B.C.)
• Lepidus was expelled from the Triumvirate. (36 B.C.)
• Octavius, at Actium, defeated Cleopatra and Antony. (September 2, 31 B.C.)
• Egypt became a Roman province. (30 B.C.)
• Octavius, being sole ruler, assumed the Imperial Purple. (27 B.C.)
• Augustus Caesar was the first Emperor of Rome. The Golden Age of Rome started. Augustus ruled 44 years. He died August 19, 14 A.D. (27 B.C.)
• The Apostle Peter was born. Peter lived 78 years. (10 B.C.)
• John the Baptist was born. He was six months older then Jesus. (? B.C.)
• Jesus Christ was born. (6-4 B.C.)

0 A.D.

• The apostle Paul was born. He lived 63 years. (05 A.D.)
• Archelaus Coponius became Procurator of the Jews. (06 A.D.)
• Ambivius became Procurator of the Jews. (09 A.D.)
• Annius Rufus became Procurator of the Jews. (13 A.D.)
• Tiberius Caesar became the ruler of Rome, a rule lasting 22 and a half years. He was known as “cruel and tyrannical.” (14 A.D.)
• Valerius Gratus became Procurator of the Jews. (15 A.D.)
• Pontius Pilate became Procurator of the Jews. (25 A.D.)
• Pliny the Elder was born. (23 A.D.)
• John the Baptist was beheaded. (32 A.D.)
• Jesus Christ was crucified. (The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in either 30 A.D. or 33 A.D.)
• Agrippa became King of the Jews. Caligula became Emperor of Rome. Historian, Flavius Josephus was born. (37 A.D.)
• Claudius Caesar became Emperor of Rome. He was known as “timid and feeble.” (41 A.D.)
• Cuspius became Procurator of the Jews. (44 A.D.)
• Tiberius became Procurator of the Jews. (? A.D.)
• Cumanus became Procurator of the Jews. (? A.D.)
• The First Council of the Apostles was held at Jerusalem. Acts 15 (50 A.D.)
• Felix became the ruler of the Jews. The New Testament began. Eight authors wrote twenty-seven books between 52 A.D. and 96 A.D.
• Nero became Emperor of Rome. He was known as a profligate tyrant. (54 A.D.)
• Portins Festus became the ruler of the Jews. (60 A.D.)
• The first persecution by Nero began. It lasted four years. (64 A.D.)
• Galba became Emperor of Rome. The Apostle Paul was martyred. (68 A.D.)
• Vespasian became Emperor of Rome. He had a happy and prosperous 10-year reign. (69 A.D.)
• Titus took Jerusalem with an army of 60,000. This was the most horrible suffering experienced since the world began. One million, one hundred thousand perished. Men were crucified until wood for crosses was no longer found. (September 8, 70 A.D.)
• Titus, the son of Vespasian became Emperor of Rome. (79 A.D.)
• Flavius Domitian became Emperor of Rome. He was noted as the last of the 12 Caesars. He ruled 15 years. (81 A.D.)
• The second persecution by Domitian lasted until 96 A.D.
• The apostle John was banished to Patmos. (95 A.D.)
• Nerva became Emperor of Rome. The last of the New Testament books were completed. (96 A.D.)
• Trajan, known as “the great sovereign,” became Emperor of Rome. During Trajan’s 19-year rule the Roman Empire was at its greatest extent. (98 A.D.)

100 A.D.

• Justin the Martyr was born at Sychar in Samaria. (100 A.D.)
• The third persecution, by Trajan, started 106 A.D. and lasted until 107 A.D.
• Trajan’s Column was built. It was140 feet high. (114 A.D.)
• Adrian became Emperor of Rome. He rebuilt Jerusalem, placing the Temple of Jupiter on the site of Solomon’s Temple. He also visited Britain. (117 A.D.)
• Adrian‘s Wall was built from the RhineRiver to the DanubeRiver. (121 A.D.)
• Claudius Galenus, (or Galen) a celebrated Greek Physician was born. “He wrote 500 books on Medicine and 250 on other subjects.” Suidas (130 A.D.)
• The festival of Christmas began to be observed. (137 A.D.)
• Titus Antoninus Pius became Emperor of Rome. He was eminent for his virtues and his prosperous and equitable reign. (138 A.D.)
• Ashcled (Dublin, Ireland) was built. (140 A.D.)
• Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and L. Verus became Emperors of Rome. (Gibbon’s Rome begins with the two Antonines.) (161 A.D.)
• The fourth persecution, by Aurelius, started in 166 A.D. and lasted until 177 A.D.
• Christian missionaries preached in Britain with success. (178 A.D.)
• Lucius, the first Christian king, ruled in Britain. He founded the Archbishopric of York (Bede). (179 A.D.)
• Commodus became Emperor of Rome. He was known as profligate and cruel. In his reign civilization, morals and religion declined. Pertinax proposed reforms and was murdered by the Praetorian Guards, of whom Julianus bought the throne. (Pertinax ruled 3 months, Julianus 5 months and was then murdered.) (180 A.D.)
• The Scots invaded Britain. Oppian, a Greek poet was born. During his 30-year life span he wrote 5 books on fishing and 4 books on hunting. (183 A.D.)
• The Vandal Tribes increased in power and number. (190 A.D.)
• Septimius Severus became Emperor of Rome. He was known as a “brave man.” He visited Britain and built a wall at York and died there. His rule lasted 18 years. (192 A.D.)

200 A.D.

• The fifth persecution, by Severus, started in 200 A.D. and ended in 211 A.D.
• Beta was Emperor of Rome for 1 year. (211 A.D.)
• Caracalla was Emperer of Rome for 6 years. (212 A.D.)
• Macrtnus was Emperor of Rome for 1 year. (217 A.D.)
• Helogabalus was Emperor of Rome for 4 years. He was known as “Wanton, extravagant, depraved, and horribly cruel.” (218 A.D.)
• Persia revolted and overthrew Parthia. (220 A.D.)
• Alexander Severus was Emperor of Rome for 13 years. Alexander made reforms. He was murdered. (222 A.D.)
• Maximinus was Emperor of Rome. He conducted the sixth persecution, which lasted from 235 A.D. to 237 A.D.
• Gordian III was Emperor of Rome for 6 years. (238 A.D.)
• Sapor became ruler of Persia. He defeated the Romans and flayed Valerian. (240 A.D.)
• Philip became Emperor of Rome and ruled for 5 years. (244 A.D.)
• Seven missionaries enter Gaul. (245 A.D.)
• Decius became Emperor of Rome. (249 A.D.)
• There was a Gothic invasion in the reign of Decius. During the seventh persecution Decius proposed to extirpate Christianity from the earth by sword and fire, wild beasts, the wheel, red-hot iron chairs, and every variety of torture, which the most exquisite cruelty could invent and conducted. The seventh persecution lasted from 250 A.D. to 253 A.D.
• Gallus became Emperor of Rome. (? A.D.)
• Aemilius became Emperor of Rome and lasted 3 months. He was murdered. (? A.D.)
• The Romans were defeated at “Abrutum.” Decius and his sons were slain by the Goths, led by Ostrogotha. (251 A.D.)
• Valerian became Emperor of Rome and ruled 7 years. He conducted the eighth persecution which lasted from 257 A.D. to 260 A.D. Valerian was taken prisoner by Sapor, the ruler of Persia, and flayed. (253 A.D.)
• The Empire was greatly distressed. Barbarians invaded it on all sides. (255 A.D.)
• Gallienus became Emperor of Rome and ruled for 15 years. (260 A.D.)
• Vast hordes of the Heruli traversed Italy. (263 A.D.)
• Claudius became Emperor of Rome and lasted 2 years. (268 A.D.)
• Aurelian became Emperor of Rome and lasted 5 years. (270 A.D.)
• The ninth persecution, by Aurelian, started. Tacitus became Emperor of Rome. He ruled 6 months and was murdered. Florian became Emperor and was murdered. (275 A.D.)
• Probus became Emperor of Rome. He ruled for 6 years. He was noted as “good.” (? A.D.)
• Carus became Emperor of Rome. (282 A.D.)
• Diocletian became Emperor of Rome and the “Era of the Martyrs” began. (Or the “Diocletian Era.”) Diocletian ruled for 21 years and conducted the last and worst of Imperial Rome’s persecutions. (August 29, 284 A.D.)

300 A.D.

• Constantius became Emperor of Rome and ruled for 1 year. (305 A.D.)
• Constantine the Great became Emperor of Rome. He was known as the first “Christian” Emperor. Constantine made Constantinople the capital of Rome. (306 A.D.)
• Constantine‘s conversion came by a vision of a luminous cross in the sky. (313 A.D.)
• First Ecumenical Council was held. It was called by Constantine, Emperor of Rome, and held at Nice, Bithynia. Present were 318 Bishops and 2,048 Ecclesiastics. The “Nicene Creed” was formed at this council. (325 A.D.)
• Heathen temples in Rome were destroyed but the feasts of the LORD were replaced with Easter and Christmas. (331 A.D.)
• Three emperors ruled Rome: Constantine II, Constans and Constantius II. (337 A.D.)
• Julian ruled Rome. He publicly abandoned Christianity and adopted paganism. (361 A.D.)
• Byian became Emperor of Rome. (? A.D.)
• Valens ruled the Eastern Empire of Rome. Valentinian I and his son Cratian became rulers of the Western Empire of Rome. (364 A.D.)
• There was a terrible invasion of the Huns at this time. (374 A.D.)
• Valentinian II became ruler of the Western Empire of Rome. (375 A.D.)
• Theodosius I became ruler of the Eastern Empire of Rome. He began a 4-year campaign against the Goths. Theodosius pulled down the statues of the heathen gods. (379 A.D.)
• The Second Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople from May to July. Three hundred fifty Bishops attended. (381 A.D.)
• In 395 A.D., Theodosius officially divided the Roman Empire into the Greek or Eastern Empire with the capital at Constantinople, and the Roman or Western Empire with capitals at Milan and Ravenna. The “Eastern” or “Byzantine” Empire lasted 1058 years, from 395 A.D. to 1453 A.D. and was ruled by about 90 emperors.

400 A.D.

• Visogothic Spain emerged under Pharamond the chief of the Frank Tribes. (406. A.D.)
• Belgium revolted from Rome and all Germany was in motion for independence. (409 A.D.)
• Alaric and Goths were in Rome. (The “Vandal Hordes” of the north pour down upon falling Rome.) (410 A.D.)
• There was a total withdrawal of Romans soldiers from Britain when the Picts and Scots invaded from the north. The Saxons were invited over to assist in expelling them and gradually took possession of the country. The Saxon Heptarchy was formed, and existed until Egbert formed the kingdom of England in 827 A.D. The country was called Britain and the people were called Britons. (426 A.D.)
• The Third Ecumenical Council was held at Ephesus. (431 A.D.)
• St. Patrick arrived in Ireland. (432 A.D.)
• The immense empire of the Huns, under Attila and Bleda, ravaged Europe, sacking and pillaging over 70 cities. (433 A.D.)
• The Fourth Ecumenical Council at was held at Chalcedon. (451 A.D.)
• The “Middle Ages” began and the rise of the feudal system. There was a Feudal Alliance between Odoacer, king of the Western Empire and Euric. Euric formally resigned his provinces and received them again as fiefs of Rome. (476 A.D. or 477 A.D.)
• The Ostrogoths invaded the Western Empire under Theodoric the Great. One third of the lands were given to his 500,000 troops. He married Clovis‘ sister. The Roman or Western Empire came under the Ostrogothic monarchy of Italy with capitals at Ravenna and Verona. (493 A.D.)

500 A.D.

• St. Augustine arrived in England with 40 monks. He was sent by Gregory the Great. (596 A.D.)
• The Lombard Kingdom of Italy began. The Lombards (of Vandal origin, from the north), under Alboin, took over the Ostrogothic monarchy of Italy. The Ostrogothic nation disappeared from history. (568 A.D.)
• Mahomet was born. (569 or 70 A.D.)
• The Fifth Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople. (553 A.D.)

600 A.D.

• Mahomet commenced preaching. The Koran was written. (610 A.D.)
• Olaf became King of Norway. (630 A.D.)
• The Sixth Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople. (November 7, 680 A.D. to February 28, 681 A.D.)

700 A.D.

• Mahometan Spain emerged under Emirs. (714 A.D.)
• During the Battle of Tours, Charles Martel defeated the Saracens and saved Europe from Asiatic civilization. (October 10, 732 A.D.)
• Papal Rome began. Astolphus, King of Italy, surrendered the Exarchate (or Reavenna) to Pepin in 755 A.D. He gave it to Stephen III who thus obtained civil power. Naples, Sicily and Lower Italy were retained by the Eastern Empire. (755 A.D.)
• Pope Paul I governed the church from Rome for 10 years. (758 A.D.)
• Charlemagne (Charles the Great, son of Pepin) came to power in Europe. He was considered a great prince. He was the strongest and tallest man of his time, but plain in dress and diet. Pope Stephen governed the church from Rome for 4 years. (768 A.D.)
• The Seventh Ecumenical Council was held at Nice, Bithynia from September 24 to October 23, 350 A.D. Bishops attend. They were against the Iconoclasts.??? Image Breakers (787 A.D.)
• Sweden emerged under Ragnor Lodbrog. (790 A.D.)
• Denmark emerged under Sigurd. (794 A.D.)
• Pope Leo III governed the church from Rome for 20 years. (795 A.D.)

800 A.D.

• Pope ? and Pope Pascal I governed the church from Rome for 7 years. (816 A.D.)
• Pope Eugenius governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (824 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory IV governed the church from Rome for 16 years. (827 A.D.)
• Pope Sergius governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (844 A.D.)
• Pope Leo IV governed the church from Rome for 6 years. (846 A.D.)
• Pope Benediot III governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (853 A.D.)
• Pope Nicholas governed the church from Rome for 9 years. (858 A.D.)
• Tai Tsong became Emperor of China. (Irruption of 200,000 Tarters?????) Ruric, a Varangian Chief established the first government of Russia. (762 A.D.)
• Pope Adrian II governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (867 A.D.)
• The Eighth Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople from Oct. 5, 869 A.D. to Feb. 28, 870 A.D.
• Pope John VIII governed the church from Rome for 10 years. (872 A.D.)
• Two Popes governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (882 A.D.)
• Pope Stephen VI governed the church from Rome for 6 years. (885 A.D.)
• Pope Formosus governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (891 A.D.)
• Seven Popes governed from Rome for 9 years beginning in 896 A.D.

900 A.D .

• Europe was beginning to take shape as it is today. France, Austria and Germany grew strong.
• Pope Sergius III governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (905 A.D.)
• Two Popes governed the church from Rome for 3 years. Normandy broke away from France under the leadership of Robert, First Duke of Normandy. (911 A.D.)
• Chivalry commenced. The knights swore to be true to their trusts as the champions of God and the ladies. Chivalry flourished from the eleventh to the fifteenth century. (912 A.D.)
• Pope John XI governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (913 A.D.)
• Pope Leo VII governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (936 A.D.
• Pope Stephen IX governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (939 A.D.)
• Pope Marin II governed the church from Rome for 4 years. (? A.D.)
• Pope Agapetus II governed the church from Rome for 10 years. (946 A.D.)
• Pope John XII governed the church from Rome for 8 years. (956 A.D.)
• Pope John XIII governed the church from Rome for 8 years. (964 A.D.)
• Pope Benedict VII governed the church from Rome for 10 years. (973 A.D.)
• Pope John XIV governed the church from Rome for 2 years. (984 A.D.)
• Pope John XVI governed the church from Rome for 10 years. (986 A.D.)
• Poland became a kingdom. (992 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory V governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (996 A.D.)
• Venice became independent of the Eastern Empire and acquired Dalmatian and Istria. (997 A.D.)

1000 A.D.

• Pope Sylvestor governed the church from Rome. (? A.D.)
• Pope John XVIII governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (1004 A.D.)
• Pope Bergius IV governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (1009 A.D.)
• Pope Benedict VIII governed the church from Rome for 12 years. (1012 A.D.)
• Pope John XIX governed the church from Rome for 9 years. (1024 A.D.)
• Mahometan Spain was divided into the independent states of Cordove, Granada, Seville, etc. (1031 A.D.)
• Pope Benedict IX governed the church from Rome for 12 years. (1033 A.D.)
• William II, “The Conqueror,” became ruler of Normandy. (1035 A.D.)
• Pope ? governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (? A.D.)
• Pope Leo IX governed the church from Rome for 6 years. (1045 A.D.)
• Pope Viotor II governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (1054 A.D.)
• Pope Nicholas II governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (? A.D.)
• Pope Alexander II governed the church from Rome for 12 years. (1061 A.D.)
• Peter the Hermit began preaching for Holy Wars. (These were Christian wars against Islamic control of Jerusalem.) A red cross was worn on the right shoulder. The French word for cross was Croisade hence Crusade. (1064 A.D.)
• England was taken by Normandy. William I became ruler. Many significant changes were made. William I “The Conqueror” ruled 21 years. (1064 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory VII governed the church from Rome for 12 years. (1073 A.D.)
• William the Conqueror and his son started building the Tower of London. (1078 A.D.)
• Pope Victor III governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (1085 A.D.)
• Pope Urban II governed the church from Rome for 12 years. (1088 A.D.)
• Portugal gained strength during the 17-year rule of Count Henry. Portugal underwent the same changes as Spain after the fall of Rome. The Goths and then the Saracens overran Portugal. (1095 A.D.)
• The Crusades began. Eight Crusades were conducted. The first lasted from 1096 A.D. to 1099 A.D. Three hundred thousand men were blessed by Pope Urban II and commanded by King Godfrey. (1096 A.D.)
• Pope Pascal II governed the church from Rome for 19 years. Crusaders captured Jerusalem and gave Christians control of the holy city. (1099 A.D.)

1100 A.D.

• Pope Ceiastus II governed the church from Rome for 1 year. Thomas A. Becket, High Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury was born. (1117 A.D.)
• Pope Calixtus II governed the church from Rome for 5 years. The Ninth Council, (First Lateran), was held from March 18, 1118 A.D. to April 28, 1118 A.D.
• The Right of Investiture was settled by treaty between Pope Calixtus II and Emperor Henry V. (1118 A.D.)
• Pope Honorius II governed the church from Rome for 6 years. (1124 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent II governed the church from Rome for 14 years. (1130 A.D.)
• The Tenth Council, (Second Lateran), was held starting April 20, 1130 A.D.
• Pope Celestine II governed the church from Rome for 1 year. (1143 A.D.)
• Pope Eugenius III governed the church from Rome for 8 years. (1144 A.D.)
• The Second Crusade started. War was preached by St. Bernard and headed by Conrad II and Louis VII. (1147 A.D.)
• Pope Adrian IV governed the church from Rome for 6 years. (1153 A.D.)
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built. It reached 188 feet high. A cathedral was built nearby. (1154 A.D.)
• The Bank of Venice was established. George built the city of Moscow. (1157 A.D.)
• Pope Alexander III governed the church from Rome for 22 years. (1159 A.D.)
• Pope Lucius III governed the church from Rome for 4 years. (? A.D.)
• Genghis Khan founded the Mongul Empire. (An alternate spelling is Zengis Khan.) Zengis-Khan was one of the bloodiest conquerors of the world. Fourteen million people perished by his sword, under the pretense of establishing the worship of “One God and Mahomet as his Prophet.” (1164 A.D. or 1214 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory VIII governed the church from Rome for 2 years. (?A.D.)
• Pope Clement II governed the church from Rome for 4 years. (? A.D.)
• The Eleventh Council, (Third Lateran), was held from March 5-19, ?
• Saladin recaptured Jerusalem during the Second Crusade returning the city to Islamic rule. (1187 A.D.)
• The Third Crusade was “glorious but fruitless.” Fred Barbarossa, Philip II and Richard I were involved in the Third Crusade. (1189 A.D.)
• Pope Celestini III governed the church from Rome for 7 years. (1191 A.D.)
• The Fourth Crusade began in 1195 A.D. and ended in 1197 A.D.
• Pope Innocent III governed the church from Rome for 18 years. (1198 A.D.)

1200 A.D.

• The Fifth Crusade started. Baldwin, Count of Flanders, took Constantinople. (1203 A.D.)
• Zengis Khan took Central Asia. (1206 A.D.)
• Zengis Khan took Northern China. (1214 A.D.)
• The Twelfth Council, Fourth Lateran, was held from Nov. 11-30, 1215 A.D.)
• Pope Honorius III governed the church from Rome for 11 years. (1216 A.D.)
• The Westminster Abbey was built. (1220 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory IX governed the church from Rome for 14 years. Cardinal Hugo divided the Bible into chapters. (1227 A.D.)
• During the Sixth Crusade, Emperor Frederick II took Jerusalem into a truce for 10 years. (1228 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent IV governed the church from Rome for 13 years. (1241 A.D.)
• The Thirteenth Council was held at Lyons from June 28 to July 17, 1245 A.D.
• During the Seventh Crusade, Louis IX was defeated and taken prisoner. (1248 A.D.)
• Pope Alexander IV governed the church from Rome for 7 years. (1254 A.D.)
• The Mongols, under Kublai Khan took over China. Kublai Khan ruled 34 years. Stockholm was founded in Sweden. (1260 A.D.)
• Pope Urban IV governed the church from Rome for 3 years. (1261 A.D.)
• Pope Clement IV governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (1264 A.D.)
• There was a papal vacancy for two years. (1269 A.D.)
• The Eighth Crusade started in 1270 A.D. Louis IX died at Carthage. Edward I followed him. Christians were driven out of Syria in 1291.
• Pope Gregory X governed the church for 5 years. (1271 A.D.)
• The Fourteenth Council was held at Lyons from May 7 to June 11. There was a temporary union of Greek and Latin churches. (1274 A.D.)
• Four Popes governed the church from Rome for 4 years. (1276 A.D.)
• Pope Martin IV governed the church from Rome for 5 years. Roger Bacon invented spectacles, glass mirrors and magnifying glasses. (1280 A.D.)
• Pope Honorius IV governed the church from Rome for 2 years. (1285 A.D.)
• Pope Nicholas IV governed the church from Rome for 5 years. (1287 A.D.)
• Pope Celestine V governed the church from Rome for 2 years. (1294 A.D.)
• Pope Boniface VIII governed the church from Rome for 9 years. (129? A.D.)

1300 A.D.

• Chimneys and window glass began to be introduced in London. (1300 A.D.)
• Cannons were used at Gibraltar. (1308 A.D.)
• The Fifteenth Council was held at Vienna. (1311-1312 A.D.)
• The oldest clock known was put up in this year. It is now in DoverCastle. (1348 A.D.)
• M. Schwarts invented gunpowder. (1320 A.D.)
• John Wickliffe was born inYorkshire. (1324 A.D.)
• Pope Clement V governed the church for 10 years. (130? A.D.)
• There was a vacancy in the papacy for two years. (1314 A.D.)
• Pope John XXII governed the church for 19 years. (1316 A.D.)
• Pope Benedict XII governed the church. (1335 A.D.)
• Pope Clement VI governed the church for 10 years. (1342 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent VI governed the church for 10 years. (1352 A.D.)
• Pope Urban V governed the church for 8 years. (1362 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory XI governed the church for 7 years. (1370 A.D.)
• Pope Urban VI governed the church for 11 years. (1378 A.D.)
• Wickliffe‘s Bible was translated. (1380 A.D.)
• Pope Boniface IX governed the church for 15 years. (1389 A.D.)

1400 A.D.

• John Gutenberg was born. He created the first movable types. Air guns and muskets were invented. (1400 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent VII governed the church. (1404 A.D.)
• There were two Popes in the next 4 years. (1406 A.D.)
• The Sixteenth Council was held at Pisa. (1409 A.D.)
• Pope John XXIII governed the church for 6 years. (1410 A.D.)
• The Seventeenth Council was held at Constance. (1414-18 A.D.)
• Pope Martin V governed the church for 15 years. (1416 A.D.)
• The first saw mill began to operate. Initially they were violently opposed to it in England. (1420 A.D.)
• Pope Eugenius IV governed the church. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 31. (1431 A.D.)
• The Eighteenth Council was held at Basle. (1439 A.D.)
• Pope Nicholas V governed the church for 8 years. (1447 A.D.)
• Gutenberg invented the printing press. (1448 A.D.)
• Pope Calixtus III governed the church for 3 years. (1455 A.D.)
• Pope Pius II governed the church for 6 years. (1458 A.D.)
• Pope Paul II governed the church for 7 years. (1464 A.D.)
• Erasmus born was born. He lived 69 years. (1467 A.D.)
• Pope Sixtus IV governed the church for 13 years. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was born. He lived 59 years. (1471 A.D.)
• Michael Angelo, architect of “St. Peter’s Cathedral,” and celebrated painter was born. He lived 89 years. (1474 A.D.)
• Printing was introduced in England. The first watch was introduced in Nuremberg. (1477 A.D.)
• The “Czars” of Russia ruled from 1482 A.D. to 1698 A.D.
• Martin Luther was born in German. He lived 63 years. Raphael, the painter, was born. He lived 37 years. (1483 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent VIII governed the church for 8 years. (1484 A.D.)
• Pope Alexander VI governed the church for 11 years. (1489 A.D.)
• Columbus discovered the American continent. He crossed the ocean in the “Santa Maria,” and discovered San Salvador on Friday, October 12. (1492 A.D.)
• Columbus discovered the main continent. (1498 A.D.)

1500 A.D.

• The Portuguese settled in India. (1502 A.D.)
• Pope Julius II governed the church for 10 years. (1503 A.D.)
• John Knox of Scotland was born. He lived 67 years. (1505 A.D.)
• Julius commenced building St. Peter’s Cathedral at Rome. (1506 A.D.)
• Pope Leo X governed the church for 9 years. (1513 A.D.)
• Luther, a Catholic priest in Germany, broke from the Roman Catholic Church, and posted his ” 95 thesis” on the church door. Luther decreed salvation by faith alone. He stated that theological rules couldn’t save. He nullified church sacraments. Luther put the Bible above both church and Pope as highest authority on earth. He decreed the right of individual interpretation of scripture. He rejected the Greek Old Testament and declared its books invalid. (1517 A.D.)
• Luther went to the Diet at Worms in 1521 A.D.
• Pope Adrian VI governed the church for 1 year. (1522 A.D.)
• Pope Clement VIII governed the church for 11 years. Denmark and Norway separated from Sweden. (1523 A.D.)
• The Lutheran Protest was drawn up and Protestant churches were born. (1529 A.D.)
• The first Protestant creed was written at Augsburg in Bavaria. The spinning wheel was invented at Brunswick. (1530 A.D.)
• Pope Paul III governed the church for 15 years. (1534 A.D.)
• The Catholic Council of Trent (1545-1563) tried to reform the Roman Catholic Church and quell the protest, but to no avail. This Vatican Council decreed faith necessary, but retained church sacraments as essential components of the Christian religion. (1545 A.D.)
• Pope Julius III governed the church for 6 years. (1549 A.D.)
• Robert Stephens sectioned the Bible into verses. (1551 A.D.)
• There were two Popes in the next 4 years. (1555 A.D.)
• Pope Pius IV governed the church for 6 years. (1559 A.D.)
• Fierce religious wars were waged between all the burgeoning new faiths spread throughout Europe. Those seeking freedom from the European religious turmoil speeded up colonization of America. Democracy (An ancient Greek form of rule by the people) was rediscovered. (1563 A.D.)
• Sir Edward Coke, Attorney General, who wrote The Oracle of English Law, was born. (1551 A.D.)
• Akbar, the greatest prince of India began his 49-year reign. (1556 A.D.)
• Sir Francis Bacon of England was born. He lived 65 years. (1561 A.D.)
• Galileo, the astronomer, was born. He lived 78 years. William Shakespeare was born. He lived 52 years. (1564 A.D.)
• Pope Pius V governed the church for 7 years. (1565 A.D.)
• Bishop’s Bible was created. (1568 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory XIII governed the church for 13 years. (1572 A.D.)
• Pope Sixtus V governed the church for 5 years. (1585 A.D.)
• Pope Clement VIII governed the church for 13 years. (1590 A.D.)

1600 A.D.

• Pope Paul V governed the church for 16 years. (1603 A.D.)
• The Dutch discovered Australia. (1606 A.D.)
• Jamestown, Virginia became the first settlement of the “New World.” (1607 A.D.)
• John Milton, a poet from England, was born. He lived 66 years. (1608 A.D.)
• The Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible was published. (1611 A.D.)
• Wm. Harvey, M.D. of England discovered the double function of the heart in sending out blood from the left side, through the arteries, over the whole body, and in receiving it back by the veins to the right side, whence it is propelled into the lungs, and made pure and again fit for use. (1619 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory XV governed the church for 2 years. (1621 A.D.)
• Pope Urban VIII governed the church for 21 years. (1623 A.D.)
• The first newspaper, The Gazette De France, was first issued. (It is still in circulation today.) (1631 A.D.)
• John Locke of England was born. He lived 72 years. Spinoza of Amsterdam was born. He lived 45 years. (1632 A.D.)
• Sir Isaac Newton of England was born. He lived 85 years. He discovered the law of gravitation in 1666. (1642 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent X governed the church for 11 years. (1642 A.D.)
• Pope Alexander VII governed the church for 12 years. (1655 A.D.)
• Pope Clement IX governed the church for 3 years. (1655 A.D.)
• Pope Clement X governed the church for 6 years. (1670 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent XI governed the church for 13 years. (1676 A.D.)
• George Handel was born. He lived 75 years. (1684 A.D.)
• Pope Alexas VIII governed the church for 2 years. (1689 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent XII governed the church for 9 years. (1691 A.D.)
• The Bank of England commenced business on January 1. (1695 A.D.)

1700 A.D.

• Pope Clement XI governed the church for 21 years. (1700 A.D.)
• Pope Innocent XIII governed the church for 3 years. (1721 A.D)
• Pope Benedict XIII governed the church for 6 years. (1724 A.D.)
• Wickliffe‘s New Testament was printed. (1731 A.D.)
• WM. Herschel was born in Hanover, Germany. He lived 84 years. (1738 A.D.)
• Pope Benedict XIV governed the church for 18 years. (1740 A.D.)
• James Watt discovered the power of steam. (1750 A.D.)
• Ben. Franklin discovered the identity of lightening and electricity. Lightening rods were used thereafter. (1752 A.D.)
• Amadeus Mozart of Germany was born. He lived 36 years. (1756 A.D.)
• Pope Clement XIII governed the church for 11 years. (1758 A.D.)
• Pope Clement XIV governed the church for 6 years. (1763 A.D.)
• Beethoven was born. He lived 57 years, primarily in Vienna. (1770 A.D.)
• The Constitutional Congress in America, led by Thomas Jefferson, restated a “Rule of Democracy.” Pope Pius VI governed the church for 25 years. (1775 A.D.)
• The United States of America was founded. (1776 A.D.)
• England loses the American Colonies. (1783 A.D.)
• The first mail delivered by coaches left London for Bristol, August 2, 1784 A.D.
• Napoleon came to power and took the Pope prisoner. (February 15, 1798 A.D.)
• Tippoo Saib, the last Sultan of India, was killed May 4. The English, after long wars, controled India. (1799 A.D.)

1800 A.D.

• ?Pope Pius VII was head of the church for 23 years. (1800 A.D.)
• The first passenger steamboat, The Clermont, performed its maiden voyage on the SeineRiver. (August 19, 1803 A.D.)
• Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of France. (1804 A.D.)
• Gaslight was introduced in London on August 16, 1807 A.D.
• Nobel invented dynamite. (1808 A.D.)
• Napoleon was banished from England after the Battle of Waterloo. (June 18, 1815 A.D.)
• Joseph Smith introduced the Book of Mormon. (1817 A.D.)
• Pope Leo XII headed the church for 6 years. (1823 A.D.)
• The first railway opened in England on September 27, 1825 A.D.
• Pope Pius VIII headed the church for 2 years. (1829 A.D.)
• Pope Gregory XIV headed the church for 15 years. He was known as “one of the greatest Pontiffs.” (1831 A.D.)
• Joseph Smith founded The Mormon Church in Fayette, N.Y. (1830 A.D.)
• Protestants of various fellowships experienced the “Great Disappointment.” They expected the Second Coming of Christ to occur. (October 22, 1844 A.D.)
• Daguerre took first photograph. (1839 A.D.)
• Pope Pius IX headed the church. Wickliffe‘s Old Testament was printed. (1848 A.D.)
• The first Atlantic cable was laid in 1858 A.D. (It became faulty and ceased to transmit messages. “The Great Easterb” successfully laid a new cable in 1866 A.D.
• ????Victor Emanuel (1861 A.D.)
• The Twentieth Council, First Vatican, met on Dec. 8, 1869.
• The Suez Canal opened in November. (1869 A.D.)
• The Italian Army, September 20, 1870 A.D, took Rome.
• D.E. Hughes invented the microphone. Professor A.D. Sell and T.E. Edison invented the telephone. Edison invented the phonograph. (1877 A.D.)
• Lighting by electricity began to be used. (1878 A.D.)
• Gottleb Daimer invented the internal combustion engine. Karl Benz pioneered the engine for automobiles. (1885 A.D.)
• The Olympic games reappeared in the world. They had been absent since the Roman emperor, Theodosus, canceled them and closed their associated pagan temples in 396 A.D. (1500 years earlier) (1896 A.D.)

1900 A.D.

• Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States. (1901 A.D.)
• Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first manned, powered flight on December 17, 1903 A.D.
• A comet struck Russia. Thousands of miles of forest were leveled. (1908 A.D.)
• Germany led the planet into World War I. (1914 A.D.)
• British, Allenby, captured Jerusalem. Islamic rule in Palestine ended as the Turkish Ottoman Empire was destroyed. The Balfour Treaty allowed Jews to return to the Holy Land ending an eighteen hundred year lockout. On May13, the first Fatima vision occurred. On Oct. 25, the Communists seized power in Russia and set up a secular, anti-Christ state. The United States of America declared war on Germany. (1917 A.D.)
• John Logie Baird demonstrated television. January 26, 1926 A.D.
• Mussolini signed a treaty that officially separated church and state. It also secularized Italy and relegated the church to a tiny defined area of sovereignty in Rome. Thus Vatican City was formed. This action fundamentally cancelled the final remnants of Theodosus’ decree, even in the Roman capitol itself. The
• Great Depression swept the world. (1929 A.D.)
• Adolph Hitler led Germany and the world into the Second World War. The “Jewish Holocaust” began. Hitler and his forces systematically executed at least nine million Jews over the next 6 years. (1939 A.D.)
• Japan made World War II almost global by attacking the West at Pearl Harbor and assaulting Southeast Asia. This was the first major Eastern attack on Western civilization in almost a thousand years. The United States declared war on Germany and Japan. (1941 A.D.)
• The Atom Bomb was invented and dropped on two Japanese cities by the United States. World War II and the Jewish Holocaust came to an end. (1945 A.D.)
• In the battle for the secular post-war management of the world a “Cold War” began pitting communism against democracy. Atomic energy scientists alerted the world civilization to the “doomsday clock,” with hands near midnight. (1947 A.D.)
• The Jewish nation of Israel was founded by a United Nations’ mandate. (1948 A.D.)
• The Communists launched a war in Korea. (1950 A.D.)
• The Hydrogen bomb was invented. Several bombs were exploded in the South Pacific. Thousands of bombs were stockpiled in underground silos as part of a massive arms race with the Soviet Union. (1953 A.D.)
• The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists advanced the hands on its “doomsday clock” up to two minutes before midnight. (1953 A.D.)
• John F. Kennedy, President of the United States was assassinated. (November 22,1963 A.D.)
• The Gulf of Tonkin incident led the United States into the Vietnam War. (1964 A.D.)
• A Drug crisis swept America. Millions of youth began using marijuana, heroin, LSD, etc. (1966 A.D.)
• U.S. astronauts land on the moon. (1969 A.D.)
• An AIDS plague began. On May 13, a professional Turkish gunman shot and wounded the Pope in St. Peter’s Square. (1981 A.D.)
• A world drug crisis continued to mount. “Crack” cocaine use and urban crime became rampant. (1981 A.D.)
• The Gulf War broke out. (1991 A.D.)
• Communism crumbled in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was dissolved and the struggle toward a stable democracy began. The Berlin Wall came down as Eastern Europe ended the Cold War. (1992 A.D.)
• The United Nations’ Science Council Report warned of catastrophic effects across the world during the next hundred years as global warming rapidly accelerates. Scientists said that advancing tides caused by polar ice cap melting during this period would inundate most of the world’s coastal cities. Holes in the ozone layer continue to widen as sun-induced skin cancer reaches near-epidemic proportions worldwide. (1995 A.D.) The President of Russia led Easter mass in resurrected Moscow church. (April 14, 1996 A.D.)
• Belarus and Russia agreed to unite their countries into a single state. The Pacific Ocean‘s greatest “El Nino” current wreaked havoc on earth, producing mammoth fires, famine and drought in many places with huge floods in others. (1998 A.D.)
• The world population topped 6 billion people. Hate crimes increased. Mass shootings occurred in schools, churches and synagogues. There were great earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan that left thousands dead. Wars and rumors of war continued unabated that included Kosovo, Indonesia, Somalia, Chechnya and Iraq. On September 10, the year 5760 in the Jewish calendar began. (Two hundred and forty years remain until the year 6000 i.e., until the “seventh day” of Hebrew religious history, begins.) (1999 A.D.)

 

---

 

2000 A.D.

• A giant earthquake hit India killing tens of thousands. (February 2001 A.D.)
• Terrorists attack America. Thousands were killed as airliners were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. This led to a war against terrorism and a direct attack by the United States on Afghanistan who harbored the terrorists. (September 11, 2001 A.D.)
• Hundreds around the world started to wake up and realize they were part of prophecy of Ezekiel 37 being fulfilled in their lifetime (1998-2008 A.D.)
• Thousands began to come together and realize that the lost sheep of the house of Israel were prophesied to be in exile 2730 years (390 X 7) as prophesied by Ezekiel in light of Hosea, Daniel and the “7 times of punishment” in Leviticus 26 (2011 A.D.)
  
• Millions of Christians begin to awaken to the possibilities of fulfillment of prophecy as media began to put out propaganda about the world ending in 2012 (2011-2012 A.D.)
• Multiple formal organizations began cropping up identifying themselves with the lost sheep of the house of Israel; the scattered northern tribes. These individuals began coming out of Christianity, Messianic Judaism and Hebrew Roots movements (2015 A.D.)
• The second Reformation began as understanding of the second (greater) Exodus begins to grow like wildfire. (2016)

2100 A.D.

• TBD

 

How we got the Bible we have today

 

The Pre-Reformation History of the Bible From 1,400 BC to 1,400 AD

 

(http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/)

 

The story of how we got the English language Bible is, for the most part, the story of the Protestant Reformation which began in the late 14th Century AD with John Wycliffe. Indeed, if we go back more than just one thousand years, there is no language recognizable as “English” that even existed anywhere. The story of the Bible is much older than that, however.

 

The first recorded instance of God’s Word being written down, was when the Lord Himself wrote it down in the form of ten commandments on the stone tablets delivered to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai. Biblical scholars believe this occurred between 1,400 BC and 1,500 BC… almost 3,500 years ago. The language used was almost certainly an ancient form of Hebrew, the language of Old Covenant believers.

 

The earliest scripture is generally considered to be the “Pentateuch”, the first five books of the Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy… though there is some scholarly evidence to indicate that the Old Testament Book of Job may actually be the oldest book in the Bible. The Old Testament scriptures were written in ancient Hebrew, a language substantially different than the Hebrew of today. These writings were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years on scrolls made of animal skin, usually sheep, but sometimes deer or cow. Animals considered “unclean” by the Jews, such as pigs, were of course, never used to make scrolls.

 

When the entire Pentateuch is present on a scroll, it is called a “Torah”. An entire Torah Scroll, if completely unraveled, is over 150 feet long! As most sheep are only about two to three feet long, it took an entire flock of sheep to make just one Torah scroll. The Jewish scribes who painstakingly produced each scroll were perfectionists. If they made even the slightest mistake in copying, such as allowing two letters of a word to touch, they destroyed that entire panel (the last three or four columns of text), and the panel before it, because it had touched the panel with a mistake! While most Christians today would consider this behavior fanatical and even idolatrous (worshiping the scripture, rather than the One who gave it to us), it nevertheless demonstrates the level of faithfulness to accuracy applied to the preservation of God’s Word throughout the first couple of thousand years of Biblical transmission.

 

Hebrew has one thing in common with English: they are both “picture languages”. Their words form a clear picture in your mind. As evidence of this; the first man to ever print the scriptures in English, William Tyndale, once commented that Hebrew was ten times easier to translate into English than any other language. Tyndale would certainly be qualified to make such a statement, as he was so fluent in eight languages, that it was said you would have thought any one of them to be his native tongue.

 

By approximately 500 BC, the 39 Books that make up the Old Testament were completed, and continued to be preserved in Hebrew on scrolls. As we approach the last few centuries before Christ, the Jewish historical books known as the “Apocrypha” were completed, yet they were recorded in Greek rather than Hebrew. By the end of the First Century AD, the New Testament had been completed. It was preserved in Greek on Papyrus, a thin paper-like material made from crushed and flattened stalks of a reed-like plant. The word “Bible” comes from the same Greek root word as “papyrus”. The papyrus sheets were bound, or tied together in a configuration much more similar to modern books than to an elongated scroll.

 

These groupings of papyrus were called a “codex” (plural: “codices”). The oldest copies of the New Testament known to exist today are: The Codex Alexandrius and the Codex Sinaiticus in the British Museum Library in London, and the Codex Vaticanus in the Vatican. They date back to approximately the 300’s AD. In 315 AD, Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identified the 27 Books which we recognize today as the canon of New Testament scripture.

 

In 382 AD, the early church father Jerome translated the New Testament from its original Greek into Latin. This translation became known as the “Latin Vulgate”, (“Vulgate” meaning “vulgar” or “common”). He put a note next to the Apocrypha Books, stating that he did not know whether or not they were inspired scripture, or just Jewish historical writings which accompanied the Old Testament.

 

The Apocrypha was kept as part of virtually every Bible scribed or printed from these early days until just 120 years ago, in the mid-1880’s, when it was removed from Protestant Bibles. Up until the 1880’s, however, every Christian… Protestant or otherwise… embraced the Apocrypha as part of the Bible, though debate continued as to whether or not the Apocrypha was inspired. There is no truth to the popular myth that there is something “Roman Catholic” about the Apocrypha, which stemmed from the fact that the Roman Catholics kept 12 of the 14 Apocrypha Books in their Bible, as the Protestants removed all of them. No real justification was ever given for the removal of these ancient Jewish writings from before the time of Christ, which had remained untouched and part of every Bible for nearly two thousand years.

 

By 500 AD the Bible had been translated into over 500 languages. Just one century later, by 600 AD, it has been restricted to only one language: the Latin Vulgate! The only organized and recognized church at that time in history was the Catholic Church of Rome, and they refused to allow the scripture to be available in any language other than Latin. Those in possession of non-Latin scriptures would be executed! This was because only the priests were educated to understand Latin, and this gave the church ultimate power… a power to rule without question… a power to deceive… a power to extort money from the masses. Nobody could question their “Biblical” teachings, because few people other than priests could read Latin. The church capitalized on this forced-ignorance through the 1,000 year period from 400 AD to 1,400 AD knows as the “Dark and Middle Ages”.

 

Pope Leo the Tenth established a practice called the “selling of indulgences” as a way to extort money from the people. He offered forgiveness of sins for a fairly small amount of money. For a little bit more money, you would be allowed to indulge in a continuous lifestyle of sin, such as keeping a mistress. Also, through the invention of “Purgatory”, you could purchase the salvation of your loved-one’s souls. The church taught the ignorant masses, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the troubled soul from Purgatory springs!” Pope Leo the Tenth showed his true feelings when he said, “The fable of Christ has been quite profitable to us!”

 

 

 

On the Scottish Island of Iona, in 563 AD, a man named Columba started a BibleCollege. For the next 700 years, this was the source of much of the non-Catholic, evangelical Bible teaching through those centuries of the Dark and Middle Ages. The students of this college were called “Culdees”, which means “certain stranger”. The Culdees were a secret society, and the remnant of the true Christian faith was kept alive by these men during the many centuries that led up to the Protestant Reformation.

 

In fact, the first man to be called a “Culdee” was Joseph of Aremethia. The Bible tells us that Joseph of Aremethia gave up his tomb for Jesus. Tradition tells us that he was actually the Uncle of the Virgin Mary, and therefore the Great-Uncle (or “half-Uncle” at least) of Jesus. It is also believed that Joseph of Aremethia traveled to the British Isles shortly after the resurrection of Christ, and built the first Christian Church above ground there. Tradition also tells us that Jesus may have spent much of his young adult life (between 13 and 30) traveling the world with his Great Uncle Joseph… though the Bible is silent on these years in the life of Jesus.

 

In the late 1300’s, the society of Culdees chose John Wycliffe to lead the world out of the Dark Ages. Wycliffe has been called the “Morning Star of the Reformation”. That Protestant Reformation was about one thing: getting the Word of God back into the hands of the masses in their own native language, so that the corrupt church would be exposed and the message of salvation in Christ alone, by scripture alone, through faith alone would be proclaimed again.

 

The fascinating story of how we got the Bible in its present form actually starts thousands of years ago, as briefly outlined in our Timeline of Bible Translation History. As a background study, we recommend that you first review our discussion of the Pre-Reformation History of the Bible from 1,400 B.C. to 1,400 A.D., which covers the transmission of the scripture through the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, and the 1,000 years of the Dark & Middle Ages when the Word was trapped in only Latin. Our starting point in this discussion of Bible history, however, is the advent of the scripture in the English language with the “Morning Star of the Reformation”, John Wycliffe.

 

John Wycliffe

 

The first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380’s AD by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian. Wycliffe, (also spelled “Wycliff” & “Wyclif”), was well-known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible. With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!

 

John Hus

 

One of Wycliffe’s followers, John Hus, actively promoted Wycliffe’s ideas: that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of the Roman church that threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, “in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.” Almost exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (a list of 95 issues of heretical theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into the church door at Wittenberg. The prophecy of Hus had come true! Martin Luther went on to be the first man to print the Bible in the German language. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs records that in that same year, 1517, seven people were burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church for the crime of teaching their children to say the Lord’s Prayer in English rather than Latin.

 

Johann Gutenberg

 

Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450’s, and the first book to ever be printed was a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg’s Bibles were surprisingly beautiful, as each leaf Gutenberg printed was later colorfully hand-illuminated. Born as “Johann Gensfleisch” (John Gooseflesh), he preferred to be known as “Johann Gutenberg” (JohnBeautifulMountain). Ironically, though he had created what many believe to be the most important invention in history, Gutenberg was a victim of unscrupulous business associates who took control of his business and left him in poverty. Nevertheless, the invention of the movable-type printing press meant that Bibles and books could finally be effectively produced in large quantities in a short period of time. This was essential to the success of the Reformation.

 

Thomas Linacre

 

In the 1490’s another Oxford professor, and the personal physician to King Henry the 7th and 8th, Thomas Linacre, decided to learn Greek. After reading the Gospels in Greek, and comparing it to the Latin Vulgate, he wrote in his diary, “Either this (the original Greek) is not the Gospel… or we are not Christians.” The Latin had become so corrupt that it no longer even preserved the message of the Gospel… yet the Church still threatened to kill anyone who read the scripture in any language other than Latin… though Latin was not an original language of the scriptures.

 

John Colet

 

In 1496, John Colet, another Oxford professor and the son of the Mayor of London, started reading the New Testament in Greek and translating it into English for his students at Oxford, and later for the public at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. The people were so hungry to hear the Word of God in a language they could understand, that within six months there were 20,000 people packed in the church and at least that many outside trying to get in! (Sadly, while the enormous and beautiful Saint Paul’s Cathedral remains the main church in London today, as of 2003, typical Sunday morning worship attendance is only around 200 people… and most of them are tourists). Fortunately for Colet, he was a powerful man with friends in high places, so he amazingly managed to avoid execution.

 

Erasmus

 

In considering the experiences of Linacre and Colet, the great scholar Erasmus was so moved to correct the corrupt Latin Vulgate, that in 1516, with the help of printer John Froben, he published a Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament. The Latin part was not the corrupt Vulgate, but his own fresh rendering of the text from the more accurate and reliable Greek, which he had managed to collate from a half-dozen partial old Greek New Testament manuscripts he had acquired. This milestone was the first non-Latin Vulgate text of the scripture to be produced in a millennium… and the first ever to come off a printing press. The 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus further focused attention on just how corrupt and inaccurate the Latin Vulgate had become, and how important it was to go back and use the original Greek (New Testament) and original Hebrew (Old Testament) languages to maintain accuracy… and to translate them faithfully into the languages of the common people, whether that be English, German, or any other tongue. No sympathy for this “illegal activity” was to be found from Rome… even as the words of Pope Leo X’s declaration that “the fable of Christ was quite profitable to him” continued through the years to infuriate the people of God.

 

William Tyndale

 

William Tyndale was the Captain of the Army of Reformers, and was their spiritual leader. Tyndale holds the distinction of being the first man to ever print the New Testament in the English language. Tyndale was a true scholar and a genius, so fluent in eight languages that it was said one would think any one of them to be his native tongue. He is frequently referred to as the “Architect of the English Language”, (even more so than William Shakespeare) as so many of the phrases Tyndale coined are still in our language today.

 

Martin Luther

 

Martin Luther had a small head-start on Tyndale, as Luther declared his intolerance for the Roman Church’s corruption on Halloween in 1517, by nailing his 95 Theses of Contention to the Wittenberg Church door. Luther, who would be exiled in the months following the Diet of Worms Council in 1521 that was designed to martyr him, would translate the New Testament into German for the first time from the 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus, and publish it in September of 1522. Luther also published a German Pentateuch in 1523, and another edition of the German New Testament in 1529. In the 1530’s he would go on to publish the entire Bible in German.

 

William Tyndale wanted to use the same 1516 Erasmus text as a source to translate and print the New Testament in English for the first time in history. Tyndale showed up on Luther’s doorstep in Germany in 1525, and by year’s end had translated the New Testament into English. Tyndale had been forced to flee England, because of the wide-spread rumor that his English New Testament project was underway, causing inquisitors and bounty hunters to be constantly on Tyndale’s trail to arrest him and prevent his project. God foiled their plans, and in 1525-1526 the Tyndale New Testament became the first printed edition of the scripture in the English language. Subsequent printings of the Tyndale New Testament in the 1530’s were often elaborately illustrated.

 

They were burned as soon as the Bishop could confiscate them, but copies trickled through and actually ended up in the bedroom of King Henry VIII. The more the King and Bishop resisted its distribution, the more fascinated the public at large became. The church declared it contained thousands of errors as they torched hundreds of New Testaments confiscated by the clergy, while in fact, they burned them because they could find no errors at all. One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale’s forbidden books.

 

Having God’s Word available to the public in the language of the common man, English, would have meant disaster to the church. No longer would they control access to the scriptures. If people were able to read the Bible in their own tongue, the church’s income and power would crumble. They could not possibly continue to get away with selling indulgences (the forgiveness of sins) or selling the release of loved ones from a church-manufactured “Purgatory”. People would begin to challenge the church’s authority if the church were exposed as frauds and thieves. The contradictions between what God’s Word said, and what the priests taught, would open the public’s eyes and the truth would set them free from the grip of fear that the institutional church held. Salvation through faith, not works or donations, would be understood. The need for priests would vanish through the priesthood of all believers. The veneration of church-canonized Saints and Mary would be called into question. The availability of the scriptures in English was the biggest threat imaginable to the wicked church. Neither side would give up without a fight.

 

Today, there are only two known copies left of Tyndale’s 1525-26 First Edition. Any copies printed prior to 1570 are extremely valuable. Tyndale’s flight was an inspiration to freedom-loving Englishmen who drew courage from the 11 years that he was hunted. Books and Bibles flowed into England in bales of cotton and sacks of flour. Ironically, Tyndale’s biggest customer was the King’s men, who would buy up every copy available to burn them… and Tyndale used their money to print even more! In the end, Tyndale was caught: betrayed by an Englishman that he had befriended. Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. Tyndale’s last words were, “Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”. This prayer would be answered just three years later in 1539, when King Henry VIII finally allowed, and even funded, the printing of an English Bible known as the “Great Bible”. But before that could happen…

 

Myles Coverdale

 

Myles Coverdale and John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers had remained loyal disciples the last six years of Tyndale’s life, and they carried the English Bible project forward and even accelerated it. Coverdale finished translating the Old Testament, and in 1535 he printed the first complete Bible in the English language, making use of Luther’s German text and the Latin as sources. Thus, the first complete English Bible was printed on October 4, 1535, and is known as the Coverdale Bible.

 

John Rogers

 

John Rogers went on to print the second complete English Bible in 1537. It was, however, the first English Bible translated from the original Biblical languages of Hebrew & Greek. He printed it under the pseudonym “Thomas Matthew”, (an assumed name that had actually been used by Tyndale at one time) as a considerable part of this Bible was the translation of Tyndale, whose writings had been condemned by the English authorities. It is a composite made up of Tyndale’s Pentateuch and New Testament (1534-1535 edition) and Coverdale’s Bible and some of Roger’s own translation of the text. It remains known most commonly as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible. It went through a nearly identical second-edition printing in 1549.

 

Thomas Cranmer

 

In 1539, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, hired Myles Coverdale at the bequest of King Henry VIII to publish the “Great Bible”. It became the first English Bible authorized for public use, as it was distributed to every church, chained to the pulpit, and a reader was even provided so that the illiterate could hear the Word of God in plain English. It would seem that William Tyndale’s last wish had been granted…just three years after his martyrdom. Cranmer’s Bible, published by Coverdale, was known as the Great Bible due to its great size: a large pulpit folio measuring over 14 inches tall. Seven editions of this version were printed between April of 1539 and December of 1541.

 

King Henry VIII

 

It was not that King Henry VIII had a change of conscience regarding publishing the Bible in English. His motives were more sinister… but the Lord sometimes uses the evil intentions of men to bring about His glory. King Henry

King James I

King James of Scotland was also named Stuart and admittedly a bisexual member of the Scottish royal family. But the Tudor English royal line died out in 1603, so he became King of England as well.

He set up 3 teams of translators; one in Cambridge, one in Oxford and one in London, with about 50 members in all finishing in 1611. They were various Greek and Hebrew scholars, mostly anglicans (the Church of England) with one or two puritans. For this reason, the translation was biased from the beginning on top of the fact that the King had very strict restrictions on what could and couldn’t be translated. With over 200 thousand documented translational errors, it remains the English Bible with the greatest documentation of translational error.

For sure, he was not happy with the existing and popular Geneva Bible. It was protestant, and created in Geneva by exiles during the reign of the catholic English queen Mary in the late 1550s (she persecuted the protestants). A good Geneva Bible translation was similar to the KJV, but it had very radical marginal notes, for example suggesting that unrighteous kings could be overthrown. So he wanted a new and reliable alternative, that would have royal “authorization”, hence the term “King James’ Authorized Version”.

 

Modern Versions

Modern versions vary, there are hundreds of them. The only way to know which one is most accurate is to know both languages- English and Hebrew or Greek.