John Wesley, the founder of a movement known as Methodism, was the focus of this spiritual growth study for United Methodist Women. During his lifetime, which spanned almost the entire 18th century (1703-1791), Wesley dedicated his well-ordered intellect, self-discipline and high energy to intense religious activity aimed at renewing the Church of England.

A man far ahead of his time in his thinking, Wesley acts on the conviction that the Gospel is for the whole person and the whole human race, a vision that resulted in the founding of dispensaries for the sick, homes for orphans, schools for persons who were poor, visiting prisoners, opposing slavery, and publishing numerous materials, enough to make a full bookshelf today (and more).

Wesley traveled over 250,000 miles in his lifetime as he spread the Gospel. The influence of his persuasive preaching and organizational abilities lead to the creation of Methodist bands, classes, and societies in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the American colonies. The United Methodist Church is one of the denominations which is part of the legacy of John Wesley As we can see John Wesley was a leader is the fight against slavery.

John Wesley, the celebrated preacher and founder of the Methodist Church, was a life-long opponent of slavery. His biography is well known, and is told in many places, both on the web and in many published works, so this article will focus mainly on his activities as a campaigner against slavery. His opposition to slavery and the slave trade began long before the issue had received widespread attention, and was sustained throughout his life. Indeed, his attitudes to slavery were formed early. In 1736-7 Wesley visited the then British colony of Georgia in North America where he came into contact with slaves. At the same time, he read Thomas Southerne's play Oroonoko, which was based on Aphra Behn's novel of the same name, and which related the tragedy of Oroonoko, an African prince kidnapped and sold into slavery. On his return to England, he passed the time on the long transatlantic voyage by teaching a young black man, presumably a slave, how to read and write.

The Wesley family was made famous by the two brothers, John and Charles, who worked together in the rise of Methodism in the British Isles during the 18th century. They were among the ten children surviving infancy born to Samuel Wesley (1662 - 1735), Anglican rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire, and Susanna Annesley Wesley, daughter of Samuel Annesley, a dissenting minister.

John Wesley was born June 28, 1703, died Mar. 2, 1791, and was the principal founder of the Methodist movement. His mother was important in his emotional and educational development. John's education continued at Charterhouse School and at Oxford, where he studied at Christ Church and was elected (1726) fellow of Lincoln College. He was ordained in 1728.

Late in life Wesley married Mary Vazeille, a widow. He continued throughout his life a regimen of personal discipline and ordered living. He died at 88, still preaching, still traveling, and still a clergyman of the Church of England. In 1784, however, he had given the Methodist societies a legal constitution, and in the same year he ordained Thomas Coke for ministry in the United States; this action signaled an independent course for Methodism.

When we look through time at what God has done for this Country to become the most productive and fruitful nation in such a short period of time. It is truly amazing to look at the undistributed Truths of God's Glory that was Blessed upon this Country the United States Of America. This would spell out the movement that would propel Christianity across the Ocean to the shores of America; and the Lord God's Word spread like wild fire. As the First Great Awakening started in Europe and came to America and then back again and then repeated itself over and over as God's Word Jumped back and forth from America to England and then back again. Yes it is amazing how Powerful God's word is and will be forever and ever.

As he used men like John Wesley and George Whitefield to start with you will see how powerfully these men were used by God and how they helped to bring about way's to end Slavery, Woman's Right's were fought for Children were helped though Orphanages and and they Preached like there was no tomorrow. Whitefield would preach at audiences that were larger than the city he preached to. And he would preach everyday and never stopped like he was on a mission from God which he was. And Later on a Man called of God help to put a stop to the whiskey business with prohibition!

Lets also remember that the Christian Growth rate from 1800 to 1915 went from 23% to 34% over 10% increase in 15 years. But if you look at the numbers we were growing at a faster rate then as we have at anytime in our history as a country. I want to show to anyone who will read the truth of this hub. It is not about any one's belief or doctrine but the Spirit of God that moved upon this nation. So where is the Truth of this Word. Yes men were leaving jobs as Lawyers and Professional Baseball to Preach the Gospel of Christ!The only way I know how is to show you the Truth of the Power of God in this Country. Now all this happen through the middle 1700's until the early to middle 1900's. This was the Fruit of his Spirit ! As you read how each man was used of God see how they were kept to follow the Spirit where there were Great numbers of people as the population around the North East was exploding every day more and more people came to America. They knew that God needed them to stay where the people were and to Preach the unsearchable rich's of Christ Jesus.

I only mention Martin Luther here because I have seen people of the largest faith say he was a cultist. No he was a beginning of Reform that you should know is of God Because what he has done is change the way people were taught about God. And I myself am thankful that God gave him the courage to stand up to the Church that was there. So that my forefathers could Worship God here in America the way God wants us to Worship him.

The Lutheran denomination is the oldest Protestant denomination. It was founded (not deliberately at first) by Martin Luther, the German monk and professor who famously posted 95 Theses against the practice of indulgences in 1517. Luther saw contradictions between the Bible and current church practice as well as corruption and abuses within the (Catholic) church, and initially hoped for reform, not schism. When that proved impossible, he continued to spread his teachings despite excommunication and threats to his life.

Martin Luther taught that salvation comes by the grace of God and faith in Christ alone, and the many rituals and works prescribed by the church were not only unnecessary, but a stumbling block to salvation. He rejected such traditions as the intermediary role of priests, priestly celibacy, the Latin Bible and liturgy, purgatory, and transubstantiation, and advocated for the scriptures to be available to the laity in their own language.

Despite his rejection of many aspects of medieval Catholicism, Luther did accept any aspects of church practice that did not contradict the scriptures. Some other Protestant groups, by contrast, rejected any Catholic tradition not explicitly commanded in the Bible. For this reason, Lutheran churches tend to have more of a Catholic "look and feel" than their more austere Presbyterian counterparts.

1714-1770

If you know in your Heart that what is real is real because though the Faith of God you see what is real and the men of these days were a testament to the Will of God. So Great is his Spirit he used these men in a most Powerful way he kept them on there course and never wavered they know what they believed and was led by God and they Preached his Word

Largely forgotten today, George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century. Newspapers called him the "marvel of the age." Whitefield was a preacher capable of commanding thousands on two continents through the sheer power of his oratory. In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers

In 1739, Whitefield set out for a preaching tour of the American colonies. Whitefield selected Philadelphia—the most cosmopolitan city in the New World—as his first American stop. But even the largest churches could not hold the 8,000 who came to see him, so he took them outdoors. Every stop along Whitefield's trip was marked by record audiences, often exceeding the population of the towns in which he preached. Whitefield was often surprised at how crowds "so scattered abroad, can be gathered at so short a warning."

The crowds were also aggressive in spirit. As one account tells it, crowds "elbowed, shoved, and trampled over themselves to hear of 'divine things' from the famed Whitefield."

Once Whitefield started speaking, however, the frenzied mobs were spellbound. "Even in London," Whitefield remarked, "I never observed so profound a silence."

Though mentored by the Wesleys, Whitefield set his own theological course: he was a convinced Calvinist. His main theme was the necessity of the "new birth," by which he meant a conversion experience. He never pleaded with people to convert, but only announced, and dramatized, his message.

Whitefield was an astounding preacher from the beginning, and within a year it was said that "his voice startled England like a trumpet blast." At a time when London had a population of less than 700,000, he could hold spellbound 20,000 people at a time at Moorfields and Kennington Common. For thirty-four years his preaching resounded throughout England and America. He was a firm Calvinist in his theology, yet unrivalled as an aggressive evangelist. Though he was slender in build, he stormed in the pulput as if he were a giant. Though a clergyman of the Church of England, he cooperated with and had a profound impact on people and churches of many traditions—Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and along with the Wesleys,

inspired the movement that became known as the Methodists. In his preaching ministry he crossed the Atlantic thirteen times and became know as the 'apostle of the British empire.' A century later, the great Baptist preacher, C. H. Spurgeon wrote of Whitefield, "Often as I have read his life, I am conscious of distinct quickening whenever I turn to it. He lived. Other men seemed to be only half-alive; but Whitefield was all life, fire, wing, force. My own model, if I may have such a thing in due subordination to my Lord, is George Whitefield; but with unequal footsteps must I follow in his glorious track."

Whitefield preached more than 18,000 sermons in his lifeftime, an average of 500 a year, or ten a week. Many of them were given over and over again. Fewer than 90 of them have survived in any form.

George Whitefield was a renowned preacher, considered to be much more eloquent that John Wesley. He persuaded John Wesley to preach in the fields. George Whitefield crossed the Atlantic over 12 times to help spread the Gospel in Europe and the Early America's.

George Whitefield and John Wesley did not see eye-to-eye on a theology of grace however. In 1740 Wesley published "Free Grace," saying that God�s grace was extended to all. Wesley rejected the concept of divine election. Whitefield was a Calvinist. He once wrote, "God, himself, I find, teaches my friends the doctrine of election. If I mistake not, my dear and honored Mr. Wesley will hereafter be convinced of it also."

The two men were never to agree on divine election. Whitefield thought Wesley's was preaching universal redemption whereas Wesley thought Whitefield's preaching implied Christians need not take moral responsibility. They parted ways but managed, in the end, to maintain a respect for each other in that their hearts were the same in terms of unity in Jesus Christ.

After Whitefield's death, John Wesley preached a memorial sermon. Wesley said:

"Let my last end be like his!" How many of you join in this wish? Perhaps there are few of you who do not, even in this numerous congregation! And O that this wish may rest upon your minds! -- that it may not die away till your souls also are lodged "where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest!"

What historians call “the first Great Awakening” can best be described as a revitalization of religious piety that swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and the 1770s. That revival was part of a much broader movement, an evangelical upsurge taking place simultaneously on the other side of the Atlantic, most notably in England, Scotland, and Germany. In all these Protestant cultures during the middle decades of the eighteenth century, a new Age of Faith rose to counter the currents of the Age of Enlightenment, to reaffirm the view that being truly religious meant trusting the heart rather than the head, prizing feeling more than thinking, and relying on biblical revelation rather than human reason.

You must read the story of M'Gready it is so wonderful to hear the comparison of his ways that he taught was so amazing. You see how God used these men to Preach the Gospel of God and to bring the word unto the people that were all around them there was no need to stray off course the America's were growing at a alarming rate and these men stood there ground with God and Preached the Word as it was written. The Lords word never changes.

Mr. M'Gready died in Henderson county, Kentucky, in February, 1817. In the fall of 1816 he attended a Cumberland Presbyterian Camp-meeting near Evansville, Indiana, and preached with great power and demonstration of the Spirit. At the close of a very awful discourse, viz: "The Character, History and End of the Fool," one of his published sermons. He came out of the pulpit, called up the anxious, and prayed for them with great fervency. When he closed, he arose from his knees and said with a loud voice; "O blessed be God I this day feel the same holy fire that filled my soul sixteen years ago, during the glorious revival of 1800." At the close of the services he retired with Messrs. Harris and Chapman, and gave them much encouragement. Brethren, said he, "Go on, God is with you, be humble, and he will continue to bless you."

Shortly previous to his death, he remarked to some of the leading members of one of his congregations, in what was then called Rolleson's settlement. "Brethren, when I am dead and gone, the Cumberland Presbyterians will come among you and occupy this field; go with them, they are a people of God." While Mr. M'Gready lived no Cumberland preacher operated near his congregations through respect toward him they revered. After his death they visited the congregation mentioned above, nearly all of whom became Cumberland Presbyterians.

The following is a very just exhibit of the character of this holy and eminently useful Minister of Jesus Christ, written by Rev. John Andrews,

"From the conduct and conversation of Mr. M'Gready, there is abundant evidence to believe that he was not only a subject of divine grace and unfeigned piety, but that he was favored with great nearness to God and intimate communion with him. Like Enoch, he walked with God; like Jacob, he wrestled with God, by fervent persevering supplication, for a blessing on himself and others, and prevailed; like Elijah, he was very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, and regarded his glory and the advancement of his kingdom as the great end of his existence on earth, to which all other designs ought to be subordinate; like Job, he deeply abhorred himself, repenting, as it were, in dust and ashes, when he was enabled to behold the purity of God and his own disconformity to his holy nature; like the apostle Paul, he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his lord; and, like him, he felt great delight in preaching to his fellow men the unsearchable riches of Christ. He was remarkably plain in his dress and manners, but very familiar, communicative, and interesting in his conversation. He possessed sound understanding, and a moderate share of human learning. The style of his sermons was not polished, but perspicuous and pointed; and his manner of address was unusually solemn and impressive. As a preacher, he was highly esteemed by the humble followers of the Lamb, who relished the precious truths which he clearly exhibited to their view; but he was hated, and sometimes bitterly reproached and persecuted, not only by the openly vicious and profane, but by many nominal Christians, or formal professors, who could not bear his heart-searching and penetrating addresses, and the indignation of the Almighty against the ungodly, which, as a son on thunder, he clearly presented to the view of their guilty minds from the awful denunciations of the World of Truth. Although he did not fail to preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified, to laboring and heaven laden sinners, and to administer consolation which the gospel speaks to humble believers.

"We shall conclude our remarks by observing, that some of the traits in Mr. M'Gready's character as a private Christian, which are worthy of our imitation, were his fervent piety, his unaffected humility, his earnest, persevering supplications at the Throne of Grace, his resignation to the will of God under the afflictions, bereavements and poverty, with which he was tried in this world, his cheerful reliance on God's kind and watchful providence and confidence in his great and precious promises, and his contempt of the pomp and vanities of this world, to which he seemed to be, in a great degree, crucified. And, as a minister of the gospel, he ought to be imitated in his regard to the honor of God and the salvation of souls, his vigorous and zealous exertions to promote these grand objects, his fidelity in declaring the whole counsel of God, and his patience in bearing the revilings of the ungodly."

Camp meeting, outdoor religious meeting, usually held in the summer and lasting for several days. The camp meeting was a prominent institution of the American frontier. It originated under the preaching of James McGready in Kentucky early in the course of a religious revival (c.1800) and spread throughout the United States. Immense crowds flocked to hear the noted revivalist preachers, bringing bedding and provisions in order to camp on the grounds.

In the late 1820s and 1830s a religious revival called the Second Great Awakening (a reference to a similar revival that had swept the colonies in the previous century) had a strong impact on antebellum American religion and reform. It grew partly out of evangelical opposition to the deism associated with the French Revolution and gathered strength in 1826, when Charles Grandison Finney, a charismatic lawyer-turned-itinerant preacher, conducted a revival in Utica, New York. Finney argued against the belief that a Calvinist God controlled the destiny of human beings. He told congregations throughout the northern United States that they were "moral free agents" who could obtain salvation through their own efforts--but, he admonished, they must hurry because time was short.

Finney achieved his greatest success in New York State's "burned-over district," especially in the winter of 1830-1831 in Rochester, where prayer meetings were crowded almost every night, and conversions and confessions of sin were frequent. Finney and other preachers, such as Theodore Weld, tried to be entertaining and to appeal to the average citizen. Their approach and the new techniques of evangelizing--protracted meetings, communitywide campaigns, the "anxious bench" for those wrestling with the decision to convert, testimony meetings for the converted--worked: in 1831, for example, church membership grew nationally by 100,000.

All changed, however, in the autumn of 1821. At age twenty-nine, a student of the law in Adams, New York, Finney was saved. One Wednesday morning Charles Finney woke up a questioning and sometimes scornful observer of the religious life around him. The following day, when asked by a client if he were ready to try the case scheduled for that day, Finney was able to reply, "I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ to plead his cause, I cannot plead yours." (Memoirs, 24)

The ministry which began that day would change the face of American evangelism. Before and after his conversion, Finney rejected the Calvinist doctrine of passive salvation available only to the elect. He believed that God offered Himself to everyone and, most importantly, that one could be saved only through an active acceptance of God's invitation to grace. The sinner chooses to sin just as the penitent chooses to repent.

To reach as many souls as possible, Finney employed what came to be called "new measures", although many had been used by earlier preachers. These new measures triggered alarm among conservative clergy. Opponents such as Asahel Nettleton were able to list as many as twenty-nine objectionable practices, but the most controversial were: public praying of women in mixed-sex audiences, daily services over a series of days, use of colloquial language by the preacher, the "anxious bench", praying for people by name, and immediate church membership for converts.

To a student of American culture, Finney is a crucial figure of the Jacksonian era. Finney's influence rose in tandem with that of Andrew Jackson; both addressed the issues of equality of men, and free will and self governance. In his Lectures on Revivals of Religion, delivered to his New York congregation in 1834 and published in book form the following year, Charles Finney takes pains to define a revival. Above all, it is not a miracle in the sense of a physical change brought on solely by God, but a change of mind which, though influences by the Holy Spirit, is ultimately a matter of the individual's free will.

Ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1824, Finney was soon at odds with conservative clergy. The new measured used by Finney and his followers caused enough alarm among their more orthodox colleagues to be the subject of a convention held at New Lebanon, NY in July, 1827. Motions were made to restrict the New School revivalists, but no definitive anti-new measures resolution was effected. The victory for Finney and his fellows was in emerging relatively unscathed from a confrontation with powerful clergymen like Lyman Beecher.

In the years following New Lebanon, Finney's ministry moved from small town to big city; he went on to preach in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. In 1835 he began work in Oberlin College and Theological Seminary. He was President of Oberlin College from 1851 to 1866 and although he retired in 1872, Finney kept up his involvement with Oberlin's students until his death in August of 1875.

You see I have no Pictures of God because Jesus said no man has ever seen God so how do I know what he looks like. The bible says he is Spirit to worship him in Spirit. So how do we know what he looks like we don't

Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895)

Theodore Dwight Weld was born in Hampton, Connecticut. Weld followed in the family business of his father, a Congregationalist minister. Influenced by Charles Finney, an abolitionist evangelical preacher who led revivalist meetings throughout the country, Weld quickly became an abolitionist. He traveled to Cincinnati in 1831 to help Lyman Beecher establish Lane Seminary. Weld taught at the Seminary for three years, espousing his more radical views on abolition. These views brought him into conflict with the conservative trustees at Lane and in 1834, Weld left to become chief editor for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In this capacity, Weld published The Bible Against Slavery, a powerful pamphlet, which laid out religious justifications for abolition.

Weld began working as a lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society. He had helped found the Society in 1833. He was forced to end his speaking career in 1836 due to health problems. He continued working for the American Anti-Slavery Society as editor of its various publications. During the early 1840s, Weld assisted and advised anti-slavery members of the United States Congress.

Weld remained dedicated to the abolitionist movement until slavery was ended by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865.

In 1854, Weld established a school at Eagleswood, New Jersey. The school accepted students of all races and sexes. In 1864, he moved to Hyde Park, Massachusetts and opened another school dedicated to the same principles as his first academy.

On May 14, 1838, Weld married Angelina Grimke, one of the best known abolitionists and women's rights advocates of the nineteenth century. Weld agreed with his wife's desire for equality between men and women and became an outspoken supporter of the women's rights movement. He continued to champion the rights of African Americans and women until his death in 1895.

Weld helped train the famous Grimké sisters as anti-slavery speakers and married Angelina in 1838. He worked with John Quincy Adams to push abolition as a political matter in Congress and formed an interracial school in New Jersey during the 1850’s. Through his tireless efforts, Weld became one of the most important and influential abolitionist of the antebellum period.

William Ashley "Billy" Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American athlete and religious figure who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Born into poverty, Sunday spent some years in an orphanage before taking a series of odd jobs in several small Iowa towns while demonstrating his prowess in amateur athletics. His exceptional speed provided him the opportunity to play baseball in the major leagues for eight years, where he was an average hitter but was known for his daring base-running and dramatic outfield play.

Converted to evangelical Christianity in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry. He gradually developed his skills as a pulpit evangelist in the Midwest and then, during the early 20th century, he became the nation's most famous evangelist with his colloquial sermons and frenetic delivery.

Sunday held heavily reported campaigns in America's largest cities, made a great deal of money, and was welcomed into the homes of the wealthy and influential. Perhaps more than a million people came forward at his invitations, and he may have personally preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people than any other person in history up to that time. Sunday was a strong supporter of Prohibition, and his preaching almost certainly played a significant role in the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919.

Despite questions about his income, no scandal ever touched Sunday. He was sincerely devoted to his wife, who also managed his campaigns. But his three sons disappointed him, and his audiences grew smaller during the 1920s as Sunday grew older and alternate sources of entertainment preoccupied his countrymen. Nevertheless, he continued to preach and remained a stalwart bolster of conservative Christianity until his death. He is thought to have led Millions to The Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Even Billy Graham who also was a young baseball player was thought to have been at one of Billy Sunday's Meetings.

The American evangelist and charismatic preacher Billy Graham (born 1918) became a leading spokesman for Fundamentalism when he initiated a series of tours of the United States and Europe that led to large-scale evangelism.

William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born November 7, 1918, on a dairy farm near Charlotte, N.C. which his paternal grandfather Crook Graham bought after serving in the Confederate army. Young Billy would read from his collection of history books. He also practiced baseball when finished with his chores, because and his ambition was to become a professional baseball player. It was changed into a commitment to an evangelical career by a religious conversion experience when he was 16. Graham was ordained a Southern Baptist minister in 1939. He was educated in conservative Christian colleges: Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., the Florida Bible Institute (now called Trinity College) near Tampa, and Wheaton College in Illinois where receiving a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology in 1943. On August 13 of that year he married Ruth McCue Bell, a fellow student and daughter of a medical missionary. Their first daughter, Virginia, was born two years later, followed by Anne in 1948, Ruth in 1950, and sons William in 1952 and Nelson in 1958. For many years the Graham family made its home in Montreat, N.C.

After a period as minister of the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, IL, Graham became a traveling "tent evangelist," the calling which in a few years brought him to national prominence.

Graham was first vice president of Youth for Christ International from 1945 to 1948. He served as president of Northwestern College in Minneapolis from 1947 to 1952. He met singer George Beverly Shea and song leader Cliff Barrows and the three formed a lasting partnership. The three began offering revival meetings in small churches and started developing a following. In 1949, Graham, Shea, and Barrows had a meeting in Los Angeles and rather than the usual crowd of 3,000 or so, more than 10,000 turned out to hear the backwoods preacher and his team. He was the founder and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and editor in chief of Decision magazine. The organization is run by a board of directors that pays Graham an annual salary equivalent to that of a community pastor. The first year it amounted to $15,000. Today, the institute has a cash flow of more than $50 million a year. His radio program, "Hour of Decision," began in 1950, and he wrote a daily newspaper column. Graham's published writings include Calling Youth to Christ (1947), Revival in Our Times (1950), America's Hour of Decision (1951), Korean Diary (1953), My Answer (1960), and World Aflame (1965). Graham turns over all the royalties from his books and all his speaking fees.

Graham launched his worldwide ministry with his first overseas tour in 1954 to Great Britain. Crowds of more than two million people attended his rallies. He even met with Queen Elizabeth II. At a 16-week rally in New York City three years later, more than two million packed Madison Square Gardens to hear the young preacher. Graham has preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history totaling more than 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Since his crusades began his work has propelled him to more than 400 rallies in nearly every corner of the world. He conducts an average of six crusades a year in the United States and abroad. In the mid-1950s Graham took his crusade to India, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. He has also been to Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Seoul, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, filling jam-packed churches and meeting with government and religious leaders wherever he travels.

The following timeline of Christianity summarizes some of the most important events in Christianity since its founding about 2,000 years ago. (Events in light grey are non-religious events included for historical context.)

c. 4 BC Birth of Jesus c. 26 AD John the Baptist begins ministry c. 27 AD Jesus begins ministry c. 30 AD Crucifixion of Jesus c. 35 Conversion of Paul c. 44 Martyrdom of James c. 46-48 Paul's first missionary journey c. 49 Council of Jerusalem c. 50-52 Paul's second missionary journey c. 51-52 First and Second Thessalonians written c. 53-57 Paul's third missionary journey c. 57 Letter to the Romans written c. 59-62 Paul imprisoned in Rome c. 60 Andrew martyred by crucifixion in Achaia (Greece). c. 66-67 Second Timothy written c. 68 Martyrdom of Paul 70 Fall of Jerusalem c. 90-95 John exiled on island of Patmos c. 95 Book of Revelation written c. 96 Clement of Rome's Letter to the Corinthians written c. 120 Didache written 202 Christians persecuted under Septimus Severus 211 Christians tolerated under Emperor Antoninus Caracalla 222 Christians favored Emperor Alexander Severus 230 Origen's On First Principles 235 Christians persecuted under Emperor Maximin the Thracian 238 Christians tolerated under Emperor Gordian III 244 Christians favored under Emperor Philip the Arabian 251 Cyprian's Unity of the Catholic Church 254 Death of Origen 303 Diocletian orders burning of Christian books and churches 312 Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity 313 Edict of Milan establishes official toleration of Christianity 325 Council of Nicea 336 Death of Constantine 354 Birth of Augustine 367 Athanasius lists all 27 books of NT 379 Basil the Great dies 380 Christianity made official religion of Roman Empire 381 Council of Constantinople 386 Augustine converts to Christianity 389 Gregory of Nazianzus dies 395 Gregory of Nyssa dies c. 400 Jerome's Vulgate (translation of the Greek Bible into Latin) 407 John Chrysostom dies 411 Council of Carthage condemns Donatists 417 Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism 420 Death of Jerome 430 Death of Augustine 431 Council of Ephesus 451 Council of Chalcedon 787 Second Council of Nicea 950 Olga of Russia converts to Christianity 1054 Great Schism between East and West 1093 Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury 1095 Council of Clermont: Pope Urban II proclaims First Crusade 1098 Crusaders take Antioch from Turks 1099 Crusaders recapture Jerusalem from Turks 1122 Concordat of Worms 1141 Peter Abelard condemned 1144 Fall of Edessa (crusader state) 1187 Fall of Jerusalem to Turks 1215 Fourth Lateran Council 1309 "Babylonian Captivity" (until 1377) 1337 Hundred Years' War (until 1453) 1378 Great Western Schism (until 1423) 1409 Council of Pisa 1413-14 Lollard rebellion 1415 Council of Constance. Martyrdom of Jan Hus. 1420 Crusade against Hussites 1431 Joan of Arc martyred 1431-49 Council of Basel 1438-45 Council of Ferrara-Florence 1453 Fall of Constantinople to Turks 1478 Spanish Inquisition founded by Ferdinand and Isabella 1483 Birth of Martin Luther 1492 Expulsion of Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella 1505 Luther becomes a monk 1517 Luther posts 95 Theses 1521 Luther excommunicated 1530 Augsburg Confession 1534 Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy 1536 Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion 1541 Colloquy of Regensburg 1555 Peace of Augsburg 1559 Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity 1590 Michelangelo completes the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome 1609 Baptist Church founded by John Smyth 1611 King James (Authorized) Version of the Bible produced 1729 Beginnings of Methodism, led by John Wesley 1738 John Wesley feels his "heart strangely warmed" during a reading of Luther's preface to Romans on Aldersgate Street in London 1775 American Wars of Independence begin 1783 America wins independence from Britain 1793 Louis XVI executed 1797 Second Awakening begins 1798 Pope Pius VI is prisoner of France 1799 Schleiermacher writes Speeches 1801 Cane Ridge Revival 1804 Napoleon becomes emperor 1807 Hegel writes Phenomenology of the Spirit 1808 French occupy Rome 1810 Mexico wins independence 1812-14 British-American War 1814 Reorganization of the Jesuits 1816 American Bible Society established 1822 Schleiermacher writes Christian Faith 1826 American Society for the Promotion of Temperance founded 1830 Joseph Smith produces Book of Mormon 1834 Spanish Inquisition officially abolished 1838 Abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean 1841 David Livingstone to Africa 1845 Methodists and Baptists split over the issue of slavery 1846 Pope Pius IX (until 1878) 1854 Dogma of Immaculate Conception of Mary 1859 Darwin publishes Origin of the Species 1861-65 American Civil War 1861 Presbyterians divide over the issue of slavery 1869 First Vatican Council 1870 Dogma of Papal Infallibility 1872 Moody begins preaching 1875 Mary Baker Eddy writes Science and Health 1882 Neitzsche declares "God is dead" 1895 Five Fundamentals 1900 Freud's Interpretation of Dreams 1906 Azusa Street revival 1908 Henry Ford introduces the Model T 1910 World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1914 Assemblies of God founded 1914-18 World War I 1917 Russian Revolution 1919 Prohibition passed into law 1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial 1932 Barth's Church Dogmatics 1939 Hitler invades Poland and sparks WWI 1945 Nag Hammadi Library discovered in Egypt;
US drops atomic bombs on Japan 1947 India wins independence from U.K. 1948 World Council of Churches founded 1950 Papal encyclical Humani generis 1956 First issue of Christianity Today 1960 Birth control pill approved by FDA 1961 First human in space
Papal encyclical Mater et Magistra 1962-65 Second Vatican Council 1963 MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech 1968 Papal encyclical Humanae vitae 1969 First man on the moon 1971 Intel introduces the microprocessor 1973 Roe vs. Wade 1987-88 Televangelist scandals 1989 First woman ordained in an apostolic-succession church (the Protestant Episcopal church). Fall of the Berlin Wall. 1997 Birth of the internet

The director of the government body which supervises all religions in China said privately that the figure was indeed as much as 130m in early 2008.

According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, the southern hemisphere is taking the lead in growth figures for worshipers. Africa is leading the charge with 390 million Christians, more than three times than 35 years ago.

World population of Christians is expected to grow to 2.6 billion with 67 percent living in Africa, Asia, or Latin America.

368% growth In Asia and is Growing like a wild fire 2000 67,000