BEFORE COMMON ERA 

15,000

Elaborate cave paintings are created at Lascaux, France; rituals of magic and religion evolve

7000-5600

Catal Huyuk, a town in south-central Turkey, is the apparent center of fertility cult, goddess worship.

3300

Mesopotamian traditions about creation and divine-human relationships develop; temples are built to honor gods

Mesopotamian traditions about creation and divine-human relationships develop;

temples are built to honors gods.

High forms of worship consisted of constructing temples to honors gods and

goddesses such as Ereshkigal (goddess of the Netherworld), Enki (Ea) (god of rain)

and Marduk (principal god of Babylon). Evolving from pictograms, cuneiform was commonly used throughout sacred texts.

Rituals included music, songs and games that were created to honor the gods and goddesses. Hunting, boxing and wrestling were all popular games amongst royal families and civilians. Many of these practices were passed from each generation and were later recorded for documentation. (DJ Smart, Jr.)

c. 2330

Sargon I creates the first empire and supports the worship of Sin, Akkadian moon god, for whom Mount Sinai is named

c. 2000

Epic of Gilgamesh

c. 2000-1450

Minoan civilization flourishes on Crete; worship of goddess figures develops

c. 1850-1700

Age of Biblical Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob  

In the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Abraham is revered as the pioneer of monotheism. Abraham’s son Ishmael from the Egyptian slave woman Hagar, became the forefather of the Arab nation while Abraham’s son Isaac from his wife Sarah, is the forefather of the nation of Israel.

In the covenant with Abraham, God promised to make him the father of many nations. God also promised that Abraham’s descendants will be given in possession a homeland. Abraham answered God’s call, and he changed his name from the original Abram that meant the exalted father into Abraham or the father of a multitude. The sign of this covenant between God and Abraham was circumcision – a ritual that is still one of the most important religious practices of Judaism. Finally, Abraham’s grandson Jacob became the patriarch and founder of the nation of Israel. As the Bible tells the story of Jacob, after he wrestled with the messenger of God, he changed his original name that meant the “heel grabber” into “Israel” or the “one who struggles with God and wins”.

c. 1700

Hammurabi of Babylon produces law code endorsed by sun god Shamash, protector of justice

c. 1500-1200

Composition of the Rig Veda

The Vedas are the foundational scriptural texts of the religion of Hinduism. There are four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda. Rig Veda is the most ancient of the four, and it represents a collection of more than one thousand hymns in praise of various deities. One finds here hymns that are related to specific rituals such as, for example, wedding, burial and coronation, as well as cosmological hymns, riddles and incantations.

Scholars distinguish several layers of meaning within the Rig Vedic texts. One refers to the deification of natural phenomena. The god of fire Agni and the god of thunderstorm Indra are the most prominent among those deities. The second is related to more abstract concepts, including the underlying unity of the univers and the moral order both of which are sustained by a Rig Vedic deity Varuna.

c. 1350

An Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton orders the worship of one god, the sun.

Ancient Egyptians followed a polytheistic religion that embraced aspects of nature, such as the earth, sky, and water. They worshiped numerous gods, many of which were depicted as animals or with animal features. They prayed and made offerings to the gods in temples or household shrines. Egyptians believed in eternal life, so they viewed death not as an end but as an interlude – a person’s ka, or soul, would continue to live after death. The deceased were mummified and buried in tombs, accompanied with personal belongings and sustenance, which would nourish the ka in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians were under the rule of the pharaoh, or king, who was believed to be a descendant of the gods. Akhenaten became pharaoh in the mid-14th century BCE. He made radical changes during his rule, most notably by enforcing a new, monotheistic religion. He declared Aten, the sun god, as the sole god of the Egyptians. Akhenaten believed he was the son of Aten, and proclaimed that all of his orders came directly from the god. In the fifth year of his reign, he constructed a new capital in Middle Egypt on the bank of the Nile, which he called Akhetaten (today known as Amarna). Temples and shrines were built in a new architectural style, some with open roofs to allow for worship of the sun god. Aten was depicted on the temples as a disk with rays that projected down on Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti. Akhenaten banned worship of traditional deities, and ordered the removal of their names from texts, as well as the plural form of “gods”. Akhenaten’s reasons for such radical changes are unknown, but some scholars speculate that he was trying to quell the increasing authority of the priesthood of the god Amun.

Akhenaten was unable to change the religious beliefs of his people. His reign grew turbulent as enemies approached from Asia, a plague erupted in the Near East, and members of the royal family died. Egyptians recognized the incapacity of their ruler, but Akhenaten’s changes remained in place until after his death. A pharaoh named Smenkhkare ruled briefly before Tutankhamun, who moved the capital to Thebes and restored traditional religious practices. Amarna was abandoned until archaeologists began excavation in the early 19th century. (Caitria Gunter)

c. 1250

Moses, founder of Judaism, leads Israelites from Egypt

Moses is the founding father of Judaism and its most important prophet to whom God reveals his Law on Mount Sinai. The sacred law that Moses delivers to the Israelites as a sign of the covenant between God and his people consists of the Ten Commandments that regulate the relations between God and humans as well as those within the human community. They are:

1.      “You must have no other God beside me

2.      You must not make a carved image for yourself to bow down to them in   

         worship

3.      You must not make wrong use of the name of the Lord your God

4.      Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy…

5.      Honour your father and your mother…

6.      Do not commit murder

7.      Do not commit adultery

8.      Do not steal

9.      Do not give false evidence against your neighbor

10.    Do not covet your neighbor’s household…” (Exodus, 20: 3-17).

c. 1200

The I Ching (Book of Changes)

The Book of Changes is the oldest surviving manual of divination and also the basic text of the Yin-Yang school of ancient Chinese thought. The book consists of main corpus and later appendices; the former including sixty four short essays on moral, social and political themes that correspond to the same number of the lineal figures or hexagrams. Each hexagram is composed of various combinations of broken and unbroken lines that symbolize the principles of Yin and Yang.

Biblical Judges (c. 1200-1020)

The Biblical term "Judge” refers not to the state judicial system, but rather to exercising divine judgment and justice. Biblical Judges were popular charismatic leaders of their tribes who delivered God’s judgment on the oppressors of Israel. They fulfilled divine justice by liberating God’s people from the hands of their enemies. The Bible describes those Judges as intermediaries between God and the Israelites thus establishing a form of tribal theocracy that immediately followed the settling of Moses’ appointed successor, Joshua along with his followers in the Promised Land. The Bible tells the stories of various Judges, including a female Judge and prophet Deborah as well as one of the most colorful Biblical characters Samson and his love-and-hate relationship with Delilah.

c. 950

A Yahwist writer composes the earliest account of Israel's history (J document).                                          

Tradition ascribes the authorship of the Torah or the Pentateuch (“Five Scrolls” in Greek) to Moses. Nowadays most Biblical scholars believe that the Torah was composed from various materials over a long period of time. According to the so-called “Documentary hypothesis,” there may have been at least four different sources that had influenced the final outcome. The scholars used five literary identifiers to distinguish these sources: (1) duplication and repetition of material; (2) the name by which God was referred to; (3) differing author perspectives; 

(4) differences in vocabulary and literary style; and (5) evidence of editorial activity. The earliest of these documents, the Yahwist account of Israel’s history, may have been composed, according to modern scholarship, sometime during the reign of Solomon (961-922 B.C.). It provided the theological basis for Davidic monarchy. The Yahwist source uses YHWH as a word for God and describes an anthropomorphic Deity that appears directly to human beings.

King Solomon, son of David, builds Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem 

King Solomon was the second and last ruler of the United Kingdom that had been established by his father, David. King Solomon has built the Temple and established the standards of worship in accordance with the Law of Moses. After Solomon the Kingdom split into two separate political entities – the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem. Solomon’s Temple continued as the center of Biblical Judaism the until its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E.                                   

c. 900-500

Composition of the later Vedas, the Brahmanas, and the early Upanishads

According to traditional accounts, Hindu scriptures are classified into four categories. The first one, Samhita,contains the Vedic collection. The second, called Brahmanas, includes books that provide explanations for rituals and ceremonies. The third, Aranyakas or “forest books,” represent texts that are written for ascetics and have more of an esoteric than ritualistic character. Finally, the fourth, Upanishads, are treatises that express the speculative rather than practical side of Hinduism.

The body of Upanishadic texts is highly diverse and it represents a new level of Hindu religious tradition. As compared to the Vedas, the Upanishads focus more on the philosophical understanding of spirituality rather than on purely ceremonial obligations. They also introduce to Indian thought some of its fundamental concepts such as, for example, the self or Atman, the ultimate objective reality or Brahman, as well as those of karma and reincarnation.

c. 872-722

Parsva, Jain leader

In Jainism Parshva is considered one of the Tirhtankaras (literally “Fordmakers”) or spiritual leaders of this religion. Recognized by modern scholarship as a real historical figure, Parshva is one of the twenty four spiritual masters culminating in the last one, Mahavīra – the founder of Jainism.

c. 860-840

Prophets Elijah and Elisha denounce Canaanite influences and promote Yahwism                                                                                                                                   Elijah and his disciple Elisha belong to the tradition of Northern prophecy that originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The stories about Elijah describe the conflict between Yahweh and the Israel dynasty, that does not resist the worship of foreign gods. Once, in a contest to find out who provides rain and storms Elijah successfully confronts 450 prophets of the Canaanite deity Baal who presumably was responsible for agricultural productivity. Another legend that is associated with Elijah claims that he did not die, but instead was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Jews and Christians believe that Elijah is with God and one day he will return to Earth to herald the beginning of the Messianic Age.

c. 850-750

The Elohist (E) account of Israel's origins is composed in the Northern Kingdom of Israel 

One of the four hypothetical sources of the Torah, the Elohist account was probably composed in the Northern Kingdom sometime around 9th-8th centuries before the Christian Era. Fragments of the Elohist source are inserted into the Yahwist account of Israel’s history and can be found in such books as Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. According to Biblical scholars, the Elohist author(s) use(s) Elohim to describe a transcendent God who contacts humans in the pillar of fire, a cloud, a flame or in the form of an angel rather than directly.                                                                                                            

Greek poets Homer and Hesiod describe forms, qualities, and functions of Greek gods

c. 750

Prophets Amos and Hosea are active in Israel

Amos, Hosea as well as Micah belong to the Assyrian period of Biblical prophecy that lasted from the middle of the 8th century to the end of the 7th century B.C.E. when the Assyrian Empire was the dominating power on the international scene. The prophets of that time touched upon the moral and spiritual problems in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They condemned the ruling elite, including the religious leaders in both kingdoms for their oppression of the poor and ritualistic pseudo-righteousness, as well as delivered oracles of denunciation against foreign nations.      

c. 740-701            

Micah delivers prophetic oracles

c. 721            

Isaiah of Jerusalem delivers his prophetic oracles warning of Assyria's threat to Judah                                                                                                                                     The Book of Isaiah contains a collection of prophecies that Biblical scholars attribute to a group of people (Isaiah and his followers) and that span for more than two hundred years from the 8th to the 6th centuries B.C.E. The oldest ones seem to be the prophecies of “Isaiah of Jerusalem” which refer to the times before the Babylonian exile. They include the capture of Israel’s religious establishment, oracles against foreign nations and calls for social justice.                                                                                                                                   

“Second Isaiah” or “Deutero-Isaiah” may have prophecized around the mid-sixth century B.C.E. His two major themes are the Babylonian exile as God’s punishment for the Hebrews and the future coming of Immanuel, the suffering servant of Yahweh who delivers justice to the nations. The “Third Isaiah” or Isaiah of Restoration probably lived in the early post-exilic period of the end of the 6th century and was mostly concerned with the revival of the religious life of Judeans in their homeland.    

c. 700            

Kapila, a legendary founder of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy

Sāmkhya is one of the six traditional schools of Hindu religious philosophy. Tradition considers the legendary philosopher Kapila to be the originator of the school and attributes to him the authorship of The Sāmkhya-pravacana Sūtra. The essence of Sāmkhya system consists in reducing the variety of objects in the universe to two basic elements – spirit and matter – different combinations of which produce world’s colorful multiplicity.

c. 630-609            

Prophetic oracles of Zephaniah are compiled                                                      

Along the Nahum, Habakkuk, and Obadiah Zephaniah belongs to the Babylonian period of Biblical prophecy that lasted somewhere from the middle of the 7th to the middle of the 6th century C.E. The prophets of the Babylonian period are concerned with the shortcomings of the kingdom of Judah, the inevitability of God’s punishment and the role that foreign nations play in fulfilling God’s plan.

c. 621-609            

The first edition of Deuteronomic History (Biblical philosophy of history found in Joshua through 2 Kings)                                  

According to Biblical scholars, it is one of the four possible sources of the Torah. The word “Deuteronomy” means the “second law” in Greek, and it was applied to the fifth book of the Torah because this book while differing in style and context from the proceeding four, consisted mostly of Moses’ sermons to the Israelites that provided the exposition and explanation of the law.

The concept of retribution is the central idea of the book of Deuteronomy and of the following view of history. According to the ‘Deuteronomic principle’, reward or punishment depend on obedience to the Sacred Law and the Ten Commandments. Biblical scholars have suggested that the historical account of the ancient Israelite history which immediately follows the book of Deuteronomy (Joshua through 2 Kings) was written to apply the Deuteronomic principle to Israel’s social and political chronicles and to explain its failures leading to the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the pagan empires of Assyria and Babylon.

c. 612            

Nahum delivers his oracles on Nineveh's fall

c. 611-547            

Anaximander, the Milesian school

Along with Thales (fl. C. 585 B.C.E.) and Anaximenes (fl. C. 550 B.C.E) Anaximander belonged to the first philosophical school of Ancient Greece called after the city of Miletus in Asia Minor – the school that known for its cosmogonic theories. While Thales and Anaximenes believed that the world had originated from primordial water and air correspondingly, Anaximander taught  that the source of existence lies in the substance he called “apeiron” (the “boundless”).

c. 609-598            

Habakkuk delivers his oracles on the Babylonian threat

c. 604            

Traditional birth date of Lao Tzu, founder of the philosophy and religion of Taoism

An ancient Chinese philosopher and mystic, a reputed author of Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and Its Power), Lao Tzu taught that people should practice ‘effortless action’ (wu wei) while pursuing a simple, natural and spontaneous life style that would develop their nature and virtues (te) and connect them to the eternal and unnamable source of the Universe called the Tao.

c. 600            

Birth of the prophet Zoroaster (c. 1400-500), founder of dualistic religion of Zoroastrianism, which becomes Persia's state religion

Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek) preached belief in the supreme god Ahura Mazda who is opposed by an evil spirit Aura Mainyu. Zarathustra encouraged his followers to join the forces of goodness and to observe ethical standards of conduct under the guidance of good thought. Parts of the original teachings of Zarathustra are believed to have been preserved in the Gāthās, the ancient portion of the scriptural texts of Zoroastrian religion. In the course of its evolution – by the 3rd century CE during the Sassanid empire – Zoroastrianism has undergone a transformation into a dualistic teaching about the ever-evolving struggle between the two cosmic powers – Ormazd (Ahura Mazda) and Ahriman (Aura Mainyu).

Pythagoras, founder of the Pythagorean school

A religious thinker and mathematician Pythagoras believed in metempsychosis and taught that the number and the correlation of numbers lie at the foundation of the Universe.

Brhaspati Sutra, the main text of Indian school of materialism, called Carvaka or Lokayata (not available)            

Beginning of caste system in India

The Sanskrit word varna which is usually translated as “caste” literally means “color,” “complexion.” The Rig Veda refers to arya varna or the “Aryan color” and dasa varna or the racial groups other than the Aryans. Hence, some scholars have suggested that the caste system in India may have had a racial origin. A more common view, however, traces the source of different castes to the division of labor that was first institutionalized and later became hereditary.

Hindu tradition ascribes divine sanction to the creation of castes. Thus, the Rig Veda tells of a cosmic being Purusha who originates those castes out of various parts of his body. The traditional four castes that include priests, warriors, traders and servants, represent the ideal social structure in Hinduism. In real life, however, there existed many other castes that were distinguished from each other by the type of labor performed by its members. The so-called ‘untouchables’ belonged as a special sub-class to the fourth caste of the serfs.

c. 600-587            

In Judah, the prophet Jeremiah advocates submission to Babylonian dominion                                                                                                                                 

Along with Isaiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah is one of the major Hebrew prophets. Called sometimes the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah prophesied sometime between the end of the 7th century to the middle of the 6th century B.C.E. The core message of the book that bears his name is that God did not abandon his children despite the fall of Judah to Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple. God used Judah’s enemies to deliver judgment and punish its people for deserting the standards of social and moral justice that Jeremiah valued more than the formalities of worship. He delivers oracles against foreign nations and reassures his people that their covenant with God is still in tact despite all their transgressions.

599-527            

Nataputta Vardhamana, the Mahavira, the last of the great teachers of Jainism

The last of twenty-four Tirthankaras or spiritual leaders of Jainism, Mahavīra (“Great Hero”) is considered the actual founder of this religion. The teachings of Mahavīra became part of the Jain scriptures, the Purvas, which were compiled hundreds of years later.

c. 587            

Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar                                                                                                                         

The religious center of ancient Israel, the Temple was destroyed twice – by the Babylonian and Roman armies. Its destruction by the Babylonians marked the first Jewish exile, the so-called Babylonian captivity, that was to last for less than a century. The second destruction of the Temple by the Roman legions in 70 C.E. signaled the beginning of the second exile, which lasted for almost two thousand years until the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948 by the decision of the Security Council of the United Nations.            

Obadiah denounces Edom's part in Babylon's devastation of Judah and Jerusalem

c. 580            

Ezekiel's visions in the Babylonian captivity are recorded                                     

Along with Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel is one of the major prophets of Israel. He had been a priest who was exiled to Babylonia after the kingdom of Judah was conquered by its armies. The Book of Ezekiel contains all the major themes of Biblical prophecy. Ezekiel warned his compatriots about their corrupted religion and the upcoming disasters. He delivered oracles against the foreign nations that will come under divine judgment and will be subdued before the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel also uttered the words of consolation and hope to the people of God by unfolding his vision of divine presence and a restored temple in which reigns the ‘glory of Yahweh’.

c. 563-483            

In India, Siddhartha Gautama experiences the mystical enlightenment and becomes the Buddha, founder of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama taught that life is impermanent and entails suffering; that suffering is caused by desire and ignorance and it stops when desire ceases; that nirvana or complete self-renunciation can be achieved by following the eightfold path of the  right views, right motives, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation.

551-479            

In China, Master Kung (Confucius) enunciates religious philosophy that becomes the basis of the Chinese educational system

An ancient Chinese sage Confucius laid the foundation of Chinese culture by teaching an active social and moral philosophy with the emphasis on strong family relationships and an authoritarian government headed by the emperor who rules under the ‘mandate of heaven’. Confucius taught his disciples to become ‘true gentlemen’ (Chun-tzu) by cultivating love and benevolence (Jen) toward their fellow human beings.

c. 540            

Xenophanes of Colophon

In his poems Xenophanes criticized Homer and Hesiod for their mythological and polytheistic beliefs, and argued for the existence of one God who is in all respects different from mortals.

"Second Isaiah" delivers oracles of hope in Babylon

c. 520            

Post-exilic prophets Haggai and Zechariah encourage rebuilding of Jerusalem Temple    

The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, along with Malachi, Joel, and Jonah, belong to the Persian period of Biblical prophecy that spanned from 539 B.C.E. – when the Persian king Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to come back to Palestine and revive their religious life – to 332 B.C.E. when the Persian Empire was eclipsed by the Greeks under the rule of their own empire-builder Alexander of Macedonia. Most books of the Persian period are concerned with the restoration of Jerusalem Temple and with rebuilding the life of the community as a necessary condition for the future prosperity and security of the nation.

c. 510-450

Parmenides, the Eleatic school

Parmenides taught that at the heart of reality lies the true Being that is single, eternal, unique, unmoving and perfect.

c. 500            

Heraclitus, the Ionian school

Heraclitus taught that the Universe consists of various opposite forces that are in constant struggle with each other. The underlying unity of the opposites through their constant change constitutes the key to our understanding of the world’s condition.

c. 500-450            

"Third Isaiah" delivers prophetic oracles

c. 500-428            

Anaxagoras, the school of Pluralists

Anaxagoras believed that the source of all existence are the “seeds” whose constellations form two basic elements of ether and air that possess the primordial qualities of dryness, warmth, light, and moist, cold, darkness correspondingly.

500-400            

Leucippes, the school of atomism

A teacher of Democritus and co-founder of the school of atomism Leucippus may have introduced into ancient Greek thought the concept of atom as an indivisible element of matter, the notion of absolute empty space in which those atoms move, as well as the idea of causal determination of all natural events.

The great Hindu epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana are composed

Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana are the two great epics that capture the spirit of ancient Hindu civilization. Mahābhārata narrates the story of a rivalry between the two clans that descend from the same Vedic tribe of Bhāratas, a rivalry that culminates in a war which may have been fought, according to scholarly estimations, approximately in the 9th century B.C.E. Rāmāyana, on the other hand, is a love story between prince Rama and his ever-faithful consort Sita. Both epics are considered part of Hindu scriptures and their central characters – Krishna in Mahābhārata and Rama in Rāmāyana – are portrayed as avatars i.e. manifestations of divinity in the human world.

c. 490-400            

The prophetic books of Malachi, Joel, and Jonah are compiled                                

The Book of Jonah is unique among the texts that belong to the Persian period of Biblical prophecy, which also include Zechariah, Malachi, and Joel. Composed around 4th century B.C.E., it tells the story of a prophet who lived four centuries earlier during the reign of the Israelite king, Jeroboam II. In an attempt to escape his prophetic mission a fish swallows Jonah but he finally is able to arrive at the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the ancient city of Nineveh where he delivers an oracle against Nineveh’s citizens. The unique twist of the tale consists in that unlike most of the people in Biblical narratives the inhabitants of Nineveh actually take Jonah’s warnings seriously. They change their wrong ways and avert the destruction of the city thus preventing the prophecy from being fulfilled. The story of Jonah illustrates the nature and function of prophetic sayings in the Bible, which are about human abilities to shape the future rather than simply predict it.

c. 485

Zeno of Elea, the school of Eleatics

The closest disciple of Parmenides, Zeno is famous for his dialectical paradoxes or aporias against the multiplicity of Being. Zeno’s arguments represent the first examples of purely logical proofs in the history of philosophy.

c. 484-415            

Protagoras of Abdera, school of Sophists

Protagoras was the oldest of the Sophists – professional itinerary teachers who instructed their pupils in rhetoric and the art of debate. Protagoras insisted on the relativity of truth and morals, conventional nature of social laws and the pragmatic side of every issue. His two famous sayings are: “Man is the measure of all things” and “I know not whether gods exist or not; the question is difficult and life is short.”

c. 483-376

Gorgias of Leontini, the school of Sophists

The second most important Sophist after Protagoras, Gorgias in his book On Non-Being or On What is Not offered a nihilistic worldview, according to which “Nothing exists… even if it exists it is incomprehensible to man… even it is comprehensible, still it is… incapable of being expressed or explained to the next man.”

c. 480            

First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha

According to the Buddhist tradition, this council authorized the canonical teachings (Dharma) as well as monastic rules of conduct (Vinaya) for the early followers of the Buddhist religion.

c. 479-438            

Mo Tzu, founder of the school of Moism in China

An ancient Chinese thinker and founder of the school of Mohism,  Mo-tzu taught the principle of ‘universal love’ which – when firmly established in society – will benefit all of its members and will reflect the mandate of heaven. Mo-tzu criticized Confucianism for overemphasizing rituals and ceremonies that distract people from practical and useful actions.

469-399            

Socrates, the "king of philosophers"

Socrates shifts the focus of the "philosopher" (philosophos) by turning away from "the study of nature" (phusiologia) to the study of man and his logical abilities. In Plato’s dialogue Phaedo Socrates reinterprets the activities of philosopher based on a new understanding of the notion of cause. This key term refers to the Greek word aitia which literally means "cause," "reason," or "explanation," and in early Plato's dialogues is used in a sense of "by which." Socrates rejects the approaches of natural scientists because, according to him, they ignore the criterias for the truth/falsity of their judgements about nature. For Socrates a search for definition means, using contemporary terminology, a search for the necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of terms (which constitutes the activity of philosophos in contrast to the "study of nature" or phusiologia). Such was the method of Socrates who, as Plato recognizes, shifted the focus of the "philosopher" and set "philosophy" on a new course.

460-360            

Democritus, ancient atomism

Along with Leucippus Democritus is considered co-founder of the school of atomism. Ancient Greek atomists taught that indivisible, unchangeable and indestructible atoms are the ultimate source of existence. In their view, composition and decomposition of atoms in accordance with certain necessity lead to the creation and destruction of natural objects. The number of atoms and their variety is infinite. Human soul is composed of specific atoms that are spherical and fire-like, but as everything else the soul is not eternal and subject to decomposition after death.

458

Ezra brings an edition of the Torah from Babylon and promulgates reforms in Jerusalem   

A Jewish priest and royal scribe during the reign of the Persian King Artaxerxes I (465-424), Ezra led a group of his compatriots back to the homeland where he reestablished Mosaic Law and the tradition of Jewish worship. Having thought by some to be the final compiler of the Torah, Ezra is recognized now as the “Father of Judaism”.

c. 450-400            

Priestly editor(s) complete the revision of legal material in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (Priestly source of the Torah)                                             

According to the “documentary hypothesis,” this is the fourth possible source of the Pentateuch. Biblical scholars consider the priestly source to be the backbone of the Torah dating back to the post-exilic Judaism. The priests were mostly concerned with the significance of blessing and curse, the covenant with God and genealogies as well as the full codification of ancient Hebrew religious and social behavior, including the dietary and sacrificial laws, regulations, types of sacrifices, ordination to the priesthood, etc, that are found in the books of Leviticus and Numbers.

c. 445            

Empedocles, the school of Pluralists

Empedocles taught that the four basic elements – earth, air, fire and water – are the source of all existence and subject to blending in various proportions or disintegration by the two main powers of Love and Strife.

427-347            

Plato, school of The Academy

c. 400            

Jaimini, the author of Mīmānsā Sutra, Pūrvā-Mīmānsā school in Hinduism

One of the six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy, Pūrvā-Mīmānsā was preoccupied with religious obligations, as they have been outlined in the Vedas and other scriptural texts. Philosophical arguments of the mīmānsikas reflected their pragmatic concerns and focused on the proofs of the validity of scriptures.

c. 400-300            

The process of canonization of the Torah is completed                                               

The Torah is the most important part of the Jewish scriptures. It establishes the Sacred Law of Judaism and outlines the fundamental Biblical ideas of creation, sin, covenant, retribution, and salvation. The Torah or Pentateuch consists of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

400-325

Diogenes the Cynic

bet. 399-295            

Chuang Tzu, mystical Taoism

A Taoist philosopher and mystic who distinguished between what is of nature and what is of men. He claimed that following one’s inner aspirations and developing one’s natural abilities is the key toward human happiness while the external social conventions are the source of evil and suffering.

387

Plato founds the Academy

384-322            

Aristotle, the Peripatetic school

c. 380            

Second Buddhist Council at Vaisali

According to Buddhist accounts, the council resulted in a split between the Theravadins and the Mahāsangikas over the differences in doctrinal and monastic issues.

380-305            

Hui Shih, school of Logicians in China

Hui Shih was a representative of Ming chia – an ancient Chinese school of logicians that studied the connection between names and actualities. He believed in the relative nature of things whereas a representative of the second trend within the school Kung-sun Lung (284-259) advocated the absolute character of names along the lines of ancient Greek Platonism.

c. 371-289            

Mencius, idealistic Confucianism

An ancient Chinese thinker, founder of an ‘idealistic wing’ of Confucianism, Mencius taught that human nature is originally good. He claimed that all human beings are endowed with the ‘four beginnings’ – the feelings of commiseration, shame, modesty as well as right and wrong. When properly nurtured these qualities develop into the ‘four constant virtues’ of human-hartedness, righteousness, propriety and wisdom.

c. 365-275            

Pyrrho, school of the sceptics

341-270            

Epicurus, founder the Epicurean school

335

Aristotle founds the Lyceum

b. 322            

Zeno of Citium, founder of Stoicism

A Greek philosopher and founder of the school of Stoic Philosophy. The name Stoic derived from the painted porch or stoa poikile in which the school was located. He divided his philosophy into three categories being logic, physics, and ethics. Logic was essential to Zeno in order to avoid deception. Zeno claimed that physics consisted of both a passive and active principle. Passive being matter, and active being pneuma (the fiery breath) also known as god, mind, fate, zeus, or logos. Ultimately it is pneuma, which shapes and gives form to matter. This harmony of passive and active principles creates an ordered universe in which the ethical goals of Zeno and his followers are evident. The key to ethics is to live in harmony with the active principle, or life in agreement with nature. Virtuosity, essential to Zeno's idea of ethics, is seen as the only good, and is the goal toward which nature guides us. One is required to have the wisdom to know one’s role in the grand scheme, apethia (apathy) or the avoidance of emotions to accept what we cannot change, and the knowledge to exercise reason through decision making. (Erica Capabianca)

c. 300            

The Nyāya Sutra of Gautama (Hinduism)            

The Vaiśesika Sutras of Kanada (Hinduism)

Nyāya and Vaiśesika are two of the six traditional schools of Orthodox Hindu thought. Nyāya primarily focuses on logic, whereas Vaiśesika is best known for having developed atomistic ontology. Nyāya and Vaiśesika are usually grouped together since their ontological position of atomistic realism is practically identical.

Nyāya-Vaiśesika adopts six fundamental divisions of reality – substance (dravya), quality (guna), motion, generality, particularity, and inherence. Reality consists of substances having qualities while being not reducible to them. Substances, in their turn, are subdivided into nine classes which are: earth, water, fire, air, ether, space, time, selves (atman), and minds (manas). The first four consist of indivisible and indestructible atoms. Next three are regarded as unitary, but also non-destructible substances. Finally, souls are seen as eternal too each having its own characteristic particularity.

All substances are further classified into eternal or non-eternal. The latter represent things with which we deal in our everyday practice, and which cannot be codified the same way elements are. For example, the substances of earth, water, fire, and air appear not only in their atomic form, but also as compounds of atoms that we perceive as empirical objects. Although Nyāya-Vaiśesika accepts that these compounds are derived from the ‘first’ substances, it insists on their authentic identity as long as they exist. An ‘additional’ substance – a tree, for instance – has an individuality of its own, is not reducible to its parts, and is, therefore, a real referent of thought and speech. Generally speaking, a non-eternal substance (avayavin) must be a recognizable member of a certain class of entities. Not all composite entities, according to Nyāya-Vaiśesika, are such genuine wholes, but those that qualify possess physical, cognitive and semantic reality.

Earliest core of Kautilya's Artha Sastra

Hindu tradition describes four ends of human existence – religious and moral obligations (dharma), profit and material gain (artha), pleasure (kama), and, finally, spiritual liberation (moksha). The second end of man or artha refers to social organization and the sphere of politics.

305-240            

Tsou Yen, the Yin-Yang school

The Yin-Yang school in ancient Chinese focused primarily on the philosophy of nature and its influence on humanity. According to Yin-Yang cosmology, the universe was originated through the interplay of two polar but interpenetrating forces of Yin and Yang, and is composed of five basic elements of matter, fire, wood, metal and soil. A major spokesman for the school, Tsou Yen has suggested furthermore that the power of the emperor depends on the pattern of changes of those five elements. The practitioners of Yin-Tang school, however, were interested in what they considered a more immediate and practical connection between nature and man. They practiced occult arts of astrology, feng shui, physiognomy and divination. The oldest surviving manual of divination known as the Book of Changes or the I Ching served as the foundational text of the school.

298-238            

Hsun Tzu, realistic Confucianism

An ancient Chinese thinker, founder of a ‘realistic wing’ of Confucianism, Hsun Tzu taught that human nature is originally evil. He argued that all men by nature strive for profit and pleasure. They can (and should) overcome evil inclinations and develop high moral qualities by virtue of social necessity – as a result of cultural upbringing and by the use of intelligence.

c. 280

Third Buddhist Council

According to Buddhist tradition, the council resulted in a schism of the Pudgalavādins or Personalists who argued for the existence of the self (pudgala) that is neither eternal and unconditional nor undergoes annihilation in nirvana.

c. 273-237            

King Ashoka converts to and promotes Buddhism

Buddhist Council of Pātaliputra

The council resulted in a schism of the Sarvāstivadins over some doctrinal issues, including the teaching about spiritual perfections (pāramītās) that would later become one of the central doctrines in Mahayana Buddhism.

c. 250            

The Torah is translated into Greek, forming the first part of the Septuagint Bible

d. 233            

Han Fei Tzu, the school of Legalism

The most representative thinker of the Legalist school in ancient China, the school that focused on political philosophy and developing practical methods of governance on the basis of high concentration of power in the hands of the ruler.

213

The Emperor of the Ch’in dynasty ordered the ‘burning of the books’ of the “one hundred schools” of ancient Chinese thought

206

The rule of the Han dynasty in China that makes Confucianism the state ideology

c. 200

Diogenes Laertius, an ancient historian of philosophy

c. 200-100            

Collections of the prophets are canonized                                                             

Along with Torah and Writings, Prophets represents a distinct section in the Hebrew Scriptures that is further subdivided into the so-called former and latter prophets. The Former Prophets (Books of Joshua, Judges 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings) narrates the history of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile. The Latter Prophets (Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve) is associated with particular individuals, who in the name of God deliver warnings about the moral, social, and political situation of their day as well as prophecies about the future of the nations.

c. 200-200 CE            

Compilation of the Laws of Manu

The Laws of Manu outlines the social vision of Hinduism that combines the fixed social order of the four castes (varnas) of priests (brahmin), warriors (kshatriyas), traders (vaishyas) and serfs (shudras) with the individual progress within the four stages of life (āśrama) – those of a student, a householder, a hermit and, finally, a wandering ascetic (sannyāsin) who has achieved spiritual liberation (moksha), renounced his social obligations, his past, his possessions and even his name, and became a guru for aspiring religious students who seek his guidance. 

c. 179-104            

Tung Chung-shu, founder of state Confucianism (school of "New Texts")

The main theorizer of the co called “New Text school” of Confucianism that deified Confucius, taught that human nature is ‘potentially good’ and that the purpose of government is to help people realize their good qualities. Competing with the “Old Text school” whose main representative was Wang Ch’ung (27 CE – ca. 100) arguing for a more traditional interpretation of the Confucian Classics, the “New Text school” was recognized as the official ideology of the Chinese empire in 136 BCE and became the basis for the state examination system in China.

167-164            

The Maccabean revolt begins                                                                                       

The Maccabean Revolt erupted as a reaction to anti-Jewish policies of Antiochus IV, the ruler of the Syrian part of the empire built by Alexander of Macedonia. A guerilla war against the Syrians that was led by Judas Maccabee, lasted from 167 to 160 B.C.E. In 164 B.C.E. the Jews were able to regain control of the Temple and rededicate it to Yahweh – an event, which is commemorated by the feast of Hanukkah. Jewish resistance resulted in the creation of an independent state in 142 B.C.E., which was ruled by a Maccabean dynasty called the Hasmoneans.

c. 165            

The Book of Daniel predicts the final conflict between cosmic good and evil            

The Book of Daniel belongs to Biblical apocalyptic literature – a type of works that deliver revelation about the end of the world. Apocalyptic writings are often composed in the form of visions or dreams experienced by a seer. Unlike many other Biblical books, they are more universal in scope and portray all nations as operating under a tight control of the God of Israel. Apocalyptic texts are hard to interpret since they contain highly imaginative language that includes symbols, magic numbers, and the like. 

b. 106            

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman philosopher of sincretism, author of On the Nature of Gods

A Roman constitutionalist statesman and syncretic philosopher Marc Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) has exerted tremendous influence on the development of Christian thought – in its early patristic, medieval scholastic and renaissance humanist periods. In his religious-philosophical treatise On the Nature of the Gods (De natura deorum) Cicero analyzes the views on the subjects of the existence of gods and the nature of divine providence by the three major philosophical schools of his time – the Epicurean, the Stoic and the Academy. In the second book of the treatise where he presents the Stoic philosophy, Cicero formulates many of the arguments for the existence of god / gods that will be later used by the philosophers of the Middle Ages.

c. 100            

Composition of Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita is part of a great Hindu epic of Mahābhārata, which tells the story of a rivalry between the two clans of Pāndavas and Kauravas that belong to the same tribe of Bhāratas. In Bhagavad Gita the divine charioteer Krishna instructs the Pāndava warrior Arjuna to fulfill his sacred obligations and engage in a battle. Krishna also says that Arjuna should do so without any attachment to the consequences of his actions. Performed in a spirit of selfless sacrifice and devotion solely to Krishna such a ‘holy fight’ will justify the warrior and lead him to spiritual liberation.

Buddhist scriptures of Tripitaka or Three Baskets are compiled in Ceylon

Theravada Buddhist scriptures consist of three ‘baskets’ or collections of writings – Vinayana Pitaka that explains the rules of conduct for the monks and nuns; Sutta Pitaka that gives an exposition of Buddha’s teachings found in his conversations with disciples; and Abhidhamma Pitaka that includes complementary works on Buddhist philosophy and psychology.

99-55
           

Lucretius, Roman poet and philosopher of Epicureanism, author of the poem On the Nature of Things

b. c. 20
           

Philo (Judaeus) of Alexandria, Jewish scriptural philosopher

An Orthodox Jewish thinker Philo of Alexandria was strongly influenced by the ancient Greek intellectual tradition. These dual loyalties determined the peculiar character of Philo’s thought that can be described as “scriptural philosophy.” Philo interpreted Hebrew Scriptures allegorically in his effort to synthesize Jewish wisdom and Hellenistic thought. More specifically, he tried to support the revelation of Moses by the philosophical arguments of Plato and the Stoics. Philo taught, for instance, that God first created man in His own mind (Logos) and only then as a person possessing body and soul. The highest human aspiration, according to Philo, consists in overcoming physical limitations and returning to divine origins by means of intellectual contemplation.

c. 4 BCE - 65 CE            

Lucius Annaeus Seneka, philosopher of Stoicism

COMMON ERA

c. 6 BCE - 39            

Jesus of Nazareth, founder of Christianity, preaches Torah reforms and is executed by Roman governor Pontius Pilate

35-62            

Paul, a Diaspora Jew preaches Christianity to the Gentiles and founds a series of non-Jewish churches in Syria, Asia Minor and Greece

c. 66-70            

The first narrative of Jesus's life, Gospel of Mark is written

According to the Christian tradition, Mark was the disciple of the Apostle Peter. In his Gospel Mark portrayed Jesus as the hidden and suffering Messiah whose true identity had been fully revealed only after his death and resurrection.

70            

Roman armies destroy Jerusalem and its Temple

c. 79            

Division of Jains into Shvetambara and Digambara sects

The Digambaras or “Sky-clad” are a more conservative group in Jainism that is dominant in southern India. They practice full nudity and exclude women form the temples. According to their belief, women cannot achieve a spiritual liberation unless they are reborn as men. The Svetambaras or “White-clad” are less restrictive and more liberal. The majority of Jains associate themselves with the Svetambaras sect that is dominant in northwestern India.

80-90            

Gospels of Matthew and Luke are written

According to the Christian tradition, Matthew was one of Jesus’s Apostles, and Luke was the disciple of the Apostle Paul. In his Gospel Matthew portrays Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah – the link between the Old and the New Testaments. As for Luke, in his Gospel he depicts Jesus as the universal saviour who brings spiritual liberation to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

c. 90-100            

Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) are written

According to the Christian tradition, John was one of the twelve original apostles of Christ. In his Gospel John portrays Jesus as the Divine being, the Word that is ever present for the salvation of humankind.            

Jewish scholars at the Academy of Jamnia preside over the compilation of the Writings, completing the final part of the Hebrew Scriptures

c. 100            

Perfection of Wisdom or Prajnaparamita Sutra (c. 100 BCE - 100 CE)

Buddhism introduced into China

While countless missionaries and pilgrims traveling between China, Central Asia and India after the opening of the Silk Road most likely learned of Buddhism in their travels, the recorded history is unclear. Chang Ch'ien, on his return from Ta-hsia (Ferghana) in the 2nd century BCE, heard of a country named Tien-chu (India) and their Buddhist teaching. This is probably the first time a Chinese heard about Buddhism. A century later, a Buddhist community is recorded at the court of a Han prince. However, the most famous story is the Han emperor Mingdi's dream about Buddha. In 68 CE, Mingdi sent his official Cai Yin to Central Asia to learn more about Buddhism after a vision of a golden figure appeared to him in a dream. The next morning he asked his ministers what the dream meant and was told that he had seen the Buddha - the god of the West. Cai Yin returned after 3 years in India and brought back with him not only the images of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures but also two Buddhist monks named She-mo-teng and Chu-fa-lan to preach in China. This was the first time that China had Buddhist monks and their ways of worship. A few years later, a Buddhist community was established in the capital, Loyang.

To thrive in China, Buddhism had to transform itself into a system that could exist within the Chinese way of life. Buddhism was made compatible with ancestor worship and participation in China's hierarchical system. Many of these schools integrated the ideas of Confucianism, Taoism and other indigenous philosophical systems so that what was initially a foreign religion came to be a natural part of Chinese civilization. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine. (Kevin R Wright)            

Rise of Tao chiao (religious Taoism) which seeks physical immortality   

First Synagogues

121-180            

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and stoic philosopher, author of Meditations

c. 150-250            

Nagarjuna, a legendary founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhism

Nagarjuna was the first great teacher in Buddhist religion since the Buddha, and he is called sometimes the "second Buddha." Madhyamakakarika is the central work that is attributed to him in which Nagarjuna develops his famous claim about emptiness as the absence of inherent existence in any kind of objects. Nagarjuna puts into a critical examination the assumptions which underlay almost any philosophical investigation, namely, that (i) a constructed philosophical theory uncovers the essence of things, and that (ii) language is a helpful tool which plays a positive role in formulating such a theory. Thus, the status of philosophical theories, logic, and language become the central problem in Nagarjuna's thought.

The denial of inherent existence or identity (nibsvabhavata) by Nagarjuna is not a complete denial of the essence of things, but a denial to grasp this identity by means of theories, logic, and language. The claim about emptiness as the absence of inherent existence in any kind of objects is not similar to an affirmation of an inherently existing emptiness in a sense of ultimate reality or truth. It is not a nihilistic rejection of any existence either. Better to say, emptiness is a negation of any dogmas with regard to an inherent existence of anything at all. It is not the right view, but rather a prescription against all possible doctrines. According to Nagarjuna, true enlightenment or sunyata (emptiness) is achieved by the cessation of action and suffering whose existence depends on mental formations. Since mental constructs are created by the use of language, the realm of emptiness is not only non-mental, but also non-linguistic.

c. 185-254            

Origen, author of the First Principles

c. 200            

The Mishnah, first part of the Talmud, is completed

Created in order to preserve the Jewish tradition after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E., the Mishnah is not a teological but rather practical and legalistic document. It contains the Jewish religious law (halakhah) and is divided into six parts: Zeram or agriculture, Moed (festivals), Nashim (Women), Nezihim (damages), Kedashim (holy things), amd Tohorot (purity).            

The Lotus Sutra of the Good Law (Mahayana Buddhism)

The Lotus of the Good Law is one of the most important religious texts of Mahayana Buddhism. Having no counterparts in the earlier Theravada scriptural canon, Mahayana sutras were developed in the period between the 1st century BCE and the 4th century CE.  They introduced several key doctrines that eventually became the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism – the deification of the Buddha, the possibility of full enlightenment for the laity and the ideal of bodhisattva, a person of compassion who refuses to enter nirvana in order to help other humans in their quest for salvation.

c. 200-300            

Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutra (Hinduism)

The school of Hindu mystical philosophy known as yoga aims at the union between the human spirit and the Divine Self. In the Yoga sutra Patanjali systematizes the findings of that school by describing a series of techniques that include moral and religious observances, bodily postures or asanas, breath control, as well as physical and mental exercises whose ultimate purpose is the refinement of mental states and the achievement of samadhi – an enlightened form of consciousness and spiritual liberation.

Sextus Empiricus, philosopher of systematic scepticism            

Tertullian of Carthage, author of Apology

204-269            

Plotinus, founder of Neoplatonic school

216-276            

Mani, founder of Manicheism, a dualistic religion which claimed to be the final, universal revelation

d. 312            

Kuo Hsiang, rationalistic neo-taoism            

Lieh Tzu [Yang Chu], sentimentalist neo-taoism

313            

Roman Emperor Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, making Christianity a legally recognized religion

Constantine converted to Christianity in the beginning of his rule in 312 A.D. He claimed to have had a dream in which God told him to convert and in return he will protect him during battle. He even wore a Christian amulet called a Chi-Rho during the battle to protect him. After coming to power he created a “Constantine church” and made Christianity one of the main religions of Rome. Roman military was no longer aloud to persecute Christians and made some of Christian divine law part of Roman law. Constantine also contributed to the development of the concept that made God into the Trinity, mixing Greek and Judeo-Christian philosophy so that the Roman people would accept it. (Sarah Burns)

320-c. 550            

Development of Vajrayana Buddhism

325            

First Christian ecumenical council at Nicaea

The first ecumenical council at Nicaea was summoned by the Emperor Constantine in order to settle theological disputes in the early Christian Church. The decisions of the council condemned the Aryan heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. The council issued the Creed of Nicaea:

"We believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, Very God from Very God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made, both in heaven and in earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down and was incarnate, was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is coming to judge the living and the dead; And in the Holy Spirit. And those who say: "There was a time when he was not", and: "Before he was begotten he was not", and: "He came into being from nothing", or those who pretend that the Son of God is "of another substance" [than the Father] or "created" or "alterable" or "mutable", the catholic and apostolic church places under a curse."

c. 350            

Beginning of Christian monasticism

Compilation of Avesta

A collection of Zoroastrian sacred writings that is known as Avesta or Book of the Law was completed sometime during the Sassanid period of the Persian Empire that had been established in 226 CE. Avesta includes: Yasna or liturgical material in old Persian, part of which are the Gāthās, the earlier hymns that are ascribed to Zoroaster; the Visperad or invocations and rituals in honor of the heavenly spirits (ahuras); (3) the Yashts or hymns of praise, and the Videvdat (Vendidat) or hymns, spells and prescriptions for purification.            

The Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great (d. 379); Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 389); and Gregory of Nyssa (d. 395)

367            

Festal letter of Athanasius fixes the boundaries of the Christian Bible

381            

The Council of the Christian Church at Constantinople

The Council of Constantinople was convened by the Emperor Theodosius to reconfirm the doctrinal decision of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed is usually attributed to the council of Constantinople:

"We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.* With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. 

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN."

*Roman Catholics and Protestants add ‘and the Son’ at this point.

c. 400            

Ishvarakrishna, the author of Samkhya Karikas (Hinduism)

Īshvarakrishna is the thinker who systematized the Sāmkhya school of Hindu religious philosophy. According to Sāmkhya views, the world consists of the subject or spirit (puruṣa) and the object or matter (prakṛti). Prakṛti or matter, in its turn, consists of three elements (gunas): sattva that is potential consciousness, which creates pleasure; rajas that is the seed of activity, which produces pain; and tamas that is the source of rest, which causes indifference. When puruṣa unsettles the balance of gunas, the evolution of matter begins. The union of puruṣa and prakṛti initiates creation while destruction results in the dissolution of previous developments into the primordial prakṛti. Human beings also consist of puruṣa and prakṛti or spirit and matter. But since the body and the senses restrict the empirical self (Jīva), the human spirit is oblivious of its real nature. The spiritual liberation comes when the power of puruṣa is released through the acquisition of knowledge and the practice of virtues.

Asangha and Vasubandhu, Yogacara school of Buddhism

c. 426            

The City of God, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

433

The Council of the Christian Church at Ephesus

The main issue of the Council of Ephesus was the relationship between the divine and human natures of Christ. The council condemned the theology of Nestorius (381-451) who regarded the two natures as the unity of wills rather than essence: “I hold the natures apart, but unite in worship.”

440-461            

Pope Leo I formulates the doctrine of papal primacy that was to guide the policy of all subsequent Popes

451

The Council of the Christian Church at Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon was called to settle the Christological debates. The Council came up with a confession of faith that read: “We all with one voice confess our Lord Jesus Christ one and the same Son, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, of one substance with us as regards his manhood, like us in all things, apart from sin; begotten of the Father before the ages as regards his Godhead, the sa,e in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born from the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer (theotokos), as regards his manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division or without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way abolished because of the union, but rather the characteristic property of each nature being preserved, and coming together to form one person (prosōpon) and one entity (hypostasis), not as if Christ were parted or divided into two persons…” (Introduction to the History of Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995, p. 183)

c. 454            

Writing of Jain oral tradition at Council at Valabhi in Saurashtra

After the death of the founder of Jainism Mahavīra in the early 6th century B.C.E. Jain scriptures were transmitted orally for several centuries until they were systematized, put to writing and finally canonized by the 5th century C.E.     Jains believe that the spiritual liberation can be attained by the pursuit of the right faith, the right knowledge and the right conduct. The right conduct includes renouncing all forms of violence, lying, stealing, sexual pleasure and attachments in general. For those who cannot endure severe asceticism of monastic life, there is a softened code of behavior that involves such prescriptions as a simple life style, almsgiving, and regular meditation.

523-524            

Consolation of Philosophy, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-524)

529

The Byzantine Emperor Justinian closed down the Academy and the Lyceum in Athens, the schools that had been founded by Plato and Aristotle

538-597            

Chih-i, founder of the T'ien-t'ai school of Buddhism in China

The lineage of T’ien-t’ai school begins with the monk named Hui-ssu (515-576) whose disciple Chih-i is credited with having founded the sect. T’ien-t’ai’s main scriptural text is the Lotus Sutra and its central doctrine is the emptiness of all dharmas. T’ien-t’ai teaches that the world is the manifestation of the Mind, and that all human beings have Buddha-nature and are capable of achieving enlightenment through meditation.

c. 550            

On the Heavenly Hierarchy, Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita            

Compilation of the Talmud is complete

A rabbinic compilation of the Jewish religious law the Talmud includes the law itself (halakhah) along with the examples that illustrate its application by rabbis in various social circumstances (aggadah). There are two versions of the Talmud – the Palestinian and the Babylonian. Sephardic Jews follow the tradition of the Babylonian Talmud while Ashkenazic Jews subscribe to the authority of both the Babylonian and the Palestinian versions.

553

The Council of the Christian Church at Constantinople

The Council of Constantinople condemned the theology of the Monophysites who argued that Christ possessed one – divine-human – nature.

c. 570-632            

Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam

The main scriptural text of Islam, the Holy Qur’an (Koran) provides the record of the prophet Mohammad’s revelation. The Qur’an lays the foundation for Islamic theology (kalam) as well as the law (shariah). According to the Muslim tradition, every follower should believe in the six fundamental tenets of faith: one God, God’s angels, God’s messengers, God’s scriptures, Day of judgment, and the Divine decree or the ultimate power of God to decide. Every Muslim should also be obedient to the five pillars of faith that regulate the relationship between God and the faithful as well as the relations within the community. The five pillars include the profession of faith (shahadah), obligatory daily prayers (salat), fasting during the month of Ramadan, almsgiving and pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

c. 600-700            

Appearance of Tantricism in organized Buddhism

613-681            

Shan-tao, Pure Land sect of Buddhism in China

One of the most popular and influential sects of Mahayana Buddhism, Pure Land was started by T’an-luan (476-542 C.E.) who is considered the first patriarch of its lineage. Pure Land focuses on devotion to a heavenly deity Amitabha Buddha who dwells in a paradisiacal Pure Land and whose name was mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. In order to be reborn in this heavenly place a practitioner should repeatedly and sincerely invoke the name of the Buddha Amitabha. A continuous chanting of the simple mantra “Hail to the Buddha Amitabha” guarantees, according to Pure Land believers, a follower’s salvation and rebirth in heaven under Amitabha’s protection.

632-661            

First four Caliphs in Islam (Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph in 656-661)

643- 712            

Fa-tsang, founder of Hua-yen (Flowery Splendor) school of Buddhism in China

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra or the Flowery Splendor Scripture that was translated into Chinese in 420 C.E.and eventually gave rise to the school of religious philosophy, is the main text of the Hua-yen sect. The key doctrine of the school is the so-called ‘universal causation of the realm of dharmas’, according to which each dharma is simultaneously one and all. When one dharma rises, all others follow, so that the Universe manifests a full and ideal harmony.

681

The Council of the Christian Church at Constantinople

The second Council of Constantinople condemned the beliefs that Christ possessed a single principle of activity or “energy” (Monergism) or a single will (Monotheletism). The Council stated that in Christ “there are two natural wills and modes of operation without division, change, separation or confusion…His human will follows, without any resistance or reluctance but in subjection, his divine and omnipotent will.”

c. 700-800            

Buddhism spreads to Tibet

750-900            

Development of Muslim law or Sharia

787

The Council of the Christian Church at Nicaea

This is the last of the ecumenical Councils that are recognized by the Orthodox Christian Churches. The Council spoke against the iconoclastic movement and defended in theological terms the use of icons. Thus, John of Damascus (c. 730-60) argued that religious images are not the objects of worship but of veneration, and are faithful reminders of the originals.

c. 788-820            

Shankara, Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism

Shankara is, perhaps, the most famous Hindu philosopher. Along with Ramanuja and Madhva he belongs to the school of Hindu philosophy called Vedanta. In the center of Shankara's philosophy lies the interpretation of the scriptural truth about Brahman being identical with Atman. According to Shankara's philosophy of non-duality Brahman is the only reality or one without the second. Brahman is neither a supreme Being, nor non-being; it is without either external or internal difference, and it represents a ground of the world.

As opposed to Brahman, as Shankara teaches, the world is a situation of dualism and differences. Experience is sustained by duality of subject/object differentiation. This duality implies relation, i.e. the subject wants to define itself through the object. To describe such a world Shankara uses a technical term "maya" which is often translated as illusion or delusion.

To find liberation or final release from such a world means for Shankara to realize the ultimate non-dualism of reality. Atman or one's true self is ultimately identical with the unqualified unitary Brahman and is captured in the world of plurality and causality only until liberated through knowledge. Shankara assumed the infallibility of the scriptures that he interpreted symbolically. However, his notion of ultimate liberation in realizing one's true self for him has more to do with mystical insight rather than scriptural guidance

c. 800-900            

Bhagavata Purana (Purana of the Lord)

Along with the Sutras and Epics, Puranas belong to the secondary scriptural texts of Hinduism. Puranas are the books of Hindu philosophy and mythology that tell about the adventures of popular gods and are accessible to all classes of society. One of the most well known Puranas in the West, the Bhagavad Purana narrates the story of Krishna, a powerful incarnation of god Vishnu, who fights against evil and restores faith and righteousness. In the Hindu tradition Puranas serve as a major source for the bhakti devotional sects that flourished in India from the 12th through the 18th century C.E.

c. 810-877            

John Scotus Eriugena, author of On the Division of Nature

845            

Massive persecution of Buddhism in China

Late 870s            

"Disappearance" of the twelfth imam

882-942            

Saadia, author of the Book of Doctrines and Beliefs

870-950            

Alfarabi

c 900            

First collections of authoritative Hadiths in Islam

980-1037            

Avicenna, author of Metaphysics

c. 1000            

Formation of religious orders in Catholicism            

Rise of Sufism in Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq

1020-c. 1070

Avecebrol (Ibn Gabirol)

1033-1109            

Anselm of Canterbury, author of Proslogion

1054            

Break between Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) Christian Churches

1058-1111

Algazali, author of The Incoherence of the Philosophers

1079-1141            

Peter Abailard, the "Socrates of Gaul"

1088-1172            

Hemacandra, a Jainist philosopher , author of An Examination in 32 Stanzas of the Doctrines of Other Systems

According to Jain philosophy, reality is dualistic and consists of intelligence, consciousness or soul (jiva) and lifeless matter (ajiva). The reason for the embodiment of the human soul is what Jains call “karmic matter.” The goal of human life is spiritual release of the immortal soul from its entrapment into material existence. The three important Jain principles that guide all Jains in their spiritual development, are: (1) ahimsa or non-violence; (2) aparigraha or non-possessiveness, non-acquisitiveness; and (3) anekantwad or non-absolutism – a belief that what we know as truth is relative, partial and depends on a person’s perspective.

1099-1204            

The Crusades

d. 1137            

Ramanuja, theistic Vedanta in Hindu philosophy

Along with Shankara and Madhva Ramanuja belongs to the school of Hindu thought called Vedanta. In his epistemology Ramanuja asserts the primacy of faith over reason. He defends the scriptural authority that comes from the supreme God and cannot be challenged by anything, including mysticism. The scriptures are the only means to know God whose nature and existence cannot be proven logically. In his interpretation of scriptures Ramanuja focuses on the concept of Brahman. He understands Brahman as the supreme and personal God who cannot be reduced to his revelations or manifestations.

In the teaching about the world Ramanuja develops his own version of Advaita Vedanta called ‘qualified non-dualism’. His position is that God being more than the world in his essence is not different from it. The world is the divine body of God, and is related to him as our human body is related to our soul. God is alone the ultimate subject who uses his free will to create the divine object simply the world. God performs a metaphysical sacrifice, and lives through subject-object relations. He is the creator and the ultimate creature, and he keeps creating himself in such a way that he never ends this process of creation.

According to Ramanuja, the world is not "maya" or delusion, but rather "lila" or divine play. It is a heavenly drama, and religious experience belongs to aesthetics while theology is in fact part of literature. The acquisition of knowledge in the spirit of full devotion to God is the way to achieve salvation. The human self or Atman in its essence is identical with Brahman but can never fully dissolve in it.    

1126-1198            

Averroes, the Commentator of Aristotle

1139-1193            

Lu Chiu-yuan or Master of Hsiang-shan, School of Universal Mind in neo-confucianism

1130-1200            

Chu Hsi, School of Principle in neo-confucianism

1135-1204            

Moses Maimonides, author of the Guide To the Perplexed

Moses Maimonides (also known as Rabbi Moshe Maimon) was born in Cordoba, Spain.  He was one of the greatest Torah scholars and Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages.  In his commentary on the Mishnah Maimonides came up with the 13 principles of faith, which he thought were the required beliefs of Judaism.  Anyone who doubts or denies these principles he saw as a heretic with no place in the afterlife and not the true member of Israel. At first, these principles were very controversial and ignored by most of the Jewish community.  Today, they are widely accepted and taught.  In Orthodox Judaism, they are considered mandatory. 

The 13 principles are now printed in the Siddur, Jewish prayer book:

1. There is a God.

2. There is one God.

3. God has no physical body.

4. God is eternal.

5. Only God may be worshipped.

6. God communicates to man through prophecy.

7. Moses was the greatest of the prophets.

8. The Torah came from God.

9. The Torah is the authentic word of God and may not be changed.

10. God is aware of all our deeds.

11. God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.

12. The Messiah will come.

13. The dead will be resurrected.

(Nicole Miller)

1181            

Birth of St. Francis of Assisi

c. 1197-1276            

Madhva Acharya, dualistic Vedanta in Hinduism

Along with Śhankārā and Rāmānuja Madhva belongs to a Hindu school of Vedanta philosophy that is, perhaps, the best known and studied in the West. The term "Vedanta" literally means the "end of Vedas," i.e. the Upanishads. The representatives of the school defend the authority of the Upanishads in addition to the Vedas and focus on the relation between the self (Atman) and absolute reality (Brahman). They develop their doctrines on the basis of the texts known as Vedanta Sutras, an earlier systematization of the teachings of the Upanishads. Vedantins are divided into three groups – following Śhankārā and Rāmānuja who represent Advaita Vedanta, and Madhva who represents the Dvaita or dualistic form of this philosophy.

c 1200            

Buddhism disappears as organized religious force in India            

Formation of the Sufi orders (Islam)            

Founding of Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen Buddhist sects in Japan

1214-1294            

Roger Bacon

c. 1250            

The Inquisition is originated

1264            

Summa Against the Gentiles, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

1265-1308            

John Duns Scotus, the Subtle Doctor

c. 1280-1349            

William of Ockham, author of On the Four Books of the Sentences

1288-1344            

Levi Ben Gerson (Gersonides), author of The Wars of the Lord

c. 1300            

Zohar (The Book of Splendor), Jewish Kabbalah

The Hebrew word kabbalah means “receiving” or “that which has been received”. It is an ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the bible, a belief system about the world and God. The primary written source of the mystical kabbalah is called Zohar – the book of splendor, which was written in Aramaic. It was published by Moses de Leon who attributed it to a rabbi named Shimon bar Yochai, in his attempt to escape Roman persecution he hid in a cave with his son for some 13 years studying the Torah. Prophet Elijah revealed the ideas of the Zohar to him, and then he wrote it.The Zohar is a group of books, also called the five books of Moses and is a mystical explanation of the Torah. Many subjects are discussed, such as the nature of good and evil, creation of man, and how our actions affect the destiny of the soul, all told and explained in stories, poems, pictures, and koans (an anecdote or riddle, also used in Buddhism). It includes rabbinic law, philosophy, and mysticism. The Torah and Zohar generally deal with the same issues relating to the relationship between humans and God except the Torah is more about the physical nature of the relationship and the Zohar raises these issues to a more spiritual level of existence. The Zohar deals with issues that were only hinted at in the Torah. Its main theme is that everything in the Universe is connected, to everything there is a cause and effect, behind every process there is a reason, indeed a purpose.

(Ell Levi)            

The emergence of the orders of friars: Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, etc.

1469-1539            

Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism

MODERN TIMES

1517            

Martin Luther (b. 1483), founder of Protestantism, posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg

Martin Luther, German priest and professor of theology, posted 95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg to protest the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were granted for specific actions showing faith to the Catholic Church and were granted partially or fully based on the level with which one performed the actions. Pardoners sought to make profit by selling these indulgences at the maximum amount, and the length of indulgences became extensive, making a greater profit. Essentially, forgiveness from the church for sin was being represented financially rather than through confession and repentance. After the posting of the 95 Theses many began to follow Protestant teachings rather than Roman Catholic teachings. (Cassandra Crone)

1530            

Augsburg Confession, the creed of the Lutheran Churches

1536            

Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin (1509-1564)

1560            

Presbyterianism is formed            

Presbyterianism was formed by John Knox (c. 1505-1572), a Scottish man who studied with John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland. Knox took what he learned from Calvin back to Scotland and led the Scottish Reformation against Mary, queen of Scots, and the Catholic Church. In 1560, a General Assembly of the Scottish Church was held. Here, Knox presented his Confession of Faith. The Scottish Parliament sanctioned it, and ratified the jurisdiction exercised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

The beliefs and structure of Presbyterianism are rooted in John Calvin’s principles, as relayed by John Knox. Among the various beliefs are ten major teachings of Presbyterianism:

1. The inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of the Bible as written Word of God.
2. The sinfulness of all men and women in their resulting inability to seek out or please God by their own efforts.
3. The death of the unique Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as an atoning sacrifice for us. We believe that there is no salvation for anyone apart from faith in him.
4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.
5. The person and work of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the divine Trinity, in drawing people to Christ, enabling them to believe in him, and      strengthening them to live godly lives.
6. The necessity for Christians to follow Jesus Chris in personal and often costly discipleship.
7. The church as a fellowship of born again persons, committed to helping one another grow in their Christian lives.
8. The privilege and power of prayer.
9. The importance of Christians reaching into all the world to call people to faith in Christ and helping influence their world, both near and farther away, for good.
10. The return of Jesus Christ to judge all persons and to take those who have trusted him to heaven.

(Felix Manzi, Elizabeth Reyes)

1563            

The Heidelberg Cathechism, the creed of the Calvinist Reformed Churches

1581-1606

Sikh Guru Arjun Dev (1563-1606) compiles the sacred texts of Sikhism, Adi Granth

The Adi Granth was composed of devotional hymns of Guru Nanak, other Gurus, and Hindu and Muslim saints. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjun Dev, compiled the holy book. He also built the Golden temple in Amritsar. (Jessica Flynn)
1637            

Discourse on Method, Rene Descartes (1596-1650), founder of modern rationalism

1648            

Westminster Confession of Faith, the creed of the Presbytarian Churches

1650s            

George Fox (1624-1691) founds the Society of Friends, also known as the "Quakers"

1651            

Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

1670            

Theological-Political Treatise, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

1675-1708            

Last Sikh Guru - Gobind Singh (1666-1708)

Gobind Singh was the tenth and last Guru. In 1699, he decided that Sikhs should be completely surrendered to the master. For them to show their devotion, he asked volunteers to offer their heads. For show, Gobind Singh had them each come into his tent one by one-after which he would come out with a bloody sword. At the end, he released all of the men from the tent. They were all alive; he just wanted to test their loyalty. At the end of his life he did not chose a human successor. Today the Adi Granth is the complete authority of Sikhism as Gobind Singh’s successor. (Jessica Flynn)

1690            

Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Two Treatises on Government, John Locke (1632-1704), founder of British empiricism

1710            

Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge,George Berkeley (1685-1753)

1714            

Monadology, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)

1730            

Christianity As Old As Creation, often called the "Deist's Bible," Matthew Tindal (c. 1657-1733)

1739-40            

Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume (1711-1784)

1764            

Philosophical Dictionary, Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694-1778)

1750-72            

Encyclopedia, published by Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

1773            

The first Conference of the Methodist Church in the U. S. is held in Philadelphia

1781            

Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), founder of German Idealism

1785            

The first General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States

1800            

System of Transcendental Idealism, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775-1854)

1806            

Phenomenology of Mind, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

1808            

Addresses to the German People, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814)

1814            

The first American national Baptist organization is created

1818            

The World As Will and Idea, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

1825            

William E. Channing (1780-1842) founds the American Unitarian Association

1830            

The Book of Mormon is published            

Mormons believe that Joseph Smith found The Book of Mormon in New York State, engraved on golden plates. They believe in The Book of Mormon, which is seen as authentic, because he found the book under angelic guidance. However, Mormons also believe in the Bible. The Book of Mormon tells stories of the lost tribes of Israel, as well as appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. (Jessica Flynn)             

Joseph Smith (1805-1844) founds the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormonism

Mormonism is a religion that focuses on the Bible, The Book of Mormon, clean living, and strong family values. Founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, the religion is made up of approximately thirteen million followers worldwide (2011). It is one of the fastest growing religions, which is partly because of their volunteer missionaries. The religion is based off of the revelations given to Joseph Smith. Members refrain from smoking, drinking alcohol, caffeine, tea, and excess meat eating. They are also highly involved in their community, helping others in need. (Jessica Flynn)

1830-42            

Course of Positive Philosophy, Auguste Comte (1798-1857), founder of positivism

1844            

Prophetic proclamation of Mirza Ali Muhammad (1919-1950), also known as the Bab, and the beginning of the religious movement of Babism            

The first Sabbathkeeping Adventist group is formed in Washington, New Hampshire

1845            

Stages On Life's Way, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), "father" of modern existentialism

Theses on Feuerbach (published in 1888), Karl Marx (1818-1883), founder of communism 

1850s            

Birth of modern Spiritualist movement

1863            

First General Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the United States.            

Mirza Husein Ali Nuri (1817-1892), also known as Baha'u'llah, proclaims his prophetic mission and founds the Baha'i Faith

1870s            

Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) organizes a Bible study class that evolves into Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, also known as Jehovah's Witnesses

1873            

Baha'u'llah completes The Most Holy Book

1875            

Mary Baker Eddy (1866-1910) publishes Science and Health with Key to Scriptures            

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907) co-found Theosophical Society

1879            

The Church of Christ (Scientist) is incorporated

1883            

Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

1884            

The incorporation of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society marks the official beginning of Jehovah's Witnesses

1885            

A Conference of the rabbis in Pittsburg accepts the "Pittsburg Platform" of Reform Judaism

1886            

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA – Conservative Judaism) opens in New York.                                                                                                                                                      Although Zacharias Frankel was the founder of Conservative Judaism, Solomon Schechter was considered to be the "architect" of the movement. He is given the credit of formally organizing the philosophy of the Conservative Movement, which was taught to young Jews in their day schools. Schechter created the basic foundation of Conservative Judaism, and set the tone for its ideological development. Schechter became the spiritual lead of Conservative Judaism, as well as the leader of American Judaism, to a certain degree.

Schechter was born a Hasidic Jewish family in Romania in 1849.  Schechter studied at a rabbinical seminary in Vienna, but decided to leave and went to England, where he became a tutor. During this period he became a scholar, writing numerous journal articles on the history and philosophy of Judasim. While Schechter was in England, the Jewish Theological Seminary, or JTS, was being established in Breslau, Germany in 1854. With the seminary came the beginning of Conservative Judaism.

In 1886, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) was developed in New York, designed to follow the same curriculum and philosophy of the one in Breslau. The seminary began as a colossal failure. However, at the turn of the century (1902), Schechter became the president of the JTSA. He was able to save the seminary by developing the institution, and its community. In an attempt to unify American Jews, Schechter established the United Synagogue of America. This was an organization of Conservative Jewish Congregations in America. Both the JTSA and United Synagogue of America are still around today.

The founders of Conservative Judaism wanted to unite all f the Jewish people with a positive attitude towards Jewish tradition. These basic attitudes are set forth under The Seven Principles of Conservative Judaism:

            1. Jewish tradition has the vitality and capacity for growth to meet the needs of modern American Jews.

            2. The religious outlook and world-view of Judaism, with faith in God and the concept of man, offers a sane philosophy of life for our distraught generation.

            3. The Jewish way of life is embodied in the ritual and ethical mitzvot of Judaism, and is indispensable. The mitzvot, the Shabbat, daily prayers, and Kashrut  are all binding.

            4. Jewish knowledge is the privilege and duty of all Jews, not just rabbis and scholars.

            5. Jews all over the world are members of the Jewish people. Jews from all different outlooks, political citizenship and status share a sense of kinship and a  common history.

            6. The future of Judaism as a creative member of the human family is unimaginable without the rebuilding of security and peace in the Land of Israel.    

            7. The sense of Jewish unity is compatible with freedom of thought and difference of viewpoint. Whether Orthodox, Reform, or Conservative Judaism, the noun is more important than the adjective.

(Jaimie Fortin, Sandra Skinner)

1888            

A "godmother of the New Age movement" Helena Petrovna Blavatsky publishes The Secret Doctrine

Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-91), the Godmother of the New Age, was an unusual, imaginative and fascinating woman of the 19th century. She is said to have started the New Age Movement and co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. The New Age Movement, a spiritual movement, has a unified philosophical outlook, which can be understood through Blavatsky’s writings. In 1888, she wrote The Secret Doctrine. This particular writing, out of all her books, was her ultimate masterpiece. It is published in two volumes. The first volume is an extraordinary book that extensively translates the major symbols found in Mythology and Religion. Volume two includes a detailed description of Blavatsky’s take on the evolution humanity. The work, although extremely difficult to read, outlines the main ideas contained in the New Age Movement: God is everything, the universe does not have a beginning or an end (it is a cycle of evolution / devolution), one must tap into ancient wisdom to unify both religion and science, human civilization evolves in cycles with the earth, and human beings should progress into ideal, enlightened persons or adepts who are active and engaged on all planes of existence. (Sarah Van Auken)

1893            

World's Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago

1894                                                                                                                                                  A Hindu Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) establishes the first Vedanta Society in the U.S.

20TH CENTURY

1900            

Interpretation of Dreams, Zigmund Freud (1856-1939), founder of psychoanalysis

1906            

Some Answered Questions, Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921)

1907            

Creative Evolution, Anri Bergson (1859-1941)

1912            

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) founds Anthroposophy

1913            

Principia Mathematica, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) with A. N. Whitehead 

1914            

The founding of the International New Thought Alliance                        

1917            

Ernest Holmes (1917-1960) founds Religious Science                                   

1920            

Swami Paramhansa Yogananda (1893-1952) founds the Self-Realization Fellowship in the United States            

Alice Bailey (1880-1949) founds the Arcane School            

Reconstruction in Philosophy, John Dewey (1859-1952), American pragmatism            

Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology, Alfred Adler (1870-1937)   

1921            

The Star of Redemption, Franz Rozenzweig (1886-1929)            

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Liudwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)            

A Commentary On Paul's Letter to the Romans, Karl Barth (1886-1968), founder of "dialectical theology"

1922            

Decline of Europe, Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

1923            

I and Thou, Martin Buber (1878-1965)

1926            

The Science of Mind, the chief textbook of Religious Science

1927            

Being and Time, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)            

Metaphysical Diary, Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973)

1929            

Process and Reality, Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)            

Selected Works On Analytical Psychology, Carl Gustave Jung (1875-1961)

1930            

Rebellion of the Masses, Juan Ortega-I-Gasset (1883-1955)

1931            

Cartesian Meditations, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), founder of phenomenology

1930s            

Guy W. Ballard (1878-1939) starts the "I AM" religious movement

1934            

Mordecai Kaplan publishes Judaism as a Civilization, the manifesto of Reconstructionist Judaism            

Elijah Mohammad (d. 1975) becomes the leader of the Nation of Islam

1935            

Birth of the present, 14th Dalai-Lama

1939            

Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957) publishes The Advent of Divine Justice

1941            

The American Humanist Association (AHA) is founded

1942            

Victor Paul Wierwille (1916-1985) founds The Way, International            

Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus (1913-1960)

1943            

Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

1944            

Dialectic of Enlightenment, Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) with T. Adorno, founders of the Frankfurt School

1945          

Open Society and Its Enemies, Carl Popper (b. 1902)

1946            

Let God Be True, Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrinal summary

1947            

Humanism and Terror, Maurice Merlo-Ponty (1908-1961)            

An Essay On Eschatological Metaphysics, Nicolas Berdiaev (1874-1948)

1948            

The World Council of Churches is formed

1949            

The Meaning and Purpose of History, Carl Jaspers (1883-1969)

1950            

L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) publishes Dianetics. The Modern Science of Mental Health            

Urantia Foundation is established in Chicago with the purpose of disseminating the teachings contained in The Urantia Book

World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is founded

The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) was founded on May 25, 2493 of the Buddhist Era (1950 CE) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where representatives from 27 countries in Asia, Europe and North America (including Hawaii) met for this purpose. Members of the Sangha as well as laity represented nearly every school of Buddhism in the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions. Such gathering was held probably for the first time in the history of Buddhism. No Buddhist sect, school or organization was unwilling to attend the meeting. Thus founded, the WFB represents the common interests of Buddhists throughout the world numbering hundreds of millions.

The Aims and Objectives of the World Fellowship of Buddhists are: (1) to propagate 

propagate the doctrine of the Buddha and promote among members strict observance and practice of his teachings; (2) to secure unity, solidarity and brotherhood amongst Buddhists; (3) to work in the field of social, educational, cultural and other humanitarian services; (4) to work to secure peace and harmony among men and happiness for all beings; (5) to collaborate with other organizations working for the same ends. (Han Zhang)

1951            

Man and the State, Jacques Maritain (1882-1973)            

Systematic Theology, Paul Tillich(1886-1965)

1954            

Disciples of L. Ron Hubbard found The Church of Scientology            

Rev. Sun Myung Moon (b. 1920) founds the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of Christianity (the Unification Church) in Seoul, Korea            

6th World Buddhist Council in Rangoon, Burma (1954-56)

1958            

Mark L. Prophet (1918-1973) publishes the Pearls of Wisdom            

Structural Anthropology, Claude Levi-Strauss (b. 1908)

1959            

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation, comes to America

1960            

Truth and Method, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002), founder of hermeneutics

1961            

A Study of History, Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975)            

Totality and Infinity, Emmanuel Levinas (b. 1906)

1962            

Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn (b. 1922)

1963            

Baha'is elect the first members of the Universal House of Justice

Baha’i Faith has a highly organized, democratic governance and leadership system. Every year, nine members are chosen to lead the communities on a local and  national levels. Since the Baha’i teachings prohibit nominations and campaigning, the selection is based on prayer and meditation of each individual member. They are asked to write down the names of nine members of the community that they see fit and are eligible, and whoever receives the most votes becomes the leader in that community. The same process is used at the national level, however the local representatives rather than the entire community select them. The Universal House of Justice, which is the international governing body of the Baha’i Faith is elected by the members of National Spiritual Assemblies every five years using the same procedure. (Jessica Flynn)

1964            

One-Dimensional Man, Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)

1965            

Second Vatican Council in Rome brings profound changes in Catholicism     

Paul Twitchell (d. 1971) founds Eckankar, Religion of the Light and Sound of God

1966            

Texts, Jacques Lacan (1901-1981)            

The Origins of Totalitarism, Hanna Arendt (1906-1975)            

Negative Dialectic, Theodore Adorno (1903-1969)            

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) founds the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON)            

Anton LaVey (b. 1930) founds the Church of Satan

1967            

Of Grammatology, Jacques Derrida (b. 1930), founder of Deconstruction

1968            

General System Theory, Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901-1972)            

Structuralism, Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

1969            

Archeology of Knowledge, Michel Foucault (1926-1984)            

The Satanic Bible is published            

David Berg, the leader of the Family (formerly known as the Children of God), preaches "communion in the flesh"

1972            

Anti-Oedipus, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari            

Language and Thought, Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

1973            

The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, Daniel Bell (b. 1919)            

The Central Questions of Philosophy, Alfred Ayer (1910-1989)            

Divine Principle, the main spiritual text of the Unification Church

1975            

The Church Universal and Triumphant is incorporated            

A Course in Miracles which contains "channeled information" received by Helen Schucman is published

1976            

To Have or To Be, Erich Fromm (1900-1980)

1979            

The Postmodern Condition, Jean-Francois Lyotard (b. 1924)            

The "Islamic revolution" in Iran

1980            

The Aquarian Conspiracy by Marilyn Ferguson, sometimes called the "New Age Bible"

1981            

The Theory of Communicative Action, Jurgen Habermas (b. 1929)            

Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)

1982            

Consequences of Pragmatism, Richard Rorty (b. 1931)

1988            

David H. Stern publishes Messianic Jewish Manifesto

1993            

Parliament of World's Religions is held in Chicago