Volume 1, “Introductory Charts”
Eleven introductory charts are included in Timelines, Volume 1. These charts create a complementary historiographic framework for the volume’s “Chronological Theology,” and for Volume 2’s “Geographic History.” They capture the story of the slow and steady demise of Western Christianity, along with its various renewal movements over the millennia:
- Four Views of Church History One
- Fifteen Approaches to the Study of Christian History
- History and Prophecy—Pre-19th Century Protestant Conceptions of History
- Issues in the First 1,000 Years of Western Christianity
- Ten Roman Persecutions and Early General Councils
- A Century by Century Quick View of Developments in Western Christianity
- The Genius and Impact of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome
- Gregory VII’s Dictatus Papae (1075)—A Comparative
- Crusades of the Holy Roman Empire
- Timeline of the Holy Germanic Roman Empire’s Colonization
- Studies in the Reverse Chronological Study of Western Christianity.
Volume 1, “Chronological Theology”
“Chronological Theology” addresses broad lines of theological innovation and heresy within Western Christianity. It originated with the chronological timelines as told by three noted Protestant scholars:
- Johannes Sleidan, The Key of History or the Four Chief Monarchies (Strasbourg, 1556)
- Jean de Hainault, State of the Church, with Discourses from the Time of the Apostles (Geneva, 1562)
- Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism (Philipsburg, NJ, 1962)
Their lists of chronological developments are enlarged by primary and secondary source material, along with a biblical analysis of the developments as they take place. The result is a linear documentary of the ebb and flow of theology over two millennia of Western Christianity.
Volume 2, “Geographic History”
“Geographic History” focuses primarily on a time period from 1002 to 1572, Volume 3 highlights Western ecclesial activities dividing them by their major European geographic locations. Because of Europe’s linguistic dividing lines, most activities, writings, and movements were linguistically restricted and segmented. Considering these geographic and linguistic elements in ecclesial history adds an interesting dimension to doctrinal formation and reformation.
Volume 3 expanded from a study of the 843 Martyrs listed in the Martyrology of Jean Crespin (Geneva, 1570). Crespin was John Calvin’s primary Geneva publisher, having published 53 editions of books of Calvin from 1550-1572. Crespin, having witnessed the burning of Claude LePeintre in Paris, published a Martyrology (originally 8 volumes) that included detailed information about the martyrs, including their ministry, place of arrest, doctrinal stance, steadfastness in the face of death, and the date and location of their Martyrdom.
This 4-color work begins with the first known persons to have been burned alive for doctrinal reasons in Orleans, France (in 1002) and travels through Europe to the St. Bartholomew Massacre of 1572. Additional insights are gleaned from the work of numerous scholars, especially the late Medieval scholar, Jean Duvernoy. This text also travels from land to land following the monarchs’ will to use capital force for religious purposes—as religious fires were both lit and extinguished from one country to the next across Europe.
