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Timeline
of Sabbath History
The content of the
following timeline is for general information only. Its primary
value is in showing the chronological relationship between various
individuals and events. The dating of many historical persons and events,
particularly those earlier than 1000 BCE, is subject to ongoing debate and
research. Most items on this timeline are directly related to the content
of The Seventh Day
television series.
Others are included as points of reference.
DATES BCE (BC) |
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?
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Creation Week
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2450
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The Flood (see
Genesis 7)
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1950
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>
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1775
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Abraham keeps
God's commandments, statutes, and laws (Genesis 26)
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2000
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Seven-day week
in Sumerian civilization prior to this date
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1450
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The Exodus
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1011
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>
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971
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David rules
Israel
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626
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>
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586
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Jeremiah, the
prophet - years of ministry
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620
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>
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530
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Daniel, the
prophet
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605
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>
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536
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Jewish nation in
exile
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600
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Birth of
Zoroastrianism in Persia
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551
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>
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479
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Confucius,
Chinese wise man
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500
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Birth of
Buddhism
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445
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Nehemiah returns
to rebuild Jerusalem
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331
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Alexander the
Great overthrows the Persian Empire
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170
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Antiochus IV
persecutes Jews who won't give up their religion
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30
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Roman Emperor
Octavian dedicates Egyptian obelisk to the sun god
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4
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Birth of Jesus
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DATES CE (AD) |
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31
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Crucifixion of
Jesus
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64
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Nero burns Rome,
persecutes Christians
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70
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Jerusalem
destroyed by Roman army under Titus
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79
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Vesuvius erupts
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115
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Epistle of
Barnabas written in Alexandria
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120
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Christians in
Alexandria replace Sabbath observance with Sunday worship
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135
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Jerusalem
destroyed again - Jewish religion banned
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144
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Marcion, first
great "Christian" heretic
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150
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Justyn Martyr
reports on Sunday observance in Rome
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218
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>
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222
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Elagabalus,
emperor of Rome - brings Syrian sun worship to Rome
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270
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>
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275
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Aurelian,
emperor of Rome - establishes sun worship as the state religion
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284
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>
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305
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Diocletian,
emperor of Rome - worships the sun and persecutes Christians
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306
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>
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337
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Constantine
emperor of Rome - first "Christian" emperor
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313
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Constantine
legalizes Christian religion
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314
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>
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335
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Sylvester I is
pope - promotes anti-Jewish Sabbath fast
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321
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Edict of
Constantine - first law concerning Sunday observance
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343
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>
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381
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Council of
Laodicea - condemns Sabbath observance
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364
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Ambrose (Bishop
of Milan) - observes the Sabbath without fasting
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389
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>
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461
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Patrick - Celtic
Christian missionary to Ireland
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521
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>
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597
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Columba - Celtic
Christian missionary leader to Scotland
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570
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>
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632
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Muhammed,
founder of Islam
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590
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>
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604
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Pope Gregory I
(the Great) identifies Sabbath keepers with the anti-christ
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692
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Quinisext
Council (Council in Trullo) - condemns the Sabbath fast
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800
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"Epistle of
Jesus" arrives in Ireland - warns against desecration of Sunday
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867
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Patriarch
Photius denounces Roman Catholic promotion of Sabbath fast
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1054
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Roman Catholic -
Eastern Orthodox Schism
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1070
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Margaret becomes
queen of Scotland - tries to reform Sunday observance there
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1201
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Eustace of Flay
takes "Epistle of Jesus" to England to reform Sunday keeping
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1231
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Pope Gregory IX
establishes the medieval Inquisition
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1350
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Strigolniks in
Novogorod, Russia, observe the seventh-day Sabbath
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1414
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>
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1418
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Council of
Constance - orders burning of John Hus
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1428
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John Wycliffe's
bones dug up and burned
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1431
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Pope Eugenius IV
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1431
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>
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1445
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Council of Basel
- condemns Sabbath keeping by Jewish converts
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1435
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Forced
conversion of Jews in Spain
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1435
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Church council
in Bergen, Norway, condemns Sabbath observance
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1469
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Marriage of
Ferdinand and Isabella unites Aragon and Castille into one nation
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1480
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>
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1502
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Novgorod-Moscow
reform movement - includes Sabbath observance
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1478
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Pope Sixtus IV
authorizes Spanish Inquisition
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1481
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First "auto de
fe" (public trial) of Spanish Inquisition
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1482
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Pope Sixtus IV
protests against Spanish Inquisition
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1492
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Expulsion of
Jews from Spain
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1492
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Christopher
Columbus "discovers" America
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1497
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Forced
conversion of Jews in Portugal
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1497
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>
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1499
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Vasco da Gama
opens the sea route from Europe to India
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1504
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Ivan Kuritsin
and other Russian reformers are burned in cages in Red Square
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1517
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Luther nails his
95 Theses to chapel door, thus starting the Reformation
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1525
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Anabaptist
Movement begins
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1529
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Andreas Fischer,
Anabaptist Sabbatarian preacher, miraculously survives hanging
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1536
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Portuguese
Inquistion begins
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1540
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Andreas Fischer
is murdered in Slovakia
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1542
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Francis Xavier,
a Jesuit missionary, arrives in Goa
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1544
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Christian III of
Denmark prohibits Sabbath keeping
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1545
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>
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1563
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Roman Catholic
Council of Trent
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1546
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Oswald Glaidt,
one-time proponent of the Sabbath, is executed in Vienna
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1541
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Christavao da
Gama and 400 Portuguese come to the aid of the Ethiopian Emperor
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1551
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Russian Orthodox
council authorizes Sabbath worship in Russian churches
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1560
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Branch of the
Portuguese Inquistion is established in Goa
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1560
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Constantino
Ponce de la Fuente dies in prison under the Spanish Inquisition
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1617
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John Traske, an
early "Seventh Day Man," is arrested in London
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1628
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Theophilus
Brabourne publishes first English book promoting seventh-day Sabbath
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1622
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Emperor Susenyos
declares Ethiopia a Catholic country; civil war ensues
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1650
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Parliament
orders burning of Ockford's book advocating the seventh-day Sabbath
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1684
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Charles Dellon
publishes his Account of the Inquisition at Goa
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1684
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Francis Bamfield,
prominent "Seventh Day Man," dies in his London prison cell
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1720 |
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Conrad Beisel,
Sabbath-keeping founder of Ephrata Cloister, arrives in Pennsylvania |
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1722 |
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Count Lugwig von
Zinzendorf permits Moravian refugees to settle on his estate in eastern
Germany |
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1742 |
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Count Zinzendorf
proposes Sabbath observance to Moravian community in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania |
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1830 |
>
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1895 |
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Life of Maniilaq,
the Eskimo prophet who learned about the seventh-day Sabbath from one
he called "the Grandfather" |
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1844 |
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Millerite
Adventists disappointed when Christ did not return during this year |
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1844 |
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A handful of
Millerite Adventist preachers and lay people begin to observe the
seventh-day Sabbath; this leads to the eventual establishment of the
Seventh-day Adventist denomination |
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1851 |
>
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1864 |
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Taiping Revolution
in China; the Ten Commandments and observance of seventh-day Sabbath
were at the heart of the movement |
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1859 |
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Charles Darwin's
On the Origin of the Species published |
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1888 |
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Senator Henry
Blair calls for a national Sunday law; his proposal never makes it out
of committee for consideration by the US Congress |
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1896 |
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William Saunders
Crowdy founds Church of God and Saints of Christ, a Sabbath-keeping
denomination |
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1900 |
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Owkwa, Amerindian
village chief, learns about Sabbath, monogamy, etc., from supernatural
messenger |
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1926 |
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Herbert W.
Amstrong accepts the seventh-day Sabbath as authentic biblical
doctrine; goes on to found the Worldwide Church of God |
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1986 |
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Herbert W.
Armstrong dies; new leaders of the Worldwide Church of God eventually
renounce the seventh-day Sabbath |
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1998 |
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Pope John Paul II
issues apostolic letter, Dies Domini, upholding essential
nature of the Sabbath but claiming the Roman Catholic Church's
authority for the Saturday-Sunday change |
