*2 The Early Church

The twenty centuries of history of our civilisation since the time of Christ can be seen to fall naturally, although roughly, into four periods of five hundred years:

(1) First – Fifth Century: The growth of the Church in the shadow of the Roman Empire. The Fall of the Roman Empire, although a very complex and long-drawn-out process, is generally dated from the deposition of the last Roman Emperor in the year 476. The Eastern Empire that was centred at Constantinople, however, endured for another thousand years, although increasingly alienated from the West.

(2) Sixth – Tenth Century: These centuries constitute the Early Middle Ages, when there was a see-saw between the forces working to rebuild civilisation, and successive waves of barbarian invaders.

(3) Eleventh – Fifteenth Century: This period began with the establishment of the High Middle Ages and ended with the stagnation of that Mediaeval world and the breakup of Christendom. The End of the Middle Ages is generally reckoned from the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

(4) Sixteenth – Twentieth Century: The discovery of the New World, and the ever-accelerating increase in knowledge, in science and technology, have given a distinctive flavour to the last five hundred years, which may be considered the preludes to the Modern World, which if anything is changing ever more rapidly towards unknown events yet to come.

From the point of view of the history of Christianity, the first five centuries may fairly be named "The Early Church", from the time of Christ to the Arian Schism.