Church History
The Great Cloud of Witnesses
Hebrews 11 names the witnesses who ran before the cross. The line did not stop there: this section walks through the two thousand years since.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.”
Summary
The church has kept going for two thousand years. It has been hunted, split, and wrong at times, and the record of all of it was written down. This section walks that record era by era and says where the evidence is thin.
- The line runs from the apostles to this morning. No century is missing.
- Ten eras divide the years. The divisions are this site's own, not fixed history.
- 16 outpourings have their own pages, from Hezekiah to Azusa Street.
- 358 witnesses hang on 8 walls, grouped by what God used them to do.
- Every page names its sources and says where historians still argue.
Walk the line: ten eras, one race
- 1The Apostolic AgeThe generation of the apostles, from the feast of Pentecost to the reign of Trajan.13 sections, 9 verses set outAbout AD 30 to 100
- 2The Martyrs' ChurchThe church under Roman law, from Pliny's letter to Trajan to the edict of Galerius and the letter of Constantine and Licinius.13 sections, 10 verses set outAD 100 to 313
- 3The Fathers & the CreedsThe church from the letter of Constantine and Licinius to Gregory the Great, the age of the councils and the creeds.13 sections, 12 verses set outAD 313 to 600
- 4The Long MiddleThe church of the Latin West and the Greek East wrote its own record of nine centuries in chronicles, councils and letters.13 sections, 13 verses set outAD 600 to 1500
- 5The ReformationLuther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale and Menno Simons each left the Roman church, and Rome answered them at the Council of Trent.13 sections, 13 verses set out1500 to 1600
- 6The Puritans & PietistsThe era runs from Elizabeth's settlement in England to the prayer watch at Herrnhut in Saxony.13 sections, 12 verses set out1600 to 1730
- 7The Great AwakeningsThe era runs from the revival at Northampton and the field preaching near Bristol to Asbury's circuits in America and the first campaign against the slave trade.13 sections, 11 verses set out1730 to 1800
- 8The Missionary CenturyBritish and American societies sent their own members abroad, and churches grew where they went.13 sections, 15 verses set out1790 to 1910
- 9The Revival StreamsThe era runs from a Bible school in Topeka in 1901 to the healing campaigns of the late 1940s.13 sections, 13 verses set out1900 to 1950
- 10The Church Under Fire & Into All the WorldStates in Germany, Russia, China and Korea pressed the churches to obey them, and the church's centre moved south.13 sections, 12 verses set out1930 to today
The churches
There are 39 pages on the churches, grouped into 11 families.
The ancient churches4 pages
- The Eastern Orthodox ChurchFrom the apostles to today. 11 sections, 10 verses set out
- The Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East431 and 451 to today. 11 sections, 7 verses set out
- The Roman Catholic ChurchFrom the apostles at Rome to today. 11 sections, 7 verses set out
- Renewal in the Western ChurchThe sixth century to today. 10 sections, 4 verses set out
The remnant before the Reformation2 pages
The Reformation churches6 pages
- The Lutheran Churches1517 to today. 12 sections, 6 verses set out
- The Pietists1675 to 1738. 9 sections, 8 verses set out
- The Reformed and Presbyterian Churches1523 to today. 11 sections, 6 verses set out
- The Anglican Communion1534 to today. 11 sections, 4 verses set out
- The AnabaptistsZurich, 1525, to Münster, 1536. 10 sections, 7 verses set out
- The Anabaptist Churches Today1525 to today. 11 sections, 9 verses set out
The free churches3 pages
The awakening churches4 pages
- Christian PerfectionGenesis 17:1 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 to 24. 8 sections, 16 verses set out
- The African Methodist Episcopal Church1786 to today. 12 sections, 5 verses set out
- The Methodist and Wesleyan Churches1739 to today. 12 sections, 5 verses set out
- Wesley and the Methodist Revival1738 to 1771. 7 sections, 4 verses set out
The Holiness churches5 pages
- The Holiness Churches1843 to 1908. 11 sections, 8 verses set out
- The Church of the Nazarene1895 to today. 11 sections, 2 verses set out
- The Free Methodist Church1858 to 1891. 11 sections, 2 verses set out
- The Christian and Missionary Alliance1887 to 1914. 11 sections, 6 verses set out
- The Salvation Army1865 to today. 11 sections, 4 verses set out
The restoration churches2 pages
The Pentecostal churches7 pages
- Oneness and Trinitarian PentecostalsMatthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38. 8 sections, 11 verses set out
- The Assemblies of God1914 to today. 11 sections, 7 verses set out
- The Church of God (Cleveland)1886 to today. 11 sections, 4 verses set out
- The Church of God in Christ1895 to today. 11 sections, 4 verses set out
- The Foursquare Church1922 to today. 11 sections, 7 verses set out
- The Pentecostal Churches1901 to today. 11 sections, 5 verses set out
- The Healing Revival1947 to 1958. 10 sections, 8 verses set out
The charismatic and independent churches3 pages
The churches of the global south2 pages
Israel's remnant1 page
The revivals
There are 16 pages on the revivals: 3 in Scripture, then the rest under the era each falls in.
In Scripture3 pages
The Apostolic Age1 page
The Puritans & Pietists1 page
The Great Awakenings2 pages
The Missionary Century4 pages
The Revival Streams5 pages
- The Welsh Revival1904 to 1905. 14 sections, 10 verses set out
- The Azusa Street Revival1906 to 1909. 14 sections, 11 verses set out
- The Korean Pentecost1903 to 1907. 14 sections, 13 verses set out
- The East African Revival1929 to 1954. 14 sections, 10 verses set out
- The Hebrides Revival1949 to 1953. 14 sections, 10 verses set out
The gallery walls: the cloud hung by calling
358 witnesses on the wall; a figure may hang in more than one gallery.
The Fathers
209The men who carried the faith out of the apostles' hands, and wrote down what they had received.
The Martyrs
38The witnesses who paid with their lives, from the arena at Carthage to the present day, and the confessors who paid with everything short of their lives.
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The Reformers
16The men who put the Bible back into the people's hands and the church back under it.
The Puritans & Pietists
19The examined heart: the century that asked whether the opened Bible had opened you.
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The Awakeners
31The preachers of the Great Awakenings, fields for pulpits, nations for parishes.
The Missionaries
35The ones who looked at a map and could not stay home.
The Revivalists
32The men and women of the outpourings, Wales, Azusa Street, and the streams that followed.
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The Hymn Writers
31The poets who taught the church to sing what it believes.
Portraits: Wikimedia Commons and resident public-domain plates: full attribution on every witness page.
The History of Revivals
16 outpouringsFrom Hezekiah’s reopened temple to Wales and Azusa Street: what marked each outpouring while it burned, and what was left standing afterward. The pattern is older than Pentecost.
Enter the room →The Hall of Faith
12 stopsHebrews 11: the witnesses who ran before: Abel to the unnamed martyrs. The door into everything here.
The Voices
95 profilesThe teachers and commentators this site quotes: many of them witnesses in these very eras, from the fathers to the revivalists.
The Spread Maps
2 platesWhere the faith went: the apostles’ world on Scott’s 1800 engraving, and the church’s growth era by era on Shepherd’s atlas plate.
Keep Studying
Studies1
People and groups9
Places1
Go further1
Church history11
Evidence1