A Timeline of Religion
Mike Ervin
A Timeline of Religion
Religion has been a factor of the human experience
throughout history, from pre-historic to modern times. The bulk of the human religious
experience pre-dates written history, which is roughly 7,000 years old. A
lack of written records results in most of the knowledge of pre-historic
religion being derived from archaeological records and other indirect sources,
and from suppositions. Much pre-historic religion is subject to continued
debate.
Religious Practices in Prehistory
Middle Paleolithic (200,000 BC – 50,000 BC)
Despite claims by some researchers of bear worship, belief in an afterlife, and other
rituals, current archaeological evidence does not support the presence of
religious practices by modern humans or Neanderthals during this period.
- 100,000 BC: Earliest known human burial in the Middle East.
- 78,000 BC – 74,000
BC: Earliest known Homo sapiens burial of a child in Panga ya Saidi, East Africa.
- 70,000 BC – 35,000
BC: Neanderthal burials take
place in areas of Europe and the Middle East.
50th to 11th millennium BCE
- 40,000 BCE: The remains of one of the earliest known anatomically modern humans to be
discovered cremated, was buried near Lake Mungo.
- 38,000 BCE: The Aurignacian Löwenmensch figurine, the oldest known zoomorphic
(animal-shaped) sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known
sculptures in general, was made. The sculpture has also been interpreted
as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it
may have represented a deity.
- 35,000 BCE – 26,001
BCE: Neanderthal burials are
absent from the archaeological record. This roughly coincides with the
appearance of Homo sapiens in Europe and decline of the Neanderthals; individual
skulls and/or long bones began appearing, heavily stained with red ochre and separately buried. This practice
may be the origin of sacred relics. The oldest discovered "Venus figurines" appeared in graves. Some
were deliberately broken or repeatedly stabbed, possibly representing the
murders of the men with whom they were buried, or owing to some other
unknown social dynamic.[citation needed]
- 25,000 BCE – 21,000
BCE: Clear examples of burials
are present in Iberia, Wales, and eastern Europe. These, too, incorporate
the heavy use of red ochre. Additionally, various objects were included in
the graves (e.g. periwinkle shells, weighted clothing, dolls, possible drumsticks,
mammoth ivory beads, fox teeth pendants, panoply of ivory artifacts, "baton" antlers, flint blades
etc.).
- 13,000 BCE – 8,000
BCE: Noticeable burial activity
resumed. Prior mortuary activity had either taken a less obvious form or
contemporaries retained some of their burial knowledge in the absence of
such activity. Dozens of men, women, and children were being buried in the
same caves which were used for burials 10,000 years beforehand. All these
graves are delineated by the cave walls and large limestone blocks. The
burials share a number of characteristics (such as use of ochre, and shell
and mammoth ivory jewellery) that go back thousands of years. Some burials
were double, comprising an adult male with a juvenile male buried by his
side. They were now beginning to take on the form of modern cemeteries. Old burials were commonly re-dug and
moved to make way for new ones, with the older bones often being gathered
and cached together. Large stones may have acted
as grave markers. Pairs of ochred antlers were sometimes mounted on poles
within the cave; this is compared to the modern practice of leaving
flowers at a grave.
10th to 6th millennium BCE
- 10,000 BCE – 8,000
BCE: The Baghor stone from presumably one of the
oldest Shaktishrines in India, and one of the oldest sites
of worship yet discovered in the world, is estimated to have been formed
during this period (9000-8000 BCE). However, it may predate 10,000 BCE as
samples were dated to 11,870 (± 120) YBP in a 1983 publication. The living
shrine at which it was found is currently used as a place for
worshipping Devi by both Hindus and Indian Muslims. The triangular shape of the stone is that
of the Kali Yantra which is also still in use across
India. The Kol and Baiga tribes consider the triangular shape to symbolise
the mother goddess 'Mai', variously named Kerai, Kari, Kali, Kalika or Karika.
- 9130 BCE – 7370 BCE: This was the apparent period of use of Göbekli Tepe, one of the oldest human-made sites
of worship yet discovered; evidence of similar usage has also been found
in another nearby site, Nevalı Çori.
- 7500 BCE – 5700 BCE: The settlements of Çatalhöyük developed as a likely spiritual
center of Anatolia. Possibly practising worship in communal
shrines, its inhabitants left behind numerous clay figurines and
impressions of phallic, feminine, and hunting scenes.[citation needed]
- 7250 BCE – 6500 BCE: The Ayn Ghazal statues were made in Jordan during the Neolithic. These
statues were argued to have been gods, legendary leaders, or other figures
of power. They were suggested to have been a representation of a fusion of
previously separate communities by Gary O. Rollefson.
Before Common Era (BCE)
Extent and major sites of the Indus
Valley civilisation. The shaded area does not include recent excavations.
- Late 4th millennium
BCE: Sumerian Cuneiform emerged from the proto-literate Uruk period, allowing the codification of beliefs
and creation of detailed historical religious records.
- 3200 BCE – 3100 BCE: Newgrange, the 250,000 short tons
(230,000 t) passage tombaligned to the winter solstice in Ireland, was built.
- 3100 BCE: The initial form of Stonehenge was completed. The circular bank
and ditch enclosure, about 110 metres (360 ft) across,
may have been completed with a timber circle.
- 2900 BCE: The second phase of Stonehenge was completed and
appeared to function as the first enclosed cremation cemetery in the British Isles.
- 2635 BCE – 2610 BCE: The oldest surviving Egyptian pyramid was commissioned by Pharaoh Djoser.
- 2600 BCE: Stonehenge began to take on its final form. The wooden posts were replaced
with bluestone. It began taking on an increasingly
complex setup (including an altar, a portal, station stones,
etc.) and shows consideration of solar alignments.
- 2560 BCE: This is the approximate time accepted as the
completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest pyramid of the Giza Plateau.
- 2400 BCE – 2300 BCE: The first of the oldest surviving religious
texts, the Pyramid Texts, was composed in Ancient Egypt.
- 2200 BCE: The Minoan civilization developed in Crete.
Citizens worshipped a variety of goddesses.
- 2150–2000 BCE: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh—originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru)
or Surpassing All Other Kings(Shūtur eli sharrī)—were
written.
- 1600 BCE: The ancient development of Stonehenge came to an end.
- 1500 BCE: The Vedic period began in India after the
collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
- 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE: The oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rigveda was composed. This is the first
mention of Rudra, a fearsome form of Shiva as the supreme god.
- 1353 BCE or 1351 BCE: The beginning of the reign of Akhenaten, sometimes credited with starting the
earliest known recorded monolatristic religion, in Ancient Egypt.
- 1300 BCE – 1046 BCE: The polytheistic religion of the Chinese Shang dynasty reached
its mature form.
- 1300 BCE – 1000 BCE: The "standard" Akkadian version of
the Epic of Gilgamesh was edited by Sîn-lēqi-unninni.
- 1200 BCE: The Greek Dark Age began.
- 1200 BCE: The Olmecs built the earliest pyramids and temples in Central America.
- 877 BCE – 777 BCE: The life of Parshvanatha, 23rd Tirthankara of Jainism.
- 800 BCE – 300 BCE: The Upanishads (Vedic texts) were composed,
containing the earliest emergence of some of the central religious
concepts of Hinduism and Buddhism.
- 800 BCE: The Greek Dark Age ends.
- 8th to 6th centuries
BCE: The Chandogya Upanishad is compiled, significant
for containing the earliest to date mention of Krishna. Verse 3.17.6 mentions Krishna Devakiputra
(Sanskrit: कृष्णाय देवकीपुत्रा) as a student of the sage Ghora Angirasa.
- 5th centuries BCE: The first five books of the Jewish Tanakh, the Torah (Hebrew: תורה), are
probably compiled.
- 6th century BCE: Possible start of Zoroastrianism; Zoroastrianism flourished
under the Persian emperors known as the Achaemenids. The emperors Darius (ruled 522–486 BCE) and Xerxes (ruled 486–465 BCE) made it the
official religion of their empire.
- 600 BCE – 500 BCE: The earliest Confucian writing, Shu Ching, incorporates ideas of
harmony and heaven.
- 599 BCE – 527 BCE: The life of Mahavira, 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism.
- c. 570 BCE: Pythagoras, founder of Pythagoreanism, was born.
- 563 BCE – 400 BCE: Siddharta Gautama, founder of Buddhism, was born.
- 515 BCE – 70 CE: Second Temple period. The synagogue and Jewish
eschatology can all be traced back to the Second Temple period.
- 551 BCE: Confucius, founder of Confucianism, was born.
- 447 BCE: The Parthenon is dedicated to the goddess Athena.
- 399 BCE: Socrates was tried for impiety.
- 369 BCE – 372 BCE: Birth of Mencius and Zhuang Zhou.
- 300 BCE: The oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching was written on bamboo tablets.
- 300 BCE: Theravada Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda.[citation needed]
- c. 250 BCE: The Third Buddhist council was convened by Ashoka. Ashoka sends Buddhist missionaries to
faraway countries, such as China, mainland Southeast Asia, Malay kingdoms,
and Hellenistic kingdoms.
- c. 200 BCE: Worship of Yahweh's consort Asherah ends in Israel.
- 140 BCE: The earliest grammar of Sanskrit literature was
composed by Pāṇini.
- 140 BCE – 200 CE: The Development of the Hebrew Bible canon.
- 100 BCE – 500 CE: The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali, one of the oldest texts in Yoga, were composed.
Common Era (CE)
1st to 5th centuries
- 6 BCE – 33 CE: The life of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity.
- 8 CE: Ovid's Metamorphoses chronicles the history of the
world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar.
- 27 CE – 31 CE: The death of John the Baptist.
- 12 CE – 38 CE: According to the Haran Gawaita, Nasoraean Mandaean disciples of John the Baptist flee persecution in
Jerusalem and arrive in Media during the reign of a Parthian king identified as Artabanus II who ruled between 12 and 38 CE.: IX
- 50 CE – 62 CE: The first Christian Council was convened in Jerusalem.
- 55 - 90 CE: The gospel of Mark is written, (55-62) Gospels
of Luke and Mathew are written. John is written later, likely towards the
end of his life.
- 70 CE: The Siege of Jerusalem, the Destruction of the Temple, and the rise of Rabbinic Judaism.
- 150 – 250: Nagarjuna, Indian Mahayana Buddhist, philosopher
and founder of Madhyamaka-Sunyavada Buddhism
- 200: Some of the oldest parts of the Ginza Rabba, a core text of Mandaeism, were written.
- 216: Mani, founder and prophet of Manichaeism, is born.
- 250 – 900: Classic Mayan step pyramids were constructed.
- 313: The Edict of Milan decreed religious toleration
in the Roman empire.
- 325: The first ecumenical council (the Council of Nicaea) was convened to attain a
consensus on doctrine through an assembly representing all Christendom. It established the original Nicene Creed and fixed the date of Easter. It also confirmed the primacy of the Sees
of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, and granted the See of Jerusalem a position of honour.
- c. 350: The oldest record of the complete biblical texts
(the Codex Sinaiticus) survives in a Greek translation
called the Septuagint, dating to the 4th century CE.
- 380: Theodosius I declared Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.
- 381: The second ecumenical council (the First Council of Constantinople) reaffirmed and
revised the Nicene Creed, repudiating Arianism and Pneumatomachi.
- 381 – 391: Theodosius outlaws paganism within the Roman Empire. Laws
enacted requiring death penalty for acts of Divination.
- 393: A council of early Christian bishops listed and
approved a biblical canon for the first time at
the Synod of Hippo.
- 400: Saint Augustine exhorts his congregation to
smash all pagan artefacts, saying "for that all superstition of
pagans and heathens should be annihilated is what God wants, God commands,
God proclaims!"
Middle Ages (5th–15th centuries)
See also: History of religions § Middle Age
5th to 10th centuries
- 405: Jerome completed the Vulgate, the first Latin translation of the Bible.
- 410: The Western Roman Empire began to decline, signalling the onset of
the Middle Ages.
- 424: The Church of the East in Sasanian Empire (Persia) formally separated
from the See of Antioch and proclaimed full
ecclesiastical independence.
- 431: The third ecumenical council (the First Council of Ephesus) was convened as a result
of the controversial teachings of Nestorius of Constantinople. It repudiated Nestorianism, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (the God-bearer or Mother of God). It
also repudiated Pelagianism and again reaffirmed the Nicene Creed.
- 449: The Second Council of Ephesus declared support
for Eutyches and attacked his opponents.
Originally convened as an ecumenical council, its ecumenical nature was
rejected by the Chalcedonians, who denounced the council as latrocinium.
- 451: The fourth ecumenical council (the Council of Chalcedon) rejected the Eutychiandoctrine of monophysitism, adopting instead the Chalcedonian Creed. It reinstated those deposed in
449, deposed Dioscorus of Alexandria and elevated the
bishoprics of Constantinople and Jerusalem to the status of patriarchates.
- 451: The Oriental Orthodox Church rejected the Christological view put forth by the Council
of Chalcedon and was excommunicated.
- 480 – 547: Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule, laying the foundation of Western Christian monasticism.
- 553: The fifth ecumenical council (the Second Council of Constantinople) repudiated
the Three Chapters as Nestorian and condemned Origen of Alexandria.
- 570 – 632: The life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
- 632: Work began on the compilation of the Quran into the form of a book (soon to be
known as Mashaf-ul-Hafsa), in the era of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam.
- 632 – 661: The Rashidun Caliphate heralded the Arab conquest
of Persia, Egypt and Iraq, bringing Islam to those regions.
- 661 – 750: The Umayyad Caliphate brought the Arab conquest
of North Africa, Spain and Central Asia, marking the greatest extent of
the Arab conquests and bringing Islam to those regions.
- 680 – 681: The sixth ecumenical council (the Third Council of Constantinople) rejected Monothelitism and Monoenergism.
- c. 680: The division between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam developed.[citation needed]
- 692: The Quinisext Council (also known as the Council in Trullo), an amendment to the 5th and 6th
ecumenical councils, established the Pentarchy.
- 712: The Kojiki, the oldest Shinto text, was written.
- 754: The latrocinium Council of Hieria supported iconoclasm.
- 787: The seventh ecumenical council (the Second Council of Nicaea) restored the veneration
of icons and denounced iconoclasm.
- 788 – 820: The life of Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara, who consolidated the doctrine
of Advaita Vedanta.
- c. 850: The oldest extant manuscripts of the
vocalised Masoretic text, upon which modern editions are
based, date to 9th century CE.
11th to 15th centuries
- 1017 – 1137: Life of the founder of Vishishtadvaita Vedanta,
philosopher and social reformer Ramanuja
- c. 1052 –
c. 1135: The life of Milarepa, one of the most famous yogis and poets of Tibetan Buddhism.
- 1054: The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches was formalised.
- 1095 – 1099: The First Crusade led to the capture of Jerusalem.
- 1107 – 1110: Sigurd I of Norway led the Norwegian Crusade against Muslims in Spain,
the Balearic Islands and in Palestine.
- 1147 – 1149: The Second Crusade was waged in response to the
fall of the County of Edessa.
- 1189 – 1192: In the Third Crusade European leaders attempted to
reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin.
- 1200: The earliest Mabinogion texts are compiled, cataloguing
Celtic mythology in Middle Welsh.
- 1202 – 1204: The Fourth Crusade, originally intended to recapture
Jerusalem, instead led to the sack of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1206: The Delhi Sultanate was established.
- 1209 – 1229: The Albigensian Crusade was conducted to
eliminate Catharism in Occitania, Europe.
- 1217 – 1221: With the Fifth Crusade, Christian leaders again attempted
(but failed) to recapture Jerusalem.
- 1220: Snorri Sturluson authors the Prose Edda, cataloguing the beliefs of Norse
Paganism.
- 1222 – 1282: The life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Lawand founder of Nichiren
Buddhism. Based at the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taisekiji
(Japan), this branch of Buddhism teaches the importance of chanting the
mantra Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō.
- 1228 – 1229: The Sixth Crusade won control of large areas of
the Holy Land for Christian rulers, more through diplomacy than through
fighting.
- 1229: The Codex Gigas was completed by Herman the Recluse in the Benedictinemonastery of Podlažice near Chrudim.
- 1238 – 1317: Life of philosopher Madhvacharya, founder of Dvaita Vedanta
- 1244: Jerusalem was sacked again, instigating the Seventh Crusade.
- 1270: The Eighth Crusade was launched by Louis IX of France but largely petered out
when Louis died shortly after reaching Tunis.
- 1271 – 1272: The Ninth Crusade failed.
- 1300 – 1521: During the Aztecs' existence in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521, they
practised a religion which encompassed a complex range of
practices and beliefs, being generally polytheistic. Human sacrifice was practised on a grand
scale throughout the Aztec Empire, which was performed in honour of
their gods.
- 1320: Pope John XXII laid the groundwork for
future witch-hunts with the formalisation of
the persecution of witchcraft.
- 1378 – 1417: The Roman Catholic Church split during the Western Schism.
- 1415: The death of Jan Hus who is considered as the first
reformer of the Western Christianity. This event is often
considered as the beginning of the Reformation.
- 1469 – 1539: The life of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism.
- 1484: Pope Innocent VIII marked the beginning of the classical European witch-huntswith his papal bull Summis desiderantes.
- 1486 – 1534: Chaitanya Mahaprabhu popularised the chanting
of the Hare Krishna and composed the Shikshashtakam (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit. His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a spiritual
reformer, a Hindu revivalist and an avatar of Krishna.
Early Modern and Modern Era
16th century
17th century
18th century
- 1708: Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh guru, died after instituting the Sikh holy
book, the Guru Granth Sahib, as the eternal Guru.
- 1770: Baron d'Holbach published The System of Nature said to
be the first positive, unambiguous statement of atheism in the West.
- 1781: Ghanshyam, later known as Sahajanand
Swami/Swaminarayan, was born in Chhapaiya at the house of Dharmadev and
Bhaktimata.
- 1789 – 1799: in the Dechristianisation of France the
Revolutionary Government confiscated Church properties, banned monastic vows and, with the passage of
the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, removed control
of the Church from the Pope and subordinated it as a department of the
Government. The Republic also replaced the traditional Gregorian Calendar and abolished Christian holidays.
- c. 1790 – 1840:The Second Great Awakening,a Protestant religious revival in the United States.
- 1791: Freedom of religion, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, was added as an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States, forming an
early and influential secular government.
- 1794: the Cult of the Supreme Being in France is founded by Maximilien Robespierre.
19th century
- 1801: the French Revolutionary Government and Pope Pius VII entered into the Concordat of 1801. While Roman Catholicism
regained some powers and became recognised as "the religion of the
great majority of the French", it was not afforded the latitude it
had enjoyed prior to the Revolution and was not re-established as the
official state religion. The Church relinquished all claims to estate
seized after 1790, the clergy was state salaried and was obliged to swear
allegiance to the State. Religious freedom was restored.
- 1819 – 1850: The life of Siyyid 'Alí Muḥammad Shírází (Persian: سيد علی محمد شیرازی), better known
as the Báb, the founder of Bábism.
- 1817 – 1892: The life of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith.
- 1823: Joseph Smith claims to receive visions and
golden plates to be translated as the Book of Mormon.
- 1830s: Adventism was started by William Miller in the United States.
- 1830: the Church of Christ was founded by Joseph Smith on 6 April – initiating
the Latter Day Saint restorationist movement.
- 1835 – 1908: the life of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement.
- 1836 – 1886: the life of Ramakrishna, saint and mystic of Bengal.
- 1844: Joseph Smith was murdered, reportedly by John
C. Elliott, on 27 June, resulting in a succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement.
- 1857: first great popular uprising against British
colonial government in India. Also called Indian Rebellion of 1857.
- 1875: the Theosophical Society was formed in New York
City by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others.
- 1879: Christian Science was granted its charter in
Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1881: Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed
by Charles Taze Russell, initiating the Bible Student movement.
- 1889: the Ahmadiyya Community was established.
- 1893: Swami Vivekananda's first speech at The Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago,
brought the ancient philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world.
- 1899: Aradia (aka The Gospel of the Witches),
one of the earliest books describing post witchhunt European religious Witchcraft, was published by Charles Godfrey Leland.
20th century
- 1901: The incorporation of the Spiritualists' National Union legally
representing Spiritualism in the United Kingdom.
- 1904: Thelema was founded by Aleister Crowley.
- 1905: In France the law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was
passed, officially establishing state secularism and putting an end to the
funding of religious groups by the state.
- 1907: Formation of BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam
Swaminarayan Sanstha), a major sect in the Swaminarayan Sampradaya by Shastriji Maharaj
- 1908: The Khalifatul Masih was established in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as the
"Second Manifestation of God's Power".
- 1913: The Moorish Science Temple of America is founded
in Newark, New Jersey.
- 1917: The October Revolution in Russia led to the
annexation of all church properties and subsequent religious suppression.[citation needed]
- 1920: The Self-Realization Fellowship Church of all
Religions with its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda.
- 1922 – 1991: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union. The
total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has
been estimated to range around 12 to 20 million.
- 1926: Cao Dai founded.
- 1929: The Cristero War, fought between the secular
government and religious Christian rebels in Mexico, ended.
- 1930: The Rastafari movement began following the
coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1930: After previously failing to claim the leadership
of the Moorish Science Temple of America, Wallace Fard Muhammad creates the Nation of Islam in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1931: Jehovah's Witnesses emerged from the Bible Student movement under the influence
of Joseph Franklin Rutherford.
- 1932: A neo-Hindu religious movement, the Brahma Kumaris or "Daughters of
Brahma", started. Its origin can be traced to the group "Om
Mandali", founded by Lekhraj Kripalani (1884–1969).
- 1939 – 1945: Millions of Jews were relocated and murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
- 1947: Pakistan, the first nation-state in the name of Islam was created. British India was partitioned into the
secular nation of India with a Hindu majority and the
Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan (the eastern half of whom would later
become Bangladesh).
- 1948: The modern state of Israel was established as a homeland for the
Jews.
- 1954: The Church of Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
- 1954: Wicca was publicised by Gerald Gardner.
- 1955: The Urantia Book was published by the Urantia Foundation.
- 1956: Navayana Buddhism (Neo-Buddhism) was founded
by B. R. Ambedkar, initially attracting some 380,000
Dalit converts from Hinduism.
- 1959: The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet amidst unrest and established an
exile community in India.
- 1960s: Various Neopagan and New Age movements gained momentum.[vague][citation needed]
- 1961: Unitarian Universalism was formed from the
merger of Unitarianism and Universalism.
- 1962: The Church of All Worlds, the first American neo-pagan church, was formed by a group
including Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and Richard Lance
Christie.
- 1962 – 1965: The Second Vatican Council was convened.
- 1965: Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousnessand
introduced translations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Vedic scriptures in mass
production all over the world.
- 1966: The Church of Satan was founded by Anton LaVey on Walpurgisnacht.
- 1972 – 1984: The Stonehenge free festivals started.
- 1972 – 2004: Germanic Neopaganism (aka Heathenism,
Heathenry, Ásatrú, Odinism, Forn Siðr, Vor Siðr, and Theodism) began to
experience a second wave of revival.
- 1973: Claude Vorilhon established the Raëlian Movement and changed his name
to Raëlfollowing a purported extraterrestrial
encounter in December 1973.
- 1975: The Temple of Set was founded in Santa Barbara, California.
- 1979: The Iranian Revolution resulted in the
establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran.
- 1981: The Stregherian revival continued. "The Book
of the Holy Strega" and "The Book of Ways", Volumes I and
II, were published.
- 1984: Operation Blue Star in the holiest site of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, led to Anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and adjoining regions, following the
assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- 1985: The Battle of the Beanfield forced an end to
the Stonehenge free festivals.
- 1989: Following the revolutions of 1989, the overthrow of many Soviet-style states allowed a resurgence in open
religious practice in many Eastern European countries.
- 1990s: Reconstructionist Pagan movements (Celtic, Hellenic, Roman, Slavic, Baltic, Finnish, etc.) proliferate throughout Europe.
- 1993: The European Council convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, agreed to the Copenhagen Criteria, requiring religious freedom
within all members and prospective members of the European Union.
- 1993: The World Union of Deists is founded in the
United States.
- 1995: First Traditional Hindu Mandir outside of India created in London
by Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921–2016) Guru
of BAPS.
- 1998: The Strega Arician Tradition was founded.
21st century
- 2002: Joy of Satan Ministries was founded by Andrea
Dietrich following her conception of the ideology of "spiritual
Satanism".
- 2005: Becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and other pagans, the Ancient Order of Druids organised the first
recorded reconstructionist ceremony in Stonehengein 2005.
- 2006: Sectarian rivalries exploded in Iraq between Sunni Muslims and Shias, with each side targeting
the other in terrorist acts, and bombings of mosques and shrines.
- 2008: Nepal, the world's only Hindu Kingdom, was
declared a secular state by its Constituent Assembly
after declaring the state a Republic on 28 May 2008.
- 2009: The Church of Scientology in France was fined €600,000 and several of
its leaders were fined and imprisoned for defrauding new recruits of their
savings. The state failed to disband the church owing to legal
changes occurring over the same time period.
- 2011: Civil war broke out in Syria over domestic
political issues. The country soon split along sectarian lines between
Sunni Muslims, Alawite and Shiites. War crimes and acts of genocide
were committed by both parties as religious leaders on each side condemned
the other as heretics. The Syrian civil war soon became a
battleground for regional sectarian unrest, as fighters joined the fight
from as far away as North America and Europe, as well as Iran and the Arab
states.
- 2013: The Satanic Temple was founded by Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry
(pseudonyms).
- 2014: A supposed Islamic Caliphate was established by the
self-proclaimed Islamic State in regions of war torn Syria and Iraq, drawing global support from radical SunniMuslims. This was a modern-day attempt
to re-establish Islamic self-rule in accordance with strict adherence
to Shariah-Islamic religious law. In the wake of
the Syrian civil war, Islamic extremists targeted the indigenous Arab
Christian communities. In acts of genocide, numerous ancient Christian
and Yazidi communities were evicted and
threatened with death by various Muslim Sunni fighter groups. After ISIS terrorist forces infiltrated and took
over large parts of northern Iraq from Syria, many ancient Christian
and Yazidi enclaves were destroyed.
- 2019: The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
A Timeline of Religion