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The Six Ages of the World is a medieval historical periodization outline first written about with authority by Saint Augustine around 400. It is based along Christian religious events, from the birth of Adam to the events of Revelation. The six ages of history was widely believed and in use throughout the Middle Ages, and until the Enlightenment, the writing of history was mostly the filling out of all or some part of this outline.
Theory
Saint Augustine taught that there are six ages of the world in his De catechizandis rudibus (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed) around 400. Since 321, when Constantine legalized Christianity, former pagan worshipers needed a way to learn about Christianity and Augustine used his Catechetical document as a way to communicate and educate people about Christianity.
Augustine was not the first to conceive of the Six Ages, but he was the first to write about it with authority.
The theory originates from a passage in the Bible:
- "But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (II Peter 3:8)
From this it was taken to mean that mankind would live through six 1,000 year periods (or "days"), with the seventh being eternity in heaven.
Christian scholars believed it was possible to determine how long man had been alive, starting with Adam, by counting forward how long each generation had lived up to the time of Jesus, based on the ages recorded in the Bible. While the exact age of the earth was a matter of biblical interpretive debate, it was generally agreed man was somewhere in the last and final thousand years, the Sixth Age, and the final seventh age could happen at any time. The world was seen as an old place, the future would be much shorter than the past, a common image was of the world growing old.
These Ages reflect the seven days of creation of which the last day is rest of the Sabbath, illustrating the human journey to find eternal rest with God, a common Christian narrative.
Six Ages
The Six Ages are best described in the words of Saint Augustine.
- The First Age: "The first is from the beginning of the human race, that is, from Adam, who was the first man that was made, down to Noah, who constructed the ark at the time of the flood."
- The Second Age: "..extends from that period on to Abraham, who was called the father indeed of all nations.."
- The Third Age: "For the third age extends from Abraham on to David the king."
- The Fourth Age: "The fourth from David on to that captivity whereby the people of God passed over into Babylonia."
- The Fifth Age: "The fifth from that transmigration down to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- The Sixth Age: "With His coming the sixth age has entered on its process."
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