The Three Eras is a medieval Christian scheme of periodization in historiography. It supposed that world history was made up of three periods corresponding to the persons of the Trinity, consisting of an era of the Father, followed by an era of the Son, and finally an era of the Holy Spirit.
7 Ages of the World
The Six Ages of the World (Latin: sex aetates mundi), also rarely Seven Ages of the World (Latin: septem aetates mundi), is a Christian historical periodization first written about by Augustine of Hippo c. 400.
The Six Ages, as formulated by Augustine of Hippo, are defined in De catechizandis rudibus (On the catechizing of the uninstructed), Chapter 22:
- The First Age "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", i.e. the Antediluvian period.
- The Second Age "extends from that period on to Abraham, who was called the father indeed of all nations".
- The Third Age "extends from Abraham on to David the king".
- The Fourth Age is "from David on to that captivity whereby the people of God passed over into Babylonia".
- The Fifth Age is "from that transmigration down to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ"
- The Sixth Age: "With His [Jesus Christ's] coming the sixth age has entered on its process."
The redemption of Israel will come about through the mystic force of the letter "Vav" [which has the numerical value of six], namely, in the sixth millennium. ... Happy are those who will be left alive at the end of the sixth millennium to enter the Shabbat, which is the seventh millennium; for that is a day set apart for the Holy One on which to effect the union of new souls with old souls in the world (Zohar, Vayera 119a). - The Zohar
Joachim of Fiore and the Three Ages of the Spirit
Joachim of Fiore gave the West one of its most influential mystical readings of history: the unfolding of three ages corresponding to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Core themes
- The Age of the Father
- The Age of the Son
- The Age of the Holy Spirit
- History as spiritual revelation
- The coming of a spiritual Church
- Monastic renewal and prophetic time
- Apocalypse as transition between ages
- The danger and power of millenarian expectation
Topics to expand
- Joachim’s life and monastic vision
- The three ages
- The spiritual Church
- The Eternal Gospel
- Influence on apocalyptic movements
- Franciscan spirituals
- Modern progress myths as secularized Joachimism
- Relation to Revelation and the New Jerusalem