What is the apostolic age?

It is the first Christian century, from Pentecost around AD 30 to the death of the apostle John around AD 100. During it the eyewitnesses of Jesus led the church and wrote the New Testament.

How did Christianity spread in the first century?

Through the preaching of the apostles along Roman roads and trade routes, beginning in Jerusalem and reaching Antioch, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and, by tradition, as far as India. Paul’s letters from the 50s are the earliest Christian writings.

When were the Gospels written?

Mark is usually dated around AD 65 to 70, with Matthew, Luke, and John by about AD 100. The exact dates are debated, but all fall within living memory of Jesus.

Christian History · Timeline

The First Christian Century

The apostolic age runs from Pentecost, around AD 30, to the death of the apostle John, around AD 100. In seventy short years the message of a crucified and risen Jesus travelled from a room in Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire, carried by eyewitnesses who wrote the letters and Gospels that became the New Testament, and who mostly paid for their witness with their lives.

Everything that follows in this timeline grows from this first century. The people here are not distant legends but eyewitnesses: Peter, who denied Jesus and then died for him; Paul, who hunted Christians before the risen Christ stopped him on the road; John, who leaned on Jesus at the last supper and lived to write against those who denied him. Their generation set the pattern the church has followed ever since, proclaiming the resurrection, gathering to break bread, caring for the poor, and refusing to call anyone but Jesus Lord.

A note on dating: the crucifixion is placed by scholars in either AD 30 or AD 33, and the Gospels were written across roughly AD 65 to 100. These ranges are debated, but all of them fall within living memory of the events, which is part of why Christians take the record seriously.

The timeline

c. AD 30 to 33
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
In Jerusalem, Jesus is crucified under Pontius Pilate and, Christians confess, raised on the third day. This is the event the whole faith rests upon. Scholars date it to either AD 30 or AD 33.
c. AD 30 to 33
Pentecost and the birth of the church
Fifty days after the resurrection the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples, and about three thousand believe (Acts 2). The church is born in a single morning.
c. AD 34 to 36
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus
The church’s fiercest persecutor meets the risen Christ on the Damascus road and becomes Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.
c. AD 48 to 49
The Council of Jerusalem
The apostles decide that Gentiles need not become Jews to follow Jesus (Acts 15). From the start, the gospel is for all nations.
c. AD 48 to 64
Paul’s missionary journeys and letters
Paul plants churches across Asia Minor and Greece. His letters, written in the 50s, are the earliest Christian writings we possess, older than the written Gospels.
c. AD 52 (tradition)
The apostle Thomas said to reach India
Ancient tradition holds that Thomas carried the gospel to India, where the Saint Thomas Christians trace their origin. Historians debate the details, but the community is very old.
AD 64 to 67
The fire of Rome and the deaths of Peter and Paul
Nero blames Christians for Rome’s great fire. By early tradition Peter and Paul are martyred in the city during these years.
AD 70
The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple
Rome razes the Temple, ending the sacrificial system and scattering the Jerusalem church. Christianity’s center begins to shift outward.
c. AD 65 to 100
The four Gospels are written
Mark is usually dated around AD 65 to 70, then Matthew, Luke, and John by about AD 100. The exact dating is debated among scholars, but all fall within living memory of Jesus.
c. AD 95
Revelation and the close of the apostolic age
The aged apostle John, exiled on Patmos, writes Revelation. His death around AD 100 ends the age of the apostles.

The thread through it all

Read the whole story and one thing becomes plain: through every century, every council and controversy, every rise and fall of empires, one Person holds it together. The church has been divided, persecuted, corrupted, and renewed, and yet it has never once disappeared, because it was never finally ours to keep. Jesus said he would build it, and he has.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Matthew 28:20

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Come and meet him yourself

This whole story runs back to a Person you can still meet. You do not have to take the church’s word for it, or ours. Read his own words and see. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin, and it costs you nothing but a little quiet and an honest look.

Meet Jesus The whole story The church around the world

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Explore furtherThe early church Paul the apostle Peter How we got the Bible The resurrection The full timeline

Frequently asked questions

What is the apostolic age?: It is the first Christian century, from Pentecost around AD 30 to the death of the apostle John around AD 100. During it the eyewitnesses of Jesus led the church and wrote the New Testament.
How did Christianity spread in the first century?: Through the preaching of the apostles along Roman roads and trade routes, beginning in Jerusalem and reaching Antioch, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and, by tradition, as far as India. Paul’s letters from the 50s are the earliest Christian writings.
When were the Gospels written?: Mark is usually dated around AD 65 to 70, with Matthew, Luke, and John by about AD 100. The exact dates are debated, but all fall within living memory of Jesus.