Church History in Plain Language

Era 1 · 4 BC – AD 70

Jesus and the Apostles

In about forty years a Jewish teacher's followers became a movement spreading across the Roman world.

Bruce Shelley calls his first age "The Age of Jesus and the Apostles." It runs from Jesus' birth (probably around 6–4 BC) to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is the shortest of the eras, but everything else grows from it.

In these few decades a Galilean preacher was crucified by the Romans. His followers proclaimed that he had risen from the dead and was the Messiah, Israel's promised king. At first they were a movement inside Judaism, centered on Jerusalem. Then, through travelers like Paul, the message crossed into the non-Jewish ("Gentile") world. The great question of this era was whether Gentiles had to become Jews to follow Jesus. The answer, "no," changed the course of world history.

The era ends with catastrophe. Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the Temple in AD 70. Afterward, Christianity and Judaism slowly went their separate ways.

Timeline: Jesus and the Apostles (4 BC – AD 70)

0102030405060706 BC Jesus born, probably in the last years of He…28 John the Baptist's ministry; Jesus baptized28 Jesus' public ministry in Galilee and Judea30 Jesus crucified in Jerusalem under Pontius P…30 Pentecost: the Jerusalem church begins34 Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus37 Gentile believers in Antioch first called "C…44 James son of Zebedee executed by Herod Agrip…49 Council of Jerusalem: Gentiles need not be c…50 1 Thessalonians, the oldest surviving Christ…50 Paul's major letters (Galatians, Corinthians…57 Paul arrested in Jerusalem62 James the brother of Jesus executed in Jerus…64 Paul and Peter executed in Rome under Nero (…64 Great Fire of Rome; Nero blames Christians65 Mark, probably the first Gospel, written66 Jewish revolt against Rome begins70 Romans destroy Jerusalem and the Second Temp…
Selected key dates from each chapter of this era. Click an event to read its chapter, or see every date in this era on the master timeline.

Chapters in this era

  1. 1Jesus of NazarethWhat historians can say about Jesus' life, teaching, death, and the Easter faith of his followers.
  2. 2The Church in JerusalemHow a small group of Jewish believers in Jerusalem became the first church.
  3. 3Paul and the GentilesPaul's conversion, missionary journeys, theology of grace, and the fight over whether Gentiles must keep Jewish law.
  4. 4Writing the New TestamentWhen, why and by whom the 27 books of the New Testament were written.
  5. 5The Fall of Jerusalem and the Parting of the WaysThe Jewish War of 66–70, the destruction of the Temple, and how church and synagogue slowly separated.