Apostolic age

AD 5 – 100 · Jesus, the Twelve, Paul. The New Testament being written.

This is the only generation that touched Jesus. Everyone after them is downstream. Within seventy years of the crucifixion, twelve Galileans and a Pharisee from Tarsus had pushed a Jewish messianic movement out of Jerusalem and into every major city of the empire — Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, Alexandria. Most of them were dead by the end of it. Tradition counts eleven of the Twelve as martyrs.

Why it matters

·Gentiles join the church without becoming Jews first.
·The four canonical gospels and Pauline corpus take written form.
·A threefold ministry — bishop, presbyter, deacon — begins to crystallise.
·The Eucharist on the Lord's Day (Sunday) is the universal weekly act.

Jesus of Nazareth

-4–30

Central figure of Christianity. Jewish teacher from Nazareth, crucified under Pontius Pilate c. AD 30; confessed by Christians as the Messiah and Son of God. Called and taught the Twelve Apostles.

Peter

1–64

Chief of the Twelve Apostles. Fisherman from Bethsaida; preached at Pentecost, traveled widely, and traditionally martyred in Rome under Nero. Counted by Roman tradition as first bishop of Rome.

Paul of Tarsus

5–65

Pharisee turned apostle to the Gentiles after his Damascus-road encounter. Author of at least seven undisputed letters in the New Testament; martyred in Rome under Nero.

John the Apostle

6–100

Son of Zebedee, brother of James, one of the Twelve and of the inner three. By tradition resided in Ephesus, taught Polycarp and Papias, and lived to the reign of Trajan.

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Cover of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History

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Ecclesiastical History

Eusebius of Caesarea

A reading pick tied to today's figure, quote, era, or event. The ancient source behind a huge amount of what we know about bishops, martyrs, succession lists, and early controversies.

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