The Apostolic Age

Contents
Sources for this Study 1

Introduction 1

General Character of the Apostolic Age 2

Sources of Information 2

Causes of Success 2

Significance of the Apostolic Age 3

The Representative Apostles. 4

Chronology of the Apostolic Age 6

Sources for this Study the best modern scholars; and this fact alone estab-
lishes the credibility. Renan (in his St. Paul, ch. 1)
Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Vol- admirably calls Acts a book of joy, of serene ardor.
ume I, Chapter III Since the Homeric poems no book has been seen
full of such fresh sensations. A breeze of morning,
Encyclopedia Brittanica an odor of the sea, if I dare express it so, inspiring
Josephus, Flavius, Wars of the Jews something joyful and strong, penetrates the whole
book, and makes it an excellent compagnon de voy-
Books of the New Testament age, the exquisite breviary for him who is search-
ing for ancient remains on the seas of the south.
This is the second idyll of Christianity. The Lake
Introduction of Tiberias and its fishing barks had furnished the
first. Now, a more powerful breeze, aspirations to-
The acts of the apostles give us the external, the ward more distant lands, draw us out into the open
epistles the internal history of early Christianity. sea.
The book of Acts bear on the face all the marks of
an original, fresh and trustworthy narrative of con-
temporaneous events derived from the best sources
of information, and in great part from personal ob-
servation and experience. The authorship of Luke,
the companion of Paul, is conceded by a majority of

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The Apostolic Age 2

General Character of the Apos- Sources of Information

tolic Age
The author of Acts records the heroic march of
Christianity from the capital of Judaism to the cap-
The apostolic period extends from the day of Pente- ital of heathenism with the same artless simplicity
cost to the death of St. John, and covers about sev- and serene faith as the evangelists tell the story of
enty years, from 30 A.D. to 100 A.D. The field of ac- Jesus; well knowing that it needs no embellishment,
tion is Palestine, and gradually extends over Syria, no apology, no subjective reflections, and that it
Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. The most prominent will surely triumph by its inherent spiritual power.
centers are Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, which Acts and the Pauline epistles accompany us with
represent respectively the mother churches of Jew- reliable information down to the year 63 A.D. Pe-
ish, Gentile and united catholic Christianity. ter and Paul are lost out of sight in the lurid fires of
the Neronian persecution which seemed to consume
Next to them are Ephesus and Corinth. Ephesus Christianity itself. We know nothing certain of that
acquired a special importance by the residence and satanic spectacle from authentic sources beyond
labors of John, which made themselves felt during the information of heathen historians. A few years
the second century through Polycarp and Irenaeus. later is the destruction of Jerusalem, which must
have made an overpowering impression and broken
Samaria, Damascus, Joppa, Caesarea, Tyre, the last ties which bound Jewish Christianity to
Cyprus, the provinces of Asia Minor, Troas, the old theocracy. The event is indeed brought be-
Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Crete, Pat- fore us in the prophecy of Christ as recorded in
mos, Malta and Puteoli, come also into view the gospels, but for the terrible fulfillment we are
as points where the Christian faith was planted. dependent on the account of an unbelieving Jew,
Through the eunuch converted by Philip, it reached which, as the testimony of an enemy, is all the more
Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. As early impressive.
as 58 A.D. Paul could say: “From Jerusalem and
The remaining thirty years of the first century A.D.
round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully
are involved in mysterious darkness, illuminated
preached the gospel of Christ.” (Rom. 15:19) He af-
only by the writings of John. This is a period
terwards carried it to Rome, where it had already
of church history about which we know least and
been known before, and possibly as far as Spain,
would like to know most. This period is the favorite
the western boundary of the empire. (Rom. 15:24)
field for ecclesiastical fables and critical conjectures.
How thankfully would the historian hail the dis-
The nationalities reached by the gospel in the first covery of any new authentic documents between
century were the Jews, the Greeks, and the Ro- the martyrdom of Peter and Paul and the death of
mans, and the languages used were the Hebrew or John, and again between the death of John and the
Aramaic, and especially the Greek, which was at age of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.
that time the organ of civilization and of interna-
tional intercourse within the Roman empire.

The contemporary secular history includes the Causes of Success

reigns of the Roman emperors from Tiberius to
Nero and Domitian, who either ignored or perse- As to the numerical strength of Christianity at
cuted Christianity. We are brought directly into the close of the first century, we have no infor-
contact with King Herod Agrippa I Who is the mation. Statistical reports were unknown in those
grandson of Herod the Great, the murderer of the days. The estimate of half a million among the
apostle, James the elder; with his son King Agrippa one hundred millions or more inhabitants of the
II who is the last of the Herodian house, who with Roman empire is probably exaggerated. The pen-
his sister Bernice listened to Paul’s defense; with tecostal conversion of three thousand in one day at
two Roman governors, Felix and Festus; with Phar- Jerusalem, and the immense multitude of martyrs
isees and Sadducees; with Stoics and Epicureans; under Nero, favor a high estimate. The churches
with the temple and theater at Ephesus, with the in Antioch also, Ephesus and Corinth were strong
court of the Areopagus at Athens and with Caesar’s enough to bear the strain of controversy and divi-
palace in Rome. sion into parties. But the majority of congregations

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The Apostolic Age 3

were no doubt small, often a mere handful of poor But every one of these causes, properly understood,
people. In the country districts paganism lingered points to the superior excellency and to the divine
longest, even beyond the age of Constantine. origin of the Christian religion, and this is the chief
cause, which the Deistic historian omits.
Christian converts belonged mostly to the mid-
dle and lower classes of society, such as fishermen,
peasants, mechanics, traders, freedmen and slaves.
St. Paul says: “Not many wise after the flesh, not Significance of the Apostolic
many mighty, not many noble were called, but
God chose the foolish things of the world, that
Age
he might put to shame them that are wise; and
God chose the weak things of the world that he The life of Christ is the divine human fountainhead
might put to shame the things that are strong; and of the Christian religion; the apostolic age is the
the base things of the world, and the things that fountainhead of the Christian church, as an orga-
are despised, did God choose, yea, and the things nized society separate and distinct from the Jewish
that are not, that he might bring to naught the synagogue. It is the age of the Holy Spirit, the
things that are: that no flesh should glory before age of inspiration and legislation for all subsequent
God.” (1 Cor. 1:26-29) And yet these poor, il- ages.
literate churches were the recipients of the noblest Here springs, in its original freshness and purity,
gifts, and alive to the deepest problems and highest the living water of the new creation. Christianity
thoughts which can challenge the attention of an comes down front heaven as a supernatural fact,
immortal mind. Christianity built from the foun- yet long predicted and prepared for, and adapted
dation upward. From the lower ranks come the to the deepest wants of human nature. Signs and
rising men of the future, who constantly reinforce wonders and extraordinary demonstrations of the
the higher ranks and prevent their decay. Holy Spirit, for the conversion of unbelieving Jews
At the time of the conversion of Constantine, in the and heathens, attend its entrance into the world
beginning of the fourth century A.D., the number of sin. It takes up its permanent abode with our
of Christians may have reached ten or twelve mil- fallen race, to transform it gradually, without war
lion, that is about one-tenth of the total population or bloodshed, by a quiet, leaven like process, into
of the Roman empire. Some estimate it higher. a kingdom of truth and righteousness.
The rapid success of Christianity under the most Modest and humble, lowly and unseemly in out-
unfavorable circumstances is surprising and its own ward appearance, but steadily conscious of its di-
best vindication. It was achieved in the face of an vine origin and its eternal destiny; without silver
indifferent or hostile world, and by purely spiritual or gold, but rich in supernatural gifts and pow-
and moral means, without shedding a drop of blood ers, strong in faith, fervent in love, and joyful in
except that of its own innocent martyrs. Gibbon, hope; bearing in earthen vessels the imperishable
in the famous fifteenth chapter of his book entitled treasures of heaven, it presents itself upon the stage
History, attributes the rapid spread to five causes, of history as the only true, the perfect religion, for
namely: all the nations of the earth.

1. The intolerant but enlarged religious zeal of At first an insignificant and even contemptible sect
the Christians inherited from the Jews; in the eyes of the carnal mind, hated and perse-
cuted by Jews and heathens, it confounds the wis-
2. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, dom of Greece and the power of Rome, soon plants
concerning which the ancient philosophers the standard of the cross in the great cities of Asia,
had but vague and dreamy ideas; Africa, and Europe, and proves itself the hope of
the world.
3. The miraculous powers attributed to the
primitive church; In virtue of this original purity, vigor, and beauty,
and the permanent success of primitive Christian-
4. The purer but austere morality of the first
ity, the canonical authority of the single but in-
Christians;
exhaustible volume of its literature, and the char-
5. The unity and discipline of the church, which acter of the apostles, those inspired organs of the
gradually formed a growing commonwealth in Holy Spirit, those untaught teachers of mankind,
the heart of the empire. the apostolic age has an incomparable interest and

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The Apostolic Age 4

importance in the history of the church. It is the that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom in Rome
immovable groundwork of the whole. It has the during or after the Neronian persecution, and that
same regulative force for all the subsequent devel- John died a natural death at Ephesus. The book
opments of the church as the inspired writings of of Acts breaks off abruptly with Paul still living
the apostles have for the works of all later Christian and working, a prisoner in Rome, “preaching the
authors. kingdom of God and teaching the things concern-
ing the Lord Jesus Christ, with all boldness, none
Furthermore, apostolic Christianity contains the
forbidding him.” (Acts 28:31
living germs of all the following periods, personages
and tendencies. It holds up the highest standard of It would be difficult to find three men equally great
doctrine and discipline; it is the inspiring genius of and good, equally endowed with genius sanctified
all true progress; it suggests to every age its pecu- by grace, bound together by deep and strong love
liar problem with the power to solve it. Christianity to the common master, and laboring for the same
can never outgrow Christ, but it grows in Christ; cause, yet so different in temper and constitution,
theology cannot go beyond the word of God, but as Peter, Paul and John. Peter stands out in his-
it must ever progress in the understanding and ap- tory as the main pillar of the primitive church, as
plication of the word of God. The three leading the rock apostle, as the chief of the twelve foun-
apostles represent not only the three stages of the dation stones of the new Jerusalem; John as the
apostolic church, but also as many ages and types bosom friend of the Savior, as the son of thunder,
of Christianity, and yet they are all present in every as the soaring eagle, as the apostle of love; Paul as
age and every type. the champion of Christian freedom and progress,
as the greatest missionary, with the care of all the
churches upon his heart, as the expounder of the
The Representative Apostles. Christian system of doctrine, as the father of Chris-
tian theology.
Peter, Paul and John stand out most prominently Peter was a man of action, always in haste and
as the chosen three who accomplished the great ready to take the lead; the first to confess Christ,
work of the apostolic age, and exerted, by their and the first to preach Christ on the day of Pente-
writings and example, a controlling influence on all cost; Paul a man equally potent in word and deed;
subsequent ages. To them correspond three centers John a man of mystic contemplation. Peter was
of influence, Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome. unlearned and altogether practical; Paul a scholar
Paul was called last and out of the regular order, by and thinker as well as a worker; John a theosophist
the personal appearance of the exalted Lord from and seer.
heaven, and in authority and importance he was Peter was sanguine, ardent, impulsive, hopeful,
equal to any of the three pillars, but filled a place of kind hearted, given to sudden changes, consistently
his own, as the independent apostle of the Gentiles. inconsistent ; Paul was choleric, energetic, bold,
He had around him a small band of co-laborers and noble, independent, uncompromising; John some
pupils, such as Barnabas, Silas, Titus, Timothy and what melancholic, introverted, reserved, burning
Luke. within of love to Christ and hatred of antichrist.
Nine of the original twelve apostles, including Peter’s epistles are full of sweet grace and comfort,
Matthias, who was chosen in the place of Judas Is- the result of deep humiliation and rich experience;
cariot, labored no doubt faithfully and effectively, those of Paul abound in severe thought and logical
in preaching the gospel throughout the Roman em- argument, but rising at times to the heights of celes-
pire and to the borders of the barbarians, but in tial eloquence, as in the seraphic description of love
subordinate positions, and their labors are known and the triumphant paean of the eighth chapter
to us only from vague and uncertain traditions. of the Romans; John’s writings are simple, serene,
profound, intuitive, sublime and inexhaustible.
The labors of James and Peter we can follow in
the Acts to the Council of Jerusalem, 50 A.D., and We would like to know more about the personal
a little beyond; those of Paul to his first impris- relations of these pillar apostles, but must be sat-
onment in Rome, 61-63 A.D.; John lived to the isfied with a few hints. They labored in different
close of the first century. As to their last labors fields and seldom met face to face in their busy life.
we have no authentic information in the New Tes- Time was too precious, their work too serious, for
tament, but the unanimous testimony of antiquity sentimental enjoyments of friendship.

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The Apostolic Age 5

Paul went to Jerusalem 40 A.D., three years after the emancipator of the new religion from the yoke
his conversion, for the express purpose of making of Judaism, the herald of evangelical freedom, the
the personal acquaintance of Peter, and spent two standard bearer of reform and progress. His con-
weeks with him; he saw none of the other apostles, trolling influence was felt also in Rome, and is
but only James, the Lord’s brother. He met the clearly seen in the genuine epistle of Clement, who
pillar apostles at the Conference in Jerusalem, 50 makes more account of him than of Peter.
A.D., and concluded with them the peaceful con-
But soon afterwards he is almost forgotten, except
cordat concerning the division of labor, and the
by name. He is indeed associated with Peter as the
question of circumcision; the older apostles gave
founder of the church of Rome, but in a secondary
him and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship in
line; his epistle to the Romans is little read and
token of brotherhood and fidelity.
understood by the Romans even to this day; his
Not long afterwards Paul met Peter a third time, church lies outside of the walls of the eternal city,
at Antioch, but came into open collision with him while St. Peter’s is its chief ornament and glory. In
on the great question of Christian freedom and the Africa alone he was appreciated, first by the rugged
union of Jewish and Gentile converts. The col- and racy Tertullian, more fully by the profound Au-
lision was merely temporary, but significantly re- gustine, who passed through similar contrasts in his
veals the profound commotion and fermentation of religious experience; but Augustine’s Pauline doc-
the apostolic age, and foreshadowed future antag- trines of sin and grace had no effect whatever on
onisms and reconciliations in the church. Several the eastern church, and were practically overpow-
years later (57 A.D.) Paul refers the last time to ered in the western church by Pelagian tendencies.
Cephas, and the brethren of the Lord, for the right
For a long time Paul’s name was used and abused
to marry and to take a wife with him on his mis-
outside of the ruling orthodoxy and hierarchy by
sionary journeys.
anti-catholic heretics and sectaries in their protest
Peter, in his first epistle to the Pauline churches, against the new yoke of traditionalism and cere-
confirms them in their Pauline faith, and in his monialism. But in the sixteenth century he cele-
second epistle, his last will and testament, he af- brated a real resurrection and inspired the evangel-
fectionately commends the letters of his beloved ical reformation. Then his epistles to the Galatians
brother Paul, adding, however, the characteristic and Romans were republished, explained, and ap-
remark, which all commentators must admit to be plied with trumpet tongues by Luther and Calvin.
true, that there are in them some things hard to be Then his protest against Judaizing bigotry and le-
understood. gal bondage was renewed, and the rights of Chris-
tian liberty asserted on the largest scale. Of all men
Peter was the chief actor in the first stage of apos-
in church history, St. Augustine not excepted, Mar-
tolic Christianity and fulfilled the prophecy of his
tin Luther, once a contracted monk, then a prophet
name in laying the foundation of the church among
of freedom, has most affinity in word and work with
the Jews and the Gentiles. In the second stage he
the apostle of the Gentiles, and ever since Paul’s ge-
is overshadowed by the mighty labors of Paul; but
nius has ruled the theology and religion of Protes-
after the apostolic age he stands out again most
tantism. As the gospel of Christ was cast out from
prominent in the memory of the church.
Jerusalem to bless the Gentiles, so Paul’s epistle to
He is chosen by the Roman communion as its spe- the Romans was expelled from Rome to enlighten
cial patron saint and as the first pope. He is always and to emancipate Protestant nations in the distant
named before Paul. To him most of the churches north and far west.
are dedicated. In the name of this poor fisherman
St. John, the most intimate companion of Jesus,
of Galilee, who had neither gold nor silver, and was
the apostle of love, the seer who looked back to the
crucified like a malefactor and a slave, the triple
ante mundane beginning and forward to the post
crowned popes deposed kings, shook empires, dis-
mundane end of all things, and who is to tarry till
pensed blessings and curses on earth and in purga-
the coming of the Lord, kept aloof from active part
tory, and even now claim the power to settle infal-
in the controversies between Jewish and Gentile
libly all questions of Christian doctrine and disci-
Christianity. He appears prominent in the book of
pline for the Catholic world.
Acts and the epistle to the Galatians, as one of the
Paul was the chief actor in the second stage of the pillar apostles, but not a word of his is reported. He
apostolic church, the apostle of the Gentiles, the was waiting in mysterious silence, with a reserved
founder of Christianity in Asia Minor and Greece, force, for his proper time, which did not come till

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The Apostolic Age 6

Peter and Paul had finished their mission. 3. The apostolic Council in Jerusalem, 50 A.D.
(Acts 15:1 sqq.; Gal. 2:1-10). This date is as-
Then, after their departure, he revealed the hid-
certained by reckoning backwards to Paul’s
den depths of his genius in his marvelous writings,
conversion, and forward to the Caesarean
which represent the last and crowning work of the
captivity. Paul was probably converted in 37
apostolic church. John has never been fully fath-
A.D., and fourteen years elapsed from that
omed, but it has been felt throughout all the peri-
event to the Council. But chronologists dif-
ods of church history that he has best understood
fer on the year of Paul’s conversion, between
and portrayed the master, and may yet speak the
31 and 40 A.D.
last word in the conflict of ages and usher in an era
of harmony and peace. Paul is the heroic captain 4. The dates of the epistles to the Galatians,
of the church militant, John the mystic prophet of Corinthians, and Romans, between 56 and
the church triumphant. 58 A.D. The date of the epistle to the Ro-
Far above them all, throughout the apostolic age mans can be fixed almost to the month from
and all subsequent ages, stands the one great mas- its own indications combined with the state-
ter from whom Peter, Paul and John drew their in- ments in the book of Acts. It was written
spiration, to whom they bowed in holy adoration, before the apostle had been in Rome, but
whom alone they served and glorified in life and in when he was on the point of departure for
death, and to whom they still point in their writ- Jerusalem and Rome on the way to Spain,
ings as the perfect image of God, as the savior from after having finished his collections in Mace-
sin and death, as the giver of eternal life, as the di- donia and Achaia for the poor brethren in Ju-
vine harmony of conflicting creeds and schools, as daea;; and he sent the epistle through Phoebe,
the alpha and omega of the Christian faith. a deaconess of the congregation in the eastern
port of Corinth, where he was at that time.
These indications point clearly to the spring
of the year 58 A.D., for in that year he was
Chronology of the Apostolic taken prisoner in Jerusalem and carried to
Age Caesarea.

5. Paul’s captivity in Caesarea, 58 to 60 A.D.,

The chronology of the apostolic age is partly cer- during the procuratorship of Felix and Festus,
tain, at least within a few years, partly conjectural: who changed places in 60 or 61 A.D., proba-
certain as to the principal events from 30 to 70 bly in 60 A.D. This important date we can
A.D., conjectural as to intervening points and the ascertain by combination from several pas-
last thirty years of the first century. The sources sages in Josephus and Tacitus. It enables us
are the New Testament especially the book of Acts at the same time, by reckoning backward, to
and the Pauline epistles, Josephus, and the Roman fix some preceding events in the life of the
historians. Josephus b. 37, d. 103, is especially apostle.
valuable here, as he wrote the Jewish history down
to the destruction of Jerusalem. 6. Paul’s first captivity in Rome, 61 to 63 A.D.
This follows from the former date in connec-
The following dates are more or less certain and tion with the statement in Acts 28:30.
accepted by most historians:
7. The epistles of the Roman captivity, Philip-
pians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon,
1. The founding of the Christian church on the 61-63 A.D.
feast of Pentecost in May 30 A.D. This is on
the assumption that Christ was born 4 B.C. 8. The Neronian persecution, 64 A.D. in the
or 5 B.C., and was crucified in April 30 A.D. tenth year of Nero, according to Tacitus. The
30, at an age of thirty-three. martyrdom of Paul and Peter occurred either
then, or according to tradition a few years
2. The death of King Herod Agrippa I. 44 A.D. later. The question depends on the second
according to Josephus. This settles the date Roman captivity of Paul.
of the preceding martyrdom of James the el-
der, Peter’s imprisonment and release. (Acts 9. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 70
12:2, 23). A.D. according to Josephus and Tacitus.

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The Apostolic Age 7

10. The death of John after the accession of Tra- posed before the destruction of Jerusalem, mostly
jan, 98 A.D. according to general ecclesiasti- between 60 and 70 A.D. The writings of John were
cal tradition. written after that date and towards the close of the
first century, except the apocalypse, which some of
The dates of the synoptical gospels, the book of the best scholars, from internal indications assign
Acts, the pastoral epistles, the Hebrews, and the to the year 68 or 69 A.D., between the death of
epistles of Peter, James and Jude cannot be ac- Nero and the destruction of Jerusalem.
curately ascertained except that they were com-

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