Dating New Testament Events
40 BC Herod the Great appointed in Rome King of Judea
37 BC Herod the Great returns to Judea to rule his kingdom
27 BC Augustus Caesar made Roman Emperor
Augustus (27 BC to 14 AD) issued a decree for the registration of all
persons within the bounds of the Roman Empire (Luke 2:1). This involved the
province of Judea in Palestine, thus affecting the lives of Joseph and Mary,
who traveled to Bethlehem to register. During this trip Jesus was born.
20/19 BC Reconstruction of Herod's Temple Started
4 - 6 BC - Birth of Jesus Christ
The New Testament says Jesus was born during the reigns of
Caesar Augustus (31 B.C. - A.D. 14) (Luke 2:1) and Herod the Great (37 B.C.- 4
B.C.) (Matt. 2:1). Also, during the first census
of Quiriinius Luke
2:2) about 6 B.C.
14 AD Tiberius Caesar made Roman Emperor
Tiberius (14 to 37 AD), stepson of Augustus, is the "Caesar" mentioned in
the Gospels (except for Luke 2:1). He was suspicious of rivals and severe in
discipline of offenders (Matt. 22:17; Luke 3:1; 20:22; 23:2; John 19:12).
29 AD Baptism of Jesus
The date of Jesus baptism is firmly fixed in
history by eight historical crosshairs mentioned in Luke 3:1-2
33 AD - Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
33 AD - Church Formed at Pentecost
50 days after Passover when Jesus was crucified. 3,000 were added to the
church in one day. Acts 2:41 A few days later the number of believers totaled
5,000 men, not counting women and children.
35 AD - Conversion of St. Paul [Acts 9:1-22]
37-38 AD - Paul's First Visit to Jerusalem
Barnabas brings Saul (Paul) to meet with the Apostles. Saul went to meet
Peter and stayed 15 days. He says he saw none of the other Apostles, but
James, the Lord's brother. Gal. 1:18-19
37 AD - Gaius Caligula made Roman Emperor
41 AD - Claudius Caesar made Roman Emperor
Claudius (41 to 54 AD) attempted to reduce strife within the empire, as
shown by his decree mentioned in Acts 18:2. He is also mentioned in Acts
11:28.
44 AD - Death of King Herod Agrippa I after proclaiming himself a god.
This settles the date of the preceding martyrdom of James the elder,
Peter’s imprisonment and release Acts 12:2, 23).
47 to 48 AD - Paul's First Missionary Journey to Cyprus and Central Asia
Minor [Acts 13:1 to 14:28]
Founding of Galatian Churches: Lystra and Iconium
49 AD - The Jerusalem Conference [Acts 15 and Galatians 2:1-10]
49 AD - Emperor Claudius expels Jews from Rome
Recorded in Acts 18:2 and mentioned by the Roman historian Suetonius
50 AD - Paul's Second Missionary Journey [Acts 15:36--18:22]
Arrives in Corinth
Central Asia Minor, Troas, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea,, Athens
and Corinth
50/51 AD - Founding the Churches in Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica,
Corinth
54 AD Nero made Roman Emperor
Nero (54 to 68 AD), known more for his various artistic pursuits than for
his role as emperor. In the final years of his reign, his mind deteriorated
and he ended his life by suicide. He was the first Roman emperor to persecute
Christians (in Rome, 64 AD). The apostle Paul appealed to Nero for Roman
justice (Acts 25:11), probably about 60 AD. Also see Acts 17:7; 25:8, 12, 21;
26:32; 27:24; 28:19.
54 AD - Paul's Visit to Jerusalem
54 AD - Paul's Third Missionary Journey
54 to 57 AD - Paul in Ephesus
57 AD - Paul in Corinth writes Romans
58 to 60 AD - Paul's Visit to Jerusalem and His Captivity in Caesarea
58 to 60 AD, during the procuratorship of Felix and Festus, who
changed places in 60 or 61, probably in 60. This important date we can
ascertain by combination from several passages in Josephus, and Tacitus. It
enables us at the same time, by reckoning backward, to fix some preceding
events in the life of the apostle.
61 to 63 AD - Paul’s first captivity in Rome
This follows from the former date in connection with the statement in Acts
28:30.
62 AD - James, the Lord's brother, stoned to death in Jerusalem
Josephus and Hegesippus record this event.
63 to 64 AD - Herod's Temple Completed
July 64 AD - The Burning of Rome and Nero's Persecution of Christians
The Roman historian Tactitus records this event.
64 AD - Peter Martyred in Rome According to Tradition
June 29, 66 AD - Traditional date for Paul's Beheading in Rome
66 to 73 AD - The Great Revolt - War Between Rome and Israel
Josephus records this event. The Great War of a.d. 66–73 (74) left the
Jewish nation decimated and the Jewish religion without a center. An estimated
one third of the Jewish population of Palestine died in the war. Jerusalem was
a leveled ruin and the temple was completely demolished. A standing army—the
Tenth Roman Legion—would from now on guard against insurrection.
66 AD - Christians flee to Pella to avoid the war
67 AD - Romans Begin Campaign Against Jews Under Vespasian
68 to 69 AD - Galba; Otho; Vitellius made Roman Emperors
69 AD - Vespasian made Roman Emperor
70 AD - Fall & Complete Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
Recorded by Josephus and Tacitus. The Sadducees disappeared from history.
Without the temple as their power base, the mostly priestly Sadducees had no
reason to exist as a group. Thus the destruction of the temple meant the end
of this way of living as a Jew.
73 AD - Masada Falls to the Romans
Nine-hundred and sixty Jewish Zealots commit suicide during the night
rather than accept defeat at the hands of the Romans.
79 AD - Titus made Roman Emperor
81 AD - Domitian made Roman Emperor
85 AD - Death of Luke
96 AD - Nerva made Roman Emperor
98 AD - Trajan made Roman Emperor
115 - 117 AD - The Kitos War, (Rebellion of the exile) is
the name given to the second of the Jewish-Roman wars.
132 to 135 AD - The Bar Kosiba War - Third Jewish revolt
against Rome
The leader of the revolt was Simon bar Kosiba. His name "son of Kosiba" was
changed by his followers to bar Kochba, "son of the Star" (Num. 24:17), a
Messianic title. Most historians cite two causes for the war: Emperor
Hadrian’s prohibition of circumcision and his plans to rebuild—perhaps already
begun when the war broke out—Jerusalem as a Gentile city called Aelia
Capitolina (named after himself, Aelius Hadrian). Further, the plan to build a
pagan city and to erect a temple to Zeus on the same location as the destroyed
temple of Yahweh was an obvious sacrilege which few Jews could tolerate. The
Romans destroyed almost one thousand villages in Judea and killed close to
600,000 people—perhaps one half of the Jewish population of Palestine.
Hadrian did build his city, Aelia Capitolina, and his pagan temple to Zeus
(Jupiter). He forbade Jews to enter the city on penalty of death and
maintained the prohibition against circumcision. Emperor Antoninus Pius in a.d.
138 rescinded the ban on circumcision, but not until the fourth century under
Constantine were Jews once more allowed to enter the holy city. DAVID A.
FIENSY, Ph.D., The COLLEGE PRESS NIV COMMENTARY New Testament INTRODUCTION
200 AD - The Mishnah brought to closure
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