Chronology of apostle pauls journeys and epistles matthew mcgee. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in jerusalem transformed. We know that each book was inspired by god, written by paul, and faithfully preserved in the church throughout history. Acts is also a book that continues the story of jesus. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. Chronology of the acts and epistles heaven dwellers. Chart 2 lists the books of the new testament in the likely chronological order of their composition. An understanding of the chronological order of events in pauls ministry can be very valuable as a tool for the study of acts and pauls epistles. Some have suggested that a better title might be the acts of the holy spirit. There is no orderly chronology of pauls life in the new testament.
The compressed chronology of acts can be quite confusing when reading through it for the first time without any commentaries or external knowledge of the book, but it makes a lot of sense that this story is only months after the crucifixion and resurrection of christ. Robert stein the southern baptist theological seminary. A chronology of the book of acts resource publications. We do not even know for certain in which years jesus was born and crucified. The acts of the apostles is a unique and therefore crucial book of the new testament. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how the church was able to grow and spread out from jerusalem into the rest of the roman empire. This illustration is perfect for a bible insert, ss notebook page, poster. Otherwise the summaries might be exact, and certainly coincide with principal divisions of the subject. Acts ends with paul spending two years in prison at rome 28. Besides linking the gospel narratives on the one hand and the apostolic letters on the. However, this doesnt matter as far as chronology is concerned, because lukes book of. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. If luke wrote acts while paul was still in prison at rome one view is that luke wrote lukeacts as a document for use by paul in his trial before the emperor, then luke would have to be.
Although the gospels and the book of acts give us a fairly good idea of the sequence of events, we do not have the exact years in which things happened. Below is a chart with a proposed chronology based upon internal evidence of the scripture in relationship to the history book of acts. One of the frustrations of studying acts is lukes tendency to offer only a few chronological clues for the events after the resurrection until the death of herod in acts 12. Timeline of acts year ad event acts 30 the ascension acts 1 30 matthias chosen by lot acts 1. The chronology of the book of genesis can be built up from adam, all authorities agreeing on the date of josephs death recorded in genesis 50. To complicate matters, luke presents the story thematically in the early chapters, creating an overlapping chronology. Mar 08, 2011 however, this doesnt matter as far as chronology is concerned, because lukes book of acts is mostly interested in either the ministries of peter or paul, especially paul. Commentary on the book of acts bible study lessons. Despite this, we can be fairly confident that it was composed in the early to mid60s.
The next key event after the ascension of jesus into heaven was pentecost acts 2. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of. One of the challenges of galatians is coordinating pauls chronology with the history in acts. The acts time line a chronological chart of the time, people and places in the acts of the apostles and letters of the apostle paul. Book of acts overview insight for living ministries.
The title as we know it comes from the second century and only partially discloses the theme of. The beheading of james and the imprisonment of peter. But in acts, several major characters loopdeloop their way around the roman empire. The dispersion of the jerusalem church and the beginning of evangelism. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Understanding when the book of acts was written allows us to determine when many other new testament books were composed. Nov 25, 2019 illustrated book of acts chronology magnify him together stay safe and healthy. The book certainly does not tell all the acts of all the apostles. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after jesuss ascension. Shortly after, the formal beginning of the church of god took place on the day of pentecost june 17, 31 acts 2. Chronology and locations of the writing of acts and pauls. According to joshua jipp, the book of acts has a lot of purposes, but there is a main purpose. Determinations on chronology also impact considerations of the time of writing.
Despite the above example, the book of acts is extremely valuable in attempting to create a chronology of pauls life. The first few times i read acts, all the new city and province names just blurred together in my. Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the. At a certain point, the timeline would get cluttered.
Many of the events related to pauls life and ministry are recorded in the book of acts. By using the information found in lukes account, we can begin to understand more accurately when paul embarked on his missionary journeys, visited jerusalem, and ran into trouble with the roman authorities. Timeline of the book of acts dates reference events books written historical events roman emperors c. Nov 6, 2019 illustrated book of acts chronology magnify him together. Chronology of paul during the book of acts the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of jesus christ occurred in the spring of a. The former of these being an isolated event in st lukes narrative is of little value comparatively for our purpose.
Firsts in the life of paul think on these things firsts in the book of acts a brief chronology of the entire bible a chronology of pauls writings a description of jesus a model congregation of christs church alphabetical order of bible books angels in the life of jesus approximate chronology in the life of christ are the ten. Acts and the epistles chronology study resources blue letter bible. We have to piece together his life from different scriptures and matching historical data from the period. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. The acts time line a chronological chart of the time, people and places in the acts of. The chronology of the book of genesis can be built up from adam, all authorities agreeing on the date of josephs death. Historical timeline for the book of acts than cake. The book must have been written shortly thereafter, for it stops the narrative at that point, though evidence exists that paul was released from that imprisonment. Continuation of evangelism outside jerusalem conversion of cornelius. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Many have concluded that the meeting in jerusalem consists of the following correspondence. Acts is the only new testament book which records how much time elapsed between jesus death and his ascension. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit. Birth but paul said, i am a jew of tarsus in cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city.
The chronology of st pauls life and epistles, biblical. The sequel for the illustrated old testament chronology and illustrated life of christ chronology is here. Another method of dating the synoptic gospels starts from the book of acts. See the we sections of acts in nt chronology expanded. This purpose is how acts is a bridge between the gospels and the apostles jipp, 9. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. With this in mind, it should be understood that nothing timewise is encased in stone. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the gospels tell a story and they teach lessons.
Events in acts and other new testament books are placed in harmony. Some characters arent that important to the story, but are included anyway like timothy and philip. It should be stated at the outset that the chronology of the acts must ever remain somewhat tentative, owing to the nature of the data provided. The dispersion of the jerusalem church and the beginning of evangelism outside jerusalem the samaritans, the eunuch, 3334.
Most bible narratives take place in one corner of the near east. The book of acts and the epistles of paul sometimes tell us the length of time between one event and another. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of acts. The book of acts sabbath school net bible study and. The book of acts is an account of those three crucial decades, which spanned from the resurrection of jesus, in a. Unfortunately, biblical writings do not always contain clear chronological markers, and there is a range of opinion on when acts was written. Acts of the apostles is the one historical book of the new testament, and much of what we know about the early years of christianity comes from this book. The offering sent by barnabas and saul to the jerusalem elders. God added to their number daily tiberius is emperor of rome 31 acts 34.
Acts 1 new international version niv jesus taken up into heaven. Intro to acts biblica the international bible society. In studying the book of acts, it is always amazing to see just how much time is covered in such a few short chapters. Working chronology of acts i have decided to put together in one place those posts that could help give us a timeline of the events that luke writes about in the acts of the apostles. The chronology of the bible is an elaborate system of lifespans, generations, and other means by which the passage of events is measured, beginning with the genesis creation narrative. It is mainly about two of the apostles peter and paul. Illustrated book of acts chronology magnify him together. Approximate chronology of the acts regarding the chronology of acts, henry halley writes in his book, halleys bible handbook, there are not enough data given to form an exact chronology, but sufficient to approximate most of the dates. Paul was not one of the original apostles, but he later adopted that title for himself. I threw them in as a way to give more context to the other characters. Well also attempt to date the nt books, the deaths of the 12 apostles the disciples minus judas, plus paul, and key events occurring in the roman empire that. Jun 29, 2018 the book of acts is an account of those three crucial decades, which spanned from the resurrection of jesus, in a. The table displays a chronology of events for the book of acts.
A widespread scholarly understanding is that this marks out a world cycle great year of 4,000 years, ending, presumably, around 164 bce the year of the re. Nov 25, 2019 illustrated book of acts chronology magnify him together. It alone presents an extensive picture of early church life and history. Timeline of the book of acts from the bible generation word. Chronology of acts and the epistles chronology of acts and the epistles event reference year ad descent of the holy spirit acts 2. The new testament timeline covers only about seventy years. As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to teach 1.