Apostolic Age

Background

The Apostolic Age refers to the period after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ during which the Twelve Apostles, Paul, and others led the church. It is generally regarded as beginning in the early 30s and ending around the year 100, when John, traditionally regarded as the last surviving apostle, died. Some date its beginning from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The followers of Jesus were at first regarded as something like a sect within Judaism. The principal sources are the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles, while the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus help to establish the chronology.

Development

• Early 30s: The first community of believers formed in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41–47).
• Persecution and dispersion: After the martyrdom of Stephen, believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, and the gospel spread (Acts 8:1–4). Saul, who had been persecuting the church, was also converted around this time (conversion of Paul). A traditional view dates the conversion to about 37, though opinions range from 31 to 40.
• Mission to the Gentiles: Peter baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts 10), and in Antioch the disciples were first called "Christians" (Acts 11:26).
• c. 44: Under Herod Agrippa I, James the son of Zebedee was martyred and Peter was imprisoned (Acts 12). The death of Agrippa I, as recorded by Josephus, serves as the reference point for dating these events.
• c. 46 to the late 50s: Through Paul's missionary journeys, churches were established in Asia Minor and Greece. Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans are thought to have been written around 56–58.
• c. 49–50: The Council of Jerusalem considered whether Gentile believers should also be required to undergo circumcision. Following the judgment of James the brother of the Lord, the council did not require circumcision but instructed Gentile believers to abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication (Acts 15:28–29).
• c. 58–63: Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea under the governors Felix and Festus (c. 58–60) and was then transferred to Rome, where he likewise remained in custody (c. 61–63).
• 70: The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and Jerusalem thereafter gradually lost its place as the center of the church.
• Late first century: John's writings are generally dated to the 90s, although some scholars hold that the Book of Revelation was written in 68–69. The second-century church father Irenaeus reports that John lived until the reign of the emperor Trajan (who acceded in 98).

Outcome and Influence

As it received Gentiles, the church spread throughout the Roman Empire. Most of the documents of the New Testament were written during this period. Foundational principles of the church, such as the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers and the question of law and grace, were also worked out at this time. The Apostolic Age was followed by the era of the so-called Apostolic Fathers, the generation of the apostles' disciples.

Assessment

There is broad agreement on the dating of the major events between 30 and 70, but the chronology of the final decades of the first century relies heavily on conjecture. Some modern scholars question the view that the apostles themselves wrote the New Testament documents (apostolic authorship), while conservative scholars defend it.

Denominations differ in how they connect the Apostolic Age with the church today. Pentecostal churches and charismatic Christians hold that the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the signs described in Acts continue today. Some in the Reformed tradition hold that the signs and the apostolic office were unique to this period, serving to confirm the apostles' message (cessationism and continuationism). The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Anglicanism emphasize apostolic succession, the continuation of apostolic authority through the episcopate. Many Protestant churches hold that the apostles' teaching is carried forward through Scripture.