Chronology of the NT (part 1)
Introduction. The dates we learned in history classes were based on the system of AD and BC. Every historical fact occurring in the past 2022 years is in the AD era, while everything that occurred prior to that is in the BC era. AD is derived from the Latin, “Anno Domini” which is translated: “in the year of the Lord.” Everything before Jesus was born is called BC which means “before Christ.” This should make a study of the chronology of Christ’s birth, death, burial and resurrection very easy.
It should be this simple: Jesus was born in 1 AD, began His ministry at about the age of 30 and three years later was crucified at the age of 33. Thus Jesus’ resurrection and ascension along with the beginning of the church should also be 33. Yet it’s not that simple. The more documents we find from that era of Roman history, the more complicated dating the birth of Christ has become.
It is very important to remember, God did NOT give dates. No inspired writer used Christ’s birth to mark the beginning of a new era. This is not an error in the Scriptures. It is clearly a flawed creation of human wisdom. God never asked man to base a calendar on the birth of His son. God didn’t even reveal enough in the Scriptures to date Jesus’ birth.
The idea of AD – “in the year of the Lord” did not exist prior to 525. A pope named Saint John I, requested that a monk, Dionysius Exiguus, find the true date of Easter. To fulfill that request he sought to fix the year of Christ’s birth and made that the beginning of his calculations. At that time he had no intention or thought of creating a new way of dating the events of the world. Although he was a scholar, accomplished mathematician, and astronomer, he did not have access to enough information to accurately accomplish what he had set out to do. His work, though unchallenged for centuries, has now been partially discreditied by 1500 years of archeological discoveries and historical documents. The date he chose to make 1 AD was incorrect.
The most prominent discovery undermining his research is the date of the death of Herod the king. Scripture is clear: “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.” Joseph was warned that “Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him,” and the family remained in Egypt “until the death of Herod.” (Mt. 2:1-21). Herod was alive when Jesus was born, he was alive when the wise men came to Jerusalem and he was alive when all the infants in Bethlehem were killed. Inspired Scripture revealed that Jesus was alive when Herod’s died.
Yet all historical proof points to Herod’s death in 4 BC or at the latest 1 BC. Since Jesus was born at least 1 and possible 2 or even 3 years prior to Herod’s death, it is impossible for Jesus to have been born in 1 AD. With only the dates of Roman history as our guide, Jesus was actually born in either 6 - 4 BC or 3 - 1 BC. Thus 2022 may actually be 2023, 24, 25, 26, 27 or even 2028. Yet any attempt to now change the dating system we have inherited, even though incorrect, would create chaos. Every date we have learned would become wrong if now added 1 to 6 years to reconcile them so Jesus birth actually did occur in 1 AD.
Never forget! This is not a problem of Scripture! It was created by human error. Any attempt to reconcile Roman history to events in Scripture is extremely complicated. First, the Roman day started at midnight while the Jewish day started at sunset. The Roman year started in January but the Jewish year begins in March or April. Jewish months change from year to year since their months were based on the waxing and waning of the moon. Seeking to reconcile all this, more than 500 years later without all the information was nearly impossible and Dionysius failed to do it right.
The supposition Jesus was born in 1 AD is incorrect. He was born a few years earlier. What does this do to the year of His death? Once again, we enter a complicated realm of conjecture and human wisdom. Scriptures do not contain this information. They only give a few general facts that are difficult to put dates upon. First, Scripture states “Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age.” (Lk. 3:23). Hence, Jesus was approximately 30 - a few months or even years under or over and not a fixed age. Second, there is no Scripture to reveal the length of Jesus’ ministry. While we often hear 3 years, it is based on the conjecture that John listed all the Passovers Jesus observed. John only mentioned three Passovers (Jn. 2:13; 6:4; 11:55). But that doesn’t prove anything conclusively. There may have been other Passovers Jesus observed that the Holy Spirit saw no need to record. His ministry might have been three years, but it could easily have been longer. With nothing more than these Scriptures, we can only discuss the chronology of birth and ministry in relative terms. Although most scholars fix Jesus’ crucifixion at either 30 or 33 AD, the truth is, since we have no Scripture, there is no way we can be absolutely certain.
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the book of Acts. This means we are faced with similar issues of chronology. Many teachers still use 33 AD while others use 30 AD as the date Acts begins. But although we can’t speak with certainty about the beginning of Acts, the Holy Spirit did make at least three historical references to Roman history that allow us to fix dates. The first was the record of Herod’s death in Acts 12. There is no doubt Herod died in 44 AD. The second is the reference to “when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia” in Acts 18:12. He was in that office from 52-53 AD. Finally, the record that “after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix” in Acts 24:27. Felix was the procurator (governor) of Judea from 52-60 AD. Using these three fixed dates, we can fit the events in the book of Acts with Roman history. Yet once again it is based on Roman history and not Scripture. So we are wise to say “about this time.”
Although future discoveries may yet again force us to change the dates, the chart below gives us the best guesses and suppositions we have access to today.
Year: | 30-33 | 44 | 52-53 | 60 | 63 | 70 |
Event: | Church | Herod’s | Gallio in | Felix leaves | Paul in | Jerusalem |
| Begins | Death | Corinth | Caesarea | Rome | Destroyed |
Duration: | 11-14 years | 8 years | 6-7 years | 4-5 years | 7 years |
Acts ch.: | 1-12 | 13-18 | 19-24 | 25-28 |
Conclusion. All that is recorded in the book of Acts, from the beginning of the church to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome occurred within a 30 to 33-year period. This chronology helps us place the events and books Paul wrote into a clear perspective that helps us understand the life of the apostle Paul. We will have one more article to discuss how the chronology of Paul’s life fits into the history of the church. If we wonder why God was not more concerned about dates, keep one thing foremost in our minds:
It should be this simple: Jesus was born in 1 AD, began His ministry at about the age of 30 and three years later was crucified at the age of 33. Thus Jesus’ resurrection and ascension along with the beginning of the church should also be 33. Yet it’s not that simple. The more documents we find from that era of Roman history, the more complicated dating the birth of Christ has become.
It is very important to remember, God did NOT give dates. No inspired writer used Christ’s birth to mark the beginning of a new era. This is not an error in the Scriptures. It is clearly a flawed creation of human wisdom. God never asked man to base a calendar on the birth of His son. God didn’t even reveal enough in the Scriptures to date Jesus’ birth.
The idea of AD – “in the year of the Lord” did not exist prior to 525. A pope named Saint John I, requested that a monk, Dionysius Exiguus, find the true date of Easter. To fulfill that request he sought to fix the year of Christ’s birth and made that the beginning of his calculations. At that time he had no intention or thought of creating a new way of dating the events of the world. Although he was a scholar, accomplished mathematician, and astronomer, he did not have access to enough information to accurately accomplish what he had set out to do. His work, though unchallenged for centuries, has now been partially discreditied by 1500 years of archeological discoveries and historical documents. The date he chose to make 1 AD was incorrect.
The most prominent discovery undermining his research is the date of the death of Herod the king. Scripture is clear: “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.” Joseph was warned that “Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him,” and the family remained in Egypt “until the death of Herod.” (Mt. 2:1-21). Herod was alive when Jesus was born, he was alive when the wise men came to Jerusalem and he was alive when all the infants in Bethlehem were killed. Inspired Scripture revealed that Jesus was alive when Herod’s died.
Yet all historical proof points to Herod’s death in 4 BC or at the latest 1 BC. Since Jesus was born at least 1 and possible 2 or even 3 years prior to Herod’s death, it is impossible for Jesus to have been born in 1 AD. With only the dates of Roman history as our guide, Jesus was actually born in either 6 - 4 BC or 3 - 1 BC. Thus 2022 may actually be 2023, 24, 25, 26, 27 or even 2028. Yet any attempt to now change the dating system we have inherited, even though incorrect, would create chaos. Every date we have learned would become wrong if now added 1 to 6 years to reconcile them so Jesus birth actually did occur in 1 AD.
Never forget! This is not a problem of Scripture! It was created by human error. Any attempt to reconcile Roman history to events in Scripture is extremely complicated. First, the Roman day started at midnight while the Jewish day started at sunset. The Roman year started in January but the Jewish year begins in March or April. Jewish months change from year to year since their months were based on the waxing and waning of the moon. Seeking to reconcile all this, more than 500 years later without all the information was nearly impossible and Dionysius failed to do it right.
The supposition Jesus was born in 1 AD is incorrect. He was born a few years earlier. What does this do to the year of His death? Once again, we enter a complicated realm of conjecture and human wisdom. Scriptures do not contain this information. They only give a few general facts that are difficult to put dates upon. First, Scripture states “Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age.” (Lk. 3:23). Hence, Jesus was approximately 30 - a few months or even years under or over and not a fixed age. Second, there is no Scripture to reveal the length of Jesus’ ministry. While we often hear 3 years, it is based on the conjecture that John listed all the Passovers Jesus observed. John only mentioned three Passovers (Jn. 2:13; 6:4; 11:55). But that doesn’t prove anything conclusively. There may have been other Passovers Jesus observed that the Holy Spirit saw no need to record. His ministry might have been three years, but it could easily have been longer. With nothing more than these Scriptures, we can only discuss the chronology of birth and ministry in relative terms. Although most scholars fix Jesus’ crucifixion at either 30 or 33 AD, the truth is, since we have no Scripture, there is no way we can be absolutely certain.
The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the book of Acts. This means we are faced with similar issues of chronology. Many teachers still use 33 AD while others use 30 AD as the date Acts begins. But although we can’t speak with certainty about the beginning of Acts, the Holy Spirit did make at least three historical references to Roman history that allow us to fix dates. The first was the record of Herod’s death in Acts 12. There is no doubt Herod died in 44 AD. The second is the reference to “when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia” in Acts 18:12. He was in that office from 52-53 AD. Finally, the record that “after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix” in Acts 24:27. Felix was the procurator (governor) of Judea from 52-60 AD. Using these three fixed dates, we can fit the events in the book of Acts with Roman history. Yet once again it is based on Roman history and not Scripture. So we are wise to say “about this time.”
Although future discoveries may yet again force us to change the dates, the chart below gives us the best guesses and suppositions we have access to today.
Year: | 30-33 | 44 | 52-53 | 60 | 63 | 70 |
Event: | Church | Herod’s | Gallio in | Felix leaves | Paul in | Jerusalem |
| Begins | Death | Corinth | Caesarea | Rome | Destroyed |
Duration: | 11-14 years | 8 years | 6-7 years | 4-5 years | 7 years |
Acts ch.: | 1-12 | 13-18 | 19-24 | 25-28 |
Conclusion. All that is recorded in the book of Acts, from the beginning of the church to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome occurred within a 30 to 33-year period. This chronology helps us place the events and books Paul wrote into a clear perspective that helps us understand the life of the apostle Paul. We will have one more article to discuss how the chronology of Paul’s life fits into the history of the church. If we wonder why God was not more concerned about dates, keep one thing foremost in our minds:
- But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2Pet. 3:8).