Apostolic Age

The Holy Spirit descends on the gathered disciples with rushing wind and tongues of fire. Peter preaches the first Christian sermon and 3,000 people are baptized — the birth of the church.

Saul of Tarsus, a fierce persecutor of Christians, encounters the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. Blinded and then healed, he becomes Paul the apostle — the greatest missionary and theologian of the early church.

Paul and Barnabas embark from Antioch on the first organized Christian mission, preaching in Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They establish churches among both Jews and Gentiles.

The apostles and elders meet to decide whether Gentile converts must follow Mosaic Law. They conclude that Gentiles are saved by grace through faith without circumcision — a pivotal decision for the church's universality.

Paul writes his great epistles to churches across the Roman Empire — Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians — laying the theological foundation of Christianity.

After appeal to Caesar, Paul arrives in Rome under house arrest, where he continues preaching and writing. His letters from prison (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon) are among the most beloved in Scripture.

Roman legions under Titus destroy Jerusalem and the Second Temple in AD 70, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24. The Temple has never been rebuilt, and this event fundamentally reshaped Judaism.