Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kat]

I used the timeline Ray put together in a Bible study ( http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,7500.0.html ) and transcript of How We Got The Bible ( http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,5815.0.html ) and added a lot of dates to get a guideline of major Biblical/historical events, to help get a prespective of things. Thought I would share this, it might be helpful to someone else. The dates are from internet search of many sources, so are not certain, but tried to find more than one source for them.



TIMELINE FOR MAJOR EVENTS IN SCRIPTURES

Adam and Eve 4000 B.C.
Cain murders Abel, 3900- B.C.              
Wheel is invented in 3700 B.C.
Methuselah is born in 3250-B.C.            
Adam dies age 930, 3000+B.C.              
Noah is born in 2885 B.C.
Building Great Pyramids of Giza, largest in the world, 2575-2150 B.C
Noah's flood [Methuselah dies at 969], 2285 B.C
Babel, languages confused, 2150+ B.C.          
Abraham born in 1995 B.C.                
Noah dies age 950 [500 pre&post flood], 1935 B.C.
Sodom & cities burned around 1900- B.C.
Isaac [Abraham, at 100 yrs old, has first son] born in 1895 B.C.
Jacob & Esau born in 1835 B.C.
Jacob & Leah have 6 sons in 7 yrs - first children of Israel 1777 B.C.
Joseph viceroy of Egypt [famine ends], 1700 B.C.
Israel prospers in Egypt for 150 yrs, 1600 B.C.          
Israel slaves of Egypt for 175 yrs, 1450 B.C.
King 'Tut' reigns 9 yrs, 1350 B.C.      
Moses leads exodus [receives Ten Commandments], 1275 B.C.
Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan. Israel invades Canaan and walls of Jericho fall, 1234 B.C.        
Philistines in Canaan, 1190 B.C.            
Samson is born in 1090 B.C.
Samuel leads Israel for 40 yrs, 1050- B.C.
David born at Bethlehem in 1034 B.C
Saul first king of Israel in 1025 B.C.

King David attacks and captures Jerusalem, it becomes City of David and capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, he rules for 40 yrs., 1000+ B.C.

David dies at age 69, 965 B.C.
Solomon rules 40 yrs, begins building first Temple, but turns all Israel to idolatry, 935 B.C.
  
Elijah & Baal priests, 860+ B.C.
Greek writer Homer, 800 B.C.

Jonah (Ben Amittai), sent to prophesy the destruction of Assyria, flees on a ship, was swallowed by a fish for 3 days and 3 nights, 777 B.C.
    
Israel falls to Assyria, 712 B.C.
Era of Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah 600 B.C.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 600 B.C.

Jerusalem was conquered in 605 BC, 597BC and 587 BC. The first destruction of the Temple occurred in 587 by Nebuchadnezzar. In the subsequent exile of the Jews to Babylon, some of the Jews fell under the influence of Persian beliefs of dualism and Zoroastrianism and hades/hell.
                                  
The Buddha, a spiritual teacher from ancient India and the historical founder of Buddhism. A majority of twentieth-century historians date his lifetime from 563-483 B.C.

Confucius a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, 551-479 B.C.

When Cyrus conquered Babylon, he allowed Israel and Judah to return to their land in 539 B.C

Zechariah calls for new Temple in 520 B.C and the Jewish Temple was rebuilt seventy years after it was destroyed, starting the second Temple period, in 515 B.C.

Completion of original Hebrew manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament, 500 B.C.

Esther, Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Xerxes I). The history of Esther begins in 462 B.C.

Worship restored by Malachi, Ezra & Nehemiah in 450 B.C.

Nehemiah is the appointed governor of Judah, and was given orders from the King of Persia to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls in 444 B.C.

Socrates a classical Greek Athenian philosopher died in 399 B.C.
Books of OT are called Scripture by 350 B.C.  
Plato of Athens, died in 347 B.C.
      
Alexander the Great conquers Palestine peacefully (Egypt rules Palestine until 200 B.C., many Jews in Egypt). The Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and its religious services stopped, Judaism was effectively outlawed, 333 B.C.

Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain the 39 Old Testament books and 14 Apocrypha books, 200 B.C.

Antiochus III of Syria conquers Palestine, 200 B.C.
Antiochus IV defukes Temple - burns the Law and dedicates it to Zeus, 167 B.C.

Antiochus V rescinds decree against Jewish Law and Temple is rededicated, Hanukkah, 164 B.C.

Roman Empire rules Judea, 64 B.C.
Julius Caesar is appointed dictator of the Roman Republic, 45 B.C.

Herod the Great was appointed king of the Jews by the Roman senate in 40-39 B.C.

Herod expands the Temple Mount and rebuilds the Temple including the construction of the Western Wall. It became known as Herod's Temple in 19 B.C.

John the Baptist is born, 4 B.C.
Jesus is presented at the Temple, 40 days after his birth in Bethlehem, 3-4 B.C.
The 12 year old Jesus travels to Jerusalem on Passover, 8 C.E.
Three year Ministry of Jesus, 28-30 C.E.

John the Baptist is imprisoned by Herod for denouncing his marriage, and John is later executed by beheading, 26-31 A.D.

Judas Iscariot, died by his own actions in 31 C.E.
Crucifixion - Resurrection - and Ascension of Jesus Christ, 31 C.E.
Pentecost, falls on the tenth day after Ascension, 31 C.E.

Apostolic Age of the Church 31-100 A.D.

Stephen was stoned to death by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus in Jerusalem in 30/34 A.D.

Conversion of Saul to Paul the Apostle, it is normally dated by researchers to 33-36 A.D.

Apostle James the greater, son of Zebedee, the first apostle to be martyred was put to death by sword shortly before the day of the Passover, in the year 44 A.D.

The Apostles held the Council of Jerusalem, the first Christian council, 50 A.D.

Apostle Philp, originally a disciple of John the Baptist was hanged from a tall pillar at Hierapolis, Phrygia. Some have it as late as 80 A.D., others have it at 54 A.D.
 
Apostle Bartholomew, surname was Mathanael, was crucified 59 A.D.
 
Apostle Matthew (or Levi) was killed with a havel that had a blade and spike in Nadabah in 60 A.D.
 
Apostle Barnabus, certain Jews coming to Syria and Salamis fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out and stoned him to death in 61 A.D.

Apostle James the Just (lesser), son of Alphaeus, was martyred at Jerusalem by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, then stoned and beaten while praying for his attackers, some have it as early as 50 A.D., others 62 A.D.

Simon surnamed Peter, brother of Andrew, was crucified (head downward) in 64/68 A.D.

Apostle Paul as a Roman citizen was exempt from crucifixion, thus was tortured and then beheaded by the Emperor Nero at Rome in 64 A.D.

Apostle Mark, pagans of the city of Alexandria placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead, in 68 A.D.

Apostle Andrew, brother of Peter, according to traditional accounts, he was crucified in Greece on a decussate (i.e., X-shaped) cross. Some have it as early as the year 60 A.D. others 70 A.D.

Fall of Jerusalem; (from 6 CE, Judea came under direct Roman rule as the province of Iudaea, eventually, the Jews rose against Roman rule in 66 CE in a revolt that was unsuccessful). Titus' siege succeeds and Jerusalem was destroyed and sacked and much of the population was killed or enslaved, March – September 70 A.D.
 
Apostle Thomas, Aramaic name was Didymus was pierced through with spears by four soldiers in India. Some have it as early as 40A.D., 72 A.D.
 
Apostle Jude, brother of James, was crucified in Edessa in 72 A.D.

Apostle Thaddeous, shot to death by arrows in 72 A.D.

Apostle Luke was 84 years old when idolaters tortured and hanged him from an olive tree in the town of Thebes, in Beothia of Greece, 74 A.D.

Matthias was chosen an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. Traditional accounts say he was stoned to death and beheaded at Colchis in 80 A.D.
 
Judas (Jude Thaddeus), the brother of James the Lesser. According to traditional accounts he was beaten to death, then beheaded in Persia, sometime before the end of the first century.
 
Apostle John (the Beloved), son of Zebedee and brother of James the Greater was banished to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea and subsequently freed and died a natural death at Ephesus in 101 A.D.

Simon the Zealot, according to legend was sawn in half at Suanir, Persia in 107 A.D.

Possibly the oldest translation from the Greek known is the Peshito/Peshitta (none of the originals exist, but there is a historian's quote from it, the earliest copy that they do have is from around the 5th century). It was translated from Greek into Syriac as early as 160-180 A.D.

Roman Persecution of the Church 100-313 A.D.

Age of Constantine 313-600 A.D.

In the year 313 Constantine ordered that a large number of Bibles be written to replace the ones that were destroyed when the Jews and Christians were being persecuted by Rome. Constantine ruled over a pagan Rome and was the head of the most popular pagan religion until being baptized a Christian on his deathbed. Constantine appointed the first bishops and Christianity became Romanized and many of the pagan traditions and beliefs became incorporated into the Christian teachings.

Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament (passed on for 200 years from Peter and John) which are today recognized as the canon of Scripture, in 315 A.D.

The First Council of Nicaea (first worldwide Christian council) in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) and convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The ban on Jews entering the city remains in force, accept once a year to pray at the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av. This is the date on which the city is generally taken to have been renamed Jerusalem, 325 A.D.

Codex Sinaiticus Greek Manuscript, the first Greek manuscript of the complete New Testament, also includes the translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, 350 A.D.

Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts produced, which contain all 80 books (39 Old Test + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test), 382 A.D.

Hell remained an open question and not an official teaching until the age of Justinian and the Council of Constantinople where universal salvation was denounced and eternal damnation was embraced and made church dogma, 553 A.D.

Dark Ages 600-1517 A.D.

The Muslims built the Dome of the Rock on the location of the Jewish Temple 687 A.D.

Great Schism - the Patriarch of Jerusalem joined the Eastern Orthodox Church, under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. All Christians in the Holy Land came under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, setting in place a key cause of the Crusades, 1054 A.D.

At the Council of Clermont Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade, 1095 A.D.


Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), by Dante Alighieri; Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso, an epic poem written between 1308 and his death in 1321 A.D.

For exactly one thousand years, Latin was virtually the only available translation until Wycliffe‘s English translation (Complete Bible; All 80 Books, translation out of the Vulgate) in 1382 A.D.

Fall of Constantinople, overrun by Ottoman Empire, 1453 A.D.
 
Gutenberg Bible, first printed Bible, by Johann Gutenberg in 1455 A.D.

Michelangelo frescoes the Sistine Chapel's vaulted ceiling in 1508-1512 A.D.

William Tyndale's New Testament; the first New Testament in the English language, draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, and the first to take advantage of the new medium of print which allowed for its wide distribution in 1526 A.D.

Lutheranism is officially adopted by reformation in 1528. First doctrinal statement of the Lutheran Church in 1530 A.D.

Myles Coverdale's Bible; the first complete Bible printed in the English language (Tyndale’s protégés finished Tyndale’s Old Testament (after Tyndale was put to death) and producted the complete 80 books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha), 1535 A.D.

The Geneva Bible Printed; The first English language Bible to add numbered verses to each chapter (80 Books)1560 A.D., became the Bishop‘s Bible of 1568 A.D.

Jamestown, Virginia founded in 1607 A.D.

Baptist Church founded by John Smyth, 1609 A.D.

The King James Bible printed; originally with all 80 Books. The Apocrypha was officially removed in 1885 leaving only 66 books, 1611 A.D.

George Fox founds the Quaker movement in 1648 A.D.

Methodist movement, led by John Wesley and his hymn-writing brother Charles, begins in 1738 A.D.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism) founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in April 6, 1830 A.D.

Seventh-day Adventist Church officially formed in 1863 A.D.

Jehovah's Witnesses founded in 1931 A.D.

Herbert W. Armstrong founded Radio Church of God, 1934 A.D.

The Pentecostal, the earliest date given for the beginning of this movement is January 1, 1901

Bible-truths.com, L. Ray Smith and Dennis Vogel started this website, 2000 A.D.

[onelovedread]

Thanks Kat. This is very useful to me.
Onelove

[Linny]

Wow! Thanks Kat.

[jingle52]

Thanks for the additional info Kat, it's really interesting reading. Will print and keep in my (now very delapidated Bible)!
God's Blessings

[Kat]

Just wanted to mention an error you may want to correct, if you have printed this list out.

I realized that I had put John the Baptist's death at 36 A.D. (from Wikipedia) and that would have put it after Jesus' death. We know that can not be right since John died before Christ's crucifixion (30 A.D.). So I corrected that.

Kat

[Kat]

A date was added; Pentecost, falls on the tenth day after Ascension, 30 C.E.

If anyone has thought of an important date that should be added. let me know.

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[Kat]

I wanted to add the dates of the writing of the books of the New testament on the timeline. But dates in my searches were all over the place, with broad estimates. So I decided to use one source to have some degree of consistency. So this can give you some idea of when they may have been written. This was in no way intended for disputing who the writers may have been.


Matthew--
Traditionally ascribed to Matthew the Evangelist, a tax collector who became an Apostle of Jesus. The majority of scholars date the gospel between the years 70C.E. and 100C.E. A minority argue for an even earlier date and favor the years 40–45C.E.

Mark--
The author Mark (the traveling companion of Paul), the apostle of Christ, and the interpreter of Peter. Written in Rome, (original ending apparently lost but added c.400). Most scholars date the gospel between 65-70C.E.

Luke--
Written by Luke (a companion of Paul). Paul described Luke as “the beloved physican,” and scholars have long found evidence of technical medical terminology used in the book. While some scholars argue for a pre-70 date for its writing, most scholars place the date 80-90C.E.

John--
John the Divine and Son of Zebedee, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. The book includes a substantial amount of material that Jesus shared with the disciples only. There are scholars who are of the opinion that John was composed in stages (probably two or three), beginning at an unknown time (50-70?) and culminating in a final text around 95-100C.E.

Acts--
The preface of Acts explicitly references "my former book" about the life of Jesus— we know as the Gospel of Luke. The consensus of scholarship holds that the author was an educated Greek Gentile man writing for an audience of Gentile Christians. Conservative Christian scholars believes the book was written between 60-62, liberal scholarship tends to put it at somewhere between 85 and 100C.E.

Romans--
Is one of the letters of Apostle Paul. It seems to have been composed when Paul was at the close of his second visit to Greece, probably written at Corinth early in 58C.E.

1 Corinthians & 2 Corinthians--
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians church, he was the founder of the church in Corinth, spending more than a year there. This letters was written, around 55C.E.

Galatians--
A letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of early Christian communities in the Roman province of Galatia in central Anatolia. Paul's letter could have been written on his first missionary journey in southern Galatia quite early, perhaps in 48 or 49. Or during his second missionary journey and would have been written after the Council of Jerusalem, 57-58C.E.

Ephesians--
Its writer Paul remained in Ephesus "three years," because it was the largest city in Roman Asia and from which the Gospel spread abroad. Paul is traditionally supposed to have written the letter while he was imprisoned in Rome around 63C.E.

Philippians--
This letter was written in expression of Paul's gratitude to the Philippians for their consistent support of his ministry, both materially and spiritually. The letter was clearly written during one of Paul's imprisonments, probably at Rome in the early 60sC.E.

Colossians--
Traditionally this book is believed to be written primarily by the Apostle Paul and also attributed to his disciple Timothy and Silas, to the church in Colossae. Written from Ephesus its date is estimated to be anywhere from the mid 50s to as late as 62C.E.

1 Thessalonians--
Primarily Paul, also Timothy and silas to the Christian church at Thessalonika (modern Salonica, Greece), probably written at Corinth in approximately 51-52C.E.

2 Thessalonians--
Paul's Second (follow-up) epistle to the Thessalonians coming shortly after 1 Thessalonians, in the later 50sC.E.

1 Timothy--
Paul is traditionally recognized as the author and Timothy was much loved by Paul, who was his mentor. First of the pastoral epistles, it was most likely written toward the end of Paul's ministry, 62-67C.E.

2 Timothy--
Second Pastoral Epistles attributed to Paul. It is believed to have been written during Paul's Roman imprisonment, near the end of his life sometime in 67C.E.

Titus--
The last of the pastoral Epistles, a letter from Paul to his spiritual son Titus. According to the superscription of this epistle Paul was in Epirus from which place he wrote to Titus, about 66 or 67C.E.

Philemon--
The shortest of Paul's letters, consisting of only 335 words in the original Greek text, and 25 verses in modern English translations. Estimates for the letters date range from the mid 50s early 60sC.E.

Hebrews--
Though traditionally credited to the Apostle Paul, the letter is anonymous. Though far from certain Hebrews has been dated to shortly after the Pauline epistles were collected and began to circulate 95C.E.

James--
The author identifies himself as James, traditionally understood as James the Just, the brother of Jesus. The writing of the epistle would be Jerusalem, where James was residing before his martyrdom in 62C.E.

1 Peter--
The author identifies himself in the opening verse as "Peter, an apostle of Jesus," the date of this epistle is probably between 60-64C.E.

2 Peter--
This epistle presciently declares that it is written shortly before the apostle's death, a probable date prior to Peter's death in 65-67C.E.

1 John--
These epistles (1,2 and 3) are traditionally held to have been written by Apostle John, also known as John the son of Zebedee, probably at Ephesus when the writer was in advanced age. It likely was written in Ephesus about 90-110C.E.

2 John--
The shortest book of the Bible, in terms of verses (13), and the second shortest in terms of words. The latest it could have been written was 117C.E.

3 John--
Its second-shortest book by number of verses, and its shortest in regard to number of words. A relatively late work, for John was believed to have lived a very long life, and was also the youngest of the original disciples of Jesus. Early estimates have the book at around 90 and later ones at no later than 120C.E.

Jude--
The epistle identifies itself as being written by "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James." If this is James the Just, this Jude would be Jesus' own brother or half brother Judah, but there is debate if it might be "Judah Jacobi" also called Thaddeus. It is a brief book of only a single chapter with 25 verses. Many date it between 66 to 90C.E.

Revelation--
The Revelation of Jesus Christ… unto His servant John. John was exiled on Patmos in the Aegean archipelago during the reign of Emperor Domitian, and wrote the Book of Revelation there. Some contend for an early date for its writing during the reign of Nero, 68 or 69, others place it near the very end of Domitian's reign, around 95 or 96C.E.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/New_Testament