The Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity is traditionally the period of the Twelve Apostles, dating from the Great Commission of the Apostles by the resurrected Jesus in Jerusalem c. 33 until the death of the last Apostle, believed to be John the Apostle in Anatolia c. 100. Traditionally, the Apostles are believed to have dispersed from Jerusalem, founding the Apostolic Sees. It holds special significance in Christian tradition as the age of the direct apostles of Jesus Christ. The major primary source for the “Apostolic Age” is the Acts of the Apostles, but its historical accuracy is questioned by some.
According to most scholars, the followers of Jesus were composed principally from apocalyptic Jewish sects during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century. Some Early Christian groups were strictly Jewish, such as the Ebionites and the early-church leaders in Jerusalem, collectively called Jewish Christians. During this period, they were led by James the Just. According to Acts 9:1-2, they described themselves as ‘disciples of the Lord’ and [followers] ‘of the Way’, and according to Acts 11:26 a settled community of disciples at Antioch were the first to be called ‘Christians’.
Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle, persecuted the early Jewish Christians, such as Saint Stephen, then converted and adopted the title of “Apostle to the Gentiles” and started proselytizing among the Gentiles. He persuaded the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow Gentile converts exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Apostolic Age, Ante-Nicene, anti-nicene, Ante-Nicean, anti-nicean, before Nicene, Before Nicean, Before Nicea, Before Nicaea, Before Nicean creed, Nicean creed, Nicene creed, Before Nicene creed, Early church, Early christianity, Prenicene, Pre-nicene, Pre-nicean, Prenicean, early church father
Bible reference(s): 1Ti 4:1, 1Ti 6:3, 2Ti 4:3
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Apostolic Age,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.