Timeline

The maps on the location pages answer the question where am I? This page answers its companion: when am I? One century holds the whole New Testament -- from a birth in Bethlehem near the end of Herod the Great's reign to an old man's visions on Patmos -- and seeing the events in order changes how the letters read. Romans sits between the Corinthian letters and the arrest at Jerusalem; Revelation stands a full lifetime after Pentecost.

A word of honesty before the chart: almost every date here is approximate. Ancient sources rarely hand us a year, so scholars triangulate from rulers' reigns, festivals, and the letters' own travel notes. Ranges below are shown as ranges on purpose. This chart follows the AD 30 crucifixion date; the main alternative, AD 33, would shift the ministry and the church's first years about three years later without changing the shape of the story.

Rulers

The character pages keep referring to emperors, Herods, and governors; here is where each one sits. The reigns overlap the story at every point -- a census under Augustus, a trial under Tiberius and Pilate, an appeal to Nero.

Emperors of Rome

• Caesar Augustus (27 BC - AD 14) -- The census decree of Luke 2:1 -- emperor when Jesus was born.
• Tiberius (AD 14-37) -- Emperor through the ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection (Luke 3:1).
• Caligula (AD 37-41) -- Emperor during the church's first years of scattering and growth.
• Claudius (AD 41-54) -- Expelled the Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2), sending Priscilla and Aquila to Corinth.
• Nero (AD 54-68) -- The Caesar to whom Paul appealed; launched the persecution of AD 64.
• Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68-69) -- Galba, Otho, and Vitellius rose and fell within months of Nero's death.
• Vespasian (AD 69-79) -- Began the siege of Jerusalem as a general; emperor when the city fell.
• Titus (AD 79-81) -- Destroyed the temple in AD 70 while still his father's general.
• Domitian (AD 81-96) -- The emperor of Revelation's world; John's exile is usually placed in his reign.
• Nerva and Trajan (AD 96-117) -- The empire beyond the chart's edge; John's final years fall here.

Judea

• Herod the Great (37-4 BC) -- King when Jesus was born; ordered the massacre at Bethlehem. Read in Week 2
• Archelaus (4 BC - AD 6) -- The son Joseph feared on returning from Egypt (Matthew 2:22); deposed for Roman governors.
• Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36) -- The governor who sentenced Jesus to the cross. Read in Week 18
• Herod Agrippa I (AD 41-44) -- Executed James and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12). Read in Week 24
• Felix (AD 52-59) -- Held Paul at Caesarea for two years, hoping for a bribe. Read in Week 39
• Festus (AD 59-62) -- Heard Paul's appeal to Caesar and sent him to Rome. Read in Week 39

Galilee and the North

• Herod Antipas (Galilee and Perea) (4 BC - AD 39) -- Beheaded John the Baptist; the "fox" who questioned Jesus at His trial. Read in Week 8
• Herod Agrippa II (northern territories) (AD 50-93) -- "Almost persuaded" by Paul's defense at Caesarea (Acts 26:28). Read in Week 39

The Life of Jesus

• Birth of Jesus (~5 BC) -- In Bethlehem, near the end of Herod the Great's reign. Read in Week 2
• The hidden years (~4 BC - AD 26) -- Egypt, Nazareth, the trade of a carpenter -- thirty quiet years the Gospels pass over in a verse.
• Baptism of Jesus (~AD 27) -- By John in the Jordan; the public ministry begins. Read in Week 3
• The public ministry (~AD 27-30) -- Roughly three years -- Galilee first, then the long road to Jerusalem. Read in Week 5
• Crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (AD 30) -- Passover, AD 30 -- the hinge of the whole chart, and of history. Read in Week 19

The Church

• Pentecost (AD 30) -- The Spirit poured out in Jerusalem fifty days after the resurrection. Read in Week 21
• Stephen's martyrdom and the scattering (~AD 33) -- The first martyr; persecution scatters the church into Judea and Samaria. Read in Week 22
• Paul's conversion (~AD 33-36) -- On the Damascus road; the persecutor becomes the apostle. Read in Week 23
• The Gentile breakthrough at Caesarea (~AD 40) -- Peter and Cornelius -- the door opens to the nations. Read in Week 24
• First missionary journey (~AD 46-48) -- Barnabas and Paul through Cyprus and Galatia. Read in Week 24
• The Jerusalem council (~AD 49) -- Acts 15 -- the Gentiles are received without the yoke of the law. Read in Week 26
• Second missionary journey (~AD 49-52) -- The gospel crosses to Macedonia -- Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth. Read in Week 26
• Third missionary journey (~AD 52-57) -- Three years centered on Ephesus, ending with the collection for Jerusalem. Read in Week 29
• Arrest at Jerusalem; imprisonment at Caesarea (AD 57-59) -- Seized in the temple; two years before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa. Read in Week 38
• Voyage to Rome; house arrest (AD 59-62) -- Shipwreck at Malta, then two years preaching unhindered in Rome. Read in Week 39
• The Neronian persecution (AD 64) -- After the great fire of Rome; tradition places Peter's and Paul's deaths in its wake.
• The fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) -- The temple destroyed, as Jesus had foretold on the Mount of Olives. Read in Week 16
• John's exile on Patmos (~AD 95) -- "I was on the island called Patmos" (Revelation 1:9) -- Revelation is written. Read in Week 51

When the Books Were Written

The New Testament was not written in the order it is bound. James likely came first and Revelation last, with Paul's letters spilling out of the journeys and imprisonments charted above. Wide bars mean genuine scholarly uncertainty, not slow writing.

• James (~AD 45-48) -- Possibly the earliest New Testament book, from Jesus' brother in Jerusalem. Read in Week 23
• Galatians (~AD 48-49) -- To the churches of the first journey, around the time of the Jerusalem council. Read in Week 25
• 1-2 Thessalonians (~AD 50-51) -- From Corinth on the second journey, months after leaving Thessalonica. Read in Week 27
• 1-2 Corinthians (~AD 54-56) -- From Ephesus and Macedonia during the third journey. Read in Week 29
• The Gospel of Mark (~AD 55-70) -- Widely held the earliest Gospel, carrying Peter's preaching.
• Romans (~AD 57) -- From Corinth, between the Corinthian letters and the arrest at Jerusalem. Read in Week 35
• Matthew, Luke, and Acts (~AD 60-85) -- Scholarly dating spans decades; shown honestly as a wide range.
• Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (~AD 60-62) -- From the Roman house arrest at the end of Acts. Read in Week 40
• Hebrews (~AD 60-69) -- Written while the temple sacrifices still burned -- so before AD 70. Read in Week 46
• 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy (~AD 62-67) -- After Acts closes; 2 Timothy is Paul's farewell from a final imprisonment. Read in Week 43
• 1-2 Peter (~AD 62-67) -- From Rome ("Babylon"), in the shadow of Nero's persecution. Read in Week 48
• Jude (~AD 65-80) -- From another brother of Jesus; its date is among the least certain. Read in Week 49
• The Gospel and letters of John (~AD 85-95) -- The apostle's late testimony from Ephesus. Read in Week 50
• Revelation (~AD 95) -- From Patmos under Domitian -- the New Testament's closing word. Read in Week 51