Apostles Timeline 

(Clicking on an event in the above timeline will bring related information to this lower section.  Click here if you do not see a timeline above in a few seconds.)

God's tender care and love for each person can be seen even in the way He cared for His early church.  Even when one of His apostles was killed by wicked men God did not just "wipe out" everyone involved.  "...all things work together for good to them that love God..." (Romans 8:28)

Please understand that it is not possible to create an accurate timeline that shows exactly what happened and when, because the Bible does not tell us.  The above timeline shows the order of events for four of the Apostles and attempts to relate those to other events that may have happened about the same time.  As an example, Dorcus being raised to life by Peter may have come before Philip met the Eunuch of Ethiopia (just the reverse of what is shown above).  The Bible does not tell us which came first, but the information on each event should be accurate regardless of where it falls in the above timeline.

The dictionary gives the following meaning to the word "apostle":

   a·pos·tle (-p¼s"…l) n. 1. Apostle One of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus to preach the gospel. 2. One who pioneers a cause. [From Greek apostolos, messenger.]

As you can see, an apostle is not always just one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, but "one who pioneers a cause" is also considered an apostle.  In this case it is the cause of Jesus Christ and saving souls.  That is why Paul is considered an apostle.  He was one of those who pioneered the cause of Christianity even though he was not one of the 12 disciples of Jesus.

It will also help to know one more thing when trying to understand the part of the timeline referring to James. The James in the above timeline is the brother of John, but there was another James who headed the general council. 

To begin your study, you are encouraged to read:


 

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If the information you see above does not look anything like the graphic below, click here.  You should see something like this, showing a lot more information at one time.