Birth Of The Apostolic Age

The history of early Christianity spans from the death of Jesus Christ and birth of the Apostolic Age about the year 30 to the First Council of Nicaea in 325.

The first part of the period, when some of the Twelve Apostles are believed to have been still alive, is called the Apostolic Age. The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple, Jewish sect. During the Apostolic Age, Paul of Tarsus had great success spreading the religion to gentiles. Early Christianity gradually grew apart from Judaism and established itself as a predominantly gentile religion.

The Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity is traditionally the period of the Twelve Apostles, dating from the Crucifixion of Jesus (c. 26–36) and the Great Commission until the death of John the Apostle (c. 110). Since it is believed that John lived so long and was the last of the twelve to die, there is some overlap between the "Apostolic Age" and the first Apostolic Fathers, whose writings are used to mark the beginning of the Ante-Nicene Period. 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.

According to most scholars, the followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic Jewish sect 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. Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Saint Paul, persecuted the early Jewish Christians, then converted 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. After the Destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70, Jerusalem ceased to be the center of the Christian church. Christianity established itself as a predominantly Gentile religion that spanned the Roman Empire and beyond.