Notes on Annals of the World (1658) by James
Ussher. Numbers refer to paragraphs in Ussher’s text.
5 BC: Saul, later known as the apostle Paul, is born in Tarsus (Anatolia) perhaps around the same time that Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
33 AD, May 24: Day of Pentecost, birthday of the Church (6510).
The death of Stephen—the first martyr.
Those stoning him laid their cloaks at the feet of Saul. Saul was a Pharisee
from Tarsus in Cilicia. He was in Jerusalem to study theology at the Synagogue
of Cilicia and to learn from Gamaliel
(6520).
34: A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem begins. Saul participates
enthusiastically in it (6524).
35: Jesus confronts Saul on the road to Damascus and Saul becomes his
witness instead of his persecutor (6533). Saul goes to Damascus, leaves for
Arabia (6539), then returns (6540).
37: Saul is forced to flee Damascus by
night to avoid being murdered by Jews who oppose him just as he once opposed
Christians (6586).
Saul returns to Jerusalem and speaks
with Peter, James, and Barnabas (6587). Because Jews in Jerusalem also planned
to murder him, some Christian Jews take Saul to Caesarea and put on a ship to Tarsus (6590).
38: Peter visits the churches in Judea,
Samaria, and Galilee. In Lydda, he heals a man named Aeneas; in Joppa, he
brings a woman named Tabitha back to life (6600).
39: Pontius Pilate commits suicide (6609).
40: Peter visits the household of Cornelius,
a Gentile, and, after the Holy Spirit descends upon the whole group, baptizes
them (6658).
Greek
Christian Jews from Jerusalem preach the Good News of Jesus to Gentiles in
Antioch and, in response, some of these become disciples. The church in
Jerusalem sends Barnabas to speak with the growing church there (6664).
43: Barnabas travels to Tarsus to bring
Saul to Antioch (6667).
44: In response to challenges caused by
a famine, the church in Antioch have Barnabas and Saul take money to the church
in Jerusalem (6673).
Herod Agrippa, King of Judea, starts to
persecute Christian Jews (6674). He has James, son of Zebedee and brother of
John, beheaded (6676) and has Peter jailed during the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. An angel miraculously secures Peter’s release (6677). When the king is
later praised as a god, an angel of the one true god strikes him and he dies
(6678).
45: Barnabas and Saul are sent by the church in Antioch on their first missionary tour. They take John
Mark with them and sail to Cyprus (home of Barnabas) (6691). Following the
conversion of Sergius Paulus, ruler of the island, Saul becomes known as Paul.
When the
missionaries reach Anatolia, John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem
(6692). In Lystra, Paul is stoned and left for dead. A little later, he is
briefly taken into Heaven where he hears words to wonderful to speak (2
Corinthians 12:2-4) (6703).
At Derbe, in
response to Paul’s preaching, many become Christians, including Lois, her
daughter Eunice, and her grandson Timothy
(6707).
Paul and
Barnabas return to Antioch (6708).
51: Christian Jews from Jerusalem go to
Antioch and tell Gentile Christians there that they must be circumcised to be
saved. Paul and Barnabas oppose them (6752).
52: The church in Antioch sends Paul
and Barnabas to Jerusalem to speak
with church leaders there and settle the matter (6753). A council of leaders decide against requiring circumcision. When Paul
and Barnabas return to Antioch and report the news, the church rejoices (6757).
Peter visits
the church in Antioch and enjoys full fellowship with Gentile Christians there.
When representatives from James, the brother of Jesus, also come for a visit,
Peter and other Christian Jewish members of the church stop eating with them.
Paul rebukes Peter and the rest for their hypocrisy (6766).
53: Paul asks Barnabas to return with
him to the churches they had previously started. Barnabas refuses to go with
him because Paul refuses to take John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, with them
again since he had previously abandoned them. Barnabas and John Mark then go
alone to Cyprus while Paul leaves for the churches in Anatolia with Silas on a second missionary tour (6780).
Paul, Silas, and Timothy cross the
Aegean Sea and, in one of history’s most significant moments, take the Gospel to Europe (6783).
Western Civilization would never be the same.
Paul starts Europe’s
first church in Philippi in the
house of a wealthy woman named Lydia (6786). He then starts a church in Thessalonica (6788).
54: Claudius expels Jews from Rome (6792).
Paul preaches
in Athens and then travels to Corinth
(6798).
From Corinth, Paul writes the First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians (6803).
56: Paul leaves Corinth (6818) and
travels to Jerusalem and then back to Antioch. Soon enough, Paul leaves again
on a third missionary tour. Among
others, he preaches to the Galatians
(6819).
57: Paul arrives in Ephesus and begins his work there by
teaching some disciples about the baptism of the Holy Spirit (6822).
58: From Ephesus, Paul writes his Letter to the Galatians (6830).
59: In Ephesus, Paul receives visitors
from Corinth, including Apollos who brings him a letter from the church there.
In response, Paul writes his First Letter
to the Corinthians (6835).
Paul leaves
Ephesus for his own safety after silversmiths profiting from the Temple of
Diana accuse Paul of hurting their business and start a riot against him
(6837).
Aquila and
Priscilla leave Ephesus and return to Rome (6838).
60: Paul travels first to Troas then to
the churches in Macedonia (6839). When Paul hears from Titus that the
Corinthians responded well to his first letter, he writes his Second Letter to the Corinthians and
sends Timothy to Corinth with it (6841).
Paul himself
returns to Corinth. While there he writes his Letter to the Romans (6843).
Paul leaves
for Jerusalem with money collected as a gift from the churches in Achaia and
Macedonia (6843).
Paul arrives in Jerusalem and delivers
the donation to the church there. He is arrested
shortly thereafter (6851). For his own safety, the Romans transfer him to
Caesarea within a week (6854).
61: Mark the evangelist, first to preach the Good News in Alexandria,
dies there (6864).
62: Paul appeals to Caesar (6868). He is placed aboard a ship and makes
it safely as far as Crete (6873). After a violent storm lasting two weeks, all
aboard make it safely to land (6874).
63: The people of Malta treat Paul and
his companions generously and send them on their way to Rome after three months
(6877). After Paul arrives in Rome,
he stays in his own house for two years while awaiting trial (6878).
Anunas, the
high priest, convenes the Sanhedrin to have it condemn James the brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem.
They do and James is executed (6886).
64: Nero sings of the destruction of Troy as he watches Rome burn
(6898). To deflect suspicion that he caused the fire, Nero condemns Christians.
They suffer torture and death (6899).
Epaphroditus
arrives in Rome with monetary and spiritual support from the church in Philippi
(6905). Paul converts Onesimus, a slave who had run away from his master in
Colossae (6906). Timothy, imprisoned with Paul, is freed (6907). Paul sends
Epaphroditus back with his Letter to the
Philippians (6908). Paul writes his Letter
to Philemon, master of Onesimus, and Letter
to the Colossians and sends both with Onesimus to deliver (6909). Paul
sends his Letter to the Ephesians
with Tychicus who had traveled with him in and around that city (6910). Paul
writes his Letter to the Hebrews
(6913).
65: Construction of the Temple of
Yahweh in Jerusalem is finished (6914).
Paul is released but not yet acquitted.
He travels to the Roman province of Asia and stays with Philemon in Colossae
(6915). Paul then preaches in Crete and leaves Titus there to complete the
organization of churches (Titus 1:5) (6918). Paul travels to Ephesus and leaves
Timothy there to lead the church as he returns to Philippi (6923). From
Philippi, Paul writes his First Letter
to Timothy (6924) and his Letter to
Titus (6925).
66: At the beginning of spring, Paul
visits Timothy and the church in Ephesus. He then travels to Rome, presents his
case to Nero, and is acquitted (2 Tim. 4:16-17) (6929). Paul remains in Rome
and continues to share the Good News with all who come to him (6930).
A Jewish rebellion against Roman rule
begins with the seizure of Jerusalem by rebel leaders (6934).
Paul and
Peter, both in Rome, are warned by Jesus that they will soon die (6937).
Paul writes
his Second Letter to Timothy (6939).
67, June 29: Paul, as a citizen of Rome, is
executed by being beheaded. Peter,
who was not a Roman citizen, is
crucified upside down (6949).
70, September 8: Titus, son of the Roman emperor Vespasian and commander of the
Roman army in Judea, ends the Jewish
rebellion after four years of fighting by taking Jerusalem and burning it
to the ground (6978).
73: The Romans take Masada and the last pocket of Jewish
resistance to Roman rule ends (6992).
Copyright © 2017
by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved.
