As Christians and churches spread, they had to wrestle with this problem: did Olympians (Gentiles) first need to become Jews in order to become Christians? Or, as assemblies, were churches decisively different from synagogues?
Hans Kung, in The Catholic Church: A Short History (New York: Modern Library, 2001; translated by John Bowden), published a chronology of these early years (page xi) with some indications of why Judaism and Christianity eventually separated:
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH
(Most
of the dates in Chapters I and II are approximate.)
30
Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth
35
Conversion of Paul
43
Execution of James the son of Zebedee
48 Apostolic
council in Jerusalem
48/49
Confrontation between Peter and Paul in Antioch
49-50 Paul’s first missionary tour
50 Paul’s
1 Thessalonians (the earliest writing of the New Testament)
52 Paul’s
1 Corinthians
60-64
Imprisonment of Paul and execution in Rome
62 Execution
of James the brother of the Lord, leader of the earliest Jerusalem community
64-66
First persecutions of Christians, under the emperor Nero. Execution of
Peter?
66
Emigration of the Jewish Christians to Pella (Transjordan)
70 Conquest
of Jerusalem and destruction of the second temple
