• Jesus is born.
  • His birth was "in the days of Herod the king" (Matthew 2:1), and scholars tell us that Herod died in 4 BC.  As these two commentaries point out, Jesus is believed to have been born in the last year of Herod's reign, which puts His birth at around 4 BC.

• Jesus is crucified.
  • In Luke 3:23 we are told that Jesus was about 30 years old when He began His ministry, and scholars tell us that His ministry probably lasted about three and a half years. So Jesus died somewhere around 30 AD.
• The Church is born.
  • Jesus was in the tomb on the Passover Sabbath, and the day of Pentecost always fell on the fiftieth day counting from the day after the Passover Sabbath. Acts 2:1-4 tells us that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled the original disciples, along with manifestations such as the sound as of a mighty wind, visible tongues of fire, speaking in tongues, and the first preaching of the Gospel (in which a harvest of souls began to be gathered in). This event is often regarded as signaling the birth of the Church.

• The book of James is written.

• Paul is in Antioch and he writes his first letter, which we call the book of Galatians. This is during the time period of Acts 15:25-35.

AD 50 ?

• Matthew writes Matthew

AD 51/52 ?

• Paul writes 1 and 2 Thessalonians from Corinth (Silas and Timothy are listed as co-authors of these books. See 1 Thessalonians 1:1 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1). This is during the time period of Acts 18:1-11.

AD 55-57 ?

• Paul writes 1 and 2 Corinthians
  • Paul spends roughly 3 years in Ephesus (from 53 to 55 AD), where he writes his second letter to the church at Corinth (his first letter to them has been lost). We call this second letter the book of 1 Corinthians (Sosthenes is listed as a co-author of this book. See 1 Corinthians 1:1). This is during the time period of Acts 19:1-41.
  • Paul writes his fourth letter to the church at Corinth from Macedonia (his third letter to them has been lost).  We call this fourth letter the book of 2 Corinthians (Timothy is listed as a co-author of this book. See 2 Corinthians 1:1). This is during the time period of Acts 20:1-2.

AD 57-58 ?

• Paul writes Romans
  • Paul writes his letter to the Romans (Tertius is listed as the one who actually wrote this letter, so he was probably taking dictation from Paul.  See Romans 16:22.  Other passages indicate that Paul may have frequently dictated his letters to someone else, and that he preferred to write the concluding remarks himself. See 1 Corinthians 16:21, Galatians 6:11, Colossians 4:18, 2 Thessalonians 3:17, and Philemon 1:19, for example). This is during the time period of Acts 20:2-6.

• John Mark writes Mark
  • The early church fathers believed that this Gospel was written by Mark, an associate of the apostle Peter and the one who is referred to as "John, also called Mark" in Acts 12:12.

AD 60-63 ?

• Paul writes Ephesians
• Paul writes Colossians
• Paul writes Philemon
  • Paul is under house arrest in Rome for four years. He writes the book of Ephesians around 60 AD, Colossians around 60-61 AD (Timothy is listed as a co-author of this book. See Colossians 1:1), Philippians around 61-62 AD (Timothy is listed as a co-author of this book. See Philippians 1:1), and Philemon around the summer of 62 AD (Timothy is listed as a co-author of this book. See Philemon 1:1). This is during the time period of Acts 28:14-31.

AD 60's ?

• James writes James
• Peter writes 1 Peter

AD 61 ?

• Paul writes Philippians

AD 63 ?

• Luke writes Acts
  • The book of Acts is written by Luke (see Colossians 4:14), Paul's part-time traveling companion and the author of the Gospel of Luke.

• John writes 1, 2, and 3 John

AD 63/64 ?

• Paul writes Titus
• Paul writes 1 and 2 Timothy
  • Paul writes these from Macedonia.

• Peter writes 2 Peter
  • This is the last New Testament book that Peter will write. He is believed to have been martyred in late AD 67 or early AD 68

• Jude writes Jude
  • Jude calls himself a brother of James.  There are several men named Jude in the New Testament, but for a number of reasons many scholars believe that Jude was one of the half-brothers of Jesus.

• Paul (?) writes Hebrews
  • An unknown person writes the book of Hebrews.  Some scholars believe that the apostle Paul wrote Hebrews.   Many other scholars believe that there is strong evidence that Barnabas wrote Hebrews. Barnabas (who is mentioned a number of times in Acts chapter 11 through chapter 15) was the apostle Paul's traveling companion, so he would have picked up many of Paul's phrases and expressions from hearing Paul preach so much.  This may be why Hebrews sounds similar to Paul's writings, even though it does not say that it was written by Paul (Paul's letters all say that they were written by him) and it does not have Paul's usual greeting.
  • Some scholars believe that Hebrews may have been a homily by an Early Church leader to renew the strength and commitment of persecuted Christians.

AD 70's ?

• Luke writes Luke
  • Luke was a physician who sometimes traveled with the apostle Paul, and he is also the author of the book of Acts.

AD 80's ?

• John writes John
  • Many scholars believe that John was written by students of John's school

AD 95-96 ?

• John writes Revelation
  • John writes the book of Revelation while in exile on the island of Patmos.  This is the last New Testament book that John will write.  At this point he is the last surviving member of the Twelve Apostles and perhaps the only Apostle to have died a natural death.  The other ten of the original Twelve Apostles were martyred (not counting Judas Iscariot, who hanged himself):
    • Andrew: Crucified.
    • Bartholomew: Crucified.
    • James, son of Alphaeus: Crucified.
    • James, son of Zebedee: Death by the sword.
    • Matthew: Death by the sword.
    • Peter: Crucified upside-down at his own request (he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus).
    • Philip: Crucified.
    • Simon the Zealot: Crucified.
    • Thaddaeus: Death by arrows.
    • Thomas: Death by a spear thrust.

• The first formal list of the books of the New Testament is generally believed to have been published by Marcion

• The complete New Testament canon (as we know it) is approved at the Council of Carthage.
  • The books of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, and Jude are included in the canon for the first time, and other disputed books are officially excluded from the New Testament canon, such as "The Shepherd of Hermas," "Letter of Barnabas," "Gospel of the Hebrews," "Revelation of Peter," "Acts of Peter," "Didache," "Teaching of Twelve," and "Apostles".