You can get an idea of what this book is about by examining this Timeline.

BCE:
(Year Before Common Era)

4004:    Origin of Mankind, according to Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh (1650 to 1654); based on the Old Testament - this date is accepted by Protestants.
4000:    Civilization artifacts in Kish, Sumeria (unearthed by Professor Stephen Langdon). / Belief in eternal life is widespread among Egyptians and other cultures.
3950-1700:       The Yang-Shao culture in China (a Neolithic culture).
3761:    Origin of Mankind, according to the Jewish Calendar, established ca. 360 CE (based on the Old Testament- this date is accepted by Jews).
3561:    Origin of Mankind, according to the Scholarly Calendar (based on the Old Testament and accepted by modern scholars).
3200:    Civilization in Ur, Mesopotamia (unearthed by Professor Leonard Wooley).

3000:    The first Aegean-Greek civilization in Crete.

2400:    City of Ai (in Palestine – mentioned in the books of Joshua) demolished (centuries before the times of Joshua) and never inhabited again, except

            by a few Israelites at about 1000 BCE.

2371-2316:        Reign of King Sargon I of Akkad (or Agade). (His life story inspired the story of Moses.)

2332-2283 ca.:  Reign of King Pepi I, of Egypt. After his death, his spirit rose to the sky and became a star, that is, a god; (the Egyptians believed that
                stars are gods).

2300:       Egyptian religion: Osiris, the god of the underworld, his wife Isis, and their son Horus formed the Trinity of Abydos.

23^rd century:       An Egyptian stele describes the ritual of circumcision (many centuries before God instructed Abraham to circumcise himself).

22^nd century:      In the Egyptian document The Instruction of Ptahhotep appears the doctrine of predestination: 

2200:    The Instruction of King Merikare (a creation text, which influenced the creation accounts of Genesis).

2000:    Ebla Tablets (cuneiform script: the oldest known written language); they are useful for dating the age of the Hebrew language.

2^nd millennium:              The term “son of God” is applied to Sumerian and Egyptian kings. This practice continued into the Roman Era.

1990-1785:  The Egyptian document The Admonitions of Ipuwer is written. It describes the water of the river Nile as bloody. (It inspired one of the ten plagues
                mentioned in Exodus.)  

1905:    Date of Noah’s Flood, as per Scholarly Calendar.

1900     ... or earlier:  The Texts of Mari mention prophets and prophetesses. The Israelite prophets appeared a millennium later.

1800:    The Epic of Gilgamesh is written. It inspired the story of Noah.

1800-1700:  The Law of Hammurabi is chiseled on basalt stone (it is now displayed in the London museum). It inspired the Law of Moses.

1750:    A Sumerian tablet belonging to the era of the Kassites (the Kassite dynasty was founded at about 1750 BCE) mentions judgment after death.

1615:    Date of Abraham’s birth, as per Scholarly Calendar.

1600-1050:  Mycenaeans and the Achaeans first visit and then settle in Cyprus. They influenced the Phoenicians, who influenced the Israelites.

1555:    Date of Noah’s death, as per Scholarly Calendar.

1550:    Jericho is demolished (centuries before the times of Joshua). At a later period Jericho was probably minimally restored.

1540:    Date Abraham moved to Canaan, as per Scholarly Calendar.

1516:    Date Abraham was circumcised (as per Scholarly Calendar): the beginning of Judaism.

1515:    Date Isaac was born (as per Scholarly Calendar). 

14^th century:       The Trinity of Thebes. (It predates the Christian Trinity.) Egyptian text reads, “All gods are three: Amon, Re, and Ptah, and there is no
                         second to them.”

1479 to 1426:    Reign of the Egyptian king Thutmose III. He was a “son of god” (the son of the god Amen-Re). (Egyptian kings were considered sons of gods).

1400-1200:        Ugaritic civilization in Palestine/Canaan. Ugaritic texts inspired parts of the Pentateuch.

1400-1300:        Tell el-Amarna tablets (in Egypt) – a valuable source of information for the political life of that era. / Hittite Law is written. It inspired a few
                    Mosaic laws.

13th century:      Egyptian fable The Tale of Two Brothers is written. This fable inspired the story of Joseph.

1365 ca.:            The date of Moses’ birth, as per Scholarly Calendar. 

1350-1334:  Reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, a.k.a. Akhenaton (or Akhenaten). He was a henotheist. He inspired certain beliefs of Moses. / The Egyptians called

            King Akhenaton “son of God.”

1346 ca. – 1320:        Reign of Hittite King Mursilis II. A prayer of Mursilis II reads, “So the sin of my father has also fallen upon me.” Compare to Deuteronomy 5:9.

1325:                Jacob and his family enters Egypt (date, as per Scholarly Calendar).

1279-1213/1212:           Reign of King of Ramesses II, of Egypt. He is the pharaoh of the Exodus.

1250:               Israelites leave Egypt (date, as per Professor G. Ernest Wright and Scholarly Consensus). This date is important for dating the genealogies of Genesis.

1245 ca.:          Date Moses died (as per Scholarly Calendar). Based on the contents of Genesis, Moses did not believe in Heaven, Hell, Satan, and Judgment day.

1244-1240:  The Israelites captured and destroyed the city of Ai (date, as per Scholarly Calendar); (see Joshua cha. 8). According to archaeologists, Ai was
                    destroyed (and remained as a ruin) more than 1000 years, before the time of Joshua.

1213-1203:  Co-reign and reign of King Merneptah of Egypt.

1209:    King Merneptah of Egypt raids Israel (his raid is recorded on a stele). This stele is the earliest non-biblical record of Israelites living in Palestine.

1200:    Philistines are established in Gerar, on the coast of Palestine. Phoenicians are established in Sidon and Tyre.

1115-1077:   The Middle Assyrian Law is written. It influenced certain Mosaic laws.

1090-1080:   In the Egyptian document The Report of Wenamun appears the doctrine of predestination. (Abraham and Moses did not believe in predestination.)

1000:    The Akkadian text Ludlul Bel Nemeqi, and the Babylonian text Babylonian Theodicity were written
                 sometime before 1000 BCE. They inspired the book of Job.

1000-900:  Israelites acquire their alphabet from the Phoenicians.

1000-800:  Chaldeans establish in Babylon.

10th-6^th century:             The sayings of Amen-em-opet, (a literary source for the book of Proverbs) are written.

970/960 to 930/920:     Solomon’s reign.  According to the Old Testament, Solomon was a “son of God.” He built the first Temple of Jerusalem.

933 ca.:           The writing of the Old Testament begins: Exodus 34, the earliest chapter of the Old Testament is written. (Before that, portions of the Old                        Testament existed as oral tradition.)

930-800:            The legendary Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey.

929-919:            After the death of King Solomon Israel splits from Judah. Jeroboam becomes the first king of Israel (the northern kingdom).

900-800:      Phoenicians settle in Cyprus, make contact with the Mycenaeans and Achaeans, borrow religious myths, bring them to Canaan, and pass them

                    to the Israelites.

8th century:        Zoroaster’s god Ahura Mazda appears in an Assyrian cuneiform text.

886-875 (?):  King Omri of Israel initiates coalition and intermarriage with the royal house of Sidon, Phoenicia. This coalition triggers the transfer of religious myths

                        and customs to Israel.

870-852:      Reign of King Ahab of Israel. He marries the Sidonian Jezebel. This marriage triggers the transfer of Sidonian customs to Israel.

750:              The book of Amos is written. It says, there is no life after death: “They that swear by the sin of Samaria ... will fall, and never rise up again.”
                        (Amos 8:14 KJV)

740 (ca.) - 681 (ca.):        Lifetime of Isaiah. He wrote at about 700 BCE.

735-715:            King Ahaz, of Judah, designs the altar of the Temple after the Assyrian altar in Damascus. (The Assyrians influence the Kingdom of Judah.)

722:      Sargon II of Assyria conquers Israel (the northern kingdom) and exiles the Israelites to Assyria.

716 (ca.) - 687 (ca.):  Reign of  Hezekiah, King of Judah. He reforms Judaism. He separates Judaism from the Canaanite religions.

700 (ca.):  Hesiod writes Works and Days. He writes the myth of Prometheus, which influenced the writer of the Book of Watchers (part of 1 Enoch). Hesiod
                     mentions the three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (the doctrine of Predestination). He also mentions the myth of god Dionysus.

700 ?:    The legendary Homer writes the Iliad and Odyssey and mentions that after death, mortals go to Hades and exist as ghosts/spirits.

Homer’s Hades was similar to the underworld of the Canaanites; it was an active place. There were no punishments or rewards in Hades.

/ Homer, in the Iliad, mentions Asclepius as a skillful physician, not a miracle worker. Centuries later, the Greeks worship Asclepius as a god, who

    performs miracles. / Homer mentions the semi-god Dionysus, born of Zeus and the mortal woman Semele. In later times, Dionysus was worshipped as a
             god. (The myth of Dionysus and other similar myths inspired the birth accounts of Matthew and Luke.)  

700 (ca.):           Isaiah writes the original book of First Isaiah: chapters 1-13, 15-23, 28-35.

687-642:      Reign of King Manasseh (son of King Hezekiah) king of Judah. Manasseh worships several gods in the Temple.

650 ca.:       Deuteronomy is written by a scribe (some scholars suspect Baruch).

640- to ?:     Lifetime of Jeremiah. He leaves for Egypt in 586 BCE (where he finished his book, ca. 580).

640-609:      Reign of King Josiah.

628 ca. - 551 (?):  Lifetime of Zoroaster, the first true monotheist, who changed the course of Judaism and the Greek religion. He claimed that his god, Ahura
            Mazda, was merely a spirit: not anthropomorphic and without a physical body. Ahura Mazda was the first omniscient god. Zoroaster influenced Plato.

621:      Deuteronomy is introduced by high priest Hilkiah as the lost book of Moses, which Hilkiah accidentally discovered in a room of the Temple.

609 ca. - ca. 598:  Reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah

605 ca. - 562:  Reign of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II.

605:            Book of Jeremiah originates – finished ca. 580 BCE.

604:           First occupation of Judah by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Palestine remains occupied by Babylonians and then Persians until 331 BCE.

600:        Zoroaster composes the Gathas (hymns to god Ahura Mazda). He introduces the doctrine of dualism in Babylon (evil vs. good … Destructive Spirit  vs.
             Beneficent Spirit  … which later came to be known as Satan vs. God). Satan, the adversary of God, is absent from the original text of the Old Testament.  

6^th century:        The mystery religion of Orphism originates.

597:        King Nebuchadnezzar conquers Judah. The Babylonian god Tammuz is worshipped in the Temple. Judaism is transformed by the Babylonian influence.

              Most of the inhabitants of Judah, along with Ezekiel, are taken captive to Babylon; beginning of the exile. End of Pre-exilic Judaism.

593-570:     Ezekiel writes his book in Babylon, in captivity.

588 ca.:        King Vishtaspa is officially converted by Zoroaster to Zoroastrianism. Soon after this date, Zoroastrianism spreads in Babylon.

586 ca.:        Destruction of the first Temple. Most citizens of the Kingdom of Judah are exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. During the exile the Israelites

        are influenced by the Babylonian/Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, and adopt the Babylonian language: Aramaic.

580-500:         Lifetime of Pythagoras. He traveled to Persia and Egypt and studied their religious ideas. He was influenced by

          Zoroastrianism. He taught the immortality and transmigration of the soul.

562-556:        Reign of Evil-Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar II.

560-478:    The lifetime of the Ionian poet and religious philosopher Xenophanes (born in Colophon, Ionia). He was the first Greek to reject the anthropomorphic gods.

                He was influenced by Zoroaster. He insisted that the creator of the universe was an omniscient god (like Ahura Mazda) and had a form and a mind

     unlike that of men. 

560-500:  Several Old Testament books are written or edited during the Babylonian exile and exhibit Babylonian influence. The books Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel,
                1 and 2 King receive their final editing. Isaiah’s chapters 36-39 are copied form 2 Kings. The “lying spirit” appears in 1 Kings and the “evil spirit”
                appears in Judges and 1 Samuel; both these spirits obeyed God’s commands and are the precursors of Satan.  

556-539:  Reign of Nabonidus the last king of Babylon. From 545 to 539 BCE, he co-reigns with his son Belshazzar.

551:        Sometime after 551 BCE, appear the Zurvanites, a Zoroastrian denomination. The Zurvanites explain the origin of evil: the origins of Satan.

545-539:  Reign of Belshazzar, surrogate king of Babylon under Nabonidus.

540-480:  Lifetime of the philosopher Heraclitus, who designed the doctrine of the Word (the Logos doctrine). He coined the terms “Logos” (Word)

               as the creative power of God.

539-530:  In 539 Cyrus II the Great, king of Persia (since 559 BCE) conquers Babylon. He reigns over Babylon for 19 years. Cyrus becomes a Zoroastrian.

             Zoroastrianism becomes the prime religion of Persia. Cyrus, the Zoroastrian, speaks highly of the god of the Jews, and favors the Jews. His love for the
             Jews facilitates the transfer of Zoroastrian influence into Judaism. Sometime after this date, the first two chapters are added to the book of Job.

              In these chapters the Adversary (haśśāṭān) makes his first appearance in Jewish literature. He makes a wager with God and looses. God argues with the
             Adversary, but the Adversary is not a sinner. He is part of the Assembly of God. The Adversary is the precursor to Satan.

538:       Cyrus II issues a decree allowing the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild the Temple. First, Zerubbabel in 537 BCE, and then Nehemiah, lead the Jews
             back to Palestine. Monotheism becomes firmly established in Judaism.

530-522:            Reign of Cambyses II, son of Cyrus II. He finishes conquering Ionia. The Greeks of Ionia fall under the Persian/Zoroastrian influence.

525/524-456:      Lifetime of the tragedian Aeshylus. He wrote about Hades and Typhon, the adversary of Zeus. Typhon is another precursor of Satan.

522 or 521 -486:    Reign of Darius the Great (Persian Empire). He officially recognizes Zoroastrianism as the religion of the Persian Empire.

522/518 to 443/38:  The lifetime of the lyric poet Pindar. He mentions Eleusis, as the famous precinct of Demeter. The Eleusinian mysteries influenced
                    Christianity. / Pindar mentions Asclepius performing healings miracles and raising people from the dead. In the fifth century Asclepius was
                    worshipped as a god. (The story Asclepius influenced the gospel writers.)

520:      The book of Zechariah is written. It mentions “the accuser” (later identified as Satan), who is part of the Assembly of God, and not adversarial to God.

516:      The second Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt and rituals are resumed.

5^th century:  The physician Asclepius is turned into a healing god. The cult of god Asclepius originated in Epidaurus, Greece. / Socrates flourished in the last half

     of the 5^th century BCE. He was the first to propose that the earth is a sphere and that it is suspended in space.

496-406:  The lifetime of the tragedian Sophocles. He mentions the rites of the Greek mystery religions.

490:         Heracletus of Ephesus flourishes. He discusses the doctrine of predestination (fate).

486-465:      Reign of Xerxes I, the son of Darius. Xerxes was a Zoroastrian, a worshipper of Ahura Mazda.

484 (ca.) - 425 (ca.):  Lifetime of Herodotus (the “Father of history”). He wrote the book “Histories.” He wrote about Zoroastrianism. He wrote that the Egyptians

            were the first to teach the immortality of the soul and reincarnation.

465-425:  Reign of Artaxerxes I, a worshipper of god Ahura Mazda, the god of Zoroaster.

458:      Second return of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile under Ezra.

450 (ca.):           Third Isaiah (chapters 56-66) are added to Second Isaiah, by editors. In third Isaiah God condemned the Jews who believed in fate: the god of
                 Fortune and the god of Destiny (see Isaiah 65:11). At that time predestination was not a Judaic doctrine, because it conflicts with free will. 
                (Predestination renders God responsible for the creation of sin.)

450-350:   The book of Job reaches its final form. It contains the doctrine of Pre-Exilic Judaism: the dead do not rise (the doctrine of the Sadducees). “… so mortals

    lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.” (Job 14:12 NRSV)

444-420:            Ezra and Nehemiah reform Judaism.

432:                  The Samaritans religiously split from the Judeans.

429/428 – 348/347:  Plato’s lifetime. He believed in reincarnation. He was strongly influenced by Zoroastrianism. His religious ideas about God and life after death,

                         influenced the New Testament writers. For example, they borrowed from him the expression “born again.” Plato advanced the doctrine of the

                        Word/Logos, the creative power of God. / Plato wrote about the Orphics, who by means of sacrifices and incantations expiated the

                        sins of the dead (likewise, today, the Catholics and the Tibetan Buddhists pray for the forgiveness of the sins of the dead).

409-358:  Reign of Artaxerxes II, worshipper of god Ahura Mazda. He venerates the gods Mithras and Anahita. Mithra is the mediator between the god Ahura
                 Mazda and mankind. (Likewise, Jesus is the mediator between God and mankind.)

400-200:  The book of Ecclesiastes is written and reaches its final form. It contains Cynic, Stoic, and Epicurean influence. No life after death: “For in respect of the
                 fate {destiny} of man and the fate {destiny} of beast, they have one and the same fate {destiny}.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19a TANAKH) No Judgment day:
                 “… the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,  to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those
                 who do not sacrifice.” (Ecclesiastes 9:2 NRSV) No resurrection of the dead: “Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.”
                 (Ecclesiastes 12:5 NIV) No eternal life in Heaven for the righteous: “... the dead do not know anything nor have they any
                    longer reward ....” (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NASB)  

4^th century: The temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus was famous. At the time of Alexander the Great, there was a temple of Asclepius in Ecbatana (a city in Media).

      Jesus performed several miracles which were very similar to the miracles of Asclepius.

387- 334:    Zoroastrian ideas and Persian astrology come to Athens. The Greeks turn astrology into astronomy.

384-322:    Lifetime of Aristotle. He wrote that the Orphics believed that the soul comes from the universe and enters a baby the moment it
                    is born (i.e. reincarnation).

371-286:     Lifetime of Aristotle’s disciple, Theophrastus of Eresus. He proposed ... that God is spirit. (this idea became widespread in the 1st century CE before
                 the Gospel of John was written. “God is a Spirit.” (John 4:24 KJV)

341-270:    Lifetime of the philosopher Epicurus, who explains that the gods do not incarnate. They live in their own world and make no contact with
                 humans. Epicurus advocated celibacy, a practice which in later times was observed by the monks of Qumran (and later, by the Christians monks).

335-263:   Lifetime of the Stoic philosopher Zeno. He discussed the philosophical problems of fate (predestination). Tertulian wrote that Zeno defines Logos/Word

                as the maker who has formed and ordered the Universe.

331:    Alexander conquers Israel and Egypt. After 266 years of Zoroastrian influence, the Jews come under the influence of the Greeks.

331-100:   The Hellenistic Era. During this era, Hellenistic Christianity emerged out of Hellenistic Diaspora Judaism (Paul was Hellenistic Diaspora Jew). /
                During this period the common method of producing inspired writings was anonymously or pseudonymously. This is the great period of the Apocryphal
                 and Pseudepigraphal writings, and of the Septuagint (the Bible of Christianity). 

310 (ca.) - 230: Lifetime of Aristarchus "Aristarchus" of Samos, a Greek (Ionian) astronomer. He was the first to maintain that the earth rotates and that it revolves

            around the sun. He claimed that the sun was a rock on fire. (He was punished, like Galileo, for speaking his mind.)

300:      The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles receive their final editing. For the first time in Judaic literature “the adversary,” a satanic figure causes a man
                (King David) to sin (see 1 Chronicles 21:1). (The Serpent in the Garden of Eden caused Adam to commit the first sin, but the Jews did not consider the
             serpent a satanic figure, until late in the Hellenistic era, close to the times of Jesus.)

300-250:   The book of Proverbs is completed. The Israelite proverbs were borrowed from various foreign sources, including the sayings of
                Amen-em-opet of Egypt.

300-260:      Lifetime of Theocritus; he wrote how the semi-god Adonis rose from the dead.

3^rd century:    The Ptolemies, promote the syncretism of Greek and Egyptian religions. /The Stoics appear. Eusebius wrote that the Stoics “… argued the Logos,

            that is Word and Reason, would seem to be the designer of the universe.” This doctrine appeared centuries later in the Gospel of John.

285-246:     The reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the patron of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament).

280-207:     Lifetime of the Stoic philosopher Chrisippus. He discussed the philosophical problems of fate (predestination).

276 (ca.) - 194:  Lifetime of Eratosthenes, a Greek scientific writer, astronomer, and poet. He was the first one to calculate the earth’s circumference. (The Bible
                     describes the earth as a flat surface.)

250:       The Samaritan Pentateuch is translated in Alexandria into Greek: the Septuagint version. The Septuagint is the landmark of the origins of Christianity.
            It became the Bible of most Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, who brought about Hellenistic Christianity. The Judean Jews rejected it. It became the Bible of
             Christianity.

250 BCE – 75 CE:  The intertestamental Book of Enoch (which was part of the early Christian literature) is written. It is important in the study of the origins of

                        Hellenistic Christianity. The New Testament writers borrowed ideas and expressions from this book, more times than any single book of the Old

                        Testament. Some early Church Fathers quoted from it.  It expounds on the Judgment Day and Hell. The book of Watchers, the earliest section of

                    1 Enoch, was written at about 250-200 BCE. It influenced Jewish and Christian angelology (such as, fallen angels and mediating angels), demonology,
                     and the book of Daniel. In this book appears Semyaz, who in later times was called Satan. This book was inspired by the Greek story of Prometheus.

225-75:  The intertestamental book of Tobit (which was part of the early Christian literature) is written. In this book appears the ritual of exorcism for the first time
            in Judeo-Christian literature. In this book an angel intercedes to God (centuries later, Paul views Jesus as an angel who intercedes to God).

221-205:  Reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator in Alexandria. He was a devotee of Dionysus (the mysteries of Dionysus).  According to 3 Maccabees 6:18-21, God
                sent angels to fight  against Prolemy’s army. Sometime after 217 BCE, Ptolemy IV offered special citizenship rights to the Jews of Alexandria, who
                 accepted Dionysus as their god. Many Jews joined the mysteries of Dionysus (see 3 Maccabees 2:28-31). Most Jews of Alexandria became
                 Hellenized. Alexandrian Judaism became the forerunner of Hellenistic Christianity (the religion of Paul, not the religion of Jesus).

204:             The goddess Cybele (the Great Mother of the gods) is formally welcomed into Rome.

2^nd century: The Greek mystery religions spread throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. / A temple of Isis existed at the Greek city of Eretria on the island of
                 Euboea.Two inscribed dedications to Serapis, Isis, and Anubis found in Chaeronea of Boetia, Greece. Isis is worshipped as a mother-god: the mother
                   of god Horus.  

180:      The original version of the book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) is written in Hebrew. The writer depicts the dead as ones who do not exist. After 132 BCE,
              the grandson of the author translated Sirach into Greek. It contains the Word/Logos doctrine, which became the doctrine of Christianity: Jesus is the
                Word of God.

175-164:  Reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus appoints Jason, a Hellenistic Jew, in the position of the high priest. Antiochus destroys the tradition where
                 the high priest’s position belonged to the descendants of Zadok.

172:      Menelaus (his Hebrew name was Onias), an extreme Hellenist, displaces Jason by offering Antiochus IV more money for the position of the high priest.

169:      While Antiochus is campaigning in Egypt, Jason hears a false rumor that Antiochus had died and thus he gains courage to attempt to overthrow
            Menelaus, to regain by force his former position of the high priest.

167:     Antiochus IV Epiphanes returns from his campaign and in retaliation abolishes Judaism in Judea and, with the support of some Hellenistic Jews, establishes
            the worship of Zeus at the Temple. He orders all manuscripts of the Old Testament to be destroyed (see 1 Maccabees 1:54-57). (The Essenes of Qumran
            make new manuscripts a few years later. The oldest manuscripts in existence are those of Qumran.) The mystery of Dionysus becomes widespread in
             Palestine. The  Samaritans join Antiochus IV and dedicate their temple in Gerizim to Zeus. The priest Mattathias revolts against Antiochus IV, wins
            independence for Jerusalem, and rules until 166 BCE. Mattathias originated what in later times was called the Zealot movement: an anti-Hellenistic,
            Hassidic movement, which advocated the strict enforcement of the Law. / The Essenes borrowed from the Dionysians the ritual of baptism as a ritual
            of initiation. The baptism of the Essenes, was not a sign of conversion to a new religion, but a sign of complete dedication to God. / The Qumran scroll
             4Q246 addresses the Messiah as “son of   God” and “son of the Most High.” These titles appear in Luke and are applied to Jesus.

167-164:  The book of Daniel is written. The word “mystery” (a truth that can be understood only trough revelation from God), a term borrowed from the

            Greek mystery religions, appears for the first time in the book of Daniel. From that point on, the Greek mystery religions gradually transformed
            Hellenistic Judaism into Hellenistic Christianity. Consequently, the word “mystery” appears 27 times in the New Testament, as well as other terms of
               the mystery religions.

166-160:  Judas Maccabeus (Hasmonean dynasty), son of Mattathias, rules Judea.

164:      Antiochus IV Ephiphanes dies.

160-142:  Jonathan rules Judea after the death of his brother Judas.

160-150:  The priest Onias (either III or IV), after he is expelled from Jerusalem, goes to Egypt and builds a Jewish temple in Leontopolis, with the help
                of Ptolemy VI Philometor, the Greek king of Egypt. / The Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria becomes the forerunner of Hellenistic Christianity.

152:      The Maccabean King Jonathan (the brother of Judas Maccabeus) manages to be appointed as the high priest of Judaism. This position belonged to

            the descendants of Zadok, the Essenes (they were Zadokites). They Essenes protest this appointment; they depart from Jerusalem and form their own
             community in Qumran. They begin to make new manuscripts of the Old Testament (which, earlier, had been destroyed by the orders of Antiochus).
              They reconstruct portions of the Old Testament text from Egyptian manuscripts. They write new books until the destruction of the Temple, 70 CE.

150 (ca.):    The early parts of the Sibylline Oracles are written by Hellenistic Jews The Gentile priestess Sybil eulogizes the Jewish people and their law.
                The Hellenistic Diaspora Jews used these oracles as a propaganda tool to attract Gentiles to their Diaspora synagogues.

150:         The writer of The Testament of Simeon paraphrases the accounts of Genesis and retroactively fits Satan into the stories of Genesis.

150 (ca.):     Aristobulus of Alexandria, the first Jewish “religious philosopher,” a Hellenist, attempts to reconcile the Old Testament to Hellenistic philosophy.

                He prepares the way for Hellenistic Christianity.

150-50:     The book of Jubilees is written. It mentions the Judgment Day.

142-135:  Simon (the Maccabean, the brother of Judas and Jonathan,) rules Judea as King and High priest. He was murdered.

135-104:  John Hyrcanus I, Simon’s son, rules Judea. He ordered the Gentiles who lived in Jewish cities to circumcise themselves or to leave the area. He even
            forced the Itureans (who dwelled north of Galilee) to circumcise themselves. / The Apocryphal book of Judith is written.

132:      Sometime before this date the Old Testament prophetic books are translated in the Greek language, in Egypt. They became part of the Septuagint. /
            The book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) is written. It is a Hellenistic apologetic book meant to compete with Stoic ideas. It expounds on the Logos doctrine.

125-50:  The writer of the intertestamental book Jubilees paraphrases Genesis and retroactively fits in the stories of Genesis Satan (Mastema), the creation of

             the angels, and their fall (how they became fallen angels: demons). He wrote that Mastema (Satan) enticed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He wrote that
            God gave the Law to Moses through “the mediating angel.” In the Hellenistic Christian parallel, God gave grace and forgiveness of sins through the
             mediation of his son Jesus.

106-43: Lifetime of philosopher/orator Cicero. He commends about the Zoroastrian Magi and about the mysteries of Dionysus. He wrote certain religious ideas
            and motifs, which appear in the New Testament.

104:      Judas, the eldest son of John Hyrcanus I, rules Judea. He, like his brother Simon before him, forces the Itureans to circumcise.

            Under his rule Zealous Judaism reaches another peak.

103-76:  Alexander Janneus rules Judea as King and high priest. 

104-63:  Second Maccabees is written. In the 12 chapter, it mentions Jews praying for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of the dead (the Catholic concept
            of Purgatory). Maccabees 14:35 says that God lives in the Temple. Second Maccabees 7:14 says that only the righteous will rise from the dead.

            (Jehovah Witnesses believe likewise.)

104-48:  Lifetime of Pompey the Great. / Plutarch mentions that pirates in the coasts of Asia Minor instituted the mystery of Mithra.

100 –ca.:  Artapanus of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jew, promotes Judaism to Gentiles using Greek ideas and motifs. He, too, prepared the way for Hellenistic

             Christianity. / In the island of Rheneia (near Delos) two Jewish synagogue inscriptions indicate that the Septuagint was used there. / The Egyptian
            religion of Isis has spread in Greece (it is evident by an inscription found in Piraeus, Athens).

1^st century BCE:    The historian Diodorus of Sicily mentions how god Dionysus went to Hades and returned. (Jesus did likewise, according to the gospels.)

                  Diodorus mentions the Eleusinian mysteries and the myth of Attis. / The mystery of Isis and Osiris (or Serapes) spreads to Rome. / The mystery of

             Mithra  spread in Asia Minor. It became the official religion of Roman soldiers. The followers of Mithra were “born again,” and practiced a primitive
            ritual of communion. / Asclepius was celebrated in numerous temples across the Roman Empire as a miraculous healer god. /The Hellenization of
            Diaspora Jews accelerates. / Toward the end of this century: the writer of the book Wisdom of Solomon is the first to call Satan “the devil.” /
             Neopythagoreanism spreads in the Mediterranean. / The zealous Jews of Judea disliked the Samaritans. They considered them infidels.

70-19:  Lifetime of the Roman poet/author Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid. He mentions the Purgatory (a place for temporary punishments and cleansing after
         death). He wrote a poem about and “infant boy,” the son of god Jove. His poem probably inspired some details of the birth accounts of Matthew and Luke.

70 BCE -10 CE:  The lifetime of Hillel, the influential Jewish religious teacher, who came from Babylon to Galilee. Hillel was influenced by the Zoroastrianism
            of Babylon. He immigrated to Galilee where important religious schools existed. He brought his religious ideas from Babylon to Galilee.

65-8:     Lifetime of Horace, the renowned Latin lyric poet, who wrote, “Which of the gods now will the people summon {from Heaven}... ?” His poem refers to
            a god who comes on earth and takes the shape of a young Roman, a prince, stays among the Romans, and later returns to Heaven. The New Testament
             writers wrote similar details about Jesus.

64/59 BCE to 17 CE:  The Roman historian Livy wrote that ceremonial washing (baptism) preceded initiation into the mysteries of Dionysus. He wrote that King

                   Romulus disappeared in a cloud and left this world, and the Romans declared him a god, the son of god. (About 100 years later, similar claims were made

            about Jesus. - No one called Jesus “a god” before his death. -Romulus served as prototype for Jesus’ story.)

63:        Pompeii captures Jerusalem. The Romans occupy Palestine. Israel becomes a client kingdom of Rome, paying tribute and enjoying a certain internal political

            self rule and religious freedom. / Caesar Augustus is born, September 23. The zealous Jews lost the power to determine who can live in their land.
            The Romans stationed Gentile soldiers in the holy land. Gentile government auxiliaries and merchants gradually moved there. The Maccabean achievements
             were undone: Hellenism began to flourish again in various areas of Palestine.

62:        The poet Gaius Valerius Catullus goes to Rome, and mentions in his poem the existence of the temple of Serapis.

60:        First Triumvirate in Rome: Gaius Julius Caesar (the official Emperor), Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. /The historian
            Diodorus of Cicily observes in Egypt the funerary custom of praying for the salvation of the dead.

50-40:  The Psalms of Solomon is written. “The destruction of the sinner is forever … This is the share of the sinners forever, but those who fear the Lord shall
            rise up to eternal life, and their life shall be in the Lord’s light, and it shall never end.” (Psalms of Solomon 3:11-12)

50-30:  Shammai and Hillel, the teachers of Judaism, flourish.

44:        Julius Caesar is assassinated. According to Virgil “he {the sun} hid his shining head in gloom and the impious age feared eternal night.” (According to
            the gospels, the sun stopped shining the moment Jesus died.)

43:        Second Triumvirate (in Rome).

42:        Caesar Augustus Octavian and the Roman senate vote to build a temple to Serapes and Isis. Caesar Augustus is proclaimed a “god.”       

37-4:     Herod the Great rules Judea. He was a Hellenist, and therefore, the zealous Jews hated him. The movement of the Zealots began as a reaction to the
             Hellenistic activities of Herod, just as the movement of the Hasidim/Maccabees began as a reaction to Antiochus’ Hellenistic policies.

37 BCE to 66 CE:  During this period there was a high turnover of high priests (a total of 28) who were appointed by the Roman kings or governors of Judea.

            Unqualified people became high priests. Most of them were corrupt, and promoted the interests of the Romans.

            This was one reason that the Jews in 66 CE revolted against the Romans.

34:         The Roman General Mark Anthony enters triumphantly into Ephesus casting himself in the role of the savior god Dionysus.

27 BCE -14 CE:    The reign of Augustus Caesar. He became an initiate of the Eleusinian mysteries. During his reign almost every city of the eastern
            Mediterranean (except  Jerusalem) had a temple dedicated to a god or a goddess of a mystery religion. (Hellenistic Christianity borrowed religious
            ideas from the mystery religions.) Augustus granted the Jews the privilege of not serving in the Roman army.

25:        The first Sicarii commando mission: two zealous Jews, who carried daggers under their cloaks, attempt to assassinate Herod the Great. This was the
            first of a series of religious revolts, which culminated with the Great Jewish War in 66 CE.

25:        Eudorus of Alexandria, a Middle Platonist and Hellenistic Jew refers to the “Word of God” (the breath that came from God’s mouth) as “the essentially
             transcendent god.” He advanced the Word/Logos doctrine. He laid some of the foundations of Hellenistic Christianity (the religion of Paul).

25:  BCE -50 CE    Gamaliel the Elder’s lifetime. He rejected the book of Job, which contains Sadducee beliefs, such as, the dead will not rise from their graves,
                    there is no eternal life: “... he who goes down to the grave will come up no more.” (Job 7:9 KJV)

20-15 BCE to 45-50 CE:  Philo Judaeus’ lifetime, (Philo of Alexandria): a Hellenist, a Greek-speaking Jewish theologian, an apologist of Hellenistic Judaism,
            a brilliant allegorical interpreter of the Old Testament. He explained Hellenistic Judaism to Gentile audiences. (He is the little-known founder of
            Hellenistic Christianity. He influenced several New Testament writers, and early Christian Church Fathers. The New Testament writers often used
            his religious ideas or loosely quoted phrases from his books.) He invented several doctrines of Christianity. He expounded on the Word/Logos doctrine.
            He explained that the number 3 is the perfect number, therefore God is a Trinity. He formulated the doctrine of the Trinity, which the Christian Church
            Fathers adopted. He wrote that God miraculously impregnated several barren women of the Old Testament (Mary was impregnated likewise.)/He
           mentions that the mystery religions practiced the ritual of baptism (as part of the initiation process). He promoted Hellenistic Judaism as a mystery religion.

6 BCE –ca. to ca. 35 CE:  Lifetime of Jesus. (He lived about 41 years). His birth date is based on Herod’s year of death (4 BCE) and Matthew’s account, which
                        says that Herod killed the children of Bethlehem 2 years after he learned from the magi that Jesus was born. His death date is based on the
                       following: Jesus died during the Passover preceding the Pentecost, after which Stephen was stoned and Paul was present. Later on in that year
                         Paul converted to Hellenistic Christianity. The   year Paul converted to Christianity, according to most scholars, was 35 CE. Paul went away to
                        Arabia for 14 years and in 49 CE he began his missionary journeys.   / Jesus was a conservative zealous Jew (anti-Hellenistic, like his
                predecessors, the Maccabees, and his contemporaries, the Zealots), who founded a sect (which had much in common with the Essenes and the
            Pharisees) of Judaism: the Jewish Christians. He joined the messianic movement of the zealous Jews, who wanted to purify Jerusalem and the Temple
            from foreign impurity.He preached the overthrow of the Romans and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in Israel. He attempted to become the
            Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish leaders and a number of common Jews rejected him because he was not qualified. To prevent the Roman retaliation
            and mass bloodshed, the leaders turned him into the Romans, who crucified him as a rebel.

4 BCE:  The first revolt of the zealous Jews (Zealots): Before Herod’s death, two rabbis, Judas, the son of Sepphoris, and Matthias, the son of Margalus, inspired
            a group of young men to destroy an idol (a golden eagle; i.e. an “abomination of desolation”) which Herod had placed over the great gate of the Temple.

4 BCE:  Herod the Great dies. Judas the son of Ezekiah (a Zealot) leads a revolt in Galilee, robs and burns Herod’s palace. He had an ambition to become
            King of Israel.

4 BCE -6/7 CE:  King Archelaus –rules Judea, Samaria and Idumea.

4 BCE -33 CE:  King Philip rules the area east of Galilee.

4 BCE-39 CE:  King Antipas –rules Galilee & Perea.

4 BCE ca. – 65 CE:  Lifetime of Lucius Anneus Seneca, a Roman statesman (tutor and advisor of Nero), play writer, and Stoic philosopher. He proposed a
            “blended” or “co-fated” version of predestination (free will and fate): “The Fates lead a willing subject, but drag along the unwilling.” He wrote, “This
            poor body, the prison and fetter of the soul ...” Seneca influenced Paul.

CE:
(Year in Common Era)

 1^st century:  The historian Philo of Byblos writes the Phoenician History, which was presumably a translation of the book of Sanchuniathon, an early
                Phoenician historian (who lived in 14^th to 13^th BCE). Philo traces the origins of the Canaanite god El Elyon, who later became the god of Israel.
            He also quotes the Zoroastrian scriptures. /The Neopythagorean movement grows and spreads in the areas of Eastern Mediterranean and influences
            the Essenes. / To countervail the Septuagint, during the early Christian era, the Jews make their own Greek translations (for the Greek speaking
            Conservative Diaspora Jews), such as the translation of Aquila, the Theodotion, and perhaps the translation of Symmachus./ Gnosticism begins
        with Philo of Alexandria. / Gnostic Christianity appears, with Simon the Magus, sometime after the death of Jesus (35 CE) in the area of Samaria and spreads
        in Syria and Asia Minor. Paul is influenced by Gnosticism. Gnosticism mixed certain aspects of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Hellenism with the Christ.
                    The Gnostics were influenced by the writings of Philo of Alexandria.
1-80 CE:           Lifetime of  Yohanan ben Zakkai, the leader of the Rabbinic group at Jamnia, who shared Jesus’ view concerning purity and defilement.

4-39:          Herod Antipas is appointed by the Romans as king (tetrarch of the territory of Galilee and Perea), and serves the Roman interests. His job is to crush

                  insurrections. He executes John the Baptist ca. 29 CE because he anticipated that John’s preaching would bring about an insurrection.

6-7 CE:  Judea becomes a Roman Imperial province. The Roman governor Quirinius conducts a census for taxation (mentioned by Luke). Judas the Galilean
             revolts and convinces the zealous Jews not to pay taxes to the Romans. Judas establishes the revolutionary movement of the Zealots. (The Zealots led
            the Great War of the Jews against the Romans from 66-73 CE.) / Simon, a former slave of Herod the Great, leads a revolt and burns Herod’s royal
            palace in Jericho and sets fire to several of Herod’s houses. From 7 CE on, the privileges, which the Romans had granted to the Jews in the times of
            Pompeii, begin to erode.

8-9 CE (ca.):    Some Samaritans desecrate the Temple of Jerusalem. After that, the Jews bar the Samaritans from the Temple.

14-37:      Tiberius succeeds Augustus and rules as the second Roman emperor. He destroys the temple of Isis in Rome, to punish the priests of Isis, who
            committed a crime. Tiberius promotes Hellenism. / Hellenism was abhorred by the zealous Jews of Jerusalem.

18-36 CE:  Caiaphas serves as the high priest and towards the end of his administration (which was exceptionally long), in 35 CE, he turns Jesus over to
                the Romans.

19:         Dio Cassius wrote that the (Hellenistic) Jews of Rome were converting Gentiles to Judaism. Tiberius banishes the Jewish religion from Rome, and
            punishes many Jews. Tacitus wrote, “There was a debate too about expelling the Egyptian and Jewish worship, and a resolution of the Senate was
            passed that four thousand of the freedmen class who were infected with those superstitions {religious beliefs} and were of military age should be
            transported to the island of Sardinia … The rest were to quit Italy, unless before a certain day they repudiated their impious rites.”

20-54:   The book of Fourth Maccabees is written. It was influenced by the Stoic philosophy and by the Septuagint. It influenced to a limited extent the New
            Testament writers. It says that the death of certain martyrs was ransom for the sin of Israel (likewise the death of Jesus was ransom of the sins
            of the world). “{Eleazar praying to God:} Be merciful to your people {the Jews}, and let our punishment {martyrdom} suffice for them. Make my
            blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs.’ And after he said this, the holy man died nobly in his tortures ...”
            (4 Maccabees 6:28-30 RSV) These verses made an impact on the writers of the New Testament.

23-79:   Lifetime of Pliny the Elder. He wrote that men became gods through their great deeds. The Romans deified men before the Hellenistic Christians deified
             Jesus.

26-36:  Pontius Pilate serves as governor (procurator) of Judea. In 35 CE he condemns Jesus do death.

27:        Josephus mentions that at this time (27 CE) there is a temple of Isis in Rome.

29:    John the Baptist begins his mission in “15^th year of Tiberius,” (see Luke 3:1-2), but probably later, because this date does not match the period of
            Jesus’ ministry.

32-35:   Jesus begins his 3 year ministry (this date is based on the date of Stephen’s death and Paul’s conversion). After his three year mission, Jesus is
            executed by the Romans, with the help of the Roman collaborators: the Sadducee high priests Annas and Caiphas. (Based on the information in the
            Gospel of Luke Jesus died in ca. 32 CE. Based on the information of the Book of Acts, Jesus died ca. 35 CE. The latter date is more correct, because
            it ties into Stephen’s death and the year of Paul’s conversion.)

35:        The Hellenistic Christians, after the Pentecost, speak insults against Judaism. The Jews kill Stephen, and chase the rest of the Hellenistic Christians out
            of Jerusalem. / Simon the Magus, the first known Gnostic Christian, a Jew in Samaria. He is mentioned in Acts 8:9–25, where he is described as a
             “magician.” He converted to Hellenistic Christianity and was baptized by the Hellenist Christian Philip. / Paul persecutes the Hellenistic Christians and
            later in this year converts to Hellenistic Christianity himself. After 14 years, in 49 CE, he goes to Jerusalem (see Galatians 2:1).

36:        Tiberius Caesar removes Pilate from office on account of his cruelty to zealous Jews.

37-44:   Reign of Agrippa I over Judea. He died at the end of his reign. He gives the high priesthood to Ishmael. His action stirs up the zealous Jews to revolt.

37-41:   The reign of Gaius Caligula Caesar. He succeeds Tiberius. He gives the mysteries of Isis state recognition. He builds the Palace of Isis on Palatine Hill. 

            He persecutes the Jews because they would not acknowledge him as a god. There is no record of Caligula’s persecution of the Hellenistic Christians,
            because at that time the Hellenistic Christians were very few and they attended the Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues. Caligula institutes his own
            mystery religion.

37-100 –ca.: Lifetime of Flavius Josephus. He is the first secular writer to mention Jesus. His historical writings are very important in understanding the Judaism
            of 1^st century CE, the religious background of Palestine, and thus, are helpful in deciphering the historical Jesus. He wrote from ca. 75 to ca. 95 CE.
            He was a Hellenist, who betrayed his country and opposed the zealous Jews, who fought against the Romans during the Great War. For this reason, he
            moved to Rome and lived       there (under the protection of Caesar) for the rest of his life.

38:        Paul goes to Jerusalem, where he meets Peter and James (see Galatians 1:15-22). This is his first trip to Jerusalem. / Paul, throughout his career and for
            the most part, taught in Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues. Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, Hellenistic Christians and Gnostic Christians met in Hellenistic
            Diaspora synagogues on the Sabbath. The Gospel of Thomas (which contains some Gnostic beliefs) reads: “If you do not observe the Sabbath as a
            Sabbath, you will not see the Father.” (Gospel of Thomas, 27:2) / The Jews are persecuted in Alexandria, because they refuse to sacrifice to Caligula.
            The right of the Alexandrian Jews to full citizenship is repealed.

38-50:  The Wisdom of Solomon, an intertestamental book is finished in Alexandria, Egypt. Its second chapter alludes to the persecution of Jesus by
            the Sadducees. In a sense, this is the earliest record of Jesus’ story. That it was written in Alexandria is very important. Alexandria is the birth place
            of Hellenistic Christianity.

39:        The Alexandrian Jews chose Philo to head a delegation to Emperor Gaius Caligula in Rome, on account of the pogrom of the Jews.

40:        Some men of Doris (a coastal town close to Samaria) desecrate the Jewish synagogue of Doris (there was an anti-Jewish sentiment around the Roman
             Empire, because of the Jewish revolts against the Romans). / Some zealous Jews of the town of Jamnia (a city close to the coast of Judea) destroy an
            altar set up in honor of Caligula. Caligula responds by issuing a decree with potentially devastating consequences to all Jews. A series of similar
            disturbances lead to the Great War of the Jews in 66 CE. /Philo writes that the only people who refused to worship Caligula were the Jews. Philo was
          not aware of the Hellenistic Christians because at that time they attended Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues and blended with the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews.

41-54:   The reign of Claudius Caesar. He succeeds Caligula, who was murdered. Claudius prohibits the Jews of Rome from holding meetings. Suetonius wrote,

“Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chresto, he {Claudius} expelled them from Rome.” Suetonius referred to riots that
            took place around 54 CE.

44:        King Agrippa I kills James (the brother of John) and arrests Peter, to disband the Jewish Christian messianic movement. Peter escapes. Agrippa dies.

44-47:   Governorhip of Cuspius Fadus. During that time a certain magician named Theudas, a Messiahninc candidate for King of Israel, persuades many Jews
            that he would free them from the Romans. Fadus’ soldiers cut off Theudas’ head and carry it to Jerusalem.

46–ca. to 120:  Lifetime of Plutarch the historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. He describes the Greek mystery religions. His writings are important

            in tracing the origins of certain Hellenistic Christian ideas.

46-48:   Paul’s first missionary journey: he goes from Antioch, to Cyprus, to various cities of Minor Asia, and back to Antioch (see Acts 13:4-14:28). /A severe famine

            takes place in Judea./ Tiberius Alexander (the nephew of Philo Judaeus: Philo of Alexandria) serves a prefect (governor of Judea).

48-52:   Cumanus serves as governor of Palestine.

49:        Paul goes for the second time to Jerusalem (see Galatians 2:1-2) to the so called “Apostolic Council” in Jerusalem; before his second missionary journey.

            / Claudius Caesar expels Jews from Rome because of religious/political unrest in Rome and in Palestine. Caudius Caesar condemns the Jewish Christians
            for causing riots in Rome; Gaius Suetonius wrote that the Jews of Rome rioted: “Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma {Claudius} expulit.”
             Literally translated, “Jews instigation Chresto assiduous made disturbance Rome he {Claudius} expelled.” Liberally translated, “Since the Jews constantly
             made disturbances at the instigation of Chresto, he {Claudius} expelled them from Rome.” “Cresto” probably means “Christ.” As a punishment Claudius
             orders all the Jews to leave Rome: “… Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. …” (Acts 18:2 NRSV) Along with those Jews is Aquila and
             Priscilla, whom Paul meets in Corinth in 51 CE.

49-52:  Paul’s second missionary journey: he goes through cities of minor Asia, to Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica), to Athens, to Corinth, to Ephesus, to
            Caesarea (see Acts 15:39-18:22). / The vast majority of Paul’s converts were Hellenistic Diaspora Jews.

50:        The Jewish merchant Ananias proselytizes King Izates of Adiabene to Hellenistic Judaism, and turns him into a God-fearer: a Jewish God worshipper,
            who does not undergo circumcision. / Paul warns against the Gnostic Christians in his letters to the Colossians, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians. The Gnostic
             Christians interpreted Jesus allegorically./ The manuscript Codex D says that Apollos was “instructed in his own country {i.e. Alexandria} in the word of
            the Lord.” (Acts 18:25) This suggests that Hellenistic Christianity had reached Alexandria by 50 CE. / At about 50 CE Jews were accused of setting on
            fire part of Antioch  

50-75:  The latest section of the book of 1 Enoch (cha. 45-57), the book of Parables a.k.a. Similitudes, is written. It formulates several Christian ideas concerning
            the Messiah, which appear in the New Testament books, which were written a few years later.

50-93:  The reign of Herod Agrippa II in Judea (50-53 CE, he was Tetrarch of Chalcis). From 66 to 73 CE he helps the Romans fight the Zealots.

            He died in Rome ca. 100 CE.

51:        Paul arrives to Corinth and links with Aquila and Priscilla. / Gallio (mentioned in Acts 8:12) the proconsul of Achaia, dismisses the case of the Jews
           against Paul. Paul writes his first (known) letter: 1 Thessalonians /The Roman governor of Syria, Ummidius Quadratus, puts a temporary stop to the feuds
           between  the Judeans and the Samaritans.

52:        Paul brings Aquila and Priscilla to Ephesus (see Acts 18:19). / The Judean Jews are accused of burning the villages of Caesarea. They are persecuted by
             Cumanus, the Roman governor that preceded Felix. This is another prelude to the Great War of the Jews.

52-60:   Antonius Felix, governs of Palestine.

53-57:  Paul’s third missionary journey: From Antioch he goes through cities of Minor Asia, to Ephesus, up the coast of Ionia, to Macedonia, to Athens, returns to             Macedonia and crosses over to Asia Minor, down the coast of Ionia, to Rhodes, to Tyre, Ptolemais, to Jerusalem (see Acts 18:23-21:17) /Paul went to
             Ephesus, where Isis was worshipped.

54-68:   Reign of Nero: he became Emperor after Claudius was poisoned by his wife.

55:        Paul writes the “church letter” (part of today’s letter to the Romans) addressed, probably, to Laodicea. He also writes 1 Corinthians. / The Sicarii, take  
           revenge for what Ananus Sr. (known as Annas in the New Testament) did to Jesus: turned him over to the Romans. They slaughter Jonathan, the son of
             Ananus Sr.

56-57:   Paul writes the “synagogue letter”: part of today’s letter to the Romans.

57:        Paul goes to Jerusalem and is arrested (Acts 21:15-36). He is imprisoned by Governor Felix for two years (Acts 24:27). Felix, in effect, rescues Paul from the             Zealots by placing him in prison for his own protection. / Felix responds to sporadic Sicarii and Zealot assaults.

59-62:  Porcius Festus serves as Roman governor/procurator of Palestine. Festus, too, responds to sporadic Sicarii and Zealot assaults.

59:        Festus and Agrippa II try Paul (Acts 25:1-26:32) and then send him to Rome to be tried by Nero. Paul was not

             persecuted by the Romans because he preached respect toward the Roman authorities, submission, and paying taxes.

60:        Paul arrives to Rome and preaches for two years in a rented house (Acts 28:30-31). He establishes the Hellenistic Christian Church of Rome. (When Paul
             went to Rome, there were no Christians there to welcome him.) That the    Romans allowed Paul to conduct religious meetings while he was imprisoned
             shows that the Romans did not persecute Hellenistic Christianity.

61:        Paul wrote Philippians after 61 CE from his prison house in Rome. He mentions that his gospel was spread to “the whole imperial guard” of Nero: “I want
             you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial
             guard {of Nero} …” (Philippians 1:12-13) This shows that Nero was not against Hellenistic Christianity.

62:        Paul exonerated by Nero and released from imprisonment (2 Timothy 4:16-17).

62:        Annas/Ananus Jr., probably avenges the death of his brother Jonathan (who was killed by the Sicarii in 55 CE), by bringing an unreasonable condemnation
             charge on James, the brother of Jesus. Ananus Jr. (a Sadducee) has James stoned to death. A few years later, the Zealots, probably, avenge the death of
             James: they kill Ananus Jr. in plain sight.

62-64:   Lucceius Albinus, Roman governor/procurator of Palestine.

63:        The Jews rebel, again, against the Romans in Palestine. Albinus, the Roman governor of Judea, arrests and sends to Rome a Jewish priest and the captain
            of the Temple to be tried by Nero. Josephus, comes to Rome and pleads for the release of the priest and the captain of the Temple. He did not meet any
             Hellenistic Christians in Rome neither did he hear about them because during the first century Hellenistic Christians were not discernible from the
            Hellenistic Diaspora Jews. First century Christians were predominantly Jews by birth (Diaspora Jews). They attended Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues
            (along with the Gnostic Christians), and worshipped the god of the Jews, and used the Bible of the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews: the Septuagint. (In the first
            century, the letters of Paul were not considered scripture.) At that time, Hellenistic Christians, Gnostic Christians, and Hellenistic Diaspora Jews (along
            with Jewish proselytes and God-fearers) worshiped together the god of the Jews in Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues. They did not worship Jesus. The
            Hellenistic Christians viewed Jesus as the divine mediator of God, the spiritual High Priest of God. Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues were theological
             “melting pots.”

64:        Nero accuses the Jewish Christians of Rome of setting Rome on fire and persecutes them. (Nero was not after the Hellenistic Christians: the followers of
             Paul. They were law abiding, like Paul. Paul preached total obedience to authorities. Hellenistic Christians served Nero in his household.)

64-68:   Crucifixion of Peter. Eusebius’ claim that Peter was crucified by Nero is historically plausible because Nero crucified Jewish Christians. The Jewish
             Christians were revolutionaries. Jesus was crucified for teaching people to revolt against the Romans. Peter carried a sword and used it when Jesus was
             arrested. Peter’s crucifixion probably took place after the beginning of the Great Jewish War (66 CE) against the Romans.

64-66:   Governorship of Gessius Florus (Roman governor/procurator of Palestine). He attempts to seize money from the Temple treasury to cover the Jewish
        tribute, which the zealous Jews refused to pay. Florus’ action triggers the Great War of the Jews.

66-73:  The Great War of the Jews against the Romans begins. The zealous Jews fight Florus’ soldiers hand-to-hand and force them out of Jerusalem.
        Menahem and the Sicarii assault Masada and take control of it. The Zealots put a stop to Roman sacrifices at the Temple and revolt against the corrupt
        high priests, the Sadducees, and cleanse the Temple. Manahem {or Menahem} the Galilean, the son to Judas of Galilee (the founder of the Zealots), raids
        Herod’s arsenal at Masada and distributes the weapons “to his own people” (the Zealots). He comes to Jerusalem as a king of the Jews. The Jews oust him.
        Soon after Manahem, there arose Simon bar Giora. He became the foremost messianic candidate of the Jews. Eventually, he was killed by the Romans.
        The zealous Jews were expecting the Messiah, the King of the Jews, to liberate them. / The mystery of Mithras was the religion of the Roman soldiers who
        besieged Jerusalem. During the siege they prayed to Mithras.

67:        Josephus defects to the Romans.

68:        Nero commits suicide.

69-79:   Reign of Vespasian: he becomes the Roman Emperor while fighting the Great Jewish War. He was a devotee of god Serapis.

70:        Titus, the Roman General (son of Vespasian), crushes the Jewish rebellion, destroys the Temple and demolishes Jerusalem. He leaves a city wall and
        some towers standing. He leaves the tenth legion of the Roman army to guard the ruins and to prevent Jews from returning to the area of Jerusalem.
        Jerusalem remains destroyed for several decades. When Hadrian first became the Roman emperor in 117 CE, he became sympathetic to the Jews and
        stated publicly that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and granted them permission to rebuild their Temple. / Synagogues replaced the Temple as houses
        of worship. / Vespasian becomes a devotee of god Serapes (a god associated with Isis) after he performed a miracle (the healing of a lame hand and

        a vision problem) in Alexandria (at 70 CE). He   wins the reputation of miracle worker. Isis appears on Roman coins.

73:      Romans pursue the remaining Zealots (those who escaped from Jerusalem) to Masada. After a siege, some Zealots escape and the rest commit suicide.

74:     The Sicarii who escaped Masada go to Alexandria and preach to the Alexandrian Jews “to look upon God as their only Lord and Master.” Just as the
          Sadducees convinced the crowds of Jerusalem to turn Jesus over to the Romans, the leading Jews of Alexandria convince the Jews of Alexandria to turn
          the Sicarii over to the Romans to save themselves from destruction. /The Romans shut down the Jewish Temple in Leontopolis, Egypt; their policy was
            to shut down Judaism and   put an end to all Jewish revolts.

75:        The Parables, a.k.a. Similitudes, (a section of 1 Enoch) is written. Evidence within this book shows that at that time, the word “satan” was not the
             exclusive name of Satan.

79:      or soon thereafter:  the Sibylline Oracles, book 4, are expanded by Hellenistic Christians. They “predict” (retroactively) the destruction of the Temple
            and the explosion of Vesuvius. These Oracles were considered by early Christians as inspired by God. They were propagandistic tools to win Gentiles
              to Christ.

79-81:    Reign of Titus, emperor of Rome.

80-100:  The book of Acts is written.

81-96:    Reign of Domitian, emperor of Rome. He builds a huge temple for Isis (the mystery religion of Isis). Towards the end of his reign Domitian persecutes all
             “atheists”: anyone who taught “inappropriate doctrines”: philosophers and Diaspora Jews. Along with the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews he unwittingly
        persecutes Hellenistic Christians. To the pagans the latter were not discernible from Hellenistic Diaspora Jews. Most Hellenistic Christians held services in
        Hellenistic Diaspora synagogues until the end of the 1^st century CE.

90:        Jewish religious leaders meet in Jamnia (Jabneh) to canonize the books of the Old Testament. There is no record that they agreed. They debated over
        Daniel, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. / 90-100 CE: Revelation is written. / 90 CE: the epistle to the Hebrews is written. The writer of Hebrews advises
        the Hellenistic Christians to observe the Sabbath: “So then, a  Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease
        from their labors as God did from his {labors on the Sabbath day}. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest {of God}, so that no one may fall
        through such disobedience as theirs.” (Hebrews 4:9-10 NRSV) Hellenistic Diaspora Jews and Hellenistic Christians worshipped together on the Sabbath.

90-110: The Gospel of John is written. Epiphanius writes that some Christians (whom he called Alogoi) claimed that the Gospel of John was written by

            the Gnostic Christian Cerinthus.

93-95:   Josephus writes The Antiquities of the Jews.

96:        Non-biblical evidence for the historicity of Paul: the letter of Clement addressed to the Corinthians, ca. 96 CE, mentions Paul: “Take up the epistle of the
             blessed Paul the Apostle. What wrote he first unto you in the beginning of the Gospel ...” (1 Clement 47:1-2) This letter clearly debunks the Trinity
        doctrine: “Let all the   Gentiles know that Thou art the God alone, and Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and we are Thy people ...” (1 Clement 59:4)

98-117:          Reign of Trajan, Emperor of Rome. He is depicted on his triumphal arch as sacrificing to Isis.

2^nd century:    Hellenistic Christians attract Gentiles rather than Hellenistic Diaspora Jews. They gradually -over several decades- stop worshipping on the Sabbath
                 and detach   themselves from Diaspora Synagogues. In the beginning of the 2nd century CE the Church Father Ignatius proposes to the Hellenistic
                 Christians of Magnesia not to keep the Sabbath. / Also, during the early second century Hellenistic Christians begin to separate from the Gnostics, after
            the latter began to believe that the Father of Jesus was not Yahweh, the god of the Jews. / The mystery of Mithras spreads throughout the Roman Empire.
                 The followers of Mithras practiced the ritual of communion./

100 CE:    The three epistles of John are written. First John 2:19 refers to the Docetic Christians (Gnostics) who left the Hellenistic Christian church.

100-110:   Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch, Syria, an early Church Father (he died ca. 110 CE), wrote a letter to the Ephesians, in which he condemned the
                Gnostic Christian beliefs. He mentions the Judaizers and condemns the Ebionites. He referred to Jesus as “a god” (i.e. a divine being) but not as God.

100 (ca.) - 165:   Lifetime of Church Father Justin Martyr. He believed that Plato was somehow inspired by God. He acknowledged that the Greek
                       mystery religions  practiced baptism before Christianity. / He wrote, “... we know no ruler more kingly or just than He {Jesus} except God {the
                 Father} who begot Him.” In other words, God is superior to Jesus.

100-175:            Lifetime of the Gnostic Christian Valentinus. Eusebius wrote that the Valentinians made “copious use of that {Gospel} according to John.”
110-112:     Pliny the Younger was the governor in the Roman province of Bithynia (in Asia Minor) when a number of Hellenistic Christians were brought into
            his court. Pliny’s letter to Emperor Trahan reveals that he was unfamiliar with Hellenistic Christianity. Pliny’s letter is evidence indicates that at that time
            some Hellenistic Christians deemed Jesus as a god: they prayed to Jesus as “a god.”/ Paul did not pray to Jesus. He prayed to God. When the
            Hellenistic Christians began to pray to Jesus as “a god” (a second god, in addition to the Father) they could no longer share worship places with
            Hellenistic Diaspora Jews. They separated from the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews sporadically, over several decades, as each Christian community
            changed their beliefs and began pray to Jesus. By about 165 CE, almost all Christian communities separated from the Diaspora synagogues. When
           the Hellenistic Christians began to worship Jesus, they lost all connection with Hellenistic Judaism.

120-125:       The letter of Titus is written. It rebukes the Gnostic Christians. (See Titus 1:10-11, 13-14, 16). This letter did not circulate in all the Hellenistic
             communities. Therefore, the separation of the Hellenistic Christians from the Gnostic Christians had not been completed yet.

125:       The earliest surviving New Testament manuscript is one small fragment from the Gospel of John, which contains three verses, and which dates to about
            125 CE. The second oldest fragment of John dates alter, sometime in the 2^nd century.

126: ?      The Jews finish the Greek translation of the Old Testament: the translation of Aquilla. The purpose of the Aquilla version was to countervail the
        Septuagint.

117-138:  Reign of Hadrian, emperor of Rome. When Hadrian first became the Roman emperor, he acted sympathetic to the Jews and stated publicly that
            the Jews could return to Jerusalem and granted them permission to rebuild their Temple.

124-170:     Lifetime of Lucius Apuleius. He wrote about the Greek mystery religions.

130 (ca.):    Hadrian goes against his earlier promises to the Jews and begins to build a Roman colony on the site of the ruins of Jerusalem and a temple to Jupiter
            on  the ruins of the Jewish Temple. This provokes the Bar Kokhba revolt which last 3 years (132-135 CE). The Romans crush the revolt and expel all
            Jews from Palestine. / Second Peter, the last book of the New Testament, is written. The earliest writing that mentions this book by name is in

            the 3^rd century: Commentary on John 5:3. Origen considered this letter dubious.

140 (ca.):  Marcion of Sinope, a Christian Church Father, is the first to compile the New Testament books. He believed that the god of the Jews could not be the
                 Father of Jesus, because the Father of Jesus does not lie. /His Gospel of Luke did not contain Jesus’ birth narrative. / He believed that Jesus rose from
            the dead spiritually (not physically). 

140-200/202 (ca.)  Lifetime of Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in Gaul; he introduced the four gospels in the canon of the New Testament. He wrote, “... that we may

             learn through Him {through Jesus} that the Father is above all things {i.e. including Jesus}. For ‘the Father,’ says he {Jesus}, ‘is greater than I.’ The
         Father,  therefore has been declared by our Lord to excel {above Jesus} with respect to knowledge ...” He also wrote, “... the Father Himself is alone
        called God ...       the Scripture acknowledge Him alone God; and yet again the Lord {Jesus} confesses Him alone as His own Father, and knows no
        other {God}…”

150 (ca.) - 211/215:    Lifetime of Church Father Clement of Alexandria. He believed that Plato was somehow inspired by God.

155:           Justin Martyr, the Christian Church Father, writes the Dialogue with Trypho, a Christian apologetic book. He quotes from the Septuagint and not
        from the New Testament. He mentions the Septuagint’s lack of credibility among the conservative Jews. / He is the first writer to show any knowledge of
         the book of Acts. Justin does not mention anywhere in his writings Paul or Paul’s his letters.

155-220:    Lifetime of the Church Father Tertullian. He started the false claim that Nero persecuted the Hellenistic Christians. (Eusebius quoted Tertullian.)
        Tertullian wrote, “the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son ...”

155 - 229/235:  Lifetime of the Roman Historian Dio Cassius. He mentions Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, who in the times of Emperor Tiberius proselytized Gentiles.

160:       The first commentary on the Gospel of John, is written by Heracleon, the Gnostic. At that time, the Gnostic Christians were the only ones using the
        Gospel of John. Some Gentile Christians rejected it.

170 (ca.) - 235:  The lifetime of St. Hippolytus, Bishop of Portus, a leader of the Roman Church. He wrote that the Sadducees accepted the Pentateuch but did not         believe in resurrection of the dead and eternal life.

172:      Tatian (born ca. 120, Syria, died April 173) considered some accounts of the gospels inauthentic. For this reason he selected what he considered
        authentic out of the four gospels and made one gospel (circa 172 CE). More than 200 copies of his gospel (called Diatessaron) were used by Christian
        Syrian churches. / Most of the text of today’s New Testament was chosen from the codex Vaticanus (4^th century), codex Sinaiticus (4^th century),
        codex Alexandrinus (5^th century), codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (5^th century).

177:      Athenagoras, in the second half of the 2nd century, he established in Alexandria a Christian academy. He wrote, “He {the Son} is the first product of
        the Father, not as having been brought into existence, for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind, had the Logos in Himself …”

178 (ca.):  Celsus, the critic of Christianity referred to Jesus as a “brigand chief.” He claimed, “But when he {Jesus} had put off this flesh {shed off his flesh:
           rose spiritually}, perhaps he became a god.” According to Origen, Celsus claimed, “... some of them {Christians} will concede that their God is the same
            as that of the Jews, while others {Christians} will maintain that he {the Father of Jesus} is a different one {from the god of the Jews}, to whom {to the
            Father of Jesus} the latter {the god of the Jews} is in opposition, and that it was from the former {the Father of Jesus} that the Son came’ ... {Origen
       explains:} Let it be admitted, then,   that there are amongst us {Christians} some who deny that our God is the same as that of the Jews.” In the last
         sentence, Origen referred to the    Marcionite Christians. / Celsus mentions the existence of Zoroastrian Scriptures in his time; also, that the Egyptians
        practiced circumcision before the Jews. /   Celsus claimed that certain Christian copyists had altered some verses of the gospels to eliminate discrepancies.

185:  The Church Father Irenaeus declared his own New Testament. Irenaeus was the first to quote from the book of Acts. He declared that there should only be
       four gospels because there are only four winds and four corners of the earth, and because the cherubim had four faces. Irenaeus was the first to validate
        the Gospel of John by including it in his canon.

185 (ca.) - 254:  Lifetime of Origen. He wrote, “The Samaritans and the Sadducees ... accept only the books of Moses.” He believed that Plato was somehow
                inspired by God. He used the expression “the mysteries of Jesus.” Christianity copied the Greek mystery religions. Origen wrote, “... we call them
            {Christianity} our mysteries.” Origen explained, “For the unbegotten God commanded the first-born of all creation {Jesus}, and they were
         created …” Also, “... him {Jesus} who accepted death for mankind ... worthy of the second place of honor after the God of the universe, the position given
        to him after the great deeds which he did in heaven and on earth.”/ Origen believed the Jesus’ body “transmuted”: it was transformed, into a spiritual body.
             He wrote “He {Jesus} is incorporeal.” 

200:       The third oldest manuscripts of the New Testament (such as Papyrus 46) date to about 200 CE. Before 200 CE the Church Fathers did not even
             mention in their writings the letters Philemon, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. These books had no canonical status whatsoever.

240:      The following New Testament book, were considered questionable but began to gain status: James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Hebrews.

240-320:   Lifetime of Lactantius, a Christian apologist and Latin Church father. In the early 4^th century CE, Lactantius wrote, “He {Jesus} taught that God is
              one {person} and that He {the Father} alone ought to be adored, nor did He {Jesus} ever call Himself God, because he would not {have} kept
                     faith, if, sent to remove false gods ... he should bring in another {god} besides that One {the Father}.” 

265 (ca.) - 340 (ca.):  Lifetime of Eusebius. He formed today’s canon of the New Testament by producing fifty copies of it, to be used in various churches. He
            was instrumental in the formulation of the Trinity doctrine. He wrote, “I have repeated whatever may rebound to the glory {of God}, and suppressed all
        that could tend to the disgrace of our religion.” Eusebius handled the manuscripts of Josephus which contain the Testimonium (the oldest non-biblical
        evidence for Jesus). Scholars believe that Eusebius inserted the Testimonium into the writings of Josephus.

3rd century:  Porphyry, a Neoplatonist philosopher denied the authenticity of the book of Daniel, and explained how Daniel’s prophecies were anachronistic.

                   / The Catholics translated the Septuagint into Latin: the Old Latin text.

313:      Edict of Milan. Constantine the Great legalizes Christianity.

315 (ca.) - 403:  Lifetime of Church Father Epiphanius of Salamis (a heresiologist). He wrote the Panarion at about 374 CE.

318:      Arius (a Christian presbyter in Alexandria) is persecuted by Bishop Alexander for preaching that God is greater than Jesus.

323:      The Synod of Alexandria and the Synod of Nicomedia condemn Arius.

325:      The Synod of Nicea, under the leadership of Emperor Constantine and Bishop Athanasius, declares Jesus as equal to God. Dissenters, such as Arius and
             Bishop Eusebius are sent into exile. In 328 CE Eusebius repents and is re-instated to his former position.

335:      Eusebius indoctrinates Constantine and changes his beliefs about Jesus (i.e. Jesus is subordinate to God). Consequently, Constantine brings back Arius
        from exile and in 336 CE he sends Bishop Athanasius into exile, on account of Athanasius’ belief that Jesus is equal to God. Athanasius stays in exile
        until 346 CE, when emperor Constans, approve of Athanasius’ belief and brings him back from exile. In 356 CE, Athanasius escapes to Upper Egypt to avoid
        charges against him on account of his belief. In 361 he returns to Alexandria after the Alexandrians murdered the Arian Bishop George of Alexandria, on
        account of his belief that God is greater than Jesus..

341:      The Synod of Antioch/Seleucia reverses the decision of the Synod of Nicaea. The Arian view is exonerated.

342- 420:  Lifetime of Saint Jerome. He reported what Porphyry, the critic of Christianity, wrote, concerning the Christians beliefs, which is valuable information is
               assessing early Christianity.

347-407:  Lifetime of St. John Chrysostom. He commented about the book of Acts: “To many persons this book is so little known, both it and its author, that they

                are not even aware that there is such a book in existence.”

354 - 430:  Lifetime of Saint Agustine.

360 (ca.): The Jewish calendar, based on the genealogies of the Old Testament, is composed. It sets the creation of the world at 3761 BCE. 

362:      Athanasius convenes the Synod of Alexandria. But his action is quashed by Emperor Julian the Apostate, who petulantly orders him to leave Alexandria.
            Again, Athanasius packs up; he sails up the Nile, and goes in exile in Upper Egypt. In 363 CE Emperor Jovian, approves of Athanasius’ creed and
        reinstates Athanasius to his diocese.

363:      The Council of Laodicea affirms the Apocrypha as Scripture. It makes a rule for Christians against observing the Sabbath.

365:      Athanasius is banished again, on accounts of his beliefs, by Emperor Valens. Sometime later Valens, is persuaded by friends of Athanasius, and calls
            Athanasius back from exile. 

367:      Athanasius publishes a list of the New Testament books. His list is based on the Eusebian Canon. It names the twenty-seven books, which constitute
        today’s New Testament.

373:      Athanasius dies, and the Arians have the upper hand. The belief God is greater than Jesus becomes legal. A short time later the followers of
        Athanasius take control and the belief God is greater than Jesus become illegal.

379-395:      The Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I passes laws, such as, “The ability and right of making wills shall be taken {away} from those who turn from               Christians to pagans …” Theodosius outlaws pagan sacrifices and all business transactions from being conducted on Sundays. He outlaws freedom of
                religion and after the Synod of Constantinople (381 CE) he makes laws to enforce the Trinitarian doctrine.

381:    The followers of Athanasius (the Homo’ousians) convene the Synod of Constantinople, where they amend the Creed of Nicaea with the terms “co-equal, co-           eternal, and co-substantive” to apply also to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit joins the Son and the Father, and the Trinity becomes complete.

383:      Pope Damascus appoints St. Jerome to prepare the Latin Vulgate. Jerome labels the Apocrypha as non-canonical. Pope Damascus urges St. Jerome to revise

            and correct the old Latin version of the New Testament. St. Jerome refuses to comply with the Pope’s urging. But St. Jerome wrote, “I corrected only such            passages as seemed to convey a different meaning …” (Of course, the meaning is the most important part of the New Testament text.)

393:      The Council of Hippo (under the guidance of St. Augustine) affirms the Apocrypha and labels them as “Scripture.”

397:      The First Council of Carthage removes some of the Apocrypha and keeps only: the Wisdom of Solomon, the Psalms of Solomon, Tobias, Judith and
           1^st and 2^nd Maccabees. / The Roman Catholic Church rubber stamps the decision of the Synod of Constantinople (the declaration that God is a Trinity). 
        The Latin scribes insert a verse in 1 John 5:7-8, which declares that God is a Trinity.

5^th century:     The Marianites, a Christian sect, worshipped Mary as a true goddess.

408-450:   Reign of Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. He put an end to the proselytizing activities of Hellenistic Diaspora Jews.

419:      The Second Council of Carthage approves the canon of the previous council in 397 CE, with one exception: it questions the book of Revelation.

428-431: Period in office of Bishop Nestorius, bishop in Constantinople. He explained that Jesus had only one nature, a special blend of
            God and man. He asserted that God contributed the divine part of Jesus’ nature, while Mary contributed the human part. He also claimed that since
            Mary contributed the human part of the nature of Jesus she could not be called “the mother of God” (as she was called by the Orthodox Christians).

431:      The Council of Ephesus declares the Nestorian explanation a heresy. Nestorius is deposed and exiled.

589:      The Catholic Church comes up with the declaration that Jesus had as much power as the Father to dispense the Holy Spirit. This claim stirs another
            round of disputes.The Orthodox Church protests the Catholic declaration.

6^th century:   to about the 10^th century CE:  Jewish scholars at the Talmudic academies in Babylonia and Palestine joined their efforts to reproduce, as best as
            they could, the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament. They did not consult the Septuagint, because the Septuagint is the Bible of the Christians.

1054:    The Pope excommunicates the Patriarch of Constantinople and, in retaliation, the Patriarch hurls anathemas on the Pope. 

1135–1204:  Moses Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon), the great Jewish scholar-philosopher, all but disowns the Jewish sacrificial system.

1350:    An Englishman named John Wycliffe translates the Latin Vulgate into the English language. He includes the Apocrypha, which were in the Latin
          Vulgate  mixed with the Old Testament books.

1531:    Michael Servetus (a Spaniard) writes a treatise, Concerning the Errors of the Trinity. He tries to explain the irrationality of the Trinity doctrine. He is
            condemned by Calvin and his followers and is burned to death. 

1534 CE:          Martin Luther sets the apart in his Bible the Apocrypha and labels them “Apocrypha” (in his German translation of the Bible, the Luther Bible).

1535 CE:          The English translation of the Bible by Bishop Miles Coverdale: the first English version to segregate the Apocrypha from the Old Testament.

 1545-1563:     Martin Luther challenges the canon of the New Testament. He wrote “We should throw the Epistle of James out of this school {the university of
        Wittenberg}, for it doesn’t amount to much.” In the Council of Trent (1545-1563 CE) Catholics remove some Apocrypha from their Bible and declare the
        rest  of the Apocrypha Deuterocanonical.

1611:    The King James Version separates the Apocrypha form the rest of the books, by placing them between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

1615:     Archbishop George Abbot prohibits the issuance of Bibles without the Apocrypha.

1640:     The Geneva Bible omits the Apocrypha; a few years later the Protestants remove them from their canon.

1644:    The Long Parliament forbids the public reading of the Apocrypha.

1647:    The Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians declares the Apocrypha non-canonical.

1648:    The English government puts a ban on explaining the nature of Jesus. Under the guidance of the Catholic Church, it passes a law making denial of the
        divinity of Jesus a crime punishable by death. 

1650-1654:  Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh calculates, for the Christians, the date of the creation of the world, at 4004 BCE.

1701:    The King James Version, the Bishop Lloyd’s edition, is printed. It contains the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher, concerning the date of creation.

1827:  The British and Foreign Bible Society resolves never to print or circulate copies of the Bible containing the Apocrypha.

List of Rulers of Judea

Rulers of Judea, Priests, and Jewish Kingdoms from the Maccabean Rebellion to the final Roman annexations.

Hasmonean Rebel Leaders, 167-153 BC

167 BCE  Mattathias, initiates the revolution

167-160 BC E  Judas Maccabeus

160-153 BCE  Jonathan, the brother of Judas

Hasmonean High Priests and Kings, 153-37 BCE

153-142 BCE  Jonathan (from king, he becomes king/priest)

142-134 BCE  Simon

134-104 BC  John Hyrcanus I

104-103 BCE  Aristobulus I (also King) (Jewish name: Judas)

103-76 BCE  Alexander Jannaeus (also King)

76-67 BCE  Alexandra Salome (Queen)

76-66 BCE  John Hyrcanus II (High Priest only)

66-63 BCE  Aristobulus II

63-40 BCE  John Hyrcanus II (High Priest only)

40-37 BCE  Antigonus

Herodian Dynasty, 60 BCE – 75 CE

60-43 BCE  Antipater the Idumaean, Governor of Judaea

47-40 BCE  Herod the Great (son of Antipater), Governor of Galilee (co-reigned with his father).

47-40 BCE  Phasael (Governor of Jerusalem)

37-4 BCE  Herod the Great, King of Judea,

4 BCE- 6 CE  Herod Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea

4 BCE- 39 CE  Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee

4 BC- 34 CE  Herod Philip I, Tetrarch of Batanaea

37-41 CE  Herod Agrippa I, Tetrarch of Batanaea,

40-41 CE  Herod Agrippa I, Tetrarch of Galilee

41-44 CE  Herod Agrippa I, King

44-49 Herod of Chalcis (Son of Aristobulus, grand-son of Herod the Great)

49-52 CE Herod Agrippa II, king of Judea, ruled from Chalcis as Tetrarch of Chalcis, (Son of Agrippa I). Born in 29 CE.

49-75 CE Herod Agrippa II, Tetrarch of Batanaea, Nero added to his kingdom parts of Galilee and Peraea, most importantly Tiberias, Tarichea, and Julias
After 75 CE Agrippa II all but disappears from history. He died in obscurity in Rome ca. 100 CE.

Roman Prefects and Procurators of Judaea 6-132 CE

6 CE Tax Revolt of the Zealots (Judas the Galilean)

Prefects:

6-9 CE  Coponius

9-12 CE  Marcus Ambibulus (or Ambivius)

12-15 CE  Annius Rufus

15-26 CE  Valerius Gratus

26-36 CE  Pontius Pilate

36-37 CE  Marcellus

37-41 CE  Marulus

Reign of King Herod Agrippa I: 41-44 CE

Procurators:

44-47 CE  Cuspius Fadus

47-48 CE  Tiberius Julius Alexander (brother of Philo Judaeus)

49-75 CE  Reign of King Herod Agrippa II:

48-52 CE  Ventidius Cumanus

52-59 CE  Antonius Felix

59-62 CE  Porcius Festus

62-64 CE  Lucceius Albinus

64-66 CE  Gessius Florus

66 (date uncertain) Marcus Antonius Julianus

115-117  CE Lusius Quietus, during the Kitos War

132-135 CE  Bar Kokhba's revolt, Romans renamed the region Syria Palestina and Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina

Roman Emperors: (from 60 BCE to 138 CE)

60-444 BCE Julius Caesar

43-31 BCE Mark Anthony and Octavius (later known as Augustus)

27 BCE – 14 CE Augustus (earlier known as Octavius)

14-37 CE Tiberius

37-41 CE Caligula

41-54 CE Claudius

54-68 CE Nero

68-69 CE Galva

69 CE  Otho

69 CE  Vitellius

69-79 CE  Vespasian

79-81 CE Titus

81-96 CE Domitian

96-98 CE Nerva

98-117 CE Trajan

117-138 CE Hadrian

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