By Dennis McCallum
1. After the 15 days at Jerusalem, Paul was sent away to avoid capture, and
sailed from Caesarea to the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Acts 9:30; Gal.1:21)
1. After the relief visit (2nd visit) to Jerusalem, Paul returned to Antioch.
2. Very soon afterwards, the 1st missionary journey began.
Then he went to Pamphylia which lies to the north of Cyprus in modern day
Turkey.
Then he went back through the same cities in the opposite direction.
This entire journey apparently lasted 6--9 months, concluding before the
storms of winter would have stopped ship travel in the Mediterranean.
D. The period from the third trip to Jerusalem (the Jerusalem Council; Acts l5) until the last trip there.
1. Paul traveled from Antioch to Jerusalem for the council, then back to
Antioch.
2. At that time, they began the 2nd Missionary Journey (Acts l5-l7).
Paul journeyed from Antioch to Syria and Cilicia, this time using the
overland route to Turkey.
They visited Derbe and Lystra, then passed through Phrygia and Galatia. He
arrived at Troas, where he set sail for Macedonia.
Paul traveled from Antioch to Phrygia and Galatia for the third time.
He then walked back to Macedonia stopping at Phillipi, and set sail for
Troas.
From Troas, he sailed for Jerusalem stopping on the way at Assos, Mytelene,
Chios, Samos, Miletus, Ephesus, Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Tyre, Ptolemais, and
Caesarea.
1. Paul was arrested in Jerusalem shortly after arriving from his 3rd Missionary
Journey and taken to Caesarea where he was imprisoned for 2 years.
E. Paul's trip to Rome (Acts 27-28)
1. Paul left from Caesarea and sailed to Sidon, Myra, and Fair Havens on
Crete, where he stayed until after the Day of Atonement.
2. He then sailed west until shipwrecked on Malta, where he stayed 3 months.
3. When Spring came, he sailed to Syracuse, Rhegium, and Puteoli, finally
arriving in Rome, where he was imprisoned for 2 more years.
E. Paul's movements after the Roman imprisonment.
1. Paul was apparently freed in after the Roman imprisonment. there is Biblical
and early church historical evidence and that Paul was released and traveled
more, including a trip to Spain. (Clement of Rome in I Clement, and IITim.)
At some point he returned to Rome where he was martyred in the summer of
64 A.D.
Achaia was the area of ancient Greece south of Macedonia. The province
was made responsible to the Senate by Claudius in A.D. 44.
The term of office for a Proconsul (governor) was l year (2 years in rare
cases).
The beginning of the term of office was May or June. This is indicated by
the fact that in A.D. 42, Claudius ordered all proconsuls to leave Rome for
their provinces by April l. In A.D. 43, he amended his law so that proconsuls
only had to leave by the middle of April. Thus, allowing for travel time, the
term of office would have started in early summer and lasted from summer
to summer.
The Delphi Inscription is a copy of a letter from the emperor Claudius to the
city of Delphi (located across the bay from Corinth). In it, we find the name
of Gallio mentioned in his official capacity of proconsul, and the letter is
dated.
the time period from Jan. 25 to August l, A.D. 52). Therefore the
Delphi inscription can be dated as having been written during the first
half (Jan-July) of 52 A.D. C.
1.
Acts l8:11-l2 states that Paul stayed a year and six months in Corinth. He
was then brought before Gallio by the Jews, "while Gallio was proconsul of
Achaia." It is likely that Gallio was newly arrived in Achaia at the time of
this trial. As a new magistrate, he would be anxious to curry favor with the
natives by granting their legal requests. He would thus provide a ripe
opportunity for the Jews to try to get rid of Paul. It is probable, therefore,
that Paul was brought before Gallio in the summer of 5l A.D.
Counting Backward
After establishing the sequence of events, and the chronological notes involved,
and driving a firm time "peg" into the ground, we can use the sequence to count
backwards or forward. Other corroborating material should fit in naturally.
1. Arrival at Corinth-- Counting backwards from the time that Paul was
brought before Gallio l&l/2 years (which was the amount of time previously
spent in Corinth) we come to the winter of 49/50 A.D. as the time of Paul's
arrival at Corinth.
date of his arrival in Corinth (winter 49/50) would bring us to the spring of
49 A.D. as the start of his 2nd Missionary Journey.
2. The Jerusalem Council-- This would indicate that the Jerusalem Council
occurred in the winter of 48/49 A.D. (possibly Jan.- Feb. of 49 A.D.). Paul
would have spent only a short time in Jerusalem, and then would have
returned to Antioch with the news of the Council's decisions.
3. The First Missionary Journey-- This journey would need to have been
finished and Paul returned to Antioch by the fall of 48 A.D. in order to leave
time for the council and related events. The length of his lst Missionary
Journey would have been anywhere from 4 to 10 months. This would put his
departure for the lst Missionary Journey no sooner than early spring 48 A.D.
4. The Second Trip To Jerusalem-- We can place his second trip to Jerusalem
(the one resulting from Agabus' prophecy--Acts 11:27ff) anywhere between
44 and early 48 A.D. In order to check our work, and to narrow it down, we
have two considerations:
At about this time the death of Herod occurred (Acts l2). Herod died c. 44
A.D. (although some scholars argue for a later date)
As will be seen, the later date is preferred for this event, so we might
speculate that the visit could have occurred as late as late 47 A.D. (since the
effects of the famine would not have been felt until after the drought was
over). We know from Acts 11:26 that Paul was in Antioch at least l year prior
to this trip, which would place his coming to Antioch in 46 A.D. if not
earlier.
1. The First Jerusalem Visit-- If the second Galatian visit is the same as the
second visit of Paul as recorded in Acts, then we should be able to count
backwards either l4 or 17 years (depending on whether Paul meant the three
years and the 14 years to be consecutive or contiguous--both dating from the
decisive event of his salvation) and find out when Paul was converted. If the
larger figure is used, it will be seen that Paul must have been converted in
A.D. 30! To avoid this problem, some scholars suggest that the second visit
to Jerusalem mentioned in Galatians is actually referring to the Jerusalem
council. However, this is hardly likely for the following reasons.
Why would Paul fail to mention a visit to Jerusalem when he was defending
himself against charges that he was just a mimicker of the other Apostles? In
light of vs. 20 in Gal. 1, this would certainly be a serious omission indeed!
Gal.2:2 gives the reason for the visit in vs.1. Paul says "...it was because of a
revelation that I went up." This would be a very appropriate description of
the Agabus visit, but a very poor one of the council visit. There is no vision
or revelation mentioned in connection with the council visit.
Gal 2:2 also says that Paul submitted to the apostles the gospel that he was
preaching, but that he did so "in private." Yet, at the Jerusalem council, Paul
had to argue his theology publicly-- before both the leaders and everyone
else (see Acts 15:4).
Gal. 2:10 says that the only thing the Apostles had to say was that Paul
should "remember the poor". At the Jerusalem council, they said four things,
and none of them had to do with the poor! As a matter of fact, the content of
the rulings given at the Jerusalem council related directly to the subject
matter that Paul is discussing-- the content of the gospel. For Paul to
paraphrase the findings of the council in this way would be nothing less than
pure distortion of the truth!
The final and most telling argument has to do with why Paul never does
mention the findings of the council if, in fact, it had already occurred. It
cannot be argued that Paul rejected the findings of the council, in view of
Acts 16:4. We are forced to assume therefore that the council had not yet
occurred.
Assuming then, that the second visit mentioned in Gal.2:1 is, in fact, the visit
in connection with Agabus' vision, we are left with an even more difficult
problem fitting 17 (or even 14!) years in between Paul's conversion and the
Acts 11 visit to Jerusalem. This visit cannot be dated any later than 47 A.D.
as already pointed out above.
However we might be dealing with a figure that is actually less than l4 years.
It was common practice to count a part of a year as a whole year. Compare
Acts l9:8-l0 with Acts 20:3l to see how Paul reckoned an actual period of 2
years and 3 months into 3 years. Therefore the actual figure that we are
dealing with could very easily be closer to l3 years.
Counting Forward
1. We placed Paul's confrontation before Gallio as happening in the summer of
5l A.D. After a short period of time Paul returned to Antioch, in the fall of 5l
A.D.
2. The Third Missionary Journey-- After allowing the winter to pass, Paul
started his 3rd Missionary Journey in the spring of 52 A.D. Paul's journey
brought him to Ephesus where he stayed for 2 years and 3 months. This
brings us to the summer of 54 A.D. Paul then passed through Macedonia in
the fall and arrived in Greece where he spent 3 months (Acts 20:3). This
would have been mid-winter A.D. 54/55. Returning through Macedonia
during the spring (Acts 20:3), he sailed from Phillipi shortly after April 7
(Acts 20:6). He arrived in Jerusalem in May/June A.D. 55, prior to
Pentecost.
3. From Jerusalem to Fair Havens-- Paul was arrested in Jerusalem in the
summer of A.D. 55 and taken to Caesarea where he was confined for 2 years
(Acts 24:27). This brings us to summer of A.D. 57. At that point, Paul left by
ship for Rome (Acts 27:l-2). Luke says it was very slow going (Acts 27:7).
They arrived eventually at Fair Havens on Crete, where they stayed until
after the "fast" (i.e. the day of atonement, 7 Tishri) was past. This would
have been after Sept. 29, of that year--A.D. 57.
4. From Fair Havens to Rome-- they then set sail and were shipwrecked at
Malta l4 days later, which would be in late October. (Acts 27:27; l8:l). They
stayed for 3 months (A.D. 57/58, Acts 28:11). In Feb. of A.D. 58, they set
sail for Rome and arrived at Rome in the spring of 58 A.D. Paul remained in
custody for 2 more years (acts 28:30) which brings us up to 60 A.D.
5. After the Roman Imprisonment-- Paul was apparently freed shortly after this
time as he predicted in Phil. 1:25. References to this time in l Clement 5 and
the Muratorian Fragment make it probable that he visited Spain. This is also
the most likely time for the writing of I and II Timothy and Titus (as well as
Hebrews if, indeed he wrote that book). He then returned to Rome, where he
was martyred in the summer of 64 A.D., in connection with the persecution
instituted by Nero (II Tim. 4:6).
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