I think we can best term this century as the Paradox. It is both bitter and sweet. It is bitter from the atrocities of Herod the Great. It is sweet and Joyful, for, the long awaited Messiah was born. It was bitter because the Chosen Race, the Royal Priesthood, God’s own people, rejected Him. It was sweet for all of the miracles Our Blessed Lord performed; the changing of water into wine, the healing of the sick, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the lame be made to walk, the rising of the dead! It was bitter for Jesus’ agony in the Garden, kneeling down for three hours in the rocky soil, sweating blood, while His Apostles fell asleep. The betrayal of Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve. The horrible and excruciating pain He suffered by the scourging at the pillar. The crowning of thorns, spewing out hundreds of drops of His Precious Blood; the cowardice of Pontius Pilate, the inhumane treatment He suffered on His way to Calvary, and suffering Death on a Roman Cross placed in-between two thieves. It was sweet, for He rose from the dead on His own power and conquered death and sin, once and for all! It was bitter for all the persecutions of His Church, the Catholic Church, that have continued on in time in one form or another to our present day. It was sweet for the glorious deaths met by the Holy Martyrs who gave their blood for the Truth His Church. It was also sweet for the Prophesy in Malachia was fulfilled at the Last Supper and continues to this day with the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, Malachia 1:10: for from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My Name is great among the nations; and everywhere they bring sacrifice to My name, a pure offering.... This century was bitter, for it gave birth to the greatest enemy of Christ and His Church, the Gnostics, beginning with Simon Magus. Salvation by knowledge was their slogan, granted to them of course by private revelation. The Gnostics have led millions into error and have spawned other heresies and schisms. These enemies, have been present throughout the ages and have not let up. Their errors have destroyed the souls of countless many, these False Prophets Our Blessed Lord warned us about are very much alive and are in one form or another are still with us to this present day in 1998.

1 AD
The Julian Calendar begins. Augustus Caesar declared the initials AD to be placed after the year numeral. In Latin it read: Ano Domini meaning the Year of the Lord. Augustus named the Calendar after his father, Julius Caesar.

This is the most probable year the Disciple whom Jesus loved, St. John the Apostle was born.

6
Herod Archelaus was deposed for misrule. He was succeeded by his brother, Herod Philip. He governed northeastern Palestine until his death in 34.

Herod Antipas inherited Galilee and Perea. Coponius becomes Roman Procurator of Judea.

8
The Holy Family returns from Egypt. Jesus at the age of twelve is found speaking and conversing with the elders in the Temple. He had been missing from Mary and Joseph for three days.

10
Birth of Saul of Tarsus. Birth of Herod Agrippa.

12-41
Caligula built his circus in Rome.

25
Birth of Philo Judaeus.

26
Pontius Pilatus becomes Roman Procurator of Judea.

The Public Ministry of St. John the Baptist begins. He wore garments made of camel’s skin a leather rope around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. St. John the Baptist is known as the Precursor of Christ and the last Prophet. St. John’s Baptisms were for repentance. They did not contain the Trinitarian formula and were not Sacramental Baptisms.

Jesus is Baptized by St. John in the Jordan River. The Baptism of our Blessed Lord is the first hint of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament.

The Public Ministry of Jesus Christ begins. The Apostles are chosen by our Lord.

28
St. John the Baptist’s work as the precursor came to an end with his imprisonment at the command of Herod. St. John reproached him for having taken his brother’s wife.

Jesus promises to make Peter the head of his Church, to build his Church upon him, to give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 16)

Jesus declares himself the Messias in plain terms to the Samaritan woman. (John 4)

Jesus excuses his disciples for plucking the ears of corn on the second-first Sabbath. (Matt. 12)

Christ feeds at one time five thousand men with five loaves. (Matt. 14) At another time four thousand with seven loaves. (Matt. 15) He promises to give them his body to be truly meat, etc. Many even of his disciples leave him, looking upon that doctrine as hard and harsh. (John 6)

29
St. John the Baptist was beheaded at Machaerus, after about a year’s imprisonment.

The Transfiguration. (Matt. 17)

On Thursday, he sent his disciples in the afternoon to bring the paschal lamb, offered in the temple which after sunset he ate with his twelve Apostles. (Matt. 26) He washed their feet. (John 13) After supper he instituted the Blessed Sacrament and Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. (Matt. 26) He gave his Apostles those excellent instructions set down by St. John (14-17)

During the Passover, in the Spring of this year, Our Lord Jesus experienced His Passion,Death, and Resurrection. Christ's prayer in the garden three times repeated. He is there seized, being betrayed by Judas. He is led away to Annas, and then to Caiphas.

Joseph of Aramathea obtained permission from Pilate to bury Jesus in a tomb, hewn from rock, where he laid our Redeemer.

The Body of our Lord remained in the tomb for forty hours. His soul descended into hell, that is, Limbus Patrum, (the Father’s Limbo) to preach to the poor souls who were in this prison. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, committed suicide after betraying Jesus.

The suicide of Judas Iscariot is graphically portrayed in this painted glass panel dating back to 1520; a spotted devil prepares to devour the traitor's soul escaping from his body.

The Sunday after Easter, seven of the Apostles got into a boat and fished all night. They caught no fish. The next morning Jesus was on the beach and told them to cast their nets to the starboard side. New power was released, the Apostles were under Divine Commission. They caught 153 fish.

Christ giving the Keys to the Kingdom to St. Peter, establishing him as His Vicar on Earth.

Ten days after the Ascension, the work of the Catholic Church began at Pentecost.

St. Peter preached his sermon on the mount and three thousand were Baptized that day, all done as Jesus had ordered, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

30
The Judaizer heresy begins. This heresy consisted of a group of Christians in the early Church who either held that circumcision and the observance of the Mosaic Law were necessary for salvation and in consequence wished to impose them on the Gentile converts, or who at least considered them as still obligatory on the Jewish Christians. Although the Apostles had received the command to announce the Gospel to all nations, they and their associates addressed themselves at first only to the Jews, converts to Judaism, and Samaritans, that is to those who were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses. The converts, and the Apostles with them, continued to conform to Jewish customs: they observed the distinction between legally clean and unclean food, refused to eat with Gentiles or to enter their houses. (See Acts 10:14-28 & 11:3). The question of subjecting the Gentiles to observe the Law of Moses had to be addressed. St. Peter Baptized Cornelius and his entire household, infants too, without subjecting him to be circumcised loudly raised this question. (See Acts 11:1-18) This heresy was settled at the Council of Jerusalem. New conversion gave rise to far more serious trouble, which for a time threatened to produce a schism in the Church.

34
The Martyrdom of St. Steven. St. Steven is the Proto-martyr of the Church. This pious Deacon of the early Church was stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus took part in the stoning of St. Steven. This launched Saul’s, a pupil of the lawyer Gamaliel, violent persecution against the Followers of the Way. This is the original name for the Catholic Church. This name was chosen because Jesus said “I Am the Way.”

Later in this year, the feared Saul of Tarsus, the tent-maker and Pharisee of the Tribe of Benjamin, who killed and persecuted many Christians, was converted to the Faith by Our Blessed Lord on his way to Damascus. Saul was Baptized by Ananias. (See Acts 9)

St. Peter cures Eneas at Lydda, and raiseth to life Tabitha at Joppa. (Acts 9) The very shadow of his body cures all diseases. (Acts 5:15)

36
Saul of Tarsus, now called St. Paul, returned to Damascus. He then went to Jerusalem and met St. Barnabas; through him he met Saints: Peter, and James.

St. Peter visited Joppa and Lydia.

St. Peter went to Caesaria and Baptized Cornelius and his family. It was this event that adding fuel to the existing fire of the Judaizer heresy. This event also marked the first disagreement of the early Church concerning the reception of the Gentiles.

37-68
Emperor Nero built his circus in Rome; its arena was the bloody site where many Christians were Martyred for the Faith.

Birth of Flavius Josephus.

39
St. Peter receives Cornelius the Centurion, and other Gentiles with him into the Church. (Acts 10)

40
The first non-Jewish Christian Church was founded in Antioch. St. Barnabas was sent here.

The First Marian Apparition. Our Lady of the Pillar. Our Lady appears to St. James the Greater, probably before she died, in Saragossa, Spain. She gave him a small wooden statue of herself and a column of jasper wood and instructed him to build a Church in her honor.

41
Marullus resigns as Roman Procurator of Jerusalem.

Herod Agrippa becomes the Procurator in Jerusalem.

41-54
Claudius was Emperor of Rome. It was during these years that Simon Magus, the first Gnostic heretic came to Rome and won many followers by his magic arts. His abilities as a magician is why he is called Magus. In his first Apology, St. Justin Martyr wrote that the followers of Simon erected a statue of him on an island in the Tiber River; the inscription read: “Simon the Holy God.” Simon taught that he was the “great power of God.” (See Acts chapter 8).

42-50
The Gospel of St. Matthew was written in his native Aramaic language.

42-55
St. Peter arrives in Rome.

44
St. James the Greater, the brother of St. John, was put to death by the sword at the command of Herod Agrippa.

Herod Agrippa is replaced as Procurator of Jerusalem by Cuspius Fadus.

45
Possibly the earliest New Testament Book written, the Epistle of St. James. St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem wrote this Epistle to answer the heretic Simon Magus who was the first to claim salvation “By Faith Alone.” ?P> 46
Death of Cuspius Fadus.

Tiberius Alexander becomes Roman Procurator of Jerusalem.

48
First Missionary Journey of St. Paul to Paphos, Antioch, Lystra, and Derbe.

Death of Tiberius Alexander.

Ventidius Cumanus becomes Roman Procurator of Jerusalem. Three incidents arose during his reign, causing his dismissal from office.

49
Apostolic Council of Jerusalem. The Gentile dispute was settled and the Judaizers were condemned.

Greece experienced famine.

50-52
St. Paul, accompanied by Silas, undertook his Second Missionary Journey. It was during this time that St. Paul wrote his Epistles to the Thessalonians. They have always been considered the earliest of his writings.

51
St. Paul founds the Church at Thessalonica.

St. Paul travels to Philippi in Macedonia, to Berea, to Athens. Finds there an altar dedicated to the unknown God. (Acts 16, 17)

52
St. Paul writes Epistle to the Galatians. St. Paul with Silas goes to Asia. St. Timothy and also St. Luke, become his companions.

St. Paul writes his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, and the second soon after. He stays eighteen months at Corinth. (Acts 18)

52-53
St. Paul stayed in Ephesus.

53-58
St. Paul untertakes his Third Missionary Journey.

54
Nero's mother, Agrippina poisions her husband, Claudius. Nero becomes sole Roman Emperor at the age of 17.

Birth of Tacitus.

57
St. Paul writes Epistle to the Church at Corinth.

57-58
St. Paul composes his Epistle to the Christians in Rome.

58
The Jews seize St. Paul in the temple; he is rescued by Lysias the tribune and his soldiers. (Acts 21)

59
Emperor Nero, after three unsuccessful attempts, has his own mother, Agrippina, murdered; she had criticized his mistress.

60
St. Paul is shipwrecked on the Island of Malta. He began his journey after the Day of Atonement, (Sept. 15), navigation was considered dangerous after mid-September.

St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, is crucified.

60-63
The Gospel of St. Luke written.

61
Birth of Pliny the Younger.

62
Martyrdom of St. James the Less. The Apostle and Bishop of Jerusalem was beaten with clubs and thrown off the roof on a pinnacle. Another source says he was stoned to death.

Emperor Nero set aside his wife, Octavia, and married his long time mistress, Poppea.

62-67
The Epistle of St. Jude written.

63
St. Luke writes the Acts of the Apostles; a history of the first thiry-four years of the Church.

St. Titus is consecrated Bishop of Crete.

64
Emperor Nero begins the First of the Roman Persecutions, following the burning of Rome. Nero published an Edict forbidding anyone to become a Christian. This forced the Catholic Church to go underground into the Catacombs.

St. Peter wrote his first Epistle from Rome.

65-80
Didache written. The teaching of the Twelve, also called the the Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles. It is a short treatise which was accounted by some of the Early Fathers as next to Scripture. The contents of the Didache may be divided into three parts. The first is the Two Ways, the Way of Life, and the Way of Death. The Way of Life is the Love of God and neighbor. The second part is Rituale dealing with the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Eucharist, and Fasting. The third part speaks of ministry. Doctrinal teaching is presupposed and none is imparted.

66
St. Timothy is consecrated Bishop of Ephesus.

The Jews revolt against Rome.

The second Epistle of Peter written during our first Pope's imprisonment.

67
On June 29 of this year, St. Peter was Crucified. Our first Pope was hung upside down on his cross at his request. He said "I am not worthy to die like the Lord."

On the same day, St. Paul suffered Martyrdom. He was beheaded outside the gates of Rome. He had obtained Roman citizenship at birth and could not be executed within the City. St. Paul's Church outside the gate is built on the spot where St. Paul was Martyred.

St. Ignatius, whom was ordained a priest by St. Peter, and studied under the Apostle, John, succeeded St. Evodius as the Bishop of Antioch.

St. Linus succeeds St. Peter as Pope. It is believed that he was a companion of St. Paul. (See 2 Timothy 4:21) According to legend, he was buried close to St. Peter.

It was Pope St. Linus who decreed women should enter Church only with their heads covered.

68
St. Mark the Evangelist was Martyred at Alexandria, Egypt. The Paschal Chronicle and the Acts of St. Mark say that he died while being dragged through the streets of Alexandria. His body was smuggled to Venice in the body of a pig where it has been enshrined. He was the cousin of St. Barnabas and is referred to as John Mark in the Acts of the Apostles. According to tradition, St. Mark was the interpreter of St. Peter, who wrote down accurately, though not in order, the teaching of St. Peter. A widespread, is somewhat late tradition represents St. Mark as the founder of the Church of Alexandria. The date of his arrival in Egypt is uncertain. St. Eusibius chronicles his arrival in the first years of Claudius, 41-44; and later on states that St. Mark's first successor, Anianus, succeeded to the See of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (61-62). This would have made St. Mark Bishop of Alexandria for a period of about twenty years.

In Christian literature and art St. Mark is symbolically represented by a lion.

As a result of his trip to Greece, as actor, singer, harp player and charioteer, Nero gained the scorn of the world; he heaped upon his triumphal chariots the victor-crowns of the great Grecian games, and so dishonored the dignity of Rome.

Emperor Neno committed suicide in June of this year. He was the last Emperor of the Julian-Claudian line, was the son of Domitius Ahenobarbus and Julia Agrippina, niece of Emperor Cluadius. After the violent death of his first wife, Valeria Messalina, Emperor Claudius married Julia Agrippina, adopted her son Nero and gave him in marriage to his own daughter,Octavia Nero's mother had a mind to commit any crime to put her son on the Throne, and to prepare him for this station she had L. Anneaus Seneca appointed his tutor, and caused the freedman Aeranius Burrus, a rough but experienced soldier, to be made commander ofthe Praetorian Guard. These men were the advisors and chief supporters of Nero on his becoming Emperor, after the sudden death of Claudius. Sulpicius Galba acted as Emperor of the Roman Empire. He was accepted everywhere.

70
The destruction of Jerusalem. The Romans destroyed the Holy Temple and the City of Jerusalem. All the Levites, the Jewish priests were killed. This ended the line of priest from Aaron, the brother of Moses. Jewish sacrifices stop right here!

70-90
Cerinthius the Gnostic-Ebionite heretic spread his heresy. We do not know the exact date neither of his birth nor his death, only that he was a contemporary of St. John the Apostle. It was against the errors of Cerinthius on the Divinity of Christ the Apostle is said to have composed the Fourth Gospel. Cerinthius founded a school in Asia and gathered many followers. His doctrine was a strange mixture of Gnosticism. Judaism, Chiliasm, and Ebionitism. He admitted One Supreme Being; but the world was produced by a distant and far inferior power. Cerinthius does not identify this Creator with Yahweh of the Old Testament. He taught that not Yahweh, but a Demiurge, or by the angels, one of whom gave Moses the Ten Commandments, have made the world and given the Law, These so-called creator angels were ignorant of the existence of the Supreme God. He also taught that Jesus was the natural son of Mary and Joseph and the spirit of God descended upon him at his Baptism. This enable him to work miracles and to proclaim the unknown Father but left him before the Passion and Resurrection. The Jewish Law was most sacred, and salvation to be obtained by obedience to its precepts. Cerinthius distinguished between Jesus and Christ. Jesus, according to his theology, was a mere man, though eminent in holiness. He suffered, died, and was raised from the dead, or, as some say Cerinthius taught, He will be raised from the dead at the Last Day and all men will rise with Him. At the moment ofhis Baptism Christ or the Holy Spirit was sent by the highest God, and dwelt in Jesus, teaching him, what not the angels knew, the Unknown God. This union between Jesus and Christ continues till the Passion when Jesus suffers alone and Christ returns to Heaven. Cerinthius believed in a happy millennium which would be realized here on earth previous to the resurrection and the spiritual Kingdom of God in Heaven. Cerinthius' disciples seemed to have fused with the Nazareans and Ebionites and exercised little through the Pseudo-Clementines, the product of Cerinthian and Ebionite circles. They flourished most in Asia and Galatia. The word Ebionite is a transliteration of the Aramean, meaning Poor Men. It was by this name that designated one or more early Christian sects infected with Judaistic errors. The general teaching of their character is unmistakably Gnostic This can be gathered from the Pseudo-Clementines and may be summed up as follows: Matter is eternal, and an emanation of the Deity; nay it constitutes, as it were, God's body. Creation, therefore is but the transformation of pre-existing material. God thus "creates" the Universe by the instrumentality of His Wisdom which is described as a demiurgic hand producing the world. But this Logos, or Sophia, does not constitute a different person, as in Christian theology. Sophia, produces the world by a successive evolution of syzygies, the female in each case preceding the male but being finally overcome by him. This universe is, moreover, divided into two realms, that of good and that of evil. The Son of God rules over the realm of the good, and to him is given the world to come, but the Prince of Evil is the prince of this world. This Son of God is the Christ, a middle-being between God and creation, not a creature, yet not equal to, nor even compared to be with. the Father. Adam was the bearer of the first revelation, Moses of the second, and Christ of the third and perfect one. The union with lesus is involved in obscurity. Man is saved by knowledge (gnosis), by believing in God the Teacher, and by being baptized unto remission of sins. Thus he receives knowledge and strength to observe all the precepts of the law. Christ shall come again to triumph over Antichrist as light dispels darkness. The system is Pantheism, Persian, Dualism, Judaism, and Christianity fused together, and here and there reminds one of Mandaistic literature. It also looks as if the present day Mormons draw some of their beliefs from this false Gnostic heresy.

72
Martyrdom of St. Thomas the Apostle at Meliabor, India.

Vespasian commenced building the Coliseum in Rome. He died before its completion.

75
Birth of Suetonius, Roman writer.

76
St. Anacletus succeeds St. Linus as Pope.

79
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius outside Naples buries the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

80
St. Clement I succeeds St. Anacletus as Pope.

Pope St. Clement I wrote his letter to the Corinthians.

94
St. John the Apostle before the Latin Gate. The Roman Emperor Domitian had brought fetters from Ephesus to Rome, and by verdict of the Senate, St. John the Apostle was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Latin Gate. He came out of the cauldron miraculously more hale and hardy than when he entered it! (What hot baths won't do!) St. John was then banished to the Island of Patmos.

Death of Flavius Josephus.

95
St. John the Apostle writes his first letter to the Persians.

95-96
Second Roman Persecution begins under Domitian. Flavius Clemens, a Senator and cousin of Domitian was among the many victims of this persecution. His wife was banished. This persecution was aimed at the upper class Christians

96
St. John the Apostle writes the Apocalypse or Book of Revelations. Emperor Domitian is executed for atheism. He adopted Jewish customs.

Nerva becomes Emperor of Rome.

97
St. Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus is crucified.

100
St. John the Apostle writes the Fourth Gospel at the request of the Elders, The Gospel of St. John was written to correct the widespread errors poisoning the minds of the Christian Faithful with the Gnostic venom of Cerinthius.

Birth of St. Justin Martyr.

Jewish Rabbis meet at the city of Jamnia to formulate the Jewish Old Testament Canon of Thirty-nine Books. It was here where the Palestinian Canon of Scripture was born.

Death of the Disciple Jesus loved, St. John the Apostle. Public Revelations end right here.