The age of the apostles can be counted from roughly 33 AD when Jesus ascended into heaven after instructing them to go into all the world, bearing witness to Him and making disciples for Him. That age concluded sometime between 70 AD, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, and the end of the century, before which the last apostle would surely have died. In other words, the apostolic age was a one-generation phenomenon that occurred in the 1st century AD.
Unlike the Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament, the Lord gave no succession plan for the apostles. The apostles were to be succeeded by the Lord Himself. As Peter wrote…
1 Pet 5:1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,
1 Pet 5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
1 Pet 5:3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
1 Pet 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Jesus Himself said that His kingdom would come before all the apostles had died. This timetable is emphatically confirmed by the book of Revelation. And that is only the beginning of the biblical documentation for the Second Coming occurring in the late 1st century.
The apostles were disciples +. That is, all apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles. To be a disciple of Jesus was to be His student; to be an apostle of Jesus was to be His emissary. These men were specially equipped for a more-than-demanding role. God drew attention to the apostles’ message just as He drew attention to Jesus’ message.
Acts 2:43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
The apostolic age was a unique time in world history. The apostles gave their lives just as Jesus gave His. But they didn’t have their own apostles to tell their own stories. Their role was unique because they were bearing witness to the most important man who would ever live. They proclaimed from firsthand knowledge how Jesus was crucified for our sins, and raised from the dead – all according to the Scriptures of the Jewish prophets starting with Moses.
By God’s grace, the writings of the apostles were preserved for us so that we have in what is called the New Testament the primary historical sources for the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Way too little attention is being paid to these texts today. There is much more to be discovered in them than what has been revealed so far. But even what has been revealed already is worthy of repetition. Much repetition!
All the institutional churches – Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant – claim the New Testament as their founding documents. However, the New Testament bears witness not to them but to the kingdom of God. This is the kingdom that came at the end of the apostolic age. And the apostles’ writings will tell you how to find it. It’s in Jesus…the Person.
Related essays:
The Greatest Generation of Them All (3 min)
The One True Church (3 min)
The Apostles Have the Keys (4 min)
The Kingdom of God Versus Church (6 min)
Church Is Obsolete…but Jesus, the Bible, and Family Are Not (5 min)
All Essays
10/22/25
The Duty of a Man 