Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

    After describing the conflict with the Jews before Gallio, Acts states plainly:  After this Paul stayed many 

days longer .  (Acts 18:18). Therefore, this conflict during Gallio's proconsulship did not occur near the end 

of the year and six months that Paul was in Corinth, but rather at the beginning or in the middle of that time 

period. The earliest date for the conflict before Gallio would be summer of 

A.D.

 36, when Gallio first arrived. 

And so the earliest date for Paul's arrival in Corinth would be about a year earlier (so that there would still be 

 many days longer  after the conflict under Gallio), in mid 

A.D.

 35. (As shown below, 

A.D.

 35 turns out to be 

too early a date, since Paul was in Antioch for a long while after the Council of 

A.D.

 35.) And the latest date 

for the conflict before Gallio, and also for Paul's arrival in Corinth, would be late spring of 

A.D.

 37, at the end 

of Gallio's year as proconsul. 

    The events of Acts 18 are placed after the events of Acts 15, which is the same visit to Jerusalem Paul 

describes in Galatians 2 (the visit after 14 years). Therefore, Paul visited Jerusalem  after fourteen years  (Gal 

2:1) sometime before spring of 

A.D.

 37 (the latest date for Paul's visit to Corinth). 

    If we count back 14 years from spring of 

A.D.

 37, we find the latest possible date for the conversion of Saul, 

A.D.

 24. If the 14 years were counted from his previous visit to Jerusalem, the one after 3 years, then Saul's 

conversion would have to be placed in 

A.D.

 21 or earlier, before the death of St. Stephen. Since this is not 

possible, the 14 years must be counted instead from the conversion of Saul, and so also the 3 years must be 

counted from his conversion. 

    The earliest date for Saul's conversion is in early 

A.D.

 22, soon after St. Stephen's martyrdom. Counting 

forward 14 years, inclusive, from 

A.D.

 22 brings us to 

A.D.

 35 as the 14th year from the conversion of Saul to 

his third visit to Jerusalem. This earliest date for Saul's third visit allows sufficient time between the events of 

Acts 15 (the third visit) and Acts 18 (conflict before Gallio) for the events described in Acts between those 

events. Placing Saul's conversion even one year later, in 

A.D.

 23, moves his third visit to Jerusalem to 

A.D.

 36, 

which does not leave sufficient time for all of the events of Acts 15:22    18:1 to occur before Gallio's 

proconsulship (mid 

A.D.

 36 to mid 

A.D.

 37) and the events of Acts 18. Therefore, Saul was converted in 

A.D.

22, in the first part of the year so that 

A.D.

 22 counts as the first of the 14 years and 

A.D.

 35 counts as the 14th 

year, when he visited Jerusalem for the third time (Gal 2 and Acts  15). The length of time between St. 

Stephen's death and Saul's conversion was at least a few weeks (Acts 8:1   9:1) and as much as a few months. 

    Saul's first visit to Jerusalem occurred 3 years after his conversion (as concluded above). Counting forward 3 

years from early 

A.D.

 22 places his first visit either sometime in mid to late 

A.D.

 24 or, more likely (see below), 

in early 

A.D.

 25. The 3 years length of time, as also the 14 years, need not be exact to the day or month. 

Sabbatical Years 

    Some of the most important events in the early Church coincided with the Jewish Sabbatical years. Partly 

because of the shortage of food in the first Sabbatical year after the Ascension of Christ, the first Deacons of 

the Church were chosen to provide for those in need (

A.D.

 21). The Twelve Apostles made this decision along 

with  the body of the disciples  (Acts 6:2). This gathering of Church leaders to make an important decision 

was the first Council of the Church and occurred during a Jewish Sabbatical year. 

    In the second Sabbatical year, 

A.D.

 27/28, after the Ascension of Christ, there were again shortages of food, 

particularly in the latter part of the Sabbatical year (

A.D.

 28). This year included Saul's second visit to 

Jerusalem, though he mainly spent his time bringing relief to those in the surrounding area, and the death of 

Herod Agrippa I, who had been persecuting the Church. There may also have been a Council of the Church 

soon after this second Sabbatical year ended (as explained below). 

    In the third Sabbatical year, 

A.D.

 34/35, the events of Acts 15 occurred. The leaders of the Church gathered 

in Jerusalem, including Paul and Barnabas and Titus (Gal 2:1 3), to decide whether or not Christians had to 

keep Mosaic Law. Peter and James the Less were  present (Acts 15:7, 13). James the Greater had been 

martyred years earlier. This gathering was another of the earliest Councils of the Church and took place in the 

Sabbatical year in 

A.D.

 35, just prior to the Jubilee year of 

A.D.

 35/36. (See chapter 16 for an explanation of 

Sabbatical and Jubilee years; see also Appendix I, Chart 7.) The issue raised at this Council, whether or not to 

follow all of the rules of the Jewish Law, fit this time period particularly well. Christians had to decide whether 

or not to keep the laws and traditions of the Sabbatical year and also the imminent Jubilee year (Lev 25). The 

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