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Authors: Thomas Cahill

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Ephesians

*
Philippians

Colossians

*
1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

†
1 Timothy

2 Timothy

†
Titus

†
Hebrews

T
HE
C
ATHOLIC
L
ETTERS

(written in letter form but intended as literary documents for all, thus “catholic”)

James

1 Peter

†
2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

†
Jude

P
ROPHECY
/A
POCALYPTIC

The Revelation of John

^*Paul’s authorship rarely disputed.

^†Paul’s authorship universally disclaimed.

^†Apostolic authorship universally disclaimed.

Chronology

This is hardly a complete chronology, just a reference guide to historical daces relevant to episodes mentioned in the main text.

1010–970 B.C .	David rules the United Kingdom of Israel.
966	David’s son Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem.
933	The United Kingdom is divided into Israel and Judah.
722/721	The Kingdom of Israel is overrun by the forces of the Assyrian king Sargon II, and its inhabitants are deported: the ten northern tribes are lost.
597	Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captures Jerusalem, begins deporting Jews (Babylonian Captivity); he then levels Temple and city.
539	Cyrus, king of the Persians, enters Babylon.
538	The Edict of Cyrus is proclaimed, allowing the exiles to return to the Promised Land.
515	The Second Temple is completed.
336	Alexander the Great on the throne of Macedon.
332	Alexander marches through Palestine.
323	Alexander dies in Babylon; his empire is divided.
200	Greek Seleucid kings rule Palestine from Antioch.
167–164	Construction of Acra at Jerusalem; the Temple is defiled by pagans.
166	Revolt of Judas Maccabeus.
160	Death of Judas, who is succeeded by his brother Jonathan.
152	Jonathan is named high priest by the Seleucids; soon thereafter, formation of the Essene community near the Dead Sea.
63	Roman general Pompey takes Jerusalem.
48	Julius Caesar defeats Pompey, who is killed in Egypt.
37–34	Herod the Great king of Roman Judea.
31	Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at the naval battle of Actium.
30	Suicides of Antony and Cleopatra.
29	Roman Senate gives Octavian the office of Imperator (Emperor); Herod builds the Antonia fortress, probable site of Jesus’s trial before Pilate.
27	Senate gives Octavian the title of (Caesar) Augustus.
23–20	Herod constructs his enormous palace in Jerusalem’s upper city; he begins the reconstruction of the Second Temple.
c. 6	Birth of Jesus.
4	Death of Herod.
A.D . 5–10	Birth of Saul-Paul at Tarsus in Cilicia.
14	Death of Augustus.
14–37	Tiberius emperor.
26–36	Pontius Pilate prefect of Judea.
c. 27	Herod Antipas marries his brother’s wife, drawing the condemnation of John the Baptizer. The ministry of Jesus begins.
30	On Friday, the eve of Passover, “Christ condemned to death by Pontius Pilate under the Emperor Tiberius” (Tacitus, Annals).
37	Death of Tiberius.
37–41	Caligula emperor, assassinated before he can see fulfilled his order to erect his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem.
41–54	Claudius emperor; expels the Jews from Rome.
44	Herod Agrippa imprisons Peter in Jerusalem.
45–49	Paul’s first missions.
c. 48	“Council” of Jerusalem declares gentile Christians exempt from the Law of Moses.
49–52	Paul’s missions to Galatia, Macedonia, Athens, Corinth.
54–68	Nero emperor.
57–58	Paul writes letters to Corinthians, Galatians, Romans.
61–63	Paul in Rome, under military guard, writes letters’ to Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians.
64–67	Martyrdoms of Peter and Paul at Rome. Mark’s Gospel is written.
68–69	Galba emperor.
70	Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
c. 80	Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are written.
81–96	Domitian emperor.
c. 95	Final text of the Revelation; soon thereafter, final text of John’s Gospel and the three letters of John the Elder.

Acknowledgments

To friends who read the first draft of the manuscript—my wife, Susan Cahill, John E. Becker, William Cassidy, John J. Collins, Michael D. Coogan, Paul Dinter, Herman Gollob, Madeleine. L’Engle, Stefani Michelson. Gary B. Ostrower, Thomas V. Peterson, Burton Visotzky, and Robert J. Whiter—I owe much by way of corrections both small and large. But what errors and imperfections remain are mine alone.

Within Doubleday and its parent, Random House, Inc., there dwell many who deserve my gratitude, my editor and publisher, Nan A. Talese, always topping the list; but I must mention also Peter Olson, Richard Sarnoff, Katherine Trager, William G. Barry, Stephen Rubin Jacqueline Everly, John Pitts, Sandee Yuen, Judy Jacoby, Mario Pulice, Maria Carella, and Sean McDonald. Beyond Doubleday and Random House, I owe many thanks to Marysarah Quirin, the book’s designer; Kathy Kikkert, the jacket designer; my assistant, Diane Marcus; my redoubtable agent, Lynn Nesbit, and her colleagues Cullen Stanley, Tina Bennett, and Eric Simonoff; the bookseller Henry Morren (till recently) of the Union Theological Bookstore in NewYork City; the research librarian Andrea Ginsky of the Selby Public Library in Sarasota, Florida; and James P. McCabe, director of the libraries of Fordham University. All these have been instrumental at one time or another, in one way or another, in enabling me to get a few steps further in creating this series of books and this book in particular.

No book can reach its readers without the help of the publisher’s sales force. Indeed, within the world of reading, the moment in which the sales rep tries to interest the bookshop buyer in a new title is even more crucial than the moment the reader pulls a new book
off the bookshop shelf. The Doubleday sales reps have been essential to the success of The Hinges of History series, starting with the 1994 sales conference at which they insisted on tripling the initial print run for
How the Irish Saved Civilization
, thus tripling the house’s expectations for this quirky little title. They deserve to be thanked individually: Robert Allen, Carlos Azula, Barbara Barr, Warren Bost, Reed Boyd, Gail Browning, Philip Canterbury, Brian Cassin, Linda Chisholm, Michael Coe, Janet Cooke, Tom Cox, Michael Croy Deb Darrock, Bruce Dasse, Kelly Duffin, Karen Fink, Dennis Geare, Michael Gillies, David Glenn, Harvey Goodman, Ken Graham, Al Greco, Chris Grimm, Jim Hiscocks, Don Hoglund, Karen Hopkins, Evelyn Hubbard, Marian Jackson, Lauren Johnson, Sally Johnson, Constance Jump, Ann Kingman, Mary Lang, David Lappin, Scott Lepine, Britt Levine, Jerry Lex, Tom Lovett, Lisa McCormack, Marty McGrath, Constance MacKenzie, Brad Martin, Jim Masiakowski, Jay Melton, Wayne Miller, John Neale, Amy Nover, Annette Trial O’Neil, Helen Ortiz, David Persaud, Maura Phelan, David Phethean, Susan Reiheld, Ron Richardson, Heidi Sachner, Jack St. Mary, Linda Scott, Ron Shoop, Lome Sproule, Robert Standing, Robert Trail, Alan Trask, Lahring Tribe, David Underwood, Cinda Van Deursen, Leslie Vasilio, Valerie Walley, Don Weisberg, Margaret Winter, and James Young. (Because it is all too easy to omit someone from a list this long, I beg forgiveness from anyone so omitted and rush to assure you that the omission was inadvertent.) Lastly, I would thank those whose careers have now taken them elsewhere but who were so important in setting this series on its feet: Steve Atinsky, Aileen Berg, Kip Triplett, Jacqueline Updike, and the legendary, unforgettable Bruce de Garmeaux.

The author has endeavored to credit all known persons holding copyright or reproduction rights for passages quoted and for illustrations reproduced in this book, especially:

Art Resource, NY, for the image of Orpheus with the animals and the bronze profiles of Peter and Paul.

David Higham Associates for “Still Falls the Rain” from
Collected Poems
by Edith Sitwell, published by Sinclair-Stevenson, copyright © 1957, 1993.

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, for the image of the Good Shepherd.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the head of Christ, attributed to Rembrandt (1606–69), from the Mr. and Mrs. Isaac D. Fletcher Collection, Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917.

Orbis Books for “Room for Christ” from
Dorothy Day: Selected Writings
, edited by Robert Ellsberg, copyright © 1983, 1992 by Robert Ellsberg and Tamar Hennessey.

Random House, Inc., for the closing lines from
For the Time Being
by W. H. Auden, copyright © 1944 and renewed 1972 by W.H. Auden. Reprinted from
W. H. Auden: Collected Poems
.

Saskia Ltd./Art Resource, NY, for the fresco portraits of Peter and Paul.

Scala/Art Resource, NY, for the image of the Eucharistic Banquet, Catacomb of S. Callisto, and the image of the
orans
figure, Catacomb of S. Priscilla.

Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc., for “The Adversary” by Phyllis McGinley, from her
Times Three
, copyright © 1959 by Phyllis McGinley.

Weidenfeld and Nicolson Archives for the fresco portrait of Peter.

Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY, for the funerary portrait.

Index
of
Biblical Citations

This list, which is offered as an aid to those who would explore the Bible more fully, is confined to those biblical passages quoted in the main text that contain a full sentence or more. For those unfamiliar with the conventions of biblical citation: each citation begins with the title (sometimes in shortened form) of one of the books to be found in the Bible, followed by the chapter number, followed (after the colon) by the verse number(s).

CHAPTER ONE

1 Maccabees

2 Maccabees

Job

2 Maccabees