APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL: MESSIANIC FIGURES DURING THE APOSTOLIC ERA

Traditionally, the years following Jesus until the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles is called the Apostolic Age, after the missionary activities of the apostles. According to the Acts of the Apostles (the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed), the Jerusalem church began at Pentecost with some 120 believers,[86] in an "upper room," believed by some to be the Cenacle, where the apostles received the Holy Spirit and emerged from hiding following the death and resurrection of Jesus to preach and spread his message.

The New Testament writings depict what orthodox Christian churches call the Great Commission, an event where they describe the resurrected Jesus Christ instructing his disciples to spread his eschatological message of the coming of the Kingdom of God to all the nations of the world. The most famous version of the Great Commission is in Matthew (Matthew 28:16–20), where on a mountain in Galilee Jesus calls on his followers to make disciples of and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul's conversion on the Road to Damascus is first recorded in Acts 9 (Acts 9:13–16). Peter baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius, traditionally considered the first Gentile convert to Christianity, in Acts 10. Based on this, the Antioch church was founded. It is also believed that it was there that the term Christian was coined.

The Apostolicera, in its actual accomplishments, in its determination of the essential character of Christianity, and in the attractive type of its religious personalities, is especially significant for religious contemplation in all subsequent periods of Christian history because the apostles functioned as messiahs in their different capacities by first and above all defending Christianity, suffering martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel, spreading Christianity to other parts of the world, which is a fulfillment of the Great Commission from Christ at His Ascension. In this research, the life and ministry of two of the apostles shall be evaluated as messiahs in the apostolic era. The two are Apostles Paul and Peter.