What year did the last disciple die?

Answer 1

End of the Apostolic Period. Though The Bible does not relate the death of the 12 apostles, aside from that of James, the evidence available indicates that they maintained their faithfulness until death and therefore needed no replacement. Concerning history in the following centuries, the observation is made that "whenever it [the term "apostle"] is applied to individuals in later Christian literature, the use of the term is metaphorical. The church has never had apostles in the N[ew] T[estament] sense since the first century."-The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, edited by G. A. Buttrick, 1962, Vol. 1, p. 172.

During their lifetime the apostles' presence served as a restraint upon the influences of apostasy, holding back the forces of false worship within the Christian congregation. It is evidently to this "restraint" that the Apostle Paul referred at 2 Thessalonians 2:7: "True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work; but only till he who is right now acting as a restraint gets to be out of the way." (Compare Mt 13:24, 25; Ac 20:29, 30.) This apostolic influence, including the authority and powers unique with them, continued until the death of John about 100 C.E. (1Jo 2:26; 3Jo 9, 10) The rapid influx of apostasy and false doctrine and practices after the death of the apostles shows that any pretended apostolic successors had none of the restraining influence of the apostles.

The reference to Andronicus and Junias at Romans 16:7 as "men of note among the apostles" indicates, not that they were apostles, but, rather, that they were held in high repute by the apostles. That some made false pretenses of being "apostles of Christ" is shown at 2 Corinthians 11:5, 13; 12:11, 12; Revelation 2:2.