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What Happened to the Twelve Apostles? How Their Deaths Evidence Easter
by C Michael PattonMarch 31st, 2010
38 Comments
This is an Easter updated repost—Happy Easter!
Download PDF (with family discussion questions)
I have an interest in the death of the Apostles. We all should. Every Christian should spend some time looking into the historical records. There are many legends concerning their deaths which makes the historical evidence hard to interpret. Many times the accounts conflict with one another. Most early Christians wanted their home to be crowned with the stature of having been the final resting place of one of the twelve. It is probably for this reason that there were embellishments forged.
Sifting through the wheat and the chaff is not easy task. The martyrdom of some of the Apostles is more certain than others. Historians will have different degrees of certainty concerning the circumstances of their deaths. For instance, unbiased historians will not take issue with the historical credibility of the martyrdom of Peter, Paul, and James the Apostle. Many of the other accounts have decent historic validity as well. Some accounts, however, raise the eyebrow and cause us to remain agnostic.
However, when boiled down to their least common denominator, it is very feasible to believe that all but one of the Apostles suffered and died a martyr’s death, even if we can’t be sure of the exact details.
Amidst some uncertainty, one thing is clear—the reason given for their death was the same in all accounts. They were killed because they proclaimed to have seen Christ die and then to have seen Him alive. They all died because of an unwavering, unrelenting claim that Christ rose from the grave. They died for Easter.
Personally, in my mind, the gruesome death of the Apostles as recorded below was one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave to the Church. It contributes much to Christian apologetics by answering the “how do you know?” question concerning the resurrection of Christ.
The following is my attempt to take the best of all the sources and share the most likely scenario for each Apostle’s death. At the risk of spoiling some of the “legends,” I have given each account a grade of probability from A (highest probability) to D (lowest probability).
Read through the accounts of their deaths. Use it this Easter. Tell your children. This may sound odd, but in a very real sense, I thank God for bringing about the Apostles’ deaths, for in their deaths they sealed their testimony in blood making our faith in the risen Christ built upon a solid foundation.
(1) The Apostle James
James, the Apostle of the Lord, was the second recorded martyr after Christ’s death (Stephen was the first). His death is recorded in Acts 12:2 where it is told that Herod Agrippa killed him with a sword. Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History II.2) both tell how the executioner witnessed the courage and un-recanting spirit of James and was then convinced of Christ resurrection and was executed along with James.
Date of Martyrdom: 44-45 A.D.
Probability rating: A for the death of James, C- for the death of the executioner
(2) The Apostle Peter
Although, just before the crucifixion, Peter denied three times that he even knew Christ, after the resurrection he did not do so again. Peter, just as Jesus told him in John 21:18-19, was crucified by Roman executioners because he could not deny his master again. According to Eusebius, he thought himself unworthy to be crucified as his Master, and, therefore, he asked to be crucified “head downward.”
Date of Martyrdom: ca. 64 A.D.
Probability rating: A
(3) The Apostle Andrew
Andrew, who introduced his brother Peter to Christ, went to join Peter with Christ in eternity six years after Peter’s death. After preaching Christ’s resurrection to the Scythians and Thracians, he too was crucified for his faith. As Hippolytus tells us, Andrew was hanged on an olive tree at Patrae, a town in Achaia.
Date of Martyrdom: 70 A.D.
Probability rating: B
(4) The Apostle Thomas
Thomas is known as “doubting Thomas” because of his reluctance to believe the other Apostles’ witness of the resurrection. After they told him that Christ was alive, he stated “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). After this, Christ did appear to him and Thomas believed unto death. Thomas sealed his testimony as he was thrust through with pine spears, tormented with red-hot plates, and burned alive.
Date of Martyrdom: 70 A.D.
Probability rating: B concerning his martyrdom, D concerning the exact method of execution.
(5) The Apostle Philip
Philip was corrected by Christ when he asked Christ to “show us the Father, then this will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Christ responded, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father ‘?” (John 14:9). Philip later saw the glory of Christ after the resurrection and undoubtedly reflected with amazement on Christ’s response to his request. Philip evangelized in Phrygia where hostile Jews had him tortured and then crucified.
Date of Martyrdom: 54 A.D.
Probability rating: C
(6) The Apostle Matthew
Matthew, the tax collector, so desperately wanted the Jews to accept Christ. He wrote The Gospel According to Matthew about ten years before his death. Because of this, one can see, contained within his Gospel, the faith for which he spilled his blood. Matthew surely remembered his resurrected Savior’s words, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20), when he professed the resurrected Christ unto his death by beheading at Nad-Davar.
Date of Martyrdom: 60-70 A.D.
Probability rating: B
(7) The Apostle Nathanael (Bartholomew)
Nathanael, whose name means “gift of God” was truly given as a gift to the Church through his martyrdom. Nathanael was the first to profess, early in Christ’s ministry, that Christ was the Son of God (John 1:49). He later paid for this profession through a hideous death. Unwilling to recant of his proclamation of a risen Christ, he was flayed and then crucified.
Date of Martyrdom: 70 A.D.
Probability rating: C
(8) The Apostle James the Lesser
James was appointed to be the head of the Jerusalem church for many years after Christ’s death. In this, he undoubtedly came in contact with many hostile Jews (the same ones who killed Christ and stated “His [Christ's] blood be on us and our children” (Matt. 27:25). In order to make James deny Christ’s resurrection, these men positioned him at the top of the Temple for all to see and hear. James, unwilling to deny what he knew to be true, was cast down from the Temple and finally beaten to death with a fuller’s club to the head.
Date of Martyrdom: 63 A.D.
Probability rating: B that he was cast down from the temple, D that he was being beaten to death with fuller’s club after the fall
(9) The Apostle Simon the Zealot
Simon was a Jewish zealot who strived to set his people free from Roman oppression. After he saw with his own eyes that Christ had been resurrected, he became a zealot of the Gospel. Historians tell of the many different places that Simon proclaimed the good news of Christ’s resurrection: Egypt, Cyrene, Africa, Mauritania, Britain, Lybia, and Persia. His rest finally came when he verified his testimony and went to be with Christ, being crucified by a governor in Syria.
Date of Martyrdom: 74 A.D.
Probability rating: B
(10) The Apostle Judas Thaddeus
Judas questioned the Lord: “Judas said to him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that you will show yourself to us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22). After he witnessed Christ’s resurrection, Judas then knew the answer to his question. Preaching the risen Christ to those in Mesopotamia in the midst of pagan priests, Judas was beaten to death with sticks, showing to the world that Christ was indeed Lord and God.
Date of Martyrdom: 72 A.D.
Probability rating: C
(11) The Apostle Matthias
Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot (the betrayer of Christ who hanged himself) as the twelfth Apostle of Christ (Acts 1:26). It is believed by most that Matthias was one of the seventy that Christ sent out during his earthly ministry (Luke 10:1). This qualifies him to be an apostle. Matthias, of which the least is known, is said by Eusebius to have preached in Ethiopia. He was later stoned while hanging upon a cross.
Date of Martyrdom: 70 A.D.
Probability rating: D
(12) The Apostle John
John is the only one of the twelve Apostles to have died a natural death. Although he did not die a martyr’s death, he did live a martyr’s life. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos under the Emperor Domitian for his proclamation of the risen Christ. It was there that he wrote the last book in the Bible, Revelation. Some traditions tell us that he was thrown into boiling oil before the Latin Gate, where he was not killed but undoubtedly scarred for the rest of his life.
Date of Martyrdom: 95 A.D.
Probability rating: A that he was not martyred, C that he was thrown into boiling oil
(13) The Apostle Paul
Paul, himself a persecutor of the Christian faith (Galatians 1:13), was brought to repentance on his way to Damascus by an appearance of the risen Christ. Ironically, Paul was heading for Damascus to arrest those who held to Christ’s resurrection. Paul was the greatest skeptic there was until he saw the truth of the resurrection. He then devoted his life to the proclamation of the living Christ. Writing to the Corinthians, defending his ministry, Paul tells of his sufferings for the name of Christ: “In labors more abundant, in beatings above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once was I stoned, three times I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeys often, in storms on the water, in danger of robbers, in danger by mine own countrymen, in danger by the heathen, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in the sea, among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness “(2 Cor. 11:23-27). Finally, Paul met his death at the hands of the Roman Emperor Nero when he was beheaded in Rome.
Date of Martyrdom: ca. 67 A.D.
Probability rating: A
An Afterthought:
I believe that the deaths of the Apostles increase the certainty level of the historicity of the resurrection to a level that is beyond excuse for disbelief. People do not die for their own lies, half-truths, or fabrications. If the Apostles truly died proclaiming to have seen Christ dead then alive and ascend into heaven, Christ is who He said He was, God incarnate who came to take away the sins of the world.
An Objection:
However, some might object to my reasoning. You may object to my reasoning. The question that gives rise to the objection is this: Don’t many people die for something they believe? Does this mean that if you die for something, it is true? To be sure, many people have died for something that they believed and this does not make it true. The 9-11 bombers believed something and died for that belief, but their deaths do no give credence to the validity of their beliefs in any way. There is a big difference in dying for something that you believe having received the basis for that belief from someone else and dying for something that you believe because you witnessed the events that establish the belief.
From a historical stand point, the difference is as great as day and night. The suicide bombers and others who die for their faith are dying for something that they believe because the have heard it from someone else. This adds no valid verification to what they believe from an standpoint of evidence or reason. It would be like me dying for my faith in Christ’s resurrection. All that this would prove is that I truly did believe that Christ rose from the grave, but it would not verify in any way that He actually did rise from the grave. Why? Because I did not see it. I was not a first hand witness.
Now if I died a martyr’s death saying that I saw Christ die and rise from the grave with my own eyes that would be a different story. Why? Because it would not verify a belief handed down from someone else, but a belief in something that I witnessed firsthand. At this point, you have only three options for explaining the Apostles’ belief: 1) Say that they died for a lie knowing that it was a lie, 2) that they were delusional or crazy, or 3) that was the truth, Christ did rise from the grave.
To say that they died knowing it was a lie places a great burden of proof upon the proponent of this view and completely lacks in any historical credibility (no matter how many attempts have been made to substantiate such). It would take a much greater leap of faith to believe this than to believe that they were telling the truth and Christ actually rose. Remember, the possibility of an alternative does not amount to probability.
To opt for number two and say that they were crazy suffers from the same fate as the first. There is no way to substantiate this. There is absolutely no historical evidence in favor of this supposed insanity for even a single Apostle, much less all of them. From a historical standpoint, this would most certainly be a greater leap of faith than to believe that they were telling the truth.
The only option is the last—that Christ did raise from the grave and He is who he said he was. All others are blind leaps into the dark.
The motives for these blind leaps are many I am sure, but let me mention a couple of the most likely.
People who deny this evidence are sometimes motivated by an anti-supernatural bias. This bias starts with the assumption that Christ did not rise from the grave because it is impossible for people to rise from the grave. But this argument is completely unsustainable since it begs the question. It may be true that people don’t normally rise from the grave, but simply because you do not have personal empirical evidence of its possibility does not make it impossible objectively. I do however understand this bias. I think that it is foolish to uncritically and characteristically accept stories of happenings that fall outside of our God-given means of empirically acquiring information. But belief in the resurrection of Christ, as I have been arguing, is not in any way an uncritical belief (at least it does not have to be). The evidence compels us to adjust our bias at this point.
Another motive that people have for rejecting the evidence is less intellectual and more emotional. Many people have an emotional bias against the very idea of God. This emotional bias, practically speaking, comes to us from a variety of avenues. For some, it is their upbringing. They have a commitment to that which they were taught. We all want mom and dad to be right and we will do everything in our power to cheer for their beliefs. Why? Because they become our beliefs and we have a lot invested in them. For many, if Christ rose from the grave, then they, their family, their religion, and all their friends are wrong. This is sometimes too much to handle emotionally.
For others, the emotional objection comes from a jilted experience. They have called upon God to save them from sickness. They have looked for His mercy in their family. They have prayed for their basic needs and He, in their estimation, has not answered. Therefore, they are apathetic to the evidence of the resurrection, being guided by their emotional experiences and longings. Both of these emotional objections to the resurrection are understandable.
I know that emotion unbridled is a much more powerful source for belief than the cold facts of the intellectual realm. But, at the same time, while the objections are understandable, they should not be not admissible or sustainable. We cannot let emotions rule our belief system. We must be ready to look past our experience and our traditions so that we can see the truth. Once we do, then the truth can take the hand of our emotions and train them properly.
In sum concerning the initial objection, the 9-11 suicide bombers may have sincerely believed their religion, but their conviction carries no inherent verification. All we know is that they were sincere in their belief. The disciples, on the other hand, died for something that they claimed to have witnessed firsthand. This carries no “hearsay” but firsthand testimony. It is a completely different story.
Therefore, the objection, while understandable at first glance, really must be dismissed as an irrelevant and false comparison. Here are your three options concerning the Apostles:
- They died for a lie and knew it (unsustainable do to lack of any reasonable motive).
- They were all delusional and crazy (but this would take more faith than any option since you would have to explain how they all had the same delusion and craziness—many being at different places and different times).
- What they said was true. Christ did rise from the grave and is who He said He was.
To conclude, I want you to listen to the words of Ignatius, a second century church Father who’s beliefs were sustained by the reasoning of my current argument concerning the Apostles’ deaths.
“Mindful of him, do ye by all means know that Jesus the Lord was truly born of Mary, being made of a woman; and was as truly crucified. For, says he, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus.”11 And He really suffered, and died, and rose again. For says [Paul], “If Christ should become passible, and should be the first to rise again from the dead.12 And again, In that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.13 Otherwise, what advantage would there be in [becoming subject to] bonds, if Christ has not died? what advantage in patience? what advantage in [enduring] stripes? And why such facts as the following: Peter was crucified; Paul and James were slain with the sword; John was banished to Patmos; Stephen was stoned to death by the Jews who killed the Lord? But, [in truth,] none of these sufferings were in vain; for the Lord was really crucified by the ungodly.” (Ignasius: The Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians, III)
Happy Easter—celebrate the resurrection and proclaim the kingdom!
The evidence is there. Do you believe? . . .
Similar Posts:
- What Happened to the Twelve Apostles? How Their Deaths Evidence Easter
- What happened to the twelve apostles?
- Some Alternative Explanations for the Resurrection of Christ
- Evidence for the Resurrection: Part 2 – External Evidence
- The Sufficiency of Probability in the Christian Belief
38 Comments
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Well done, Michael. Great article!
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[...] What Happened to the Twelve Apostles? How Their Deaths Evidence Easter [...]
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Thanks for sharing this. Our congregation will surely appreciate learning about this at our bread feast tomorrow.
Have a great day!
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Fantastic! What are the primary source documents on which the grading was based? I’d love to read them!
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I see you use Eusebius as a source, but hasn’t Eusebius’ honesty, and historian abilities been doubted down throught the years?
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[...] first recounts the life and death of the Apostles and how this supports the historical truth of Easter, [...]
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It’s kind of interesting to me that Protestant apologists will repeat the traditions of what happened to the apostles as good evidence, and yet when given a tradition about Mary or apostolic succession or anything too catholic etc etc, all the doubts and challenges are out like a gunfighter with a six-shooter, so that these traditions need to be rejected out of hand.
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I liked this post the first time I saw it, a year or two ago, and I still like it. I, like you, am fascinated by their deaths, because I also feel it is a huge argument for the historicity of the resurrection. Either that, or the largest mass delusion in human history. Looking at their deaths also makes me think about the frailty of my own faith. Am I willing to die, perhaps a hideous death, for my belief? I honestly don’t know. Until faced with that, I don’t think you can know. The weak often become courageous, and the strong renounce their faith to save their hides. Obviously, the apostles had the benefit of having actually seen Christ resurrected, but we have the benefit of the Bible, so that’s probably a wash. Truly amazing. Thanks for the repost.
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John, give it your best shot. I’ll be willing to bet Michael would let you do a guest post with your research.
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I am all for apostolic succession. *Footnote: it is a succession that empasized the teaching of the apostles, not the authority of the successors. I have done a few posts on it.
Mary is a different story. These involve interpretive issues as well as issues that arise much later in history. It is a different type of claim and a different type of evidence.
Either way, as you can see here, not all the traditions are equal.
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Michael,
Traditional Indian churches wont accept your argument, as they trace them to St Thomas
. They have lots of stories
Prayers
Renju
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I would like to know the basis for the probability calculations as well because a glorious death seems to me to be exactly the kind of thing that someone might invent for propaganda purposes.
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My problem with this argument is that it seems to me like you could use it to argue for many different religions. Should Joseph Smith’s martyrdom count as evidence for the historicity of his golden tablets and the angel Moroni? (I’m no expert on Mormonism.) Unlike the suicide bomber example, he died for something he claimed to be a firsthand witness of.
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“Personally, in my mind, the gruesome death of the Apostles as recorded below was one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave to the Church. It contributes much to Christian apologetics by answering the “how do you know?” question concerning the resurrection of Christ.”
How do you know that they were killed because of their opinion? i.e. How do you know that they were give the option: “Keep this opinion and we’ll kill you; recant this opinion and we’ll let you go.” ? Many of the stories suggest that these people were killed for being unpopular troublemakers.
How do you deal with martyr stories from other groups? Are the claims of the group with the most martyrs factually correct?
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Boz,
Good question. Again, as I said in the original post, it is very difficult to compare to other martyr stories as all they normally evidence is that the person truly believed. They say nothing to the actual event itself.
Second, the number of deaths are significant. If it was just one person, it would not be so strong.
The evidence is in the tradition themselves.
Like any other historical issue, these things come into play:
-how close is the tradition to the event?
-is there any evidence to the contrary?
-is there evidence of a reason for fabrication?
-how reliable is the source in other areas?
That is why there are varying degrees of certianty about these event.
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In regard to Joseph Smith the belief in the existence of a supernatural being or a set of golden plates is much less evidential then a resurrection for validating the substance of the belief they are associated with. If one admits the possibility of a supernatural world evil supernatural beings become a possibility. Also it is easier to believe one individual was delusional or simply got caught in his story and was not able to back out (he was after all killed by a mob) thirteen. I am convinced there is a real difference here. I know of no full parallel to the testimony for the resurrection.
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Good Article! I hail from India and Indian history has a mention of Saint Thoma’s martyrdom in Souther n India. It is also believed the tomb of St Thomas is in Chennai.
There is some record from ‘The Thomas Christians’ by Placid Podipara” & “Kerala Syrian Christian, Apostle in India, The tomb of the Apostle, Persian Church, Syond of Diamper – Coonan Cross Oath, Subsequent divisions and the Nasrani People”. Nasrani Syrian Christians Network. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-10-27. Which has the below deails.
The Indian tradition, in which elements of the traditions of Malabar, Coromandel and the Persian Church intermingled firmly held that Thomas the Apostle died near the ancient town of Mylapore. His mortal remains were buried in the town and his burial place was situated in the right hand chapel of the Church or house known after his name. The Portuguese excavated it in 1523. A number of scholars who are said to have made an examination of the records stated that the Portuguese excavations were “ unreliable”.
The Santhome Basilica, Chennai, India, (as it stands now) where the body of Thomas the Aposle was originally buried. It is considered to be one of the only three tombs of Apostles located and preserved.Beginning with the Acts of Thomas (c.200), in almost every century there are statements about the existence of his tomb in India. The location of the tomb, as given in seventh century, is (Calamina or Qalimaya) and Myluph or Meilan (12th-14th centuries). From the end of 14th century onwards there are references to the tomb of the Apostle in Mylapore.
Even before the Portuguese opened the tomb in Mylapore in the XVIth century, it was believed to have been the tomb of Saint Thomas and was visited by both Christian and non Christian pilgrims and travelers. Three of the five complete MS copies of Mar Solomon of Basora’s (1222) “Book of the Bees” speak of Mahluph (Mylapore) ” a city in the land of the Indians” where “others say”…
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This article would have more substance if it included the source documents (and the dating of such documents) for when the claims were made.
For example, I am unaware of any document recording the death of James the Lesser. I am aware Hegesippus (writing 165-175 CE) records James the Just (brother of Jesus) death by being thrown down from the temple, stoned and killed with a fuller’s club. However, Hegesippus’ account appears to be an exaggeration of the account found in the Second Apocalypse of James (120 – 180 CE) which, likewise, appears to be an exaggeration of the account found in Josephus’ Antiquities (around 94 CE).
Are you saying James the Lesser was also Jesus’ brother?
Further, we can see the myth development in this story (Josephus to Apocalypse to Hegesippus)—what method do you propose we use to determine myth from history?
Finally, do you think the Martyrdom of Polycarp had any effect on the subsequent mythological tales surrounding the Apostle’s deaths?
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DagoodS: Isn’t an account of the death James the Just found in Josephus? Paul’s martyrdom is based purely on tradition (handed down through Eusebius?)
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“Therefore, the objection, while understandable at first glance, really must be dismissed as an irrelevant and false comparison. Here are your three options concerning the Apostles:
1. They died for a lie and knew it (unsustainable do to lack of any reasonable motive).
2. They were all delusional and crazy (but this would take more faith than any option since you would have to explain how they all had the same delusion and craziness—many being at different places and different times).
3. What they said was true. Christ did rise from the grave and is who He said He was.”
Please tell me that we are not using the Liar/Lunatic/Lord false trilemma! Just as C.S. Lewis lost it on the second option, so does the argument here.
Crazy is not a binary term. Our experience with so-called Recovered Memories has taught us that the human memory is malleable. Given enough personal stress and influence from an authority figure, the brain will construct memories in every way as genuine-seeming as our morning egg and toast. In fact, it would be fair to say that ALL memories are constructed.
What we have in the way of Jesus’ appearances is either the recollection of the individuals who had a vision (Paul) or stories of others who had visions (everyone else). And stories are even more malleable than memories. Thus any stress-induced experiences become multiplied in person and space in the retelling. Do we really believe that Paul had done a head count on the 500? No, he was relating the version of events he had been told.
My point is not to denigrate the apostles but to point out that they responded in a very human way to the conditions they found themselves in and to point out that the probability of post-crucifixion encounters with Jesus being psychological rather than real is not as small as Michael would have us assume.
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Scott F
Yes, Josephus records the death of James the Just. (As you may know, there is a question whether “…who was called Christ…” is a later Christian addition, in which case this passage is not about James, the brother of Jesus. For the moment, let’s assume it was in the original.) There, James was killed by Ananus as a political maneuver, and the Pharisees objected to Albinus, eventually resulting in Ananus’ removal. The passage states he was stoned.
More importantly, it does NOT state he was stoned for being a Christian, and the implication is that the Pharisees were in support of James. (Albeit, they could have used the death for political machinations of their own.)
The Second Apocalypse of James indicates James was the step-brother of Jesus who makes long-winded, Gnostic-sounding speeches. He fails to convince the people, however, so the priests toss him off the temple. However, James lives, so they make him dig his own grave, and then they stone him.
Then we have Hegesippus who records James (back to full brother) as a Nazarite, who curiously has the full rights of a Priest! The Jews, scribes and Pharisees ask James to tell the people not to follow Jesus. Of course, James does just the opposite and (contra 2nd Apocalypse) many are convinced. This makes the Jews, scribes and Pharisees unhappy, so they toss him off the temple. Again, he lives. Again, they start to start to stone James who says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” At this point a fuller tosses a club at James’ head, which kills him.
So we go from:
Stoning (Josephus)
Tossing and Stoning (2nd Apocalypse)
Tossing, Stoning and Clubbing (Hegesippus)
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Aaron,
Joseph Smith was just one person (you can say the same for Mohammed). On the other hand, there were multiple Apostles who claimed to have seen the resurrected Christ. I think the difference is significant.
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[...] Also see how the Apostles’ Deaths give evidence to Easter. Sphere: Related Content April 2nd, 2010 |Category: Apologetics | Tags: evidence of the [...]
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Everything is revealed through Faith. God has his predestined people, and God says only a few find the way to righteousness, so those to whom The Spirit revealed to, then believed in Jesus resurrecting and forgiving our sins. I don’t think anything matters, but just to live by The Word of The Lord, pray to the Father, praise The Three Persons (God, Spirit, and Son), and pray so that we can also be in oneness with God. Anything else, doesn’t matter (for Spiritual life). Those who seek the things of the Spirit, will inherit spiritual things. And those who seek the things of the world, will inherit the things of the world. So logic, opinions, history, and actions don’t matter, unless they are edifying the body of Christ for the Kingdom of Heaven.
If we trust God (like Paul and Apostles), then it’s all that matters!
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Enjoyed the post… Along that line, I’ve recently become interested again in finding good sources for tracing the disciples of the apostles. For example: Iranaeus is said to be a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of John.
Any recommendations would be welcome.
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[...] Originally posted at Parchment and Pen [...]
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[...] Lack of Motive for Fabrication: There is no reasonable explanation as to why the Apostles (or anyone for that matter) would have made up such a story. They had no popularity, power, or riches to gain from it if it was a lie. They were in constant persecution because of their confession, and finally, most probably met a terrible death, sealing their testimony in blood. [...]
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[...] and Pen blog, attempted to sort out the historical evidence for the deaths of 12 apostles in this blog post. In his post, he grades the quality of the historical sources based on his own research. He [...]
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C. Michael Patton,
We are having a little discussion regarding this blog entry at:
http://www.toughquestionsanswered.org/2010/08/26/how-did-the-apostles-die/
A question that has come up is—what sources did you utilize to put together this list? Can you tell us with specifics what sources you read to provide this information?
If that is too broad, perhaps answers to three narrower questions:
1) What source(s) did you use for the information on Peter?
2) What source(s) did you use for the information on James the Lesser?
3) Why do you sometimes use Hippolytus, and other times do not?
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I was familiar with all of these stories, as I have read Foxes Book of Martyrs, but it’s edifying to re read them again. Thanks for the post! Do you have a theory as to why aspects of these stories may have been fabricated? This always bothered me.
Mike
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[...] Lack of Motive for Fabrication: There is no reasonable explanation as to why the Apostles (or anyone for that matter) would have made up such a story. They had no popularity, power, or riches to gain from it if it was a lie. They were in constant persecution because of their confession, and finally, most met a terrible death, sealing their testimony in blood. [...]
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[...] (Here is an excellent summary of what is known of the apostles’ deaths.) [...]
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[...] http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2010/03/what-happened-to-the-twelve-apostles-how-their-deaths-… [...]
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[...] the story of Jesus’ resurrection, they would not have been willing to die for a lie. All were martyred for their belief in Jesus as God except John, who was exiled to the island of Patmos. Despite being persecuted, tortured, and killed [...]
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It is significant that the ONLY death of the 12 apostles recorded in the Bible is James in Acts 12. And there are the allusions to John’s death due to old age and Peter’s death to being bound in John 21.
But neither statement about Peter and John are dogmatic and clear. Both accounts are clearly open to interpretation.
So, my point is that God chose to keep us in the dark as to the definitive nature and circumstances of the death of the other 11 apostles.
James is an A+ for certainty and the other 11 apostles are a D+ for certainty because there is very little certainty to history 1,900 years old, outside of the scriptures.
BTW Judas Iscariot was an Apostle and a disciple and numbered with the 12 and numbered with the apostles and had part of Christ’ ministry (Acts 1:17) as recorded
Matthew 10:2-4 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these… Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
And we know he hung himself and afterward his body fell headlong and his bowels gushed out. So there are at least 2 definitive deaths of apostles in the Bible.
Jesus is listed as an Apostle; that would make 3 definitive deaths of apostles found in the Bible. Hebrews 3:1 … consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Another point to consider: Is anyone aware of what happened to the other 10 apostles listed in the Bible?
There are 13 apostles that make up what is known as “the 12″. (which includes Judas and Matthias).
Then there are 12 more apostles which includes Paul, Jesus and 10 others such as Barnabas, silvanus and timotheus.
Lastly, can anyone point to a command, suggestion or example of a saint being challenged to either deny the Lord or be killed?
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I would like to learn more about Matthias is Ethiopia. I’m very curious as I know that Ethiopia is a land lost in time and very deep when it comes to Christianity.
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Thank you so much for this post! I needed the arguments against Jesus’ resurrection stated clearly with comprehensive answers for an argument project in my worldview class. This was very helpful as my original question was ‘Did the disciples actually believe that Jesus was raised from the dead physically?’ Thank you again!
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[...] Now admittedly it can be tricky to decisively prove each martyrdom account. Many accounts are not the most reliable, to say the least. However, we do have very good evidence for the martyrdoms of the great Church leaders Peter, James, and Paul. A good review of the evidence for the disciples’ martyrdoms can be found over at the Parchment and Pen blog. [...]
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