Deaths of the Twelve Apostles

Deaths of the Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles were, according to the Synoptic Gospels and Christian tradition, disciples (followers) whom Jesus of Nazareth had chosen, named, and trained in order to send them on a specific mission. After the Apostle Judas Iscariot had betrayed Jesus, the remaining Apostles filled the vacancy by electing by lot Matthias, a companion of theirs ever since they had followed Jesus so that by the time of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost they actually numbered twelve again.

Christian tradition has generally passed down that all but one were martyred, with John surviving into old age. Only the death of James, son of Zebedee is described in the New Testament, and the details of the other deaths are the subject of pious legends of varying authenticity. In some cases there is near unanimity in the tradition, and in other cases, there are widely varying and inconsistent accounts.

The Twelve

Judas Iscariot, originally one of the Twelve, died after the death of Jesus. Matthew 27:5 says that he hanged himself, and Acts 1:18 says that he fell, burst open, and his "bowels gushed out." Matthias was elected to take his place as one of the twelve.

According to Christian tradition:

*Peter, crucified upside-down in Rome circa 64 A.D.
*James, son of Zebedee was beheaded in 44 A.D., first of the twelve to be assassinated
*John, son of Zebedee, natural causes due to old age, last of the twelve to die, only one of the twelve to die naturally
*Andrew, Peter's brother, was crucified.
*Philip was crucified in 54 A.D.
*Bartholomew was crucified.
*Matthew killed by a halberd in 60 A.D.
*Thomas was killed by a spear.
*James, son of Alphaeus, beaten to death by a club after being crucified and stoned.
*Saint Jude was crucified.
*Simon the Zealot was crucified in 74 A.D.
*Judas Iscariot, according to the gospels, hung himself after betraying Jesus.
*Matthias, Judas' replacement, was stoned and beheaded.

See also

*Twelve Apostles
*Christian martyrs
*Christian pacifism
*Religious Persecution
*Martyrology
*Disciple
*Great Commission
*Apostolic Age

Sources

* [http://www.probe.org/docs/persecution.html Rick Wade, "Persecution in the Early Church."]
* [http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?apostles.htm The History of the Early Christian Martyrs]
*John Foxe, "Foxe's Book of Martyrs."
*D.C. Talk, "Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs—Stories of Those Who Stood For Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks."

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01626c.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia":] Apostles
* [http://www.apostles.com/index.html "Apostles.com":] Biographies of Christ's Apostles
* [http://www.christianity.com/11536381/ Christian History: The Twelve Apostles]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Twelve Apostles — The Twelve Apostles (Greek:, , ; Out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem without article, hence kingship , sovereignty ; contrary to the occurrence in ).] administering [κρινοντες (, [http://titus.fkidg1.uni… …   Wikipedia

  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Classification Latter Day Saint movement Theology Nontrinitarian, Mormonism Governance …   Wikipedia

  • The Fates of the Apostles — [Vercelli Book, fol.52b 54a] , is the shortest of Cynewulf’s known canon at 122 lines long. It is a brief martyrology of the twelve apostles of the Bible written in the standard alliterative verse. Fates recites the key events that subsequently… …   Wikipedia

  • Deaths in 2004 — Contents 1 December 2 November 3 October 4 September …   Wikipedia

  • The Grapes of Wrath — infobox Book name = Grapes of Wrath image caption= First edition cover author = John Steinbeck cover artist = Elmer Hader country = United States language = English genre = Novel publisher = The Viking Press James Lloyd release date = 1939 media… …   Wikipedia

  • War hysteria preceding the Mountain Meadows massacre — The Mountain Meadows massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an 1858 invasion of the Utah Territory by the United States Army which ended up being peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, Mormons expected an all out… …   Wikipedia

  • List of cultural references in The Divine Comedy — The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is a long allegorical poem in three parts or canticas (or cantiche ), Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise), and 100 cantos, with the Inferno having 34, Purgatorio 33, and Paradiso 33 …   Wikipedia

  • Twelve, the — Jesus chose a group of twelve (usually called ‘apostles’ by Luke, e.g. 6:13) ‘to be with him’ (on his travels). The Twelve symbolized the new Israel since the old Israel was regarded as made up of twelve tribes [[➝ tribes of Israel]]… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs — The Master of the Barbarigo Reliefs was an Italian sculptor active around Venice between about 1486 and about 1515. His name is derived from a set of reliefs in bronze, depicting the Coronation and Assumption of the Virgin and the twelve Apostles …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas the Apostle — Saint Thomas the Apostle The Incredulity of St Thomas by Caravaggio Apostle Born 1st century AD …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”