Death of the Apostles (Pt 1)

Have you ever wondered what happened to the Apostles? In the book of Acts, the last historical record in the Bible, it talks about the life of the Early Church. How the numbers grew and so forth. Interestingly enough, it doesn't really talk about all the apostles, just the two main ones, Peter and Paul. What did the others do? Did they just sit on the bums, twiddling their thumbs and debate about Free will vs Predestination?

So, I thought I would take some time and do "research" and see for myself what happened to them. Please keep in mind that most of this is not in the Bible, therefore I cannot verify the truth to the claims. Is this subject important to your faith and salvation? No, it's not. It is entertaining however, and that's what I'm here to do. Entertain.

So away we go!

Peter: Peter was given the two keys on Earth, the keys to bind and the keys to free. He was considered the leader of the twelve and according to Catholic canon, the first bishop of Rome, or Pope. He was often considered impulsive, many times in the Bible he always spoke before thinking properly. Nevertheless, Jesus loved him for it. He made the lame walk and converted people by the thousands. Now all of this is in the Bible. In the traditions and tales to follow, he was supposedly killed during the reign of Nero, who had a HUGE anti-Christian thing going. Peter was said to have been crucified, but since he felt unworthy to follow Christ exactly, he was asked to be crucified upside-down. I'm not sure how true that is, but I bet it must have hurt.

Paul: Along with Peter, Paul had done much to advance the cause of Christ. Whereas Peter preached to the Jews, Paul was the Gentile ambassador. He is knowledgeable about Judaic law, and was well educated both as a Pharisee and a Roman. Paul was later imprisoned. Tradition says that he was beheaded in Rome.

James the Greater: James, the brother of John, one of the "sons of thunder" was also called James the Greater. That's cause there were a lot of James' back then, and it was difficult to call him James, brother of John. Probably because there were a lot of Johns' back then too. And he wasn't called Greater because he was more popular or more famous. Apparently it's because he was called by Jesus first, before the other James... who as you can guess, was called James the Lesser. James was thought to have been fanatical. He was believed to have preached around Israel and Samaria. And some people say he even preached in Spain as well. Anyway, he was one of two apostles where the Bible actually recorded his death. So this is based on hard fact, not tradition. He was killed by Herod by sword. I assume he was stabbed, not beheaded, as that would have required a REALLY big sword or an axe. Probably through the heart or somewhere in that CHESTY region. Anyway, Acts 12:1-2 mentions it.

Judas Iscariot the Betrayer: Apparently Judas was a very common Hebrew name. I wonder if it's so common now? Anyway, he was obviously the traitor, hence Betrayer. He was the other apostle whose death was recorded in the Bible. He didn't do much preaching oddly enough since he died well before Jesus was resurrected. He hung himself. It's recorded in several places, here's one.

Andrew: Andrew was the brother of Peter. Not much is known about him. Apparently he was considered a very open-minded individual. I guess you would have to be to follow Jesus. Anyway, he apparently went to Greece and then Poland and as far as Russia to spread the gospel. Consequently way after his death, he became the patron saint of Russia. He was crucified in Greece. Some say he was crucified in an X-shape (decussate). That's why St. Andrew's cross is in the shape of an X.

John: The last one I will talk about today is John the brother of James. He was the one that Jesus loved the most. John was considered a very passionate apostle. He wrote one of the gospels and also the last book of the Bible, Revelations. Interestingly enough, he was the only apostle to have died of natural causes. Tradition says he died in Ephesus.

Ok, Thursday I'll talk about the rest of them.