He referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" rather than by name.
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John was present at the crucifixion and afterwards took on the care of Jesus's mother Mary. Not much is known for certain about John's life after Jesus's death. John's official shrine is found there. John spent time in exile on the island of Patmos, according to a line in Revelation, which he wrote there. A book called The Acts of John contains further stories about him, but it is considered apocryphal of doubtful accuracy, not part of official scripture by churches.
Tertullian, a second-century Christian writer, wrote that John was plunged into boiling oil in Rome and came out miraculously unhurt. Early traditions say John did not die at all, but ascended into heaven like the Jewish prophets Enoch and Elijah, although the Catholic Church believes that he died in around AD "at a great age". Philip is only mentioned in passing in Matthew, Mark and Luke's Gospels. The Gospel of John goes into more detail about him.
He came from Bethsaida in modern-day Jordan and was a follower of John the Baptist before joining Jesus. Philip the Apostle is often confused with Philip the Deacon, another member of the early Church. Bishop Polycrates of Ephesus, writing in the late second century, claims Philip had three daughters. Another document of similar age, the Dialogue of Caius, mentions a Philip with four daughters, but this may be Philip the Deacon, or a confusion of the two.
According to Bishop Polycrates, Philip was buried in Hieropolis, in modern-day Turkey, with two of his daughters who had died of old age. This makes it likely that Philip died naturally. However, the apocryphal Acts of Philip says that he was crucified upside down in Hierapolis. Bartholomew may have been the man John's Gospel calls Nathaniel, who joined Jesus at the same time as Philip.
The name Bartholomew means "son of Tolmai", so it is possible that Nathaniel was his given name. Although initially prejudiced against anyone coming from Nazareth, Nathaniel let Philip take him to meet Jesus. Jesus described Nathaniel as an Israelite with no guile, and proved his power by saying he had seen him in the past under a fig tree. John's Gospel does not explain what the fig tree incident was, or if it was a figure of speech, but this convinced Nathaniel, who immediately said that Jesus was the son of God.
The 4th-century bishop Eusebius, known as the "Father of Church History", records a legend that Bartholomew preached in India and gave the Church there a treasured copy of the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew. In the 2nd century, when St.
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Pantaenus of Alexandria travelled to India, he was shown the Gospel and told Bartholomew had been there before him. Bartholomew is said to have died at Albanopolis in Armenia, where he had converted the King Polymius to Christianity and was killed by the king's brother Astyages in revenge. Most legends say his skin was flayed off his body and he was crucified upside down.
Others say he was beheaded.
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The Catholic Encyclopedia lists both but does not give their original sources. Thomas is also called Didymus, meaning "the twin", and his full name is sometimes given as Judas Thomas. The Gospels do not give details of his life before meeting Jesus. An apocryphal text called The Acts of Thomas suggests that he was the twin brother of Jesus and a carpenter and stonemason by profession, but this is not widely accepted. We know most about Thomas from John's Gospel.
When Jesus planned to return to Judea, where he would be in danger of being put to death, Thomas bravely spoke up "Let us also go, so that we may die with him. Thomas did not understand and asked how they would know the way there, to which Jesus replied with his famous words "I am the way, and the truth, and the life".
Thomas's most famous moment, and the source of his other nickname, "Doubting Thomas", came after Jesus was resurrected. When the other disciples told Thomas what they had seen, he refused to believe it until he saw Jesus and touched his crucifixion wounds for himself.
Although Jesus rebuked Thomas for doubting, this event resulted in Thomas being the first to acknowledge Jesus's divinity aloud with the words "My Lord and my God! Eusebius recorded that Thomas preached in Syria and Persia.
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The apocryphal Acts of Thomas records that he travelled from there to India, where he converted the king of Mylapore, near Madras modern day Chennai , and performed further miracles. Thomas is supposed to have been martyred in India, but there is no support for this, even in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas. Matthew is introduced as Levi in Mark and Luke's Gospels. It is possible Jesus named him Matthew after recruiting him as a disciple. He is sometimes also called Matthew the Publican. Jesus met Matthew in a customs house in Capernaeum, modern-day Israel.
In Matthew's case, he would have worked for Herod Antipas. These tax workers were figures of hatred among the Jews of Judea, so for Jesus to recruit one as a disciple was an unpopular move. In Matthew's Gospel, the first of the Gospels to be written, the author himself is not often mentioned.
After meeting Jesus in the customs house, Matthew invited him and his disciples to his home for a meal. After this, he left home to follow Jesus. The rest of Matthew's life is not recorded in the Bible. Irenaeus wrote that Matthew preached to the Hebrews. Eusebius recorded that Matthew wrote and distributed his Gospel in the Hebrew language wherever he travelled. He may have visited Ethiopia and Persia. Most sources agree that Matthew died a martyr's death, but there is disagreement about how he died.
The Catholic Encyclopaedia mentions burning, stoning or beheading. He is called "James the brother of the Lord" Jesus in the book of Galatians, but despite this apparent Biblical evidence he may not have been Jesus's brother by blood or even a brother-in-law from Joseph's earlier marriage. The Catholic Church considers James, and other men referred to as Jesus's "brethren", to be his close associates rather than relatives.
This is partly because tradition says that Jesus's mother Mary had no other children, and partly because at his crucifixion Jesus sent Mary to live with the apostle John, which would not have been necessary if she had had other sons to take care of her. James appears to have been highly placed in the Jerusalem Church: Church History records that he was their first bishop. James supported Peter in the decision to let uncircumcised non-Jews into the Church. The second-century Jewish Christian Hegesippus, recorded that James became known as "James the Just" and was very pious, never drinking alcohol or eating meat, and that he never bathed, shaved or anointed himself.
The early theologian Clement of Alexandria, quoted in Church History, wrote that James was thrown from the roof of the temple in Jerusalem and "beaten to death with a club by a fuller". Lebbaeus is also referred to as Jude in some Gospels. Jude is clearly distinguished from Judas Iscariot, another disciple and later the betrayer of Jesus.
Opinion is divided on whether Jude the apostle is the same as Jude, brother of Jesus, who is mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. In the Roman Catholic Church he is the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes. He is also said to have visited Beirut and Edessa.
According to the Armenian tradition, Saint Jude suffered martyrdom about AD 65 in Beirut, in the Roman province of Syria, together with the apostle Simon the Zealot, with whom he is usually connected. Simon is known as Simon the Zealot to distinguish him from Simon Peter. His name is sometimes wrongly translated as "the Canaanite". The apocryphal Acts of Simon and Jude describes the two disciples travelling to preach in Persia. Judas was the son of Simon Iscariot. The origin of his surname may be a place name, Karioth in Judea, making him "Judas of Karioth".
Another theory is that Iscariot was derived from the Sicarii, a radical Jewish group of the time that included some terrorists who fought against Roman rule. This gave rise to a minority theory that Judas, in keeping with his radical roots, wanted to provoke a conflict so that Jesus could drive out the Romans and become the ruler of the Jews on earth. This would mean that Judas was well-intentioned but had completely misunderstood Jesus's message. However, most Christians reject this idea. Judas is always the last to be mentioned in lists of the disciples.
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He was in charge of the group's funds and the Gospels say that he had a habit of stealing the money for himself. Judas is most famous for betraying Jesus, which resulted in Jesus's execution by crucifixion. Judas approached the Jewish authorities to make this offer and was paid thirty pieces of silver to reveal where Jesus was hiding and point him out to them.
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