The Apostles, St. Paul, and the Evangelists

Here is a useful list of the twelve apostles, those men who Jesus solemnly chose, instructed and trained at the beginnings of his preachings, like his most particular disciples, in charge of preaching and of hunting the devils. The "Twelves", like they are called, received the Holy Spirit, in Jerusalem, along with the other disciples, on the day of the Pentecost following the death of Jesus. The Apostles have a prominent role during the preachings of Jesus, and too after his death. They are further considered, by both the Roman Catholics and the Orthodoxs, like those from who the Apostolic Tradition is established, which makes the bishops their successors. The number of 12 apostles is a reminder of the 12 tribes of Israel and signify the new Christian people, as renewed by the New Covenant. Judas, as far as he betrayed Christ, will be replaced thereafter by Matthias, who is chosen by casting lots. St. Paul, strictly, is not a apostle as he was not named by Christ but came to Christianism after his vision of his way to Damas, Syria. As James, Peter and John will mostly orient their preaching towards the Jews, they do accept that Paul, as far as he is concerned, with Barnabas, do towards the pagan nations, awarding to them the title of the "Apostles of the Gentiles", of the 'gentes', or 'goyim' -the non-Jewish peoples from a Jewish point of view

• Simon, Christ named him Peter (also known like Symeon, Simon bar Jonah, Simon bar Jochana, or Cephas, or Simon Peter). A son of a certain 'Jona' ('Johannes') and born in Bethsaida, a town on the Sea of Tiberias. Simon had a brother, Andrew. He eventually settled in Capharnaum, living with his mother-in-law, due to his marriage, and being a fisherman there, owning his own fishing boat. With his brother he became part of the followers of St. John the Baptist, in the region of Jordan, as he eventually met Christ, who foretold him, at that time, the change of his name, from 'Simon, the son of Jona' to 'Cephas', 'stone' in Aramean, that is, a change of name renewed when Jesus definitively called Simon on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias, with his brother Andrew. Simon-Peter soon became the prominent of the Apostles, and the first of them, even, clinging to a simple faith to Christ, though possibly intimidated by difficulties. The first rank of Peter is progressively asserted by Jesus self and, after Peter, in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, recognized Christ like the 'Christ, the Son of the living God', Jesus pronounced the famed judgment: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona... And I say to thee: 'That thou art Peter [stone in Aramean], and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, etc.,' installing Peter in fact as head of the Apostles, clearly making the successor of Peter the head of the community of the Christians. Peter denied Christ during the night preceding the Passion as he was confirmed like the head of Church after Christ's Resurrection, becoming the obvious head of the first Christian community, missionarizing among the Jews and some Pagans too. During the persecution by Herod Agrippa I, Peter was cast into prison, and miraculously freed and kept missionarizing in the region. Peter, then, came to the position of Paul that the non-Jewish Christians were not to be obliged to the Jewish customs, as Peter had mostly evangelized among the Jews and tended to get distant from the first ones. Peter then worked in Asia Minor, occasionally returning to Jerusalem, where the Christian community had been entrusted to James the Greater and eventually converting those too to the Paulinian point of view that the yoke of the Jewish rules not to be forced upon non-Jewish pagans, at the Council of Jerusalem, in 50-51 A.D. Albeit the details of how Peter ended his life in a long mission in Rome are unknown, he worked there, with Mark, the Evangelist, and suffered martyrdom about between the years 64 and 68 A.D. He likely preached in the catacomb of St. Priscilla on the Via Salaria, a location under the garden of a villa owned by the Roman, Christian and senatorial family of the Acilii Glabriones. Peter's feast is on June 29th, as he was crucified the head downwards, like he himself had exprimed the desire, in the Neronian Gardens, at the foot of the Vatican Hills. The body of Peter was first interred there as, at the time of the desecration of the tumbs there during the Valerian persecution in 258, the relics had been brought, with those of Paul, in the catacumbs located on the Appian Way. The relics of Peter were then brought back to their original location, as the emperor Constantine the Great made the famed, magnificent basilica built upon the grave of Peter. The current, 16th century basilica of St. Peter eventually came to replace that first building. The vault of St Peter was, since the 4th century, the most highly venerated shrine in the West. The feast and preachings in Rome of St. Peter was long associated with that of Paul. Since the end of the 6th century, the most renowned symbols of Peter are the keys, being the sign of the authority Christ had confered upon him
• Andrew, the brother of Simon-Peter. Andrew -from the Greek 'andreia', 'manhood', or 'valor', was a common Greek name among the Jews at the time of Jesus. Brother to Simon, Andrew, thus, was the son of Jonah, and born in Bethsaida, on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. He was a fisherman too as he lived along with Peter in the house of the mother-in-law of the later, in Capharnaum. A disciple of St John the Baptist like Peter, James and John, and meeting the Christ first in these conditions, he eventually was too definitively called by Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Tiberiades, at the occasion of their activity of fishermen. He might have a somewhat barely higher position than the other apostles. After the death of Christ, Andrew missionarized in Judaea. Once he left the region, it might that he went into Scythia but the sources are diverse and point too to Asia Minor and Greece, which is likely probable too, as he's known, for example, to have been in Byzantium, where he ordained the first bishop. Andrew suffered martyrdom in the city of Patrae, in Achaia, being crucified, and bound -not nailed- on the cross, in the year 60 A.D. His feast is celebrated on November 30th. His relics were transfered to Constantinople about 357 A.D. and staid there until the French took the city during a crusade and they were transfered to Italy, mainly in the cathedral of Amalfi
• James, son of Zebedee (James the Greater). This James was the son of Zebedee and of Salome, and called 'the Greater', which distinguishes him from James the Less, mostly on the basis of their respective heights. He had John, the famed 'beloved disciple', like his brother and likely was the elder of both. His father, Zebedee, seems to have been a relatively wealthy fisherman, in Bethsaida, or perhaps Capharnaum as his mother, Salome was one of the pious women who afterwards followed Jesus. Albeit not trained in any form in the Jewish curriculum, James and John, the social position of their parents surely led to some education, as they dwelling along the shores of the Sea of Tiberias brought them into numerous contacts with the Greek life and language, largely present there. Salome is said by some to have been a sister to Virgin Mary, bringing James and John to be the cousins of Christ. The vehemence of the character of both James and John awarded to them the surname of 'sons of the thunder'. St John was a disciple of St John the Baptist, and then bringing his brother James to the Christ like a disciple. Both James and John were likely in a partnership in the occupation of fishing over the Sea of Tiberias, with Simon-Peter and his brother Andrew. James, Peter and John gaining some kind of prominence, being, for example, the sole ones to be admitted to the Transfiguration. Like prophecized by Jesus before the Passion in Jerusalem, James met martyrdom 14 years later, killed in person by king Herod Agrippa I, who, at that time wanted to please the Jews, on the plane of religion included, and about the Christians too, who were incensing them. It's after having evangelized in Spain -and returned into Judaea- that James would have been killed, his body miraculously translated back in the northwest of Spain, and later in Compostella. The tradition however tends to be ill-argumented as far as the preaching of James in Spain is concerned, as it might be more likely that his body was transfered there, the relics having been ascertained as such by a bull of pope Leo XIII in 1884
• John, the brother of James. This apostle is the author of one of the Gospels, and of the Apocalypse. He is the younger brother to James, the son of Zebedee and Salome, a relatively wealthy fishing family of the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. Due to the vehemence of their characters, Jesus had called both the brothers 'the sons of the thunder'. Together with his brother, and with Simon-Peter and his brother Andrew, John was called by Jesus from the circle of disciples of St John the Baptist, near the region of the Jordan, being all definitively called like Apostles, along the shores of the Sea some time after only. John, with his brother James, and Peter became one of the prominent apostles. John is the 'beloved disciple' of Christ, the one, for example, who'll stay at the feet of the Cross during the Passion and to whom Jesus will entrust the care of the Virgin Mary. John, during the early times of the Church in Jerusalem, staid close to Peter. Like most of the other Apostles, John staid in Judaea about 12 years, until the persecution triggered against Christians by Herod Agrippa I. It is probable that John then went into Asia Minor, evangelizing in various provinces there, likely having preceded Paul in various communities, but for short stays however, often returning into Judaea. John might have written the Gospel in Ephesus as he was in exile on the island of Patmos, current Greece, when he had the revelation of the Apocalypse. St John might have died in Ephesus where he had returned after exile. John is commemorated on December 27th, being celebrated, originally, along with James the Greater. A church, St. John before the Latin Gate, in Rome was dedicated to him. John' symbol is an eagle, symbolizing the height to which the fist chapter of his Gospel is rising
• Philip. He was originating from Bethsaida, on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias, like Peter and Andrew were. He was, like those too, among the people surrounding John the Baptist. Few more is known, with a further indecision about that the apostle would have had daughters acting like prophetesses in Hieropolis in Asia, and that Philip would have died there about 80 A.D. and been buried there too. It is believed that he was crucified upside down or beheaded. Hierapolis was a ancient city famous for its hot springs and a spa since the 2nd century. The relics of Philip, in any case, were later transfered into Constantinople, like all those of the Apostles, thence in Rome, in the church of the Twelve Apostles. The feast of Philip is celebrated on May 1st together with that of James the Lesser
• Bartholomew. His name means 'son of Talmai', an ancient Hebrew name, referring to him like his proper name or to distinguish him like the son of a certain Talmai. Many identify him with Nathaniel, who was brought as a disciple to Jesus by Philip, who was his friend. A missionary, master of Origen, who was evangelizing in 'India' was told that Bartholomew had preached there before him and brought the Gospel of St. Matthew. 'India', on the other hand, was a name covering a very wide area, the Arabia Felix included. Other say that Bartholomew preached in Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lycaonia, Phrygia and along the shores of the Black Sea. He is said to have suffered martyrdom in the city of Albanopolis, in Armenia, either he was beheaded or flayed alived and crucified head downward, because he had converted the brother of the king of Armenia. His feast is on August 24th
• Thomas, or Judas Thomas Didymus. Best known for his incredulity about the resurrection of Jesus announced to him by his fellow-Apostles, as 8 days later he was able to make ascertain by himself of the Resurrection. Some source think that Thomas evangelized in the northwestern part of current days India, was murdered there and then his relics transfered to Edessa, as others state that the Apostle might have reached down to about Madras, India, and suffered martyrdom there, albeit there are less evidence for that second case than for the first one. Both cases however are showing a strong influence of Persia in the region. The Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great is said to have sent an expedition to establish relations with these Christians of the Far East
• Matthew. This apostle is the same than the author of one of the Gospels. He is "Levi", the man who sits in the customs house, a tax collector -a 'publican'- to the service of the Romans, who was subsequently only named Matthew, 'gift of Yahve' in Hebrew, by Christ himself when he called him to his service. Levi was the son of a certain Alpheus, and a Galilean, like 11 apostles to 12, or he might have been a Syrian. He was a tax-gatherer in Capharnaum, collecting the duties for Herod Antipas. Like such, and albeit a Jew, he was despised by the Pharisees who hated all publicans. The Pharisees, further, objected to that Jesus participated into a feast by the house of Levi, where other tax-gatherers and sinners had gathered. After the death of Jesus, Matthew began preaching among the Hebrews during about 15 years, as he might have moved then to some other countries, likely a region called 'Ethiopia' located South of the Caspian Sea (not the one in Africa), some Persia, the kingdom of the Parthians, Macedonia and Syria. Matthew died a martyr, albeit it's unknown whether he was burned, stoned or beheaded. His martyrdom occurred in that region of Ethiopia. The feast of St Matthew is celebrated on September 21. Matthew's symbol, like an evangelist, is a winged man
• James, son of Alphaeus (and of James), or James the Lesser. James is the "brother of the Lord" and bishop of the Church of Jerusalem, brother of Jude, at the time of the first community of Christians there. It's most probable too that James is the same than James, son of Mary of Clopas, as quoted too in the Gospels. The terms 'brother of the Lord', like for Simon the Cananean, Jude, and a certain Joseph (or Joses) points, first to that there was some king of kinship between James, Simon and Jude (and Joseph), and that those were related to Jesus -and with some consideration of superiority relatively to the other Apostles, from that. What kind of parently relation existed indeed is hard to determine, due to that the world and concept 'brother', in the Jewish and Semitic world may point to brothers by blood, step-brothers (and even the brothers born from a same father, from different mothers), and near, or even distant, any relatives. Among the Christians, the Protestants usually consider 'brother' to be understood like brother by blood, the Orthodoxs that those were brothers of Christ through a first marriage of Joseph. Roman Catholics, as far as they are concerned, consider this brotherhood like meaning a relation of cousinship. James, thus, is thought to be, with Joseph and Jude, and even Simon the Cananean, the son of Mary, a sister of the Virgin Mary, and of a Alpheus (also named Clopas). The side by which those are cousins to Christ is uncertain as one does not know who, of Mary, or Alpheus, is the sister -or brother- by blood of the Virgin Mary or mere sister -or brother, -in-law
• Jude, or Thaddeus, son -or brother- of James. James being the bishop of Jerusalem soon after the death of Christ and said by St. Paul to be the brother of Christ (he is regarded with no doubt to be that 'James, son of Alphaeus', one of the Apostles). Jude is also 'Judas Jacobi', or Thaddeus (this later name coming from that Jude was less known among the first community of the Christians, than his brother)
• Simon the Cananean, or the Zealot. The qualification 'Cananean', or 'Zealot' is to distinguish him from Simon-Peter. 'Cananean' doesn't point to a geographic location, but has the same meaning, in Hebrew, than 'Zealot', meaning 'the Zealous' (and, in turn, not in any relationship with the political party of the Zealots, who were intransigeant Jews of the time). Where Simon preached the Gospel after the death of Christ is uncertain, some putting this in Persia (and his death too), others from Black Sea, Egypt, Northen Africa and up to Britain, and others still in still other places. His usual attribute is a saw, as he's said to have suffer martyrdom sawed to pieces. He is considered the patron of tanners. In the Roman Catholic Church, Simon is venerated along with Jude Thaddeus
• Judas Iscariot (replaced by Matthias after the betrayal of Judas). 'Iscariot' means 'a man of Kerioth', or 'Carioth', a city of Judaea. Thus, Judas, is originating from that part of Israel, the most and real 'Jewish' part, as all other apostles are 'Galileans', from Galilea, this region North of Israel where Jesus was raised, and which was less considered in terms of Judaism, like being an excentric part of the country. Judas betrayed Jesus, and he eventually committed suicide
• Matthias. The Greek 'Matthias' is a Greek name derived from the Hebrew 'Mattithiah', meaning 'gift of Yahveh'. Matthias was a disciple of Jesus since the times of St John the Baptist. After the betrayal of Judas and his suicide, Peter came to ask to the early Church -an assembly of 120 members- to choose one to fill his place like an Apostle. Two were chosen, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias, as the lots were cast and resulted into Matthias. Matthias, from there, preached the Gospel in Judaea, and then in Ethiopia, Africa, where it seems he died and was interred near the temple of the Sun in the city of Sebastopolis. Another tale says that he was stoned in Jerusalem by the Jews and beheaded. One thinks that Impress Helena brought the relics of Matthias to Rome, and a part to Trier, Germany. The feast of Matthias is on February 24th (then on May 14th)

Paul was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, in a pious and zealous, Pharisaic Jewish family, as his father however was a Roman citizen, hence Paul too. The first origin of that family might have been in Galilea. Paul's Jewish name was Saul but he already bore too his Roman name of Paul. Saul was taught as a living to manufacture the mohair of which tents were made. He was sent young then to Jerusalem to attend the school of Gamaliel, a Jewish doctor of the law. Nothing is known then until Saul appears among those who martyrize St. Stephen. Taking an active part into the persecution of the early Christians, Saul, as riding to Damascus, Syria, for further persecutions, is struck by an apparition of Jesus along the route, throwing him to the ground and having him temporarily losen the sight. That was in the year 35 A.D. Eventually rescued by the Christians, converted and cured as far as his sight was concerned, Saul, who chose to be mostly known now under his Roman name of Paul, began to preach what he had persecuted. Paul however was moderately active and then settled back in Tarsus, his home town until about the year 43 A.D. Barnabas, at that time and as the early Church of Jerusalem had been scattered by the persecution of Herod Agrippa I, came to search him to begin an apostolate. Since the year 45, it came that Paul and Barnabas specially felt, and were affected to, attracted to the evangelization of the non-Jewish world of the time. In three large missions -or 'Apostolic journeys', they set to preach in various countries, like Cyprus and southeastern Asia Minor (45-49), Asia Minor back, and Greece (50-53), and Asia Minor and Greece again (53-57). The main aspect of the work of Paul was that he had preached to non-Jewish peoples, leading to have Peter, for example, to recognize that the non-Jewish to who the New Covenant was preached had not to turn to the various Jewish practices. After his return in Judaea, the Jews managed to have Paul imprisoned by the Romans in Caesarea whence Paul eventually decided to appeal, in his quality of Roman citizen, to Caesar, in Rome, in 59. Shipwrecking on the way on the shores of Malta, Paul spent two years in Rome, taking the occasion to spread the new religion. Paul was eventually acquitted of any charge in about 62. Before reaching swiftly back to his churches in the East, he probably made a quick sojourn in Spain, and maybe transiting on the return through southern Gaul. Being arrested a second time by the Romans, in 66, likely for fear of the disorders caused in their provinces of Asia, Paul eventually suffered martyrdom in 67 in a place in Rome called Aquae Salviae, some East from the Ostian Way as we was buried two miles from there, where later the basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura was built. Because he had the prerogatives of a Roman, Paul was beheaded. Paul's feast was celebrated on June 29, with the one of Peter and then transfered to the next day for cause of the two celebrations performed the same day by the Pope and his attendants being to exhausting, especially at a time which the beginning of summer in Rome. Along his journeys and various sojourns -of them in Rome- Paul had worked with Barnabas, Mark, Luke and Peter

The four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Lukas, and John, as far as two of them only are concerned, are Apostles at the same time as the other two are not:

• Matthew. Matthew is an Apostle at the same time than an Evangelist; his biography is above, in the list of the Apostles
• Mark (ou Jean Marc, ou Jean). To the Jewish name John was added the Roman 'Marcus'. Mark's mother was a prominent member of the early Church in Jerusalem, and the friend of Peter. Mark might have been the cousin of Barnabas, the companion of Paul and he was the close companion himself to Peter. Mark left Jerusalem about 45-46 A.D., accompanying Paul and Barnabas -of who he might have been the cousin- back to Antioch and thence he became a sort of assistant to both the preachers during Paul's first Apostolic journey. Mark however did not kept the journey into Asia Minor and he returned to Jerusalem, apparently because he felt some fear. This, Paul did not forget and he refused to take Mark for his second journey, which angered Barnabas, who, as far as he is concerned, agreed to take Mark again with him. Nothing is known then of Mark during ten years, after which one finds him back in Rome, working with Paul and Peter, in 49-50 A.D. Whence, Mark may have gone to work in Asia Minor, where he could have come back and be present again in Rome at the time of Paul's death. Mark might not have been baptized until in Rome, and by Peter himself. Mark most closely worked with St Peter, writing down accurately his teachings. Mark, at last, is known to have been in Alexandria, in Egypt, at an uncertain date, where he might have been the bishop during 20 years and left there to go to Rome. It is unknown, on the other hand, whether Mark was a disciple, or not, of Christ. One knows that Mark suffered martyrdom in Alexandria, being dragged through the streets of the city. There was an alleged early connection between Mark and Aquileia, the current Venice, Italy as the symbol of Mark is a lion. The relics of Mark were brought to Venice, from Alexandria, by 828 A.D. by two Venetian merchants as the city, at the time, had already become the origin of a trade network. Mark's feast is on April 25th
• Luke. The name 'Lucas' -'Luke'- is likely an abbreviation of 'Lucanus'. Luke had been born in Antioch, a Greek and not a Jew, albeit his great knowledge of the Septuagint -the version written in Greek by the Jews in Alexandria, Egypt, about the middle of the 3rd century B.C.- and things Jewish, makes him either a Jewish convert, or that he learned those after he became a Christian. Luke was a physician by profession, having maybe studied in the school of Tarsus as, living in Antioch, the capital of Syria, he might too have learned the Aramean language. Luke had met Paul in Tarsus and he crossed over with him into Greece, acting like an Evangelist and a helper to the predication of Paul. As Paul continued his journey, Luke might have staid in the city of Philippi, in Macedonia. Luke eventually accompanied Paul back in Jerusalem, and visited him constantly when Paul had been arrested by the Romans and imprisoned in Caesarea. Most authors think that he wrote his Gospel during that time. Luke then accompanied Paul to Rome, participating into the famed wreckage in Malta, and a second time, for the second imprisonment of Paul in the capital of the Roman empire, where he likely often met Mark, along with Peter. Luke died in Boeotia, at the age of 74, as it's unsure whether he suffered martyrdom, after maybe having preached in such different locations like Dalmatia, Galatia, Italy and Macedonia. It's during those years that Luke is thought to have written the 'Apostles' Acts', that canonical book which is the history of the nascent Christian community, between the Assumption of the Lord and the arrival of Paul in Rome. The relics of Luke were transfered into Constantinople with those of Andrew under the reign of Constantine the Great. The symbol of Luke is a calf or ox because his Gospel begins with the tale of Zachary, the priest and father to John the Baptist. It is possible that Luke have been a painter, showing such qualities, in any case, through the way he writes in his Gospel
• John. John is the 'beloved disciple' and he is an Apostle at the same time than an Evangelist; his biography is above, in the list of the Apostles