Apostles in the Bible

Whatever Happened to the Apostles in the Bible?
By Mike Wendland

For anyone who holds that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a man-made hoax conspired by a group of disciples should check out what happened to them. It verifies the truth of the Bible. For 11 of the 12 apostles, and many thousands of other early Christians, died for believing this story. This is dramatic, since they all witnessed the events of Jesus and still went to their deaths defending their faith.

Why is this dramatic, when many throughout history have died martyred deaths for a religious belief? Because people don't die for a lie. Look at human nature throughout history. No conspiracy can be maintained when life or liberty is at stake. Dying for a belief is one thing, but numerous eyewitnesses dying for a known lie is quite another.

Here is an account of early Christian persecution, as compiled from numerous sources outside the Bible, the most famous of which is Foxes' Christian Martyrs of the World: Around 34 A.D., one year after the crucifixion of Jesus, Stephen was thrown out of Jerusalem and stoned to death. Approximately 2,000 Christians suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem during this period.

About 10 years later, James , the son of Zebedee and the elder brother of John, was killed when Herod Agrippa arrived as governor of Judea. Agrippa detested the Christian sect of Jews, and many more were martyred under his rule.

Around 54 A.D., Philip , an early disciple from Galilee, was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified. About six years later, Matthew, the tax-collector from Nazareth who wrote his gospel, was preaching in Ethiopia when he suffered martyrdom by the sword.