The Apostles of Jesus – The Traditional Story
The Twelve Apostles (2)
Philip despite his Greek name was a Jew whose name means “Lover of Horses”. After Alexander the Great conquered Judea he left behind a lasting Greek influence especially in Northern Galilee. Philip, the Apostle, was probably named this way in honor of the Tetrarch of the province of Ituraea, Philip, who made Bethsaida the capital of the province ten years before the Apostle’s birth in that city. Philip was from the tribe of Zebulon. When Jesus met Philip he said to him “follow me” (John 1:43) and he did after telling his friend Nathaniel that he had found the Messiah (John 1:45). He later on introduced some Greeks to Jesus (John 12:20-33). He was present at the feeding of the five thousand and at the Last Supper (John 6:5-7). It is strange that Philip is only mentioned in John’s Gospel but they were both from Galilee and friends. After the Ascension, it is believed that he preached the Gospel in Scythia for twenty years, and then at Hierapolis in Phrygia, where he saw that the people were worshipping the God Mars under the shape of a serpent or dragon. He succeeded to expel these false gods but the local priests had him crucified and stoned when he was 87 years old. His four daughters went on preaching in the same town. A Gnostic Gospel of Philip, written after John’s Gospel, has been found in Nagi Hammadi. There are also some Apocryphal “Acts” of Philip that praise virginity. The tomb of Philip has never been found. A legend has it that Philip visited France but there is no real historical baking to this story. Some scholars believe that it is possible that the Gauls of France emigrated from Galatia in Turkey from which Hierapolis was a city. This does not mean that Philip went to France following the Gauls from Galatia. It is more possible that some traditions confused Gaul and Galatia since the two names are related and similar. But of course it is also possible that Philip followed the immigrants from Galatia to France even if there is no proof that this happened. Philip is the only Apostle who is supposed, in one way or the other, to have been to France. According to some legends Mary Magdalene, the sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus went to Marseilles, France where their tombs are still shown to-day. There is no doubt that many ancient religious writers mentioned the presence of Philip in France. But this is not really proven. On the other hand it is most probable that Philip died at Hierapolis, a town that is close to the two biblical cities of Laodicea and Colossae. The church history of the Byzantine era mentions a large Christian activity in these three towns when the new religion spread in Asia Minor. It must be remembered that Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians from the church of that town. Moreover in Laodicea there did Paul found an important church. In addition Hierapolis is close to Ephesus where John, Philip’s friend, lived. That Philip went to live near his old friend in his later days is quite understandable. Pope John the Third (560-572) had the body of Philip taken from Hierapolis and put into the church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James (as it was called then) in Rome. The bones of these two Apostles, as well as those from some others are still on display today in this church, called at present “Church of the Holy Apostles”.
Bartholomew - whose name means “son of Talmai” according to some scholars- is mentioned as one of the twelve Apostles (Matt.10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; “Acts” 1:13). He could have been the only Apostle of noble birth (in 2 Sam.3:3) as it is mentioned that a Talmai was King of Geshur. Others said that his name meant that he was the son of Ptolemy whose families were kings of Egypt). However there is no more mention of him in the New Testament. According to some sources he was from the house of Naphtali. He has also been identified with Nathanael, whom Philip presented to Jesus (John 1:45). In the other Gospels he is always mentioned with Philip. In some apocryphal books, such as the Gospel of Bartholomew, he is said to have been preaching in India. Other sources have him preach in the oasis of Al Bahnasa, among the Parthians, in Phrygia in Asia Minor, in Persia and in Egypt. The “Acts of Philip” tell us that both Philip and Bartholomew preached in Hierapolis. Philip was martyred by being pierced through the thighs and hung upside down. Bartholomew escaped martyrdom in that place and went eastward to Armenia with a copy in Hebrew of Matthew’s Gospel .That Gospel was found later on by the converted Stoic philosopher, Pantaenus, who brought it, back to Alexandria. He preached sixteen years in Armenia (or six only from another source) with Thaddaeus who was there from 43 to 66 CE and the local church claims him as his founder. Another tradition has him martyred in 68 CE in Albania known now as Derbend in the Dagestan, Azerbaijan. This place is very near Armenia so that the two stories are not incompatible between them. According to a legend he died after being put in a sack and thrown into the sea. Another story sees him curing the king’s daughter and converting the Court.The local priests, and the king’s brother, did not appreciate it and had him arrested, beaten, and flayed alive and crucified, probably upside down. Still another tradition has him beheaded. His remains are said to have been taken to Daras in Mesopotamia in 508 CE and, later on, in the island of Lipari in Sicily where a church was built over his tomb. From Sicily they were transferred in 809 CE to Benevento in Italy and, finally, to the Isle of Tiber at Rome in 983 where another church “ Bartholomew-on-Tiber” was built in his honor. The remains of the saint are still there except one arm that was given to the Canterbury Cathedral in England.
Thomas was also known as Didymas, which means “twin”, even if there is no trace that he had a twin brother or sister. He was a fisherman from Galilee. The few direct references in the Bible to his person make him a questioner, or a doubter, and even now he is known this way. His character contained some conflicting elements; he possessed little natural buoyancy of spirit and was inclined to look at life with coolness or despondency. However he was a man of courage and unselfish. The Gospel of John alone describes him in detail, although the others mention his election as an Apostle (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; “Acts” 1:13). The Gospel of John tells us that Thomas was the only disciple to agree, when Jesus decided to go to Bethany to help Lazarus, despite the hostile Jews. He even went so far as suggesting that all of them should go (John 11:16). On the eve of the Passion he put in doubt the future death of Jesus (John 14:5). Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the Apostles for the first time after the crucifixion. Later on, hearing of the resurrection he refused to believe it before seeing Jesus with his own eyes (John 20:25). He remained eight days with the other Apostles until Jesus appeared again and showed him his wounds. Thomas believed Jesus’ resurrection although he was reproved for his previous doubts (John 20:24-29). John mentions that Thomas was present when Jesus manifested himself again while the disciples were fishing on the sea of Tiberias. Thomas was a person intends to gloom and doubt, but one who would believe without restriction once convinced. Many legends are linked to Thomas. He has been identified with Jude, James’ son; as a twin brother of the Messiah, and as having a twin sister called Lysia. But there are no proofs of these stories. On the other hand we know quite a lot about his missionary activities. It is known that he visited Babylon with Judas Thaddaeus and that his main zone of influence was with the little known Eastern Church movement.”The Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East”, as it was called, was founded by the Apostles Peter, Thomas, Thaddeus and Mari of the Seventy. In the beginning of Christianity there was only one Church and the Bishops maNagied their areas of responsibility. There were also Chief Bishops called Patriarchs. The main Christian towns of the time were Babylon, Alexandria, Antioch, Rome and Constantinople. Only Babylon was outside the Roman Empire of the West. For this reason the Patriarch of Babylon, the first one being Thomas, was known as the Patriarch of the East. Some claim that Babylon is the oldest Patriarchate.
The church of the East is known under different names: Assyrian Church, Nestorian Church, Chaldean Syrian Church, etc. and traces its origin to the Apostles. One chapel built in Resaieh by the Three wise Men on their return from Bethlehem is still in use today. After founding churches and ordaining priests in the Middle East, Thomas, the Patriarch of the East, visited Parthia and India to preach, baptise and convert people. He founded many churches and ordained local clergymen. He arrived in India, probably in Malabar in the South, around 49 or 52 CE. The Apocryphal “Acts” of Judas-Thomas written by Bardesanes (154-222) tells us of all the miracles accomplished by the saint. He endured various persecutions and was martyred on the eastern coast of India. While preaching to the people, the Brahmins instigated some men to stone him and he fell. As he was lying down a Brahmin struck him with a lance. Another legend says that he was killed at the request of the local king by a Brahmin’s lance while he was praying in a cave on a mountain. After his death he was buried in Mylapore, India (now a suburb of Madras), but a disciple transported his body in great secrecy to Edessa, Mesopotamia, before 200 CE. Later on the relics have been moved by the crusaders, first to the island of Chios, and then to Ortona, Italy, where they rest in a big cathedral. The Turks sacked Ortona but it seems that the relics were saved. Of course not all the bones of the saint are in Ortona and many churches claim to have some, but the truth is difficult to establish. There is no doubt that he was an important evangelist and a great builder of churches. The Christian tradition in South India more or less disappeared about one hundred years after the death of Thomas by lack of religious leadership. However some communities survived and are still alive today.
Matthew, also known as Levi, was the brother of James the Less whose father was Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). He was a custom officer (Matt.10:3), or “portitores”, working for the “publicani” who had the concession for the tax collection in Capernaum in the territory ruled by Antipas. He had a reasonable education and must have spoken Aramaic, Greek and Latin. The tax collectors were not, of course, well liked by the Jews but, as a group, they were receptive to Jesus’ message (Matt.11:19; Luke 17:34; 15:1). The people saw them as collaborators of Rome acting against the Jews. Matthew became an Apostle after Peter, James and John who were also from Capernaum (Matt.9:11; 14:18; Mark 5:37).He was not a follower of John the Baptist as most of the other Apostles. In his Gospel he recalls that the first thing he did after becoming a disciple was to invite Jesus to his home for a feast. Most of his guests were tax collectors and sinners, the only ones who would accept his invitation. Jesus was criticized for accepting this invitation but answered that only sick people needed a doctor (Matthew 9:11-12). As most Apostles Matthew seems to have evangelized in many countries; Irenaeus said that he preached the Gospel among the Jews without clarifying if it was in Judea, abroad, or both. Clement of Alexandria wrote that he spent fifteen years of his life this way and that he also went to Ethiopia, Masedonia, Syria, Persia and also probably to Parthia. It is not clear if he suffered martyrdom or if he died naturally. Clement of Alexandria said that he died of a natural death in 90 CE after living as a vegetarian. Other sources, on the other hand, says that the he was condemned to death. In this case he would have died from the sword or the spear.The Apocryphal “Acts of Andrew and Matthew” claims that he was prepared to be eaten by cannibals but that he was saved at the last moment by Andrew. He then set himself to convert the cannibals and, although their king tried to burn him to death, he escaped a second time. The best guess is that he died in Egypt of martyrdom after his return from Ethiopia, Africa. The remains of Matthew are in the cathedral of San Matteo in Salerno, Italy. According to Jerome, Matthew published his Gospel in Judea; it was first written in Hebrew or in Aramaic according to other sources, whereas the other Gospels were written in Greek. It was translated later in Greek. On the other hand Eusebius, quoting Papias who lived in 100 CE, said that Matthew composed the Oracles of the Lord in Aramaic. They were then also translated into Greek. Matthew explains clearly the way in which Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament. This is probably due to the fact that Matthew’s Gospel and preaching were directed mainly to the Jews converted to Christianity rather that to the Gentiles. He became interested in them when the Orthodox Jews attacked him. What is certain is that Matthew was a gifted writer and probably the best educated among the Apostles.