Apostles
The men Jesus called to be witnesses. Each profile traces a calling, a ministry, a tradition of mission and martyrdom — with honest flags where the early tradition is uncertain.
Inner Three
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c. 64–67 AD (Neronian persecution)Peter
Prince of the Apostles
Simon Peter, son of Jonah — the fisherman of Bethsaida whom Christ called to be the rock of the apostolic Church. Spokesman of the Twelve, denier of Christ, restored after the resurrection, and martyred in Rome.
c. 44 ADJames the Greater
Son of Zebedee, Boanerges ('Son of Thunder')
The first of the Twelve to be martyred. James the brother of John, one of the inner three, beheaded by Herod Agrippa I — also the figure of the medieval Spanish Compostela pilgrimage.
c. 100 AD (natural death, Ephesus — traditional)John
The Beloved Disciple, The Theologian
John son of Zebedee — the Beloved Disciple, the only apostle traditionally not martyred, author of the Fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the Apocalypse. Died at Ephesus around 100 AD.
The Twelve
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c. 60–70 AD (traditional)Andrew
The First-Called (Greek: Prōtoklētos)
The first apostle to follow Christ and the brother who brought Peter to him. Patron of Scotland, Russia, and Greece; traditionally crucified on an X-cross at Patras.
c. 80 AD (traditional)Philip
The apostle from Bethsaida who brought Nathanael to Jesus and whose question 'Show us the Father' prompted one of the most important Christological statements in the Gospel of John.
c. 70 AD (traditional)Bartholomew
Almost certainly the same person as Nathanael — the apostle of whom Jesus said 'an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.' Traditionally martyred by flaying in Armenia.
c. 70–80 AD (uncertain)Matthew
The Evangelist; the Tax Collector
The tax collector at Capernaum who left his booth to follow Christ. Traditionally the author of the First Gospel — written for Jewish-Christian readers and structured around five great discourses of Jesus.
c. 72 AD (traditional, in India)Thomas
Doubting Thomas; The Twin
The apostle who refused to believe in the resurrection until he had touched the wounds of Christ. The same Thomas who said 'Let us go that we may die with him.' Traditionally the apostle of India.
Uncertain (1st century)James the Less
Son of Alphaeus
The apostle most easily confused with two other figures named James. Son of Alphaeus, one of the Twelve, with very little surviving tradition.
c. 65–80 AD (traditional)Thaddeus / Jude of James
Lebbaeus; not Iscariot
The apostle named Thaddeus in Matthew and Mark and 'Judas of James' (or 'Judas, not Iscariot') in Luke and John. Patron of impossible causes in the Western tradition. Traditionally martyred in Persia with Simon the Zealot.
c. 65–107 AD (traditional)Simon the Zealot
The Cananite (Aramaic 'qan'anaya' = zealous one)
The apostle whose name in Aramaic and Greek both mean 'zealous one.' Almost certainly affiliated, before his calling, with the Zealot political movement that fought Roman rule. Martyred traditionally in Persia.
