All language subtitles for English (auto-generated) The Story of the Twelve Apostles Full Movie

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individually they were nobodies

a handful of fishermen an angry fanatic

a tax collector

but together they started a revolution

Andrew James John Philip Bartholomew

Jude Thomas Matthew James the less Simon

Judas Iscariot and Peter Pan chosen by a

charismatic Jewish preacher to complete

a daunting Mission tell no less than the

entire world about God's plan for

salvation

but controversy surrounded the group

considered by many to be an outlaw cult

facing persecution and death the 12 men

risked their lives building the

foundation for what would become a

worldwide religion

billions of Believers have come to

Revere the courage and perseverance of

Christianity's founding fathers

The Twelve Apostles

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foreign at the dawn of the first century

the center of the world's Jewish

religious life was the holy city of

Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judea

Jerusalem was a very happening place at

that time

anything that happened happened in

Jerusalem people the rabbis the

important rabbis lived there the courts

of law were there

and so was the core of Jewish resistance

for hundreds of years Palestine with its

population of about 1 million Jews had

been groaning under the heel of foreign

rule

by the Persians the Greeks and since the

year 63 BC by the Romans

for the Jew in Jerusalem

it meant having Roman symbols around the

temple which was a grievous offense of

course to their sense of of religion and

their sense of faith and their sense of

God and their sense of what was holy

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fervent desire for Independence

comes into action a group of fanatical

Rebels the zealots were known to kill

Romans and any who collaborated with

them

other Jews awaited the arrival of a

messiah Hebrew for the anointed one the

Messiah is a very old Jewish concept

it's part of the whole concept of a

covenant between Jews and their God that

said that if the Israelites repent their

wrong ways God will bring about that

person that would lead them into

Redemption and salvation

the Messiah was clearly a national

political figure that is to say what he

was going to bring would transform

Israel politically in the first instance

and would take Israel the Jews out from

under Roman rule and establish a

sovereign state a prosperous State a

state of peace and security

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sometime between the years seven and

four BC a Child Jesus was born several

miles outside of Jerusalem in the town

of Bethlehem

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did the Bible Purge per astrologers in

the East noted an unusual star they

believed it was a sign that a savior the

king of the Jews had been born

this fulfilled the prophecy in Jewish

scripture of a coming Messiah

Liberator of Israel

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in the first century around the year 27

some Jews believed a man named John the

Baptist was the Messiah the Son of a

temple priest John was a fire and

brimstone Crusader in a desolate area

just north of the Dead Sea with his Cry

of repent the kingdom of God is at hand

he was regarded with awe and fear by his

Jewish Brethren

they came to be baptized by John in

order to have their sins forgiven they

would confess their sins they would

repent of their sins change direction

and they were baptized

as a sign of the of this transformation

from a previous type of existence to a

new kind of existence

one of those who came to John asking to

be baptized was Jesus of Nazareth a

carpenter's son in his 30s with an

impressive knowledge of Hebrew scripture

the ritual took place in the Jordan

River

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some Scholars have even argued that

Jesus might have been a follower of John

the Baptist

and he wanted to identify with the

movement that was calling

Israel to repentance

I think that's the basic reason he went

to John the Baptist to be baptized

so it is sort of the for Jesus the

moment of his Messianic realization

and his commission for his public

Ministry

among John's followers witnessing Jesus

baptism was Andrew a fisherman from the

northern kingdom of Galilee

John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God

a Messianic term and encouraged his

followers to speak with Jesus whose

ideas were different even radical

Jesus talked about God in an intimate

loving way and he challenged people to

love each other even the human rejects

of society Tax Collectors lepers and

prostitutes

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Andrew had been impressed with Jesus and

immediately told his older brother Peter

about him

all three men at the Sea of Galilee

according to Biblical scripture Andrew

and Peter had caught nothing after many

hours but Jesus told them to cast their

Nets again and soon they were full of

fish

however should the men leave the Nets

and become his disciples Jesus told them

he would make them Fishers of Men Jesus

wants the disciples to put their Nets

around human beings through this message

and draw them into the kingdom of God

into belief in Jesus

Andrew and Peter knew the sea well

enough to know that there was no natural

explanation for their extraordinary

catch convinced that Jesus was the

long-awaited Messiah they left fishing

and became two of his earliest followers

Jesus began his ministry sometime in the

year 27 it was centered on the Northern

shore of the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum

where Peter's house served as

headquarters

the overriding theme of Jesus was that

the kingdom of God on Earth long

foretold by the prophets of Israel was

Dawning at last

what he's talking about is that God

God's rule should affect our lives that

God's way of doing things is the way we

should be living

rather than doing business as usual

rather than treating people as we

normally do

Burnham Jesus began began to cure people

with seemingly incurable illnesses and

even restored a dead girl to life

the home of Peter and his wife perpetua

became a hotel an auditorium and a

hospital visited by people with all

sorts of diseases

they came to be healed and to hear the

wonder worker from Nazareth soon Jesus

had many disciples

he had word of mouth in a time when

there was no CNN no internet no Oprah

Show to go on and become famous in

overnight or for 15 minutes

Jesus could attract extraordinary

numbers of people certainly his ability

to work wonders to do Miracles perform

Miracles was part of it but then it must

have ultimately come down to his being

an extraordinary personality

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from the disciples Jesus singled out 12

apostles who would carry his message to

far-reaching places in secular Greek the

word Apostle can simply mean a

representative an emissary almost like

an ambassador

in the New Testament the word Apostle

outside of the gospels almost is

equivalent to the word missionary

someone who represents the gospel in an

itinerant way

but a very special class

disciple always means a follower of

Jesus and can include a much larger

group

than the small group of Apostles

the number of Apostles Jesus chose held

special significance

early Christianity wants to set up a

kind of Epic story of itself as the new

Israel and so as there were 12 tribes of

Israel so you have 12 apostles who were

sent out

foreign of the apostles were from the

kingdom of Galilee

it was a rural area largely of farmers

and fishermen who like Jesus were mainly

poor and without any formal education

in building a popular movement Jesus

Drew mostly from this crowd

they weren't powerful they were average

people

and it spoke to the notion that the meek

shall inherit the earth

I think he chose them because they were

not professional theologians because

they didn't have any theological

preconceptions he wanted men that were

teachable

foreign

among the first apostles of Jesus was

the fisherman Peter

he was a natural leader although

initially his faith would prove

superficial

but Peter ultimately enjoyed a special

relationship with Jesus

Andrew was Peter's amiable brother and

fishing partner a devout Jew he had

yearned for the coming of the Messiah

for years

Brothers James and John were

middle-class fishermen and may have been

cousins of Jesus

along with Peter they were close to

Jesus especially John he was such have

been the Beloved disciple especially

close to Jesus and to have had a very

high vision of Jesus divinity

Philip and Bartholomew were good friends

and followers of John the Baptist

Thomas was a poor fisherman something of

a skeptic to him seeing was believing

James the less was so called because he

was younger or shorter than Jon's

brother James

Simon was a roman-hating zealot

Jude Thaddeus was perhaps a nephew of

Mary the mother of Jesus

about Andrew Bartholomew Jude Thaddeus

James the Lesser no distinct profiles

emerge they teach Orthodox teaching they

do Miracles they convert people in their

field of mission Matthew was a Roman

collaborating tax collector by accepting

Matthew a traitor to his own people

Jesus made it clear that he would not

reject any Jew who chose to seek

salvation by accepting his message

the 12th Apostle Judas Iscariot was the

only Judean among the group he was

committed to the expulsion of the Romans

from Israel and thought Jesus would help

over time Judas would become deeply

disappointed in Jesus

they may have been average nobodies but

the events surrounding these 12 men and

their leader in a far-flung corner of

the Roman Empire would change history

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from the years 27 to 30 the apostles

wandered with Jesus throughout Israel in

a kind of traveling Seminary

during this brief period their faith and

their notion of the Messiah were

radically changed by Jesus teachings and

miracles

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Apostles saw him heal the sick paralyzed

the same

turn water into wine

feed a crowd of thousands with a bit of

fish and bread

and bring a friend Lazarus back from the

dead

I think the apostles were amazed when

they saw what Jesus did

they of course had stories about

miracles in the Old Testament but they

had not seen anything quite like this or

heard of anything quite like this I

think they were blown away by what he

did

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Jesus performed signs and wonders

to give some authority to what he was

doing

in relationship to the apostles to show

them what they were then going to go out

and do the things that I do you can do

and you'll do greater things than this

and as a sign to the people calling

their attention to his essential message

of the kingdom of God

the stories of the miracles of Jesus

were passed on by word of mouth and

years later were written down in

narratives now known as the four gospels

the question is often asked did the 36

Miracles mentioned in the New Testament

really happen or are they just Legends

if you accept that these books are true

that's your evidence we have no other

evidence

the gospels are books that were written

documents that were written at a time

not as journalism not as history not as

the biography of Jesus but the documents

written to justify Faith

the Bible is a book of faith not a book

of of History

as firsthand Witnesses of the miracles

of Jesus the apostles were in awe of his

power but often were puzzled by what he

taught

love your enemies as yourself and turn

the other cheek went against the

feelings of anger and mistrust most of

the Apostles held for their Roman rulers

seeds of Doubt began to grow in the

twelve but especially in Judas about the

messiah's ability to rid Israel of the

Romans

some people have assumed that Judas was

a member of the Zealot party the Zealot

party was a division or a group of

radical Jews who wanted to overthrow the

Romans and that Judas felt that Jesus

was going to use his Supernatural powers

to zap the Romans and and set up the uh

the Kingdom of Israel that he was hoping

for

Jesus caught the apostles off guard by

teaching that the Sabbath is made for

man not vice versa

in fact he healed people on the Sabbath

which infuriated Jewish religious

authorities in Israel known known as

scribes and Pharisees

but the observation of the Sabbath is

one of the Ten Commandments it is the

fifth commandment and it is very clear

that nobody is allowed to do any labor

any work on that day

James the less a strict Observer of the

Sabbath law must have been shocked when

Jesus ignored it

still he was probably surprised and

frightened when the scribes and

Pharisees reported Jesus to the Supreme

governing body of the Jewish people

located in Jerusalem called the

Sanhedrin

it was made of rabbis 70.

who actually constituted a court of love

and were in charge of making decisions

based on the observance of the breach of

religious law

that Jesus had been reported to the

Sanhedrin was sobering for the apostles

especially after they learned the local

ruler of Galilee Herod Antipas had

beheaded John the Baptist

became clear to the apostles that the

secular and religious authorities

wouldn't tolerate charismatic holy men

in Israel but if they pled with Jesus to

keep a lower profile it didn't work

he continued teaching Sometimes using

Extreme Measures to make the apostles

examine their belief in him

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in a bone on the Sea of Galilee Peter

and the others ran into Rough Waters

Matthew's gospel says that as a figure

approached them walking on the surface

of the sea they thought they were seeing

a ghost when they heard what sounded

like Jesus voice Peter asked the figure

to help him walk on water knowing that

if he were really Jesus no harm would

come to him

put his life on the line and stepped out

of the boat onto the sea walking until

he lost his nerve stopped trusting and

began to sink

in the gospels Peter is always the one

who has this initial burst of faith and

then wavers for example he's the one who

decides to follow Jesus and walking out

on the water then he looks at the ways

around him and starts to sink she just

holds out his hand and Peter Peter

somehow gets back into the boat

it would not be the last time Peter's

faith in Jesus would be tested

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challenged by what Jesus said and did

the apostles continued to wrestle with a

critical question is Jesus the Messiah

and if so what kind

at the beginning of his ministry they

were convinced that he was the Messiah

but they thought of him as an Earthly

Messiah

people who are

in a Messianic mode generally look for

some Deliverance at a physical level

Jesus Drew upon the themes of messianism

but then did a Twist on them and offered

them instead a Salvation that was much

more intangible spiritual that defined

the kingdom of God not in terms of the

establishment of a rulership in

Jerusalem on Earth but a kingdom of God

that was in a transcendental sphere a

heaven

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Jesus asked his apostles who people

believed him to be

back came the standard replies of Elijah

or some other prophet

apparently the substance of Jesus

message had not made much of an

impression on his listeners

muscles think

only one of the twelve Peter answered

that Jesus was the Messiah the Son of

the Living God

here at last was a man who might carry

on the work after Jesus was gone

for his profession of Faith Jesus

bestowed on Peter a great honor

so now I say to you you are Peter and on

this rock I will build my church I will

give you the keys to the kingdom of

heaven

that statement of Jesus has led to the

thought of Peter kind of being at the

gates so that he will open the door with

his keys to let people in if they

deserve to get into heaven or will keep

the door closed if they don't deserve to

get there

blunt inquisitive and often courageous

Peter was Jesus choice not only to

decide Heavenly matters but Earthly ones

as well

Peter would become the leader of Jesus

church entrusted with judging law and

discipline

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around the year 29 after two years of

training Jesus sent the apostles

throughout Galilee giving him the

authority to cast out demons cure

disease and to proclaim the kingdom of

God

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and they were not to take money they

were supposed to carry a staff

a spare tunic

sandals in their bag and that was

basically it and then they were supposed

to rely upon the the kindness of

strangers as they went along the way to

to feed them clothe them house them

the apostles returned to Jesus enthused

by their success and pleased with their

Newfound powers

but James and John were angry over a

village that refused to accept their

message and wanted Jesus to use his

power to set it on fire they also

demanded places of Honor in his kingdom

they had forceful aggressive

personalities they were anticipating an

Earthly Kingdom and they wanted to be

the top men in that Kingdom

Jesus chastised the brother's

competitiveness warning them that the

messiah's Reign was not political but

spiritual and could be achieved only

through his death

the twelve challenged his gloomy

prediction especially Peter this wasn't

the Victorious fate he had projected for

the Messiah

Jesus was furious with him for not

understanding the deadly price of their

mission

James John and Peter to join in climbing

Mount Tabor which Towers above the

countryside in lower Galilee

Mark's gospel the three Apostles watched

in Terror as Jesus was mystically

transfigured his

he's been radiant and his clothes

dazzling White

the figures of Moses judaism's great

lawgiver and Elijah its Mighty Prophet

Stood Beside him

and from out of a cloud a voice spoke

this is my beloved Son listen to him

the disciples and art to see Jesus in an

utterly new and different light

and that new and different light is tied

to the heart of his mission and that is

that his identity is bound up in his

death and separate and apart from the

death of Jesus

Mark maintains you really cannot know

the true identity of Jesus

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but the three Apostles misinterpreted

the vision again they believed it was

all about Fame and Glory again Jesus

tried to warn them of his true purpose

by reminding them that John the Baptist

had been decapitated for speaking the

truth

and that he too would be killed for the

same reason

that was something they couldn't

comprehend even though at least three

times Jesus predicted that he would have

to suffer and die they thought perhaps

that this was meant figuratively in some

way they just couldn't comprehend that

God's Messiah was going to be defeated

at least to all uh human appearances by

his enemies

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around the year 30 A.D Jesus and these

12 Apostles traveled From Galilee to

Jerusalem to celebrate the week-long

Feast of Passover

the Feast of the Passover celebrates the

tradition of The Exodus celebrates the

Redemption or the liberation of the

Jewish people

and therefore the Festival of the

Passover can have both a political and a

theological aspect to it

as was the custom during Passover Jesus

and the twelve when it wants to pray at

the temple the central Shrine of Judaism

and the exclusive place of worship

ordained by tradition and the Torah

the group was shocked that stalls where

animals were being sold at exorbitant

prices for ritual sacrifice

Jesus angrily overturned tables driving

away merchants and money changers

and in the process setting into motion

events that would change the apostles

lives

foreign

the implicit criticism of the temple is

that the temple is no better than a

place where people store their Loot and

that the temple authorities are no

better than the brigands and thieves

that store the loot so it's a very uh

damning kind of indictment of the

authorities so you have Jesus going to

Jerusalem leveling the most serious

charge at the authorities and that it's

not surprising that he gets the kind of

response that he did

yeah

the temple priests and the Sanhedrin

indignantly confronted Jesus questioning

his authority in Temple matters as well

as his Messianic claims as the dispute

turned bitter Judas became upset at

Jesus

he was alienating the very people whose

support he would need to free Israel

from Roman rule Judas I think begins to

doubt that this is the Messiah and doubt

that this is the one he wants to commit

his life to

perhaps the religious Authority sensed

this because according to Matthew's

gospel they soon sent an emissary to

Judas with a proposition if he would

help them quietly arrest Jesus without

causing a disturbance among his numerous

supporters they would give him 30 pieces

of silver the equivalent of about twelve

hundred dollars perhaps tempted by the

money Judas thought it over

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on Thursday evening of Passover week

Jesus and the twelve gathered on Mount

Zion in a friend's house ancient

tradition honors this room as the place

where they shared their last supper with

Jesus

foreign began the meal by doing

something that surprised the apostles

as a sign of humility Jesus washed their

feet a duty normally performed by

household slaves

Judas this was not a proper role of a

powerful Messiah and may have been the

moment when he decided to betray Jesus

sensing this Jesus told him to quickly

do whatever he was going to do without

saying a word Judas got up and left

Peter perhaps protesting the reaction of

Judas told Jesus that he would die for

him but Jesus disagreed

before the grows you'll deny me

three times

it's true that Jesus knew what Judas

would do and what Peter would do that

Peter would deny Jesus and that Judas

would betray him that's clear but Jesus

is not about to violate the Free Will of

anyone

the Passover meal was a solemn occasion

in which Jesus again foretold his death

distraught and Confused John rested

against Jesus as if afraid to let him go

when the supper was finished Jesus led

the apostles outside to the foot of the

Mount of Olives and a quiet Garden

called Gethsemane

foreign

he asked Peter James and John to pray

with him

but instead they fell asleep

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tradition has it that on this rock now

surrounded by a church Jesus wept and

prayed

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while under this Olive Tree the apostles

slept

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here they are being touched by someone

extraordinary yet they cannot rise to

this very simple request to stay awake

so on one level it's very simply their

Humanity

it's their Frailty it's their weakness

it's their inability

it's also Jesus's complete aloneness in

his last days

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Jesus woke his sleeping Apostles just as

Judas arrived with a group of armed

Temple authorities alerting them to the

identity of Jesus Judas kissed him on

the cheek a typical Middle Eastern

greeting Jesus asked

Judas do you betray the son of man with

a kiss

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the treachery of Judas has provoked some

speculation over motives

in John's gospel the devil made Judas do

it

but in Mark's gospel Judas went to the

chief priest to portray Jesus before

being offered a bribe suggesting that he

had some other motive besides money

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perhaps Judas thought if I can put Jesus

in a situation where he is arrested by

the authorities

then maybe he will act as a messiah

should you from judas's point of view

I.E with power and strength but that was

not to be the case

as Jesus was dragged away to confront

his accusers Peter and John followed at

a distance

in a courtyard a servant approached

Peter and accused him of being one of

Jesus's followers

three times Peter denied knowing Jesus

then the crowed Peter realized what

he had done and wept bitterly

he knows that Jesus life is probably

coming to an end

he knows that if he is identified with

Jesus

he himself is in deep trouble and he's

afraid

and I think that's simply why he would

deny Jesus

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within 24 hours Pontius Pilate the Roman

governor of Judea condemned Jesus to

death for inflaming the Jewish religious

authorities by claiming to be the

Messiah

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on the day Christians Now call Good

Friday

Jesus was crucified

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surprisingly the gospels make no mention

of the Apostles being with Jesus as he

was dying

except for a reference in John's gospel

to a disciple at the crucifixion known

as the Beloved

some believe this was John

the other Apostles remained hidden from

Roman and Temple authorities somewhere

in Jerusalem

my close identification with Jesus they

might also lose their lives

I think they probably also devastated

here is the person in whom they had

placed a lot of trust about what it

meant to follow God as representatives

of Israel and they may feel that the

Romans have overtaken this dream and

that everything that they had hoped for

is lost

according to scripture Judas realized

his betrayal of Jesus was a mistake when

and why he had this change of heart is

unclear in the Gospels

the ultimate fate of Judas isn't clear

either

in Matthew's gospel a remorseful Judas

repents Returns the money to the priests

and hangs himself

the priests take the so-called blood

money to buy a field of blood in which

foreigners would be buried but another

biblical account tells a different story

in the second version of judas's death

he is false and isn't as disemboweled

and it doesn't really say how he falls

or whether he fell from a great height

or whether he just fell down and cut

himself but two very different versions

of his of his demise

there are very significant differences

between the four Gospels

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but is it possible to determine how

Jesus felt about Judas

give his betrayer uh perhaps his sins

will be forgiven in the future we can't

say that but uh all we know is that he

was a man who who was filled who went to

the very bottom and could do nothing

other than take his life

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death of Jesus dealt a severe blow to

the faith of his disciples some totally

disillusioned with their crucified

Messiah left Jerusalem in despair

for most people the fact that Jesus was

executed as a common Criminal

proves that he can't be the Fulfillment

of their expectations as to who would be

the one to set them free

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but at least one disciple remained loyal

Mary Magdalene a Galilean woman who had

been close with Jesus and helped support

his ministry medieval Christian

Traditions falsely identified her as a

prostitute and sinner

Mary Magdalene becomes identified with

every unnamed sinner woman in the

gospels The Sinner woman who anoints

Jesus feet with her tears The Sinner

woman who is caught in adultery in John

8 and so this very uh I want to say

Shady okay portrait of Mary Magdalene

develops I think precisely over against

this portrait of her as a leader

we think of Mary Magdalene as outside

the twelve but many of our early attacks

from the second and third Century really

show us Mary Magdalene as in that inner

circle as in the Inner Circle of the

most trusted

in John's gospel account of the first

Easter Mary visited Jesus's tomb two

days after she watched him die

it was empty

suddenly a man seemed to appear out of

nowhere and when he called her she

realized it was Jesus

seeing him gave her a unique status

Jesus commissions her to go and tell the

other disciples

that he has been raised from the dead

so Mary magdalene's role in The Gospel

tradition is as the first witness of the

resurrection and since the resurrection

is perceived of as the central core of

the Gospel that makes her a very

important person

when Mary Magdalene told the apostles

she had seen Jesus they thought she had

lost her mind

maybe that because she was a woman

her word was less reliable

that was certainly a common male view in

that culture

however when Peter and John raced to the

tomb to see for themselves it was empty

just as Mary Magdalene said it would be

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during the next few days after his

resurrection Jesus made a series of

appearances to his followers

the gospels report that some were not

convinced he was alive

so by portraying Jesus's earliest

followers as themselves being skeptical

it tends to add a kind of authenticity

to the experience itself

eventually most of the Apostles became

convinced it was Jesus by his words of

peace and forgiveness

but Thomas who is elsewhere when the

others saw Jesus refused to believe in

his resurrection

and Thomas says I don't I won't believe

that he's resurrected in his body until

I put my fingers in the wounds

Jesus finally appeared to Thomas

and lo and behold Jesus appears to him

and says put your fingers in the wounds

here put your hands on my side and then

Thomas falls to the ground and says my

Lord and my God thus acclaiming Jesus's

bodily Resurrection

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the resurrection is the Vindication of

all that Jesus had said and had done

and obvious personal identity as the

unique Son of God

however Thomas would later be called the

doubter for demanding physical proof of

the resurrection of Jesus

it has also become common to refer to a

skeptic as a doubting Thomas

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has gotten a bum wrap in Christianity

because we have this impression that

he's the only one who doubted well if

you look at the gospel accounts very

carefully you will see that all of the

gospels tell us that people doubted the

disciples doubted the message of Jesus

being raised from the dead and isn't

that rather natural I mean if you saw

your grandmother or some best friend who

has already deceased come back to life

wouldn't you be a little bit skeptical

at first

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Jesus appeared to his Apostles a final

time before he was carried up to heaven

as the Bible says

the Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem

honors the place where Jesus commanded

his followers to take his message also

called The Gospel meaning good news to

the entire world

crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus

that's the heart of their message

but the apostles didn't have a clue how

to preach to the whole world until 50

days after the resurrection of Jesus

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something extraordinary happened that's

described in the Bible's book of Acts

suddenly there came from Heaven a sound

as of a violent wind which filled the

entire house in which they were sitting

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and there appeared to them tongues as a

fire

separated and came to rest on the head

of each of them

they were filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak different languages

as the spirit gave them power to express

themselves

today Christians call this miraculous

event Pentecost

the spirit is an intangible reality that

comes upon the disciples

suddenly people are speaking in tongues

in other people's languages not their

own language and the significance here

is that it is the work of Jesus Christ

and the outpouring of the spirit which

will unite Humanity in this one Great

Fellowship of all Nations all

nationalities whether there really were

flames of some kind is another question

I think it's more of a of a kind of

symbolic description of what was a

unique event

the birthday of the church really

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from many different countries enabling

them to spread the gospel

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they began to preach fearlessly about

Jesus the resurrection in Pentecost

confirmed their faith and gave them a

clear impression of him so much so that

after Peter spoke three thousand

converts were reported

they realized that he had come to Earth

to die and take upon himself all the

sins of the human race and that his

kingdom was not of this world that we

live in this world in preparation for

the Messianic Kingdom which is in the

next world

thank you

the early church grew in Jerusalem as a

communal society in which everyone

voluntarily pulled material goods and

apportioned wealth according to members

needs

the movement was called the way since no

one had yet coined the word Christian

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the first generation wouldn't have

considered themselves Christians they

would have considered themselves Jews

who believed that the Messiah had come

after Pentecost the early church

underwent a complete reorganization

it's going from being a group of people

centered upon this man Jesus who walked

around among them

to a group of people now centered upon

the Risen Christ who was present to them

in spirit

now the apostles are their embodied

leadership

during this period Peter's leadership

was especially important

Peter was in charge after Jesus was gone

it was he that that rallied these these

straggling followers and uh and and and

Inspire them so that the the church grew

by Leaps and Bounds during those first

few years

at Peter's urging a young man named

Matthias was elected to replace Judas as

one of the twelve little is known about

Matthias except that he met the

qualifications established by the others

for becoming an apostle

he was one of the early followers of

Jesus and a witness of his resurrection

if the book of Acts is an indication

there are at least 120 followers of

Jesus who stay true through the

crucifixion and the resurrection into

the very earliest moment of the church

so Matthias was one of those persons

Apostles carried on an increasingly

aggressive evangelizing campaign

throughout Jerusalem

they preached the gospel that Jesus was

indeed the Son of God the long-awaited

Messiah by believing in his death and

Resurrection the apostles said Humanity

would achieve salvation

this enraged the Sanhedrin the Jewish

religious Council

it denounced the apostles as blasphemers

for implying that an executed criminal

was actually God's chosen one

it's one of the major reasons why

Christianity was attacked and the

suspicion how can

a historical

person considered as a criminal

crucified be the manifestation of God

Judaism believed nobody could be a son

of God

okay there was one God you know it had

no carnal existence and therefore

anybody defining himself or somebody

else as the Son of God was blasphemy if

you broke the Jewish law you were

brought to trial in front of a Jewish

Court

Peter and John were arrested twice

jailed flogged and nearly executed by

the religious authorities but the

apostles refused to heed the warnings

and considered it a privilege to suffer

as Jesus had suffered they were seen as

a not so much Outlaw in the political

sense but Outlaws in a religious sense

and that's why in the very early days

before we can even call them Christians

they were being hunted down prosecuted

and even persecuted by the Jewish

authorities in Jerusalem

around the year 37 the rift between the

apostles and the Jewish religious

authorities exploded

a liberal-minded man named Stephen who

supervised the division of goods among

the ways members had gained a reputation

in the community for rejecting

conventional Jewish theology

Stephen had this ability to see that

that we had now reached a new era and

this new era can involve for us

a New Freedom with respect to the law

and the temple

Stephen was hauled before the Sanhedrin

for speaking against the temple

said God did not dwell in a temple made

with hands

of a temple in Jerusalem

was incredibly important

to Israel to Jewish people

and it was perceived of as the dwelling

place of God and I think because Stephen

was perceived of his attacking the

temple

he was seen as a blasphemer

press to renounce the perceived

sacrilege Stephen remained unyielding

was condemned as a blasphemer by the

Sanhedrin and stoned to death outside

the city Gates

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he became the first martyr of the new

religious movement and his death

prompted an all-out assault on the

followers of Jesus in Jerusalem

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Peter fled North to Samaria and baptized

new converts

while other disciples escaped to cities

in Syria where the early church began to

flourish

but in Jerusalem the persecution

proceeded relentlessly led by a Jewish

fanatic named Saul

foreign

under the leadership of Herod Agrippa

the Roman appointed ruler of Judea

persecution of Jesus's followers in

Jerusalem heated up after the year 37.

Christians were harassed

put on trial and in some cases executed

around the year 44 the apostles mourned

the death of one of their own James the

brother of John who was beheaded by

arrippa James's alleged crime

instigating sedition by identifying

Jesus as the Messiah

parent grip I felt that Christians were

subversives if they believed that Jesus

was their King then they would not have

full allegiance to him

he wanted I I would imagine people who

were totally loyal to him and to his

rule

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among the most Ardent persecutors of the

Jewish Christians was a Jew Saul of

Tarsus

he believed that members of the way were

blasphemers and two lacks in their

observance of Jewish law

the law of Moses that regulated such

things as Sabbath observance and Temple

devotion

Mosaic law comes from the Ten

Commandments and their derivatives that

were given to the Israelites after

Exodus while they were wandering in the

wilderness there was a period of time 40

years according to the Hebrew scriptures

where they were instructed in the law

in direct violation of the law the

apostles often performed healings on the

Sabbath as Jesus had done

the same time some members of the way

began to distance themselves from the

temple the central religious symbol of

Judaism

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and is undoubtedly true

that the early church developed very

quickly a disinterest in the temple

and the early church moved in the

direction

ultimately Within

20 years calling the church itself the

spiritual temple in which God lived

Saul however believed that salvation

could be achieved only through zealous

adherence to the law

his righteousness had been cultivated as

a teenager when he studied with Gamaliel

the most famous Pharisee of his

generation

he says that among his contemporaries he

was the best student in his class as it

were

so Saul was a very devoted Pharisee he

identifies himself also with that

religious party

after the stoning of Stephen Saul was

given Authority by the Temple's high

priest to arrest followers of the way in

Damascus Syria for blasphemy

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but according to the book of Acts Saul

experienced a transforming Vision on the

road that brought about a dramatic

change of heart

as a bright light flashed around Saul

and struck him blind he fell to the

ground and heard a

voicecuting me I am Jesus the one you

are persecuting

in that experience Saul believed

Lord Jesus and in his own letters

he considers that the formative

experience

of his life as an apostle of the church

in somewhere

not clearly identified in his early life

in the church he took up his more Roman

named Paul rather than his more Jewish

name Saul as his primary identification

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the newly renamed Paul believed that

Jesus had commanded him personally to

spread his message of redemption

within two or three years Paul's skills

at evangelizing in the vicinity of

Damascus had won many converts

so many impact that Paul's efforts

antagonized the government and friends

had to smuggle him out of Syria

Jesus invented Christianity and Paul

marketed it because Paul was a one-man

show

around the year 39 Paul went to

Jerusalem

to meet with Peter probably to get

practical advice on the finer points of

preaching the Gospel of Jesus Paul

however wasn't given a warm welcome

since he had been a vigorous enemy of

the early Christians

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Paul has an uphill battle with the 12

all the time it seems to me

he is a late Comer and his Apostolic

credentials are therefore suspect right

from the start

it seems as though he has always to

fight for his Apostolic identity

Apostolic

still debate

debate from a scholarly point of view

the term Apostle is a very difficult

until today their discussion is the

origin of the title a Greek origin

meaning just someone we send or in a

metaphoric way to be the ambassador of

God and I think the term Apostle is

broader than for the twelve

it would be wrong to say that as apostle

we had only the twelve because Paul

would not be included Mary magdalan

would not be included

a conflict emerged between Paul and the

others concerning adherence to Jewish

law

12 insisted that membership in the way

required for reasons of ritual

cleanliness that all males be

circumcised

that followers abstain from eating

certain foods

and that they not associate with

non-jews known as Gentiles

first followers of Jesus like Jesus

himself were all good Jewish boys for

the most part and they believe that to

follow Jesus you had to follow all of

the Mosaic law that had been laid down

part of the 2000 year old tradition that

that every Jew of that time believed in

and was expected to follow

however after Paul's conversion faith in

the resurrected Jesus was more important

to him than strict adherence to Jewish

law

decided that the those laws that

restricted Jews from associating with

Gentiles had become Superfluous and no

longer valid

the new Jewish community that he had in

mind was to be a community that was a

universal Community I.E a community that

included Jews and gentiles

Paul left Jerusalem to preach throughout

the Roman Empire

but his notion of a Christian Community

including Gentiles may have haunted

Peter

according to the book of Acts as Peter

slept in Jaffa a town north of Jerusalem

he had a prophetic dream

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Peter sees all of the food that is

forbidden to Jews coming down out of the

sky and he takes that to mean that

indeed we don't have to follow these

strict dietary laws and that means we

can go out and and preach to some of

these others

soon afterwards Peter baptized a Roman

army officer a gentile named Cornelius

without requiring his adherence to

Jewish law

I think it's very interesting that the

one who goes to Cornelius who

inaugurates the Gentile mission in the

book of Acts is not Paul but Peter it's

very important because he had Paul

initiated the Gentile Mission it would

have been forever suspect but when Peter

goes there he's the prime Apostle and

this in a sense validates the mission

Peter eventually came to trust Paul but

the controversy over the so-called

Gentile Mission didn't die down

especially in the Syrian city of Antioch

it had been home to many followers of

Jesus since the year 37. in fact it was

an Antioch that Greeks coined the word

christianoy or Christian meaning the

party of Christ

year 47 Paul traveled to Antioch where a

serious dispute was brewing between two

Christian factions a group of Jewish

Christians was demanding that a gentile

Christian group submit to Jewish law and

consent to be circumcised this troubled

Paul

Paul's own view is what I would call

egalitarian he has a fundamental view

that everybody is equal in the sight of

God so he has this famous baptismal

slogan in Galatians 3 28 that in Christ

there is neither Jew nor Greek slave nor

free male and female everyone is one in

Christ Jesus

in the year of

Soul was convened in Jerusalem to decide

the issue of who could be a Christian

known later as the apostolic assembly

the council included the 11 remaining

apostles

watch how we do with the large number of

Gentiles and this is discussed in Acts

15 and the conclusion is from that

council is that there is no need to

require Gentile Christians to be

observers of the Mosaic law

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Church gradually began to distance

itself from Judaism

the New Testament indicates that over

the next nine years Paul's mission was

especially important in helping the

church grow by bringing large numbers of

Gentiles to the new faith

Paul became the great proponent that

Gentiles did not need to become Jews in

order to become Christians but he held

perhaps the most radical position along

that line but it was a position that

ultimately is what made Christianity

maybe a world religion itself

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all preached fearlessly about Jesus in

spite of persecution from Jews and

Romans

the book of Acts notes that he was

imprisoned and tortured many times

and nearly killed by an angry mob in

Jerusalem

there Paul's efforts landed him a jail

sentence in Israel's Northern Port City

of caesarea where he languished for two

years

finally in the year 60 he won the right

to take his case before the Roman

Emperor Nero

foreign

the book of Acts ends with Paul under

house arrest in Rome preaching and

writing letters to the churches he had

established

surprisingly the Bible doesn't say what

happened to Paul or to any of the

remaining 11 apostles

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with the exception of Paul the New

Testament says very little about the

evangelizing missions and the deaths of

the Apostles

in fact most of the 12 disappear

entirely from the Bible's Pages without

a word

we don't really know too much about

where the apostles went

certainly no reference to that in

biblical literature even though a great

many Christians think so

information on the apostles missionary

activities and their deaths began as

oral tradition and Legend

by the second century literature devoted

to the lives of the Apostles began to

appear among Christians throughout the

Roman Empire

as the church grew and looked to these

Apostles as their founder there was a

natural inclination to build their life

story and to say more about them than

the few facts that we know about most of

them thus apocryphal stories begin to be

generated

foreign

the collection of mostly anonymously

written stories about the travels deeds

and deaths of the Apostles has come to

be known as the apocryphal Acts of the

Apostles

the main reasons the apocal books were

written were to instruct to entertain to

propagate the Christian faith and even

to fortify the status of the Apostles

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we have acts of many of the Apostles

Peter Paul John Thomas Andrew Thaddeus

Bartholomew nearly all of them

eventually develop acts about them

telling about their lives

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they were translated into other

languages very early from the early 3rd

Century onwards into such languages as

Latin Arabic old church slavonic they

they were extremely popular

at the end of the 4th Century Church

authorities decided that the writings

lacked theological integrity and

excluded them from the Bible

one reason the apocryphal Acts were

excluded from the New Testament if you

will is there very popularity but

popularity among groups that were

thought to be heretical

and by dint of its popularity with the

wrong people the church rejected it

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zealous Apocrypha writers often turn the

apostles into Non-Stop wonderworkers and

embellish stories with Fantastical

details while these writings cannot be

trusted as biography they do provide

valuable insight into the early

Christian experience and the revered

stature of the Apostles

they provide us a window not into the

past of the Apostle but they are

actually tapestries of the life of early

Christians in the second century and

ought not to be overlooked as evidence

of what it was like to live as a

Christian in the second century

many apocryphal acts begin with the

apostles drawing lots to determine where

each will evangelize outside Jerusalem

the tradition had it that John went to

Ephesus that Peter was destined to go to

Rome that Thomas went to India that

Andrew went to Greece that Matthias went

to the city murmidonia

and several of the apoca Flacks begin

with such a land distribution and then

tell the stories of how these Apostles

went throughout the world preaching

should I become the Pioneers in country

after country settling the church and

each country then as it becomes a

Christian country looks back to one of

the Apostles as their origin and this

also historically connects them to Jesus

as they grow and become a large

Christian Church

one apocryphal travelogue is instructed

for anyone tempted to resist the

apostles message of salvation

it concerns the mission of the Apostle

Matthias judas's replacement to a

mythical spot inhabited by cannibals

called mirmadonia ostensibly on the

south coast of the Black Sea

Matthias goes there and he's not very

successful in fact they gouge out his

eyes and put him in prison to eat hay

like an animal

foreign the Apostle Andrew goes to

rescue Matthias but he too is thrown

into prison

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He commands a local statue to spew a

flood which sweeps the most offensive

myrmidon Straight to Hell

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Andrew was to come back and raise them

back to life and they would tell

everyone what they saw and then the

murmidons would convert because they had

Witnesses who had gone to hell and saw

the torments of the unrighteous

many stories are about healing miracles

the acts of Peter tells of a healing

contest in the Roman Coliseum

it's a showdown between Peter and a

magician named Simon Magis

the acts of Peter is about the Christian

Congregation of Rome

they were initially converted to

Christianity but then a magician named

Simon came and he led them all astray

into his form of belief

so they all fell away from the Christian

faith and the big question here is

whether they could be readmitted to the

Christian church after becoming apostate

after denying their faith

Peter wins back the congregation by

using his miraculous powers of Faith to

prove he's better than Simon at raising

a dead boy

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Peter goes over and says

raise up and he gets up Peter says

that's how the dead are raised they

stand up they take off their burial

class they talk they move

it's all about his power being stronger

than Simon's power and therefore it it

shows that the way the Christians

thought about the apostles

some apocryphal stories are amusing such

as the Wilderness encounter in Turkey

between Paul and a talking lion who

asked to be baptized

so Paul acquiesces and perhaps against

this better doctrinal judgment baptizes

the lion and lives his life out happily

later Paul is arrested and thrown into

an arena where he's about to be eaten by

a hungry lion

now who do you think this line would be

except the one that he baptized in the

wilderness and of course the lion won't

do anything against him

while it's entertaining this

christianized version of esop's fable

Andrew Cleese and the lion has a point

the message is that the apostles are

bringing good news that will redeem not

only human beings but all of creation

the entire natural order is supposed to

be changed because of the message of

Jesus even the animals are supposed to

follow suit eventually it's it's a new

world that is being announced

stories focusing on healings Miracles

and talking animals are really all about

instruction by the apostles to reinforce

Christian faith and win converts

even heathens in Turkey couldn't resist

John's call after witnessing the power

of His prayers he was able to cause the

destruction of their Temple honoring the

Pagan goddess Artemis

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these apocryphal acts then contain

perhaps not historical truth

but at least a very early tradition

about the apostles

and I think they do preserve useful

historical information in defining where

it was that the apostles went for their

missions and how and where they died

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in stark contrast to the apocryphal acts

display of redemption and humor is the

reoccurring theme of violence

foreign

to the 4th centuries modern stories

found in the apocryphal Acts of the

Apostles were a source of great

inspiration to early Christians

systematically persecuted for their

opposition to worshiping the emperor

Christians sustained their faith by

reading about the apostles heroism in

the face of death

to know what kinds of persecutions they

lived with to be bound in Chains or

crucified upside down or burnt at the

stake gave those Christians who were

facing such difficult times courage to

live their lives and to be even Martyrs

in some cases for the faith

the climax in each apocryphal Act is the

testimonial of Faith given by the

Apostle as he's about to die his desire

for fellowship with Christ and God

endows him with fearlessness in each

case someone says don't do this you

don't need to die and they say yes

death is important I want to die this is

what I should do

the Apostle Andrew Peter's brother

followed this tradition in the acts of

Andrew a Greek official sentences Andrew

to death for converting his wife to

Christianity instead of protesting

Andrew insists on being killed and twice

refuses the opportunity to escape

during his crucifixion on an x-shaped

cross Andrew urges the crowd of

onlookers to be constant and faithful to

Jesus

Andrew was on the cross for four days

speaking at Great length and with

remarkable power

Andrew goes on at length that his soul

is speeding home to his true Fatherland

that he's sailing past desires he

encourages others to sail with him on

Into the Blue

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in the modern narratives it's difficult

to distinguish historical fact from

devotional Legend

are they true we don't really have an

answer absolutely did they occur and how

did they occur

the best that we can ever do is offer

reconstructions of history and so we do

know that elements of Legend did creep

in in the retelling of stories

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although it must be considered

speculative popular tradition holds that

following changes beheading in Jerusalem

ten Apostles including Peter and Paul

died violent Martyrs deaths

Thomas was tortured in India with red

hot plates and pierced by four Spears

Philip was crucified in Turkey

Jude Thaddeus was slain with a battle ax

in Persia along with Simon who was cut

to pieces

[Music]

Matthew was brutally murdered while

celebrating the Lord's Supper

Matthias was killed in Ethiopia

James the less may have been thrown from

the temple in Jerusalem and stoned to

death

and in Armenia Bartholomew was skinned

alive

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undergoing usually a violent death at

execution the apostles were imitating

Jesus Christ who also underwent a

similar fate and the imitation of Christ

was so important for Christian piety all

through

Christian history that the apostles have

played a central role in this as well

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some sketchy historical evidence exist

for Peter and Paul dying in Rome during

the first official persecution of

Christians

it began in the year 64 under Emperor

Nero

towards the end of his life he started

having a reputation of getting a little

crazy

ancient Roman historians tell us that

Nero actually set fire to a portion of

the city of Rome

and eventually to get the blame off of

himself he blamed the Christians

they were thought of as very strange

people they were considered a

Superstition because they didn't accept

the Roman gods they only worshiped their

one God and their one Savior Jesus

and so Nero decided to make a big

spectacle and to show these Christians a

lesson and so apparently there were wild

beasts and Dogs Unleashed there were

crucifixions that were scheduled and

that occurred and there were also

Christians dressed in flammable dress

and set on fire

whether or not

Peter and Paul were among them was not

specifically listed if they were there

at the time in the area chances are very

good that they were included in this

persecution

in the apocryphal acts of Peter the

Apostle is converting Roman wives

when their angry husbands complained to

Agrippa the Roman Governor Peter's death

is ordered Peter is about to leave

Rome because the church urges him to do

so they think he's going to be arrested

and executed imminently and they tell

him to flee and as as he's on the way

out of Rome he meets Jesus and he asks

Jesus where are you going my Lord which

is in Latin and Jesus looks at him and

says I'm going to Rome to be crucified

again and then Peter recognizes that

Jesus is symbolically saying to him that

he Peter is going to undergo martyrdom

and will imitate Christ in following him

in martyrdom so Peter turns around and

goes back into Rome

Peter asked to be crucified upside down

because he doesn't feel worthy of being

crucified in the same way as Jesus

clearing his love for Jesus whom he

calls my everything Peter dies

Nero is responsible for Paul's death in

the apocryphal acts of Paul Paul says

Christ will come this King will come and

he will destroy all of Their Kingdoms

including you and yours

while Nero then decides that he must do

away with Paul and has him beheaded

instead of blood

milk issue

issue very interesting image it could

mean for example that Paul was nurturing

he in fact calls his churches his

children

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according to Christian Apocrypha the

Apostle John and Mary Magdalene were

spared torturous deaths Mary magdon

lived out the rest of her life in the

desert as a Hermit hardly recognizable

anymore as a woman very famous for her

sanctity

when she died

then it was discovered and they

retrieved her body that she was a woman

and that she was indeed this this saint

John died of natural causes at the age

of about 100 in Ephesus Turkey at the

close of the first century his last

words to his disciples are said to have

been little children love one another

[Music]

by depicting one of Jesus's own

disciples and a beloved one at that

dying of old age

without a martyr's death demonstrates to

the reader that they can be witnesses to

Jesus without martyrdom

there was an apocryphal story added to

the acts of John that his grave and

Ephesus

was one in which he actually wasn't dead

but he was sleeping and that as he

breathed dust would come out of his tomb

and that anybody who took this dust and

mixed it with water and drank it would

be healed

the concept that tombs bones and Relics

of the Apostles could transmit healing

or holy power was accepted by Christians

perhaps as early as the second century

and they began to Revere the remains of

Apostles

the idea of the Holy being

part of the physical body of a saint is

an interesting idea that may not be

easy for modern people to understand but

it was it was critical a physical

contact with the Holy was was critical

in the ancient world

early Christians often built churches or

monuments over the spot where apostles

were thought to have died or been

entombed

Rome what many believe is the tomb of

Peter lays beneath the most famous

Apostolic Monument Saint Peter's

Basilica at the Vatican

in the 16th century to replace an

earlier 4th Century structure it may be

christendom's holiest Shrine

it's one of the grandest churches on

Earth proclaiming Peter's presence from

miles around as the First bishop of Rome

the Vatican became extremely important

in in Christian history it began as a

monument to the death of the apostle and

in that sense it was a very holy place

already from an early time in

Christianity

2 000 years after the apostles deaths

Christians are still in awe of their

holy power

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in the time

by the year 300 A.D Christianity had

spread over the entire Mediterranean

basin

from Rome to Carthage

Athens to Alexandria

and throughout Asia Minor

despite Roman persecution the foundation

of the Christian Church created by the

apostles remained strong

the apostles are of supreme importance

for the early Church in the sense that

they provide continuity with Jesus

and they provide a center of authority

that the church can rest on so the

church is built on the foundation of the

prophets and the apostles

later in the 4th Century no less than

Constantine the Roman Emperor himself

converted to Christianity

on momentous occasion that may well have

stunned even the apostles had they lived

to see it

toleration of Christianity became the

norm and by the year 325 the religion

for which the apostles fought so hard

and gave their lives had become the

dominant religion of the Roman Empire

massive numbers of people converted and

began to learn what Christianity was and

accepted and and truly this was the

beginning of the explosive phase of of

growth

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today two billion people nearly

one-third of the world's population are

Christians

the essentials of their Doctrine derive

from the teaching of the Apostles

the apostles are so important because

they were of course the first generation

of disciples who were with Jesus they

were the ones who saw what Jesus did

they were the ones who heard the

teachings The Parables the proclamations

of Jesus and so they were the first

generation of the long tradition that is

passed on from generation to generation

they are you know as close as we can get

to Jesus and of course some of the first

generation passed it on to people who

wrote down what we call the New

Testament

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the New Testament is the most frequently

published and most widely read book in

history

and its Center are the four gospels that

relate the story of Jesus's life and

teaching

while biblical Scholars continue to

debate who wrote them in the second

century authorship of the gospels began

to be attributed to the apostles Matthew

and John to Mark a disciple of Peter and

to Luke a disciple of Paul

Testament is a crystallization of the

Apostolic tradition where several people

wrote down the teachings and the actions

of Jesus so that they've been passed on

from generation to generation for 2000

years now

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what has not changed much in 20

centuries is the Discord caused by the

breach in faith between Christians and

Jews the apostles suffered greatly from

the tension between their faith in Jesus

and the verdict of the religious

authorities that Jesus was a criminal

in the New Testament Paul admitted this

division caused him distress a sentiment

that is echoed by some but not all

contemporary Jews

on the one hand you would have the

ultra-orthodox community that continues

that kind of attitude towards Jesus in

terms of looking at him as somebody who

is one of our own and split off and

founded the church and the church is

looked at as an enemy of course on the

other hand you have the more mainstream

and liberal Jewish communities that are

now in the post Holocaust era very

interested in in cooperation with their

churches and are also interested in

learning more about Jesus and his

followers and how this whole split

between Christianity and Judaism became

possible

foreign

diversity is characteristic among some

twenty thousand worldwide Christian

denominations that today honor the

memory of the Apostles in different ways

Catholics

the apostles still play a very important

role as Guardians of the tradition of

course the entire

point of the papacy is that

it's a direct lineal Descent of leaders

of the Roman Church from Peter

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contrast Peter's brother the Apostle

Andrew is revered as the founder of the

Eastern Orthodox Church in

Constantinople modern day Istanbul

Catholics and Orthodox

basically have their Center in those

countries that Revere the apostles as

their Founders and they also have a cult

of saints that are very important to

them so in the Roman Church and in the

Eastern Orthodox Churches there's a

special reverence given to the apostles

that one would not find within the more

secularized Protestant churches in the

Protestant churches the apostles are

revered because they're Biblical

characters and they are the people who

we look to as having written the books

of the Bible but we don't ascribe to

them any special sainthood

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Cult of Outlaws to cultural icons the

apostles notoriety hasn't diminished

over time

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they are a topic of media scrutiny the

subject of music composition and of

great art

their names Grace schools

hospitals

and churches

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Christians are still moved by the

example of the Apostles lives and their

message of redemption

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modern day Pilgrims from around the

world Trek to the Holy Land of Israel to

touch hollowed ground where the twelve

walked with Jesus

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they Wade in the waters in which a

miraculous catch of fish turned the

apostles into Fishers of Men

they offer prayers on the spot where

Peter James and John glimpsed the

Divinity of Jesus

and they Revere the place where the

apostles spent their last moments with

the son of God

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the apostles made a profound effect in

the world by the way in which they lived

up to their name Apostle to be sent out

they did go out and spread the word of

Jesus Christ his life and Ministry and

that made a profound difference in the

lives of the people that heard their

stories

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ordinary men called to Greatness

overcame selfishness and fear to create

a religious Revolution

one that continues to unfold some 2000

years after it first began

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