Do you know what happened to the founding fathers of Christianity – 12 apostles, the writers of the Gospels, and to Paul who wrote so much of the New Testament?
Here is an account as accurately as scholars can figure:*
1 Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, Killed
by a sword wound.
2 Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt after being
dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
3 Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his
tremendous preaching to the lost.
4 John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge
Basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In
Rome . However, he was miraculously delivered From death.
John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island
of Patmos .. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation
on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned
to serve As Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died
as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5 Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped
cross in the pouring rain. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the
same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6 James, Jesus’ brother and leader of the church in Jerusalem , was
thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast
pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith
in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the
fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s
club. * This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken
Jesus during the Temptation.
7 James the Great, Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by
trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As
a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately
beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded
James watched, amazed as James defended his faith at his
trial. Later, the officer Walked beside James to the
place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared
his new faith to the judge and Knelt beside James to
accept beheading as a Christian.
8 Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a
missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present
day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in
Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9 Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras,
Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers,
they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his
agony. His followers reported that, when he was led
toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: ‘I
have long desired and expected this happy hour. The
cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging
on it.’ He continued to preach to his tormentors for
two days until he expired.
10 Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during
one of his missionary trips to establish the church in
the Sub-continent.
11 Jude was killed with arrows when he refused to deny
his faith in Christ.
12 Matthias the apostle chosen to replace the traitor
Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
13. Simon the Zealot- preached throughout Egypt and was martyred in Persia.
14. Stephen was one of the first post-Pentecost disciples. He was stoned for preaching – as witnessed by Saul who later became Paul.
15. Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil
Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy
imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many
epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the
Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the
foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large
portion of the New Testament.
Perhaps this is a reminder
to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared
to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the
apostles and disciples during their times For the sake of
the Faith.
*taken and edited from an email that is circulating.
