Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mike_decock · 04-09-2003, 09:04 PM

I have often heard Christians claim that all the disciples were persecuted and martyred (except for one). However, nobody has ever been able to provide me with the sources for that assertion (except for Stephen, whose martyrdom is accounted for in the NT). Could anyone point me to any of the sources for that claim and whether or not those sources are reliable?

-Mike...

Toto · 04-09-2003, 10:19 PM

Go to the infidels home page and search for "martyrs." You find things like

How did the Apostles Die? from the Skeptical Review

Quote:

In The Search for the Twelve Apostles, Dr. William Steuart McBirnie examined the maze of traditions about the fate of the apostles, and although he seemed to retain his belief that the apostles were real historical characters who had suffered persecution and often martyrdom, he admitted that the traditions were sometimes so inconsistent and contradictory that it cannot now be determined how all of the apostles died. He referred to Tertullian's claim that the apostle John was tortured and "boiled in oil but was delivered miraculously," and then admitted that "(t)his story does not seem to have much foundation in historical fact," even though tradition says that the Church of San Giovanni "has been built on the spot in Rome" in honor of the apostle's escape (Tyndale House, 1977, pp. 116-117). McBirnie concluded that the best traditional evidence indicates that John died in Ephesus of old age. If this is so, John would not have been an example of an apostle who died for what he knew was right.

McBirnie had no better luck in trying to determine the fate of other apostles. He found Matthew to be an especially confusing case. Various traditions had Matthew preaching in places as far flung as Ethiopia, Persia, Parthia, Isidore, and Macedonia (p. 176). The traditions relate preposterous accounts of attempts that were made to kill him, which he, like John, miraculously escaped from. In one tradition, a jealous king tried to have Matthew burned alive, but the flames flew out, took the form of a dragon, and curled around the king. McBirnie concluded that "(t)here are too many stories of Matthew's death to be certain just where he died" (p. 182), but even though he had earlier cited Heracleon and Clement of Alexandria (The Miscellanies, 4, 9), who had both said that Matthew died a natural death (pp. 175-176), McBirnie would not give up so easily on his desire to find martyred apostles. "It is perhaps possible that Matthew was martyred in Egypt upon his return from Ethiopia in Africa," he said, "but this conclusion is not certain" (p. 182, emphasis added).

There is also this essay by Steven Carr: Martyrs

mike_decock · 04-10-2003, 09:31 AM

Thanks for those links! I should have known to search the Infidels.org site

.

-Mike...

04-09-2003, 09:04 PM	#1
mike_decock Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 1,505	Early Christian Martyrs I have often heard Christians claim that all the disciples were persecuted and martyred (except for one). However, nobody has ever been able to provide me with the sources for that assertion (except for Stephen, whose martyrdom is accounted for in the NT). Could anyone point me to any of the sources for that claim and whether or not those sources are reliable? -Mike...

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04-10-2003, 09:31 AM	#3
mike_decock Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 1,505	Thanks for those links! I should have known to search the Infidels.org site . -Mike...

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