Christians: How do you know that Jesus' disciples died for their faith?

Question

Please cite your primary sources.

Answer 1

Read Foxe's book of martyrs.

Answer 2

Actually, it cannot even be proved that the 12 disciples ever existed, let alone died for following Jesus. Its the same situation with Jesus, there is really no historical proof of his existence.

In fact, Jesus and his disciples were very likely to have been fictional characters that were originally meant to be used to introduce elements of Greek philosophy into Judaism. One of the possible allegorical meanings behind Jesus and his 12 disciples may have been the Sun and the 12 symbols of the zodiac.

12 was a very important number in a lot of pagan faiths, due to the 12 symbols of the zodiac. It is quite likely that everything in the bible that has a value of 12 was originally something pagan that got incorporated into Judaism and Christianity. The idea behind the 12 tribes of Israel is likely to have had pagan roots, as well. If the "12 tribes" were actually allegorical, that would explain what happened to all the "lost tribes" of Israel.

In fact, there is something both the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples share that ties them in with the zodiac. Both the 12 tribes and the 12 disciples had a bit of weirdness in their original composition and replacement of their members, this very likely reflects an oddity in the composition of the zodiac from ancient pagan times.

Since there are not exactly 12 moon cycles within one solar year, the ancient Greeks used to occasionally add another month to the year, and with it they added a temporary member to their zodiac. The constellation Ophiuchus was considered to be an "occasional" member of the zodiac.

Eventually the Greeks stopped worrying about moon cycles and just went with a 12 month solar year that ignored moon cycles. At this point, they stopped their occasional inclusion of Ophiuchus in their zodiac.

This bit of strangeness in the zodiac is echoed in the makeup of both the 12 disciples and the 12 tribes.

In the 12 disciples, Judas was removed after he betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. Eventually, two other followers were considered as replacements for him, (in the book of Acts).

In the 12 tribes, the tribe of Levi was not considered a normal tribe because all of its members were meant to act as priests of the other tribes. So, in the distribution of the territory of Israel between the tribes, Levi did not get a region. Instead, the region for Levi were given to two "sub-tribes" that both represented Joseph and were supposedly descended from the two sons of Joseph. These "replacement" tribes were Ephraim and Manasseh.

So, in the end you have 12 tribes, 12 disciples, and 12 zodiac symbols. In each of these three cases you get some similar weirdness in the composition. This fact seems to indicate a possibility that the 12 tribes and 12 disciples were originally both meant to be celestial allegories.


========

Also, the idea of the 12 tribes originally being a celestial allegory may also be indicated by one of the dreams of Joseph:
37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Answer 3

As a historian, I sometimes have to deal with history that has NO primary source. That doesn't mean it didn't happen - I just have to piece the story together using other reliable sources.

Oral histories of events in the past are not our favorite type of source (to be fair, we refer to such sources as "folklore"), but from a reliable person, they become reliable sources. Such is our knowledge of the disciples.

Any way, not every disciple was martyred (see John). That's not the foundation of faith, nor is it in the Bible. My faith would not be changed at all if a primary source was found which showed that Peter lived and died without martyrdom; nor would it change if a source showed that he was indeed crucified upside-down.

Answer 4

It is a good question, since "primary sources" are defined as first-hand accounts, or accounts contemporary with events

The book of Acts is technically a primary source, since its authoriship is relatively undisputed as Luke (meaning there is no evidence this is inaccurate, and no other authors arise claiming authorship), and it records the death of James (the brother of John) by Herod in Acts 12

Josephus records that James (from the church of Jerusalem, not the same as above) was tossed from the Temple and murdered by the Priests

Roman history (Tacitus) records un-named Christians killed by Nero; Pliny references un-named Christians put to death under Domitian. Since tradition relates Paul and Peter died in Rome during Nero's reign, it would be reasonable (from a historical standpoint) to presume this includes them

Eusebius also recounts Christian deaths, but I would not call him a primary source

Answer 5

Well they risked persecution for believing in the resurrection of Jesus in the first place, so if they were willing to spread his word and risk death doesn't that mean that they died for their faith? Most accounts historically state that most of the disciples were killed for this reason, many crucified as well.

Answer 6

Question: "Does the Bible record the death of the apostles? How did each of the apostles die?"

Answer: The only apostle’s death the Bible records is James' (Acts 12:2). King Herod had James put to death “with the sword” – likely a reference to beheading. The circumstances of the deaths of the other apostles can only be known based on church traditions, so we should not put too much weight on any of the other accounts. The most commonly accepted church tradition in regards to the death of an apostle is that the Apostle Peter was crucified, upside-down on an x-shaped cross, in Rome, in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy (John 21:18). Following are the most popular “traditions” in regards to the deaths of the other apostles:

Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound. John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a 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 what is now modern-day Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

James, the brother of Jesus (not officially an apostle), the 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 club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the temptation.

Bartholomew, also know as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed in present-day Turkey and was martyred for his preaching in Armenia, when he was flayed to death by a whip. Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, Andrew's body was tied 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 died. The Apostle Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded. The Apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. There are traditions regarding the other apostles as well, but none with any reliable historical or traditional support.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES:
1. Andrew - crucified
2. Bartholomew - beaten then crucified
3. James, son of Alphaeus - stoned to death
4. James, son of Zebedee - beheaded
5. John - exiled for his faith; died of old age
6. Judas (not Iscariot) - stoned to death
7. Matthew - speared to death
8. Peter - crucifed upside down
9. Philip - crucified
10. Simon - crucified
11. Thomas - speared to death
12. Matthias - stoned to death
(source: Fox's Book of Martyrs)

Answer 7

I'm a Christian, but we really don't know. The bible has been passed down for so many centuries and it has been interpreted or reinterpreted so many times, so who really knows what parts of the bible are the original words and what part is just man's own opinions and fables.

Answer 8

Because when when asked what they believed in, they answered Jesus, and were stoned or beheaded or exicuted in whatever way the king felt like. Well, thats the best I got.

Answer 9

Jesus did no longer lose faith. He did no longer doubt God. Christ replaced into actual quoting from in all possibility between the main favourite Messianic psalms of David: Psalm 22. previously the Passover lamb replaced into sacrificed, the clergymen would many times examine a Passover psalm. the 1st verse in Psalm 22 is "My God, My God, why have you ever forsaken Me?" Christ, our severe Priest and Sacrifice, replaced into conveying, "i'm the Lamb. it somewhat is the Passover." As the two our severe Priest and spotless Sacrifice, he's "interpreting" a Passover psalm. the importance of the verse is that it somewhat is interior the form of a query, the Lord is posing to get us to think of. working example, God mentioned to Adam, "Adam, the place are you?" Is it through fact God lost song of Adam? No, of direction no longer. God is familiar with each thing. He needed Adam to think of approximately the place sin had further him. God asks questions no longer through fact He doesn"t comprehend, yet through fact He needs us to think of concerning the importance of what the question inspires. So while Jesus mentioned, "Why have you ever forsaken me," He replaced into inviting all people who beheld Him on the pass to contemplate why He replaced into there. It replaced right into a rhetorical question. Why replaced into the father separated from the Son? It"s through fact the Son replaced into taking our sin; He replaced into taking our place. Jesus replaced into forsaken of the father for our earnings. Isaiah fifty 3:4 says, "yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by using God, and stricken" (NKJV).

Answer 10

All of them didn't die. One still roams the earth spreading Christ's gospel, waiting for the return of the master.

Answer 11

We do not know. In the Bible it only says in Acts that James was killed and that Stephen was killed.Other writings or traditions may be wrong.