According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commanded his disciples to:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
- The Holy Bible, Book of Matthew, Chapter 28, Verse 19
And that's exactly what they did, taking the Gospel to different parts of the world. The scriptures and writings of historians from the first centuries provide a roadmap by which we can trace their footsteps.
In the early years after the crucifixion, Christianity was not an established religion. The world at that time was not connected as it is today. And the ministry of Jesus could have easily died out in Judea, had it not been for the apostles who catapulted it to far-off lands.
In this early period of the religion, there was no developed liturgy or method of worship. There wasn’t even an official name. The earliest followers simply called it “The Way”.
In the early days, the followers of Jesus were not even considered a sect of Judaism. So the movement was too insignificant to attract powerful enemies. The early Christians had more friction with neighboring Jewish sects than with the world power at the time - the Roman Empire. The tide began to turn, however, around the middle of the first century.
In the year 44, the first of the twelve disciples - James the Elder - was imprisoned and put to death by the Roman King, Herod Agrippa I.
It is recorded in the Book of Acts:
“Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword”.
The Holy Bible, Book of Acts, Chapter 12, Verses 1–2
James, the son of Zebedee and his brother of John, never made it out of Judea. He worked as a local missionary in Jerusalem until he was martyred.
Others were not far behind him. Scholars believe that the other James, James the Younger, whom is thought to be the author of the “Epistle of St. James”, also stayed back in Jerusalem and became the first bishop of the holy city. He remained there until he met his end in the year 62. According to Christian tradition and some historical accounts, James was stoned to death by Jewish authorities in Jerusalem and was buried beside the city’s holy temple.
It is said that another one of the twelve disciples, Simon the Zealot succeeded James the Less (James the Just) as the Bishop of Jerusalem. The Zealots were Jewish revolutionaries who opposed Rome. According to Abyssinian tradition, Simon was crucified as the Bishop of Jerusalem after preaching the Gospel in Samaria. Other traditions state that he was martyred to the north of Jerusalem, in modern-day Lebanon, along with another one of the twelve men - Judas Thaddeus.
According to history, three disciples, Matthias, Andrew, and Peter traveled together from Jerusalem to Syrian Antioch. According to the historian Nicephorus, Matthias ended up in Ethiopia. The tradition of the Greeks says that Matthias spread Christianity throughout Cappadocia and beyond, to the mysterious region south of the Caspian Sea, which is modern-day Georgia. This is verified by the Apocryphal Acts of Andrew, which also places Mathias in "The City of the Cannibals".
The story states:
“At that time all the apostles were gathered together and divided the countries among themselves, casting lots. And it fell to Matthias to go to the land of the anthropophagi. Now the men of that city ate no bread nor drank wine, but ate the flesh and drank the blood of men; and every stranger who landed there they took, and put out his eyes, and gave him a magic drink which took away his understanding. So when Matthias arrived he was so treated; but the drink had no effect on him, and he remained praying for help in the prison. And a light came and a voice: Matthias, my beloved, receive sight. And he saw. And the voice continued: I will not forsake thee: abide twenty-seven days, and I will send Andrew to deliver thee and all the rest.”
- Acts of Andrew and Matthias
On the twenty-seventh day Jesus appeared to Andrew and sent him to rescue Matthias. Andrew and his disciples embarked on a boat that was driven, unbeknownst to them, by Jesus. During their journey, he told Andrew to recount some of Jesus’ works. Andrew told a mystical story about a time when Jesus took the disciples to a heathen temple, so that he might show them the ignorance of the devil. There he performed an astounding miracle:
“'And the priests came to the heathen temple, and Jesus showed us the form of the heavens, that we might learn whether it were true or no. Thirty men of the people and four priests were with us. On the right and left of the temple Jesus saw two sphinxes carved, and turned to us and said: Behold the form of the heaven: these are like the cherubim and seraphim in heaven. And he said to the sphinx on the right: You semblance of that which is in heaven, made by craftsmen, come down and convince these priests whether I be God or man....”
- Acts of Andrew and Matthias
“The priests said: It speaks by magic, ye heard it say that this man spake with Abraham. How is that possible… Jesus said to the sphinx: Go to the cave of Mambre and call Abraham; bid him rise with Isaac and Jacob and come to the temples of the Jebusaeans to convict the priests. It went and called, and the twelve patriarchs rose and came out. "To which of us wast thou sent." "Not to you, but to the three patriarchs: go back and rest." They went back, and the three patriarchs came and convicted the priests. Jesus bade them return, and sent the sphinx back to its place. But the priests did not believe. And many other wonders he did.”
Acts of Andrew and Matthias
According to the legend, Andrew miraculously set Matthias free. But his life after that point is highly disputed. Hippolytus of Rome said that Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem. Some stories counter that he was either crucified or stoned to death. But, perhaps, he never left this mysterious region. The historian Nicephorus claimed that Matthias was buried at the Roman fort of Gonio in modern-day Georgia.
Andrew, the travel companion of Matthias, was one of Jesus’ first disciples. But unlike his brother, Simon Peter, readers of the Bible know little about him, although he traveled and spread the message of Jesus further and wider than most.
Andrew first preached in Judea to the Samaritans and in Gaza. From there, he went to Lydda in Palestine, to Antioch, and then onto Ankara and Edessa, a city which became an important center for early Christians. After Edessa, some traditions say that Andrew went to the Greek town of Byzantium, and eventually returned to Jerusalem for a time before setting out on a mission once again.
Andrew's second adventure was far more ambitious than his first. After he reached Antioch, he caught a boat to Cyprus, then to Epheseus. From there he went back to Antioch, Nicaea, Pontus, and Armenia. Several traditions say that he passed down through Parthia, Persia through Kurdistan, and then further near the coast and to the present Pakistan-Iranian border, where he encountered otherworldly creatures - the Cynocephali - the dog-headed people. According to a text in the Syriac language, when Andrew went to these people they were miraculously transformed into normal human beings. After his adventures with the dog-headed people, he went back inland, to the great Silk Road, through Samarkand and Bokhara, and possibly even to the western reaches of China.
The historian Eusebius wrote that he went to preach in Scythia and later wrote the apocryphal text, the Acts of Andrew. He traveled further north and preached in the cities of Kiev and Novgorod. He also preached in Thrace, and later traveled south to Achaea in Greece. According to Hippolytus, Andrew was crucified and suspended on an olive tree, in the Greek city of Patras.
The apostle Phillip also traveled to Greece. According to the apocryphal Acts of Philip, the apostle was sent along with his fellow apostle Bartholomew to teach in Greece, Phyrgia and Syria.
Included in the Acts of Philip is an appendix, which gives an account of Philip's martyrdom in the city of Hierapolis, what today is eastern Turkey. According to the text, Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip and Bartholomew tortured. They were crucified upside-down, but Philip persisted and preached from his cross. As a result of Philip's defiance, the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that they not release him, and he died on the cross.
Most of the twelve disciples died as martyrs, including the man who Jesus once called the “rock,” upon which the church would be founded - Simon Peter. Peter led the twelve apostles in extending the church “here and there among them all”.
The Acts of the Apostles record his travels through Sabeste in Sameria, Lydda, Joppa, and Cesarea.
Hippolytus said that: “Peter preached the Gospel in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Betania, Italy, and Asia”, before heading into the heart of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome. Throughout his ministry, he performed miracles, healed the lame, raised the dead, and he converted people on a mass scale. And thanks to him, the movement began to grow, and have a higher profile, which inevitably attracted some powerful enemies.
In the year 64, when a great fire in Rome ravaged 10 of the city's 14 quarters, Emperor Nero, who was accused of setting the fire himself, pinned the catastrophe on the growing Christian movement and put a mass group of Christians to death in his private arena.
The Roman historian Tacitus wrote: "An immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.” - The Annals, Cornelius Tacitus, Book 15, Chapter 44
Legend has it that Peter was amongst the persecuted. Historians agree that Peter was killed by Nero, likely by way of crucifixion. According to the official story, Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is built on top of Peter’s tomb.
Peter is one of the most famous disciples of the twelve, a group that also includes the apostle John. John, brother of James, and son of Zebedee, first encountered Jesus on the shores of Galilee. Jesus invited John and his brother James to follow him and they complied.
After the crucifixion, when the disciples thought Jesus was dead, Jesus appeared to John and Peter while they were fishing. John and Peter told the others what had happened, and they went back to Jerusalem until the arrival of the Holy Spirit. John was present with the believers in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon them. He received power and played a critical role in the expansion of the early church.
At one point, King Herod Agrippa I attacked the Christians and caused them to scatter outside of Jerusalem. John ended up in Ephesus. Some parts of John's life are not clear but according to some historical sources, he was a leader of the church at Ephesus.
According to tradition, John was captured in a persecution campaign by the Roman Emperor Domitian and banished to the island of Patmos.
Patmos was a small, rocky and barren area where many criminals of Rome were sent to serve out their prison terms in harsh conditions.
The early Christians were considered a strange cult group who were known for causing trouble within the Empire. For that reason, John was sent away. After he had arrived, he began to have visions that became the basis of the Book of Revelation of the Bible. John died on the island.
The teachings of John became part of the Bible - the canonical Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation.
Another one of the twelve, Matthew, is also credited with the teachings which ended up in the canonical Gospel of Matthew. The Apostle Matthew worked a tax collector before Jesus called him to join his ministry. After Jesus, Matthew remained in the holy land for 15 years before embarking on missionary trips around the world. He went to Syria, then visited the Greeks of Macedonia, and the Kingdom of Parthinia, located in “Ethiopia”, the region south of the Caspian Sea, where he preached the message of God.
Several conflicting versions of Matthew’s death exist but according to one legend, Matthew was burned alive, having been wrapped in oil soaked papyri upon which was poured brimstone and pitch, causing him to suffer an excruciatingly slow death. The historian Hippolytus claimed that Matthew died at Hierees, a town of Parthia, near modern day Tehran in Iran.
Like Matthew, the apostle Bartholomew headed towards the east. Bartholomew was one of the church’s most adventurous missionaries. He is said to have preached with Philip in Phrygia and Hierapolis. According to Hippolytus, Bartholomew moved through Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan before landing in India. According to tradition, he then went to the region of Armenia.
Along with his fellow apostle Jude Thaddeus, Bartholomew is said to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Both men are considered patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. One tradition holds that Bartholomew was executed in Albanopolis, Armenia. Sources agree that he died a martyr, although his cause of death is disputed. Some accounts claim he was crucified upside-down, but the most commonly accepted story is that he was flayed alive and beheaded.
While many of the apostles focused on the West, Bartholomew traveled far to the East, as did his fellow apostle Thomas. According to the the Acts of Thomas, it was a divine mandate:
“...and we divided the regions of the world, that every one of us should go unto the region that fell to him and unto the nation whereunto the Lord sent him. According to the lot, therefore, India fell unto Judas Thomas.”
Acts of Thomas
Thomas was reluctant, but Jesus appeared to Thomas and said “Fear not, Thomas. Go away to India and proclaim the Word, for my grace shall be with you".
The apostle still hesitated but then fate forced his hand. Thomas was forced to accompany an 'Indian' merchant, Abbanes, as a slave to his native place in northwest India, where he found himself in the service of the King, Gondophares. According to the Acts of Thomas, the apostle's ministry resulted in many conversions throughout the kingdom, including the king and his brother.
Legend records one of his earliest miracles as follows: “When he encountered a group of Brahmans throwing water into the air as part of a ritual, he asked why the water fell back to Earth if it was pleasing to their deity. My God, Thomas said, would accept such an offering. He then flung a great spray into the air, and the droplets hung there in the form of glistening white blossoms. Most onlookers converted on the spot; the rest fled”.
Thomas is often called by two names - Thomas Didymus. And these names have a significant meaning. The Semitic word for Thomas is “t’om’a”, which means “twin”. And Didymus, in Greek, also means “twin”.
One apocryphal text, called the Book of Thomas, the Contender, records Jesus as saying: “Brother Thomas...now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself, and learn who you are, in what way you exist, and how you will come to be. Since you will be called my brother, it is not fitting that you be ignorant of yourself".
Thomas is famously called “doubting Thomas” primarily because of the incident which occurred after the crucifixion. But the gnostic Gospels depict Thomas in a different light. In these texts, Thomas is depicted as someone very close to Jesus; as a keeper of secrets, which he recorded in these books. The gnostic Gospel of Thomas, begins with this sentence:
“These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas, the twin, recorded.”
- The Gospel of Thomas
According to Syrian Christian tradition, Thomas was martyred in Chennai in the year 72. Historian, Ephrem the Syrian, claimed that after the apostle was martyred in India, his relics were transported to a place nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - to a city called Edessa. And this city went on to become an important city for the Christian faith...
Before the crucifixion, Jesus prepared the people for his absence. He told them:
“I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”
- The Holy Bible, Book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 21
And this cryptic prediction came to pass. Jesus (PBUH) did go away. And while the disciples spread the call of Jesus, they had no idea that the prophet himself was still out there teaching. The disciples spread the message of Jesus, but that which they taught was the message of Jesus during his short-lived ministry in Judea. And the things which Jesus revealed in his later years were much greater.
Now, nearly 2,000 years later, it is finally time for the truth to come to light.