A) INTRODUCTION.

B) SIMON PETER.

C) ANDREW.

D) JAMES.

E) JOHN.

F) PHILIP.

G) BARTHOLOMEW.

H) THOMAS.

J) MATTHEW LEVI.

K) JAMES THE SON OF ALPHAEUS.

L) LEBBAEUS THADDAEUS.

M) SIMON THE CANAANITE.

N) JUDAS ISCARIOT.

O) MATTHIAS.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

I will take them in order based upon the list in Matthew 10:2-4; plus, Matthias (Acts 1:23 & 26), who was added due to the death of Judas Iscariot.

 

 

B) SIMON PETER

 

 

How Peter died is not mentioned in the Word of God.  It is early Church tradition that teaches Peter died by crucifixion three months after the time of the great fire of Rome in the year 64 A.D., as accounted for in “The Apocryphal Acts of Peter.”  The emperor Nero blamed this fire (which he started) upon the Christians in the city, and early Church tradition teaches that Peter was to be one of many who paid the price for it.  Being told he would be crucified, Peter requested to be placed upside-down, as he felt unworthy to be crucified as his Lord was.  However, other than in “The Apocryphal Acts of Peter,” no other reference can be substantiated that Peter was crucified upside-down.  That he died in Rome we have many references.

 

 

C) ANDREW

 

 

Andrew (not known Biblically) is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patrae in Achaea), in 60 A.D.  Early texts, such as, “The Acts of Andrew,” known to Gregory of Tours (In “Monumenta Germaniae Historica II,” cols. 821–847, translated in M.R. James, “The Apocryphal New Testament” (Oxford) reprinted 1963:369), describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Jesus is said to have been crucified; yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or “saltire”), now commonly known as a “Saint Andrew’s Cross,” supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been (see Dvornik, 1958).  The “Iconography of the Martyrdom of Andrew,” showing him bound to an X-shaped cross, does not appear to have been standardized until the later Middle Ages (see Calvert 1984, page 545, note 12).

 

 

 

D) JAMES

 

 

According to Acts 12:1-2, James was martyred by king Herod via “the sword,” in order “to vex” “the Church.”  To “vex” means, he wanted “to irritate; to annoy; to provoke; to torment; to trouble; to distress; to plague; to afflict,” most likely such that they would retaliate so he could justify putting even more to death.

 

 

E) JOHN

 

 

Taken to the isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:9), in the hopes that he would die there, John never the less wrote the Apocalypse, and we have no record of him being martyred or of his death.  The theologian Tertullian reported that John was plunged into boiling oil but miraculously escaped unscathed.

 

 

F) PHILIP

 

 

Not recorded in the Word of God, according to early Church tradition, as a result of Philip’s preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross.  But Philip insisted that they not release him, and Philip died on the cross.  Another legend has it that he was martyred by beheading in the city of Hierapolis.

 

 

G) BARTHOLOMEW

 

 

Not recorded in The Bible, early Church tradition has it that Bartholomew was said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, Kiing of Armenia, to Christianity.  Another tradition has it that he was executed in Albanapolis in Armenia.  According to popular hagiography, the apostle was flayed alive and beheaded, in Albanapolis, Armenia. According to other accounts he was crucified upside down like Peter.

 

 

H) THOMAS

 

 

Not recorded in God’s Word, according to “The Acts of Thomas,” he was martyred in Mylapore, India, where he was stabbed with spears.  Syrian Christian tradition specifies Thomas was martyred in Mylapore on July 3, A.D. 72, noting that he was killed with a spear.

 

 

J) MATTHEW LEVI

 

 

Not recorded in God’s Word, Matthew is said to have been crucified in Alexandria, Egypt.  However, no one knows for sure where or how he died.  Various accounts say he was beheaded, stoned, burned, or even stabbed.  And one account even suggests that he died of natural causes like John.  Nothing can be verified of any of the accounts.

 

 

K) JAMES THE SON OF ALPHAEUS

 

 

Not recorded in the Bible, Church tradition has it that while preaching in Jerusalem, James was stoned to death by the Jews, and was buried there beside the Temple.

 

 

L) LEBBAEUS THADDAEUS

 

 

Not recorded in The Bible, tradition teaches that Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.  Or, that while founding the Church at Edessa, he was crucified there as a martyr.  Another legend suggests that his execution was by an ax or club, from which these weapons are often depicted in various artworks of Thaddeus.

 

 

M) SIMON THE CANAANITE

 

 

Not recorded in God’s Word, the most widespread tradition is that after evangelizing in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia, or in Beirut, Lebanon, where both were martyred in 65 A.D.  This version is the one found in, “The Golden Legend.”  Another has it that he may have suffered crucifixion when he is said to have been the Bishop of Jerusalem.  Still another tradition also claims he died peacefully at Edessa.  Yet another tradition says he visited Roman Britain.  In this account, in his second mission to Britain, he arrived during the first year of Boadicea's rebellion (60 A.D.).  He was crucified May 10, 61 A.D. by the Roman Catus Decianus, at Caistor, modern-day Lincolnshire, Britain.

 

 

N) JUDAS ISCARIOT

 

 

According to Matthew 27:5, Judas “hanged himself,” because he could not deal with the fact that he had betrayed his Master.  The Book of Acts gives us more detail in Chapter 1, verses 18-19.  Here is my Acts 1:18 Note:  Some have suggested that the Greek word in Matthew 27:5 translated as “hanged,” should be translated as “impaled,” as if falling upon a sword.  That Greek word is “apagchomai,” and literally means, “to strangle.”  Its “Septuagint” equivalent word is found in Second Samuel 17:23, and also means “to strangle.”  The conclusion for explaining the supposed discrepancy between here and Matthew 27:5’s account, is that Judas jumped off one of the many rocks found in this “potters field,” that are still present today, and in places are from 10 to 25 feet high, and as such could have caused his bowels to burst out.  In other words, Acts 1:18 is not telling us his method of death, but what happened after he “hanged himself,” from Matthew’s account.

 

 

O) MATTHIAS

 

 

Not recorded in the Word of God, one tradition teaches that he died at Sebastopolis, and was buried there, near the “Temple of the Sun.”  Alternatively, another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the local populace, and then beheaded.  However, according to the historian Hippolytus of Rome, Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem.