Sometime around 33 AD, Jesus Christ was crucified for claiming to be the son of God. Shortly after, his followers said he had been resurrected, and they began preaching the gospel. This simultaneously sparked the movement that became Christianity and made them targets for the same persecution Jesus faced. Some of them would eventually die the same way he did.
Jesus’ closest followers were the apostles, known as “the Twelve.” As leaders in the early church, each of the apostles played an integral role in spreading the church throughout the ancient world, and many of them died as a direct result of their ministry efforts, often at the hands of the people they were called to reach.
In the Bible, fourteen people are considered apostles—the original members of the Twelve, plus Matthias (who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot), and Paul (the apostle to the Gentiles). They were all real people who lived and died in the first century AD.
Only two of their deaths are recorded in the Bible (James and Judas Iscariot). Most of what we know about the other apostles’ deaths come from ancient Christian writers and church tradition, and there are often multiple accounts of where and how they died. It’s commonly believed that only one apostle died of natural causes (John), but some accounts suggest there may have been others who weren’t martyred. Traditionally, each apostle has been portrayed in art holding or wearing an icon associated with their death (Bartholomew’s is pretty creepy by the way).
In this article, we’ll look at what we know and don’t know about the deaths of each apostle, drawing from the Bible, history, early Christian writers, and legend to give you the full range of possibilities. For most of the apostles, the dates of their deaths are unknown or simply estimates, though some have more definitive timelines. Sometimes it can be difficult to trace traditions back to their original sources. When possible, we’ve done that for you.
Is there a particular apostle you want to learn about? Use the links below to skip ahead:
- Simon Peter
- Andrew
- James
- John
- Philip
- Bartholomew
- Thomas
- Matthew
- James son of Alphaeus
- Jude
- Simon the Zealot
- Judas Iscariot
- Matthias
- Paul
Let’s begin with a quick look at all the ways the apostles may have died according to Scripture, tradition, and legend, by clicking on the link of each apostle (Move cursor over specific apostle’s name, ‘tll forming a little hand – left click).