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The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary

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... for the Christian who also happens to be a history buff. This book attempts to address the question "What happened to all of the Apostles after Jesus died?"

The book is divided into chapters which address each Apostle. Drawing from the New Testament, each chapter provides detail on each Apostle and his role in Jesus' ministry, it also attempts to give a character analysis (personality, etc) on each Apostle. The book then tries to give a full indepth history on what each Apostle did based on extra-biblical sources (for example Eusebuis' "History of the Church"). The book also relies on local stories that are generated on each Apostle (for example St. Thomas and his ministry in India). It is in no-way a definitive history on each apostle, but it does try to give a fully detailed history given the limited amount of material. The prose is excellent, making this a very easy-to-read book. For anyone who is interested in the history of the Christian Church, and would like to read up more on the Apostles, I would highly recommend this book.

The "Lives of the Apostles After Calvary is in informitive and eye opening look at the lives and personalities of the twelve apostles of Christ.

Bernard Ruffin presents a human side to the apostles that is not present much anywhere else. Ruffin freely admits that information on the lives of some of the apostles such as Thomas or Barthalmew is lacking at best and there for his conclusions are sometimes conjunture. Mr Ruffin however presents a wide range of sources from historical doucuments to simple legend to present a profile of each apostle that includes thier strengths and weakness' but most importantly their faith.

This is an excellent book for any Christian esp.. one who also happens to be a history buff.

There is as one early reviewer put it, a slight Catholic bias to this book, but it is only slight, being Catholic I of course not only didn't take any offence in this but found it some what refressing. There realy is nothing here that would offend the belife of any seriuos protest and this book can be highly recommended for Christians of all Denomonations.

This well balanced book is a must for all those interested in learning about the lives of the Apostles. The author explores all that it is known from history, tradition and legend that is relevant to the facts about the lives of the Apostles. Once I finished reading the book I learned many facts of the Apostles from their first meeting with Christ, to their martyrdom. This book was an inspiring and learning experience. I could identify myself with some of the Apostles and at the same time realize that they were common people like we all are, who lived a saintly life and accomplished the mission given by Our Lord to spread the word to all nations.

_The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary_ is an interesting book by a Catholic author, C. Bernard Ruffin. It catalogues the lives, travels and evangelical exploits of the twelve apostles from the New Testament, the writings of the Fathers and various apocryphal historical novels. The first problem about writing about the apostles, as Ruffin explains, is to differentiate between "the disciples," "the apostles" and "the Twelve." Disciple refers to any full-fledged follower of Christ and especially to the seventy (or seventy-two) missionaries sent to the villages of Judea during Christ's lifetime. Apostle refers to a special office within the Church that was instituted by Christ to officially declare the Gospel and later on ordain bishops, deacons and presbyters. "The Twelve" encompasses the twelve men explicitly named in the Gospels as those whom Jesus called and taught during his lifetime in this world. A number of saints in Christian history, notably St. Paul, have attained the status of "apostle" or "equal to the apostles" even though they were obviously not in Christ's original entourage. Ruffin does not address the issue of why twelve were called, but it is obviously an Old Testament metaphor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel who originated from Jacob (Israel) and his twelve sons. A problem exists in identifying exactly who the Twelve were because many of them went by multiple names and many figures in the New Testament shared the same name. Ruffin provides an authoritative list: Peter, Andrew, James the Greater, James the Less, John, Philip, Bartholomew (a.k.a. Nathaniel), Thomas, Matthew, Simon, Jude (a.k.a. Thaddeus), and Judas Iscariot whose place was later filled by Matthias. James the Greater and James the Less are both to be distinguished from James the Righteous who was Bishop of Jerusalem and author of the Epistle of James. Most suffered martyrdom for Christ having lived lengthy lives spreading the Gospel of Christ, except for John who died of an illness in old age. Peter of course founded the episcopacy of Rome and Andrew at Constantinople. Many were active in Judea, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Some of the apostles are held to have traveled as far as Britain, Iran/Persia, Ethiopia, Armenia, Scythia/southern Russia, Spain, India and even China and Southeast Asia. The most extensive traditions exist regarding "Doubting Thomas." He is reputed to have traveled to the Punjab region of India, southward along the Malabar Coast and onward to what is today Burma and Malaysia. Thomas is considered the founder of the Indian Orthodox Church dating back to the first century. Ruffin examines the status and motives of Judas and what made him a traitor to Christ. More space in this book is devoted to Peter than to the other apostles and in some instances Ruffin argues for an interpretation of the New Testament accounts of Peter in order to justify papal supremacy over the Church. However, this book remains an excellent, easy to read introduction to early traditions regarding the apostles and their mission to the ends of the earth.

This book is a fast and easy read, perfect for beginners (1-3 years) who have studied some of the bible/new testament and start asking "who were they?" questions. It's not too long of a book, I read it in under a week, and it's a "pass along" book for a friend. (I would never pass along a book I thought bad or boring). Book is not a heavy end all on the subject, but answers enought questions and legends/historical footnotes to put a pretty good idea of what might have happened to the twelve we read about in the NT.

_The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary_ is an interesting book by a Catholic author, C. Bernard Ruffin. It catalogues the lives, travels and evangelical exploits of the twelve apostles from the New Testament, the writings of the Fathers and various apocryphal historical novels. The first problem about writing about the apostles, as Ruffin explains, is to differentiate between "the disciples," "the apostles" and "the Twelve." Disciple refers to any full-fledged follower of Christ and especially to the seventy (or seventy-two) missionaries sent to the villages of Judea during Christ's lifetime. Apostle refers to a special office within the Church that was instituted by Christ to officially declare the Gospel and later on ordain bishops, deacons and presbyters. "The Twelve" encompasses the twelve men explicitly named in the Gospels as those whom Jesus called and taught during his lifetime in this world. A number of saints in Christian history, notably St. Paul, have attained the status of "apostle" or "equal to the apostles" even though they were obviously not in Christ's original entourage. Ruffin does not address the issue of why twelve were called, but it is obviously an Old Testament metaphor of the Twelve Tribes of Israel who originated from Jacob (Israel) and his twelve sons. A problem exists in identifying exactly who the Twelve were because many of them went by multiple names and many figures in the New Testament shared the same name. Ruffin provides an authoritative list: Peter, Andrew, James the Greater, James the Less, John, Philip, Bartholomew (a.k.a. Nathaniel), Thomas, Matthew, Simon, Jude (a.k.a. Thaddeus), and Judas Iscariot whose place was later filled by Matthias. James the Greater and James the Less are both to be distinguished from James the Righteous who was Bishop of Jerusalem and author of the Epistle of James. Most suffered martyrdom for Christ having lived lengthy lives spreading the Gospel of Christ, except for John who died of an illness in old age. Peter of course founded the episcopacy of Rome and Andrew at Constantinople. Many were active in Judea, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Some of the apostles are held to have traveled as far as Britain, Iran/Persia, Ethiopia, Armenia, Scythia/southern Russia, Spain, India and even China and Southeast Asia. The most extensive traditions exist regarding "Doubting Thomas." He is reputed to have traveled to the Punjab region of India, southward along the Malabar Coast and onward to what is today Burma and Malaysia. Thomas is considered the founder of the Indian Orthodox Church dating back to the first century. Ruffin examines the status and motives of Judas and what made him a traitor to Christ. More space in this book is devoted to Peter than to the other apostles and in some instances Ruffin argues for an interpretation of the New Testament accounts of Peter in order to justify papal supremacy over the Church. However, this book remains an excellent, easy to read introduction to early traditions regarding the apostles and their mission to the ends of the earth.

Unfortunately Amazon won't let me change my preliminary rating of this worthy book to four stars.

I initially had qualms about this book. As others have pointed out, the author, who according to the book jacket writes for Our Sunday Visitor, which apparently is a Catholic juvenile newsletter, occasionally peppers the text with Catholic interpretations. But Ruffn gets points for often giving a fair viewing of both sides of controversial ecclesial issues. For instance, regarding the contested familial nature of the "brothers" of Jesus, he concludes his discussion by citing the view that, linguistics aside, these men being brothers germane would not be at issue except for the Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Early on I came across one bit of sloppy narrative, which did not engender confidence. Ruffin has Peter telling the Sanhedrin about an angel releasing the Twelve from prison and telling them to return preaching in the temple (p 42). But the book of Acts, our only source document on this event, says no such thing. Indeed, it seems a bit whimsical that it's not recorded that the Jewish elders ask the apostles how they got out of prison. One senses that they were afraid to ask! But that's speculation on my part - and that's the point. Where the text is silent we should be also, or we should notify the reader that we've departed the source text.

That said, as I continued reading I found the book interesting and edifying. It gives insight into the chronology of the Gospel accounts, and it gathers an impressive amount of research into extrabiblical sources, mostly early church fathers, regarding the possible exploits of the original Twelve.

I say "possible" because it is striking how thin a gruel the extrabiblical witness in these matters is. Very often our knowledge of the apostles quickly degenerates into speculation, fanciful tales, and conflicting claims once we leave the sacred text. It's too bad that so much of this information has been lost, considering the dynamic nature of the spread of the early church. We should be thankful that the Scriptures themselves have been preserved so well.

Ironically, I found the most compelling writing in the book to be centered around the fallen apostle Judas. The examination of who he was, what may have motivated his actions, and the depths to which he fell was illuminating. And the contrast made between Ruffin's orthodox insight into this matter and the humanist view of the poet Longfellow was well done.

As I read this book the ecclesiology of the early church was never far from my thoughts. It's a wonderment, and not a pleasant one, how the church migrated from its early dynamic loose nature to one of hardened divisions and indeed cruel internecine bloodletting. My fervent hope is that despite differences on lesser points, we come to the unity of faith for which Jesus prayed and offered Himself. Maybe a better understanding of the acts and motivations of the first apostles will help us recapture the spirit of those glorious early days. For only in unity will the church regain the power to become the true witness it still is intended to be.

This small, charming book, so well written that it will hold the interest of every twelve year old, and every hundred and two year old, should be in every church library. Oh yes, and in your own library.

Ruffin investigates all the information we have about what happened to each of the apostles after Christ ascended. Thomas, the apostle who doubted, "is frequently imagined as a dour, pessimistic man" (p 120), even though there are very few mentions of Thomas in the gospels.

Yet, "We know more about the life of Thomas after Calvary than we do about any of the other apostles except for Peter and John" (p 120). Thomas was instrumental in the conversion of Prince Abgar the Black. But he kept traveling, through Turkey and Armenia and into India.

There is actually a Syrian document that talks about Thomas in India, called "The Acts of Thomas", which dates to about 200 AD. "The inhabitants of the Malabar Coast of India...have many traditions about Thomas (p 131). One such story relates how Thomas raised a dead boy to life.

Lots of fascinating nuggets of information, and an enjoyable book to read.

This is a very interesting book even if you're not a Christian. We forget that these biblical people where real people who lead fasinating lives. This helps to humanize them for us so that we see that both as the Saints they were and the humans they were. It also strenghtens faith since if makes us aware that these events really happened and aren't just pretty stories.

I had always wondered what happened to the Disciples after Calvery and this book was very enlightening and an easy read. It cleared up a lot of questions I had.