Founding of Christendom: The Dispersion of the Apostles -- post 4

Go to the whole world baptizing in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

 

With news of the son of Herod becoming the reigning king of Judea and Samaria, the handwriting was on the wall. Persecution was coming to the Holy Land. The first persecution in Judea was because of a political vacuum in Rome, it resulted with the Martyrdom of St. Stephan.  

But Roman order soon  returned-- though un-easy, until the appointment of Herod Agrippa, the first son of Herod-- his father was the one who  questioned Jesus. His grandfather was Herod the Great, who murdered the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem, at Christ’s birth.  Persecution was clearly coming.


Evangelization could still be done under Roman Law, before then.

Now that Herod Agrippa would be king, the Apostles needed to leave for all the world.

St. Mathew probably already had his Gospel written. Some speculate he had 2-- one in Aramaic and one in Greek. This would make sense in preparation for preaching in lands unknown, since the Persian Empire spoke a form of Aramaic and the Roman Empire, Greek. He was probably already keeping notes even while Jesus was alive. [Eusebius (Church History III.39.16)]

The Church celebrates the feast of the dispersion on July 15th. The time the apostles chose to leave Palestine. Peter was planning to go to Rome --to firm up the believers who were already there, as he had done in other places; and stop on route in Antioch.

Antioch was already under the able hands of St. Barnabas. The future traveling companion of St. Paul.

Herod, to please the Jews, started a persecution on the  Passover of 43 or 44 AD-- capturing St. James son of Zebedee, (the Greater)-- brother to St. John the Apostle. He was beheaded.


 St. James "the Greater" was the  first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom.

( Legend has it, that St. James son of Zebadee preach in Spain, before this persecution and was visiting Jerusalem at the time; and his converts who accompanied him back to Jerusalem, took his body back to Spain-- His burial spot becoming the famous Medieval  pilgrimage site ---Santiago de Compostela.)

Most of the Apostles had left Jerusalem by 44 AD, except  St. James "the Just" or  James, the younger or  the less...

Eusebius of Caesarea  reports the tradition that James the Just was the son of Joseph's brother Clopas and therefore was a cousin of Jesus, not a brother in a strict sense as described in the New Testament.

This is echoed by Jerome (c. 342 – 419) He  said James is  the son of another Mary, wife of Clopas. One of the Marys found at the foot of the Cross during Christ’s crucifixion.

Jesus and St. James the less, were “brothers” in the Arimaic expression, but really cousins in English.  In Jesus' native language, Aramaic, which, like Biblical Hebrew, does not contain a word for "cousin"; so "brother" or "sister '' is used instead.

St. Peter was arrested at this time and was miraculously freed from prison and found his way to St. Mark's home, where the Last Supper was held.

 It was decided the Christians of Jerusalem should  not be abandoned--- so, St. James --cousin to Jesus, known as "the Just" would stay in Jerusalem and be their Bishop.

He was so pious and good, that even the Jews admired him.


Our most reliable information is about the Apostles:  Peter, Paul, and John,  but sketchy about the others. We will attempt to piece together what we can.

St. Peter probably arrived in Rome in 43 or 45 AD, after visiting Antioch, on the way. Rome was a huge city, by ancient standards, maybe about a million people. With towering buildings sometimes 6 stories high--immense for the times. Quite an intimidating place for Peter--a Jewish Fisherman.

He  sought out the Jewish district to find some sense of security in the bustling city. Probably there were some Christian Jews already there. This area was called the 14th district, north western corner of the city across the river. The hills of which are now the  Vatican city of today. Most likely he followed the plan of St. Paul, and  preached in synagogue to Jews and then  turned to the Gentiles.

One of his possible converts was Pomponia Graecina, wife of Aulus Plautius--general of the army in Britannia. She was known to have turned to a new religion after losing a loved one. Most likely a convert of St. Peter's. It isn't conclusive, but she withdrew from the parties of Rome and became a virtuous woman, it was not one of the other mystery religions popular at the time. We can strongly  suspect it was Christianity.
(It is interesting that in a few hundred years Constantine, who would free the Christians by the Edict of Milan in February 313, would come from the Britannia army)

Where did the other Apostles go?

We will cover St. Paul later, of whom we have the most information, now lets see where the other apostles went.

The evidence is sketchy, and the traditions are often vague, but we will do our best.

St. Andrew-- went to Kazakstan and Ukraine



Andrew was the brother of St. Peter; one of the four disciples who came with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, during the agony in the Garden, and he also  was the one who asked about the signs of Jesus' return at the "end of the age". (Mark 13:30)

Eusebius in his Church History  quoted Origen as saying that Andrew preached in Scythia -- now known as Southern Ukraine, South-western  Russia.

He preached along the Black Sea as far as Kiev, and from there he traveled as far north as Novgorod. Hence, he became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia.

According to tradition, he founded the See of Byzantium (later Constantinople and Istanbul) in the year 38 AD, installing Stachys as bishop. According to Hippolytus of Rome, Andrew preached in Thrace--now split between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

The small town of  Byzantium would later develop into the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the center of the Roman Empire.(Patriarchal Sees are churches founded by apostles). Andrew, along with Saint Stachys, are recognized as the patron saints of Byzantium.

Andrew traveled back to the south, and  was martyred by crucifixion in the city of Patras in Greece. St. Andrew was crucified, bound, not nailed, to an X-shaped cross, now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's Cross" — Like his brother St. Peter, St. Andrew  deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus.

Most of his relics were brought to the city of Constantinople by the  Roman emperor Constantius II around 357 AD, and  deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

Legend has it that an angel told St. Rule to bring a small relic to the ends of the earth, now known as Scotland. This is how a devotion to Saint Andrew developed there.

St. Bartholomew--  went to Arabia, and possibly a short visit to India with St. Thomas.



Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History  states that after the Ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, probably with St. Thomas' first mission. Where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew in Aramaic.

The Bombay region on the Konkan coast,  known as the ancient city Kalyan, may have been the field of Saint Bartholomew's missionary activities.

Traditions  says that Bartholomew, after preaching the Gospel in India, returned to Armenia. Where he first traveled with his fellow apostle Judas "Thaddeus," (aka St. Jude) Both are reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Church.

St. Bartholomew was executed in Albanopolis in Armenia. The apostle was flayed alive and/or beheaded. (The image in the last judgment by Michaelangelo holding the skin of a full human was probably to symbolize this saint.)

He was martyred for having converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Enraged by the monarch’s conversion, and fearing a Roman backlash, the king's brother, prince Astyages, ordered Bartholomew’s skinned alive and executed, which Bartholomew courageously endured.

St. Matthew --possibly  Ethiopia

St. Irenæus tells us that Matthew preached the Gospel among the Jews, St. Clement of Alexandria claiming that he did this for fifteen years.

Eusebius maintains that, before going into other countries, he gave them his Gospel in Arimaic.

Ancient writers are not as one as to the countries evangelized by Matthew, but almost all mention Ethiopia. Most  claim it  to  be the southern part of the Caspian Sea (not Ethiopia in Africa), and some say he was in Persia and the kingdom of the Parthians, Macedonia, and Syria.

There may have been some confusion of names of Matthias and Mathew since both have been reported to have preached in Ethiopia on the Caspian Sea. Or possibly He did go to Africa, and Mathias went to the Capsian. Nothing is certain.

He is listed as a martyr but we don't know how.

St. Matthias--The replacement of Judas the traitor-- went  to Cappadocia--now Turkey, and finally in the northernmost regions of Asia Minor near the Caspian Sea. Now know as Georgia, Russia and Kazakstan.




The tradition of the Greeks says that St. Matthias preached the faith in Cappadocia and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea, residing chiefly near the port Issus.

Matthias first preached the Gospel in Judaea, then in Aethiopia (the region of Colchis, now in modern-day Georgia) and was there stoned to death.

St. Philip -- Asia Minor (Turkey)



Philip bore a Greek name, and might have spoken Greek. He may have been known to the Greek pilgrims in Jerusalem. He advises Andrew that certain Greeks wished to meet Jesus, and together they inform Jesus of this (John 12:21)  He was the one who asked to see the Father at the last supper.

We know he preached in Turkey.  There has been some confusion about the two Philips though.

In the New Testament there was one Philip  who was a deacon who converted the Eunuch in Acts (Acts 8), the other the Apostle Philip.

It seems as though the deacon had 3 daughters who were consecrated virgins, honored and loved in the early Church.  Two of the daughters were buried with him in Hierapolis, Turkey. The third daughter died in Ephesus also on the coast of Turkey.

We know very little of Philip the  Apostles' activities. There were Gnostics who caused confusion, by using his name  for their teachings. Nothing concrete can be learned other than that he was crucified.


St. Simon the Zealot-- Egypt and Iran




He was known to travel with St. Jude.

The Greeks say  he preached on the Black Sea, in Egypt, in Northern Africa and in Persia.

Concerning his relics it is uncertain, like his preaching, relics are found  from Babylon to Rome and Toulouse ; at Rome they are venerated under the Altar of the Crucifixion in the Vatican.

His symbol  is the saw, since his body was said to have been sawed to pieces.

In Catholic art the martyrs will usually show them holding the instrument they were killed with, you can barely see a saw in the hand of St. Simon above, in the lower left hand corner.

The evangelists though are different. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are symbolized by the four creatures from the Apocalypse. Each creature with a million eyes but distinct faces: a Human with wings (Matthew), a Lion with wings (Mark), Ox with wings (Luke), and an eagle. Matthew starts his Gospel with human linage; Mark starts his Gospel in the desert where lions lived; Luke starts his Gospel with the Nativity story and ox are found in the manger; St. John's Gospel starts "In the beginning was the Word" so lofty that only an eagle can reach those heights.



We will continue with two of the better documented Apostles outside of scripture. Absolutely fascinating.


continue to next chapter