The Fate of the Apostles--Evidence of the Resurrection?
Christians
like to point to the martyrdom of the first apostles as evidence for the
resurrection of Jesus.[1] They
base their hypothesis on the premise that people don’t die for a lie they know
to be false. People might die for a lie that they believe to be true, but not
one they know to be false. This is persuasive evidence for the reliability of
the testimony of the early eye witness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.
In
his book, The Resurrection of Jesus, historian Michael R. Licona
states this about Jesus’ disciples:
After Jesus’ death, the
disciples endured persecution, and a number of them experienced martyrdom. The
strength of their conviction indicates that they were not just claiming Jesus
had appeared to them after rising from the dead. They really believed it. They
willingly endangered themselves by publically proclaiming the risen Christ.[2]
What
do we know about the deaths of the first disciples of Jesus? Tradition holds
that the apostles died willingly for their belief that Jesus was resurrected.[3] But
how can one be historically sure that the apostles were martyred for their
faith? In his book Fate of the Apostles, popular Christian
apologist Sean McDowell investigates and carefully evaluates the historical
evidence of the martyrdom of the apostles, focusing on the earliest sources
available, “including New Testament documents, with particular focus on the
book of Acts, the writings of the early church fathers, pseudepigraphical
writings such as the Acts of the Apostles, Gnostic sources, and other
extra-biblical accounts.”[4] McDowell
concentrates on first and second century sources containing “living” memory,
which he describes as “transmitting personal memory of events that trace back
to the apostles themselves.”[5]
To
begin, McDowell defines “martyr” as “one whose testimony for Jesus results in
death, which is now the standard Christian understanding of ‘martyr.’”[6] Next
he refutes two primary arguments against doing the historical investigation
into the deaths of the apostles. First, lack of information about some of their
deaths “does not undermine the significance of what does exist.”[7] Second,
despite some evidence being “stuff of legend,” there is some clear historical
evidence within the legends which make them worth examining.[8] Then
he presents clear evidence that the resurrection was central
to early Christian preaching, kerygma.[9] In
other words, the apostles had resurrection faith.
Setting
the stage for examining evidence for martyrdom of the apostles, McDowell first
identifies and explains who were the Twelve Apostles: Peter, John (son of
Zebedee), Thomas, Andrew, James (son of Zebedee), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus, Simon (the Zealot), and Matthias.[10] Next
he surveys both historical and legendary evidence for the persecution of the
early church.[11] Finally,
he devotes the rest of the book (fourteen entire chapters) examining the
evidence for the persecution and martyrdom for each of the
Twelve Apostles, plus Paul and James (the brother of Jesus).
In
the end, McDowell concludes that there is “convincing evidence
Peter, Paul, James, the son of Zebedee, and James, the brother of the Lord,
died as martyrs.”[12] Additionally,
he states it is more probable than not that Thomas died as a
martyr, and more plausible than not than Andrew did, too.[13] As
for the rest of the apostles, using the “living memory” test, McDowell suggests
that there is simply not enough evidence to confidently conclude they died as
martyrs. This is due partly because there is little information available, conflicting
information, or later information (after the second century), making it less
reliable. Here are his conclusions for each of the apostles:
1. Peter—the
highest possible probability
2. Paul—the
highest possible probability
3. James,
brother of Jesus—very probably true
4. John,
the son of Zebedee—improbable
5. Thomas—more
probable than not
6. Andrew—more
plausible than not
7. James,
son of Zebedee—the highest possible probability
8. Philip—as
plausible as not
9. Bartholomew—as
plausible as not
10. Matthew—as
plausible as not
11. James, son of
Alphaeus—as plausible as not
12. Thaddeus—as
plausible as not
13. Simon the
Zealot—as plausible as not
14. Matthias—as
plausible as not[14]
McDowell
summarizes by saying, “although there is no early evidence each of the apostles
died as martyrs, some general claims make their individual martyrdoms more
likely than not.”[15]
So
does this evidence prove Jesus died and was resurrected? What about people from
other faiths who have died for their beliefs, like Muslims or Buddhists?
McDowell responds: “there are many martyrs outside
Christianity; I don’t claim that only Christians have martyrs, but that the
apostles died uniquely for the belief that they had actually seen the risen
Christ, which demonstrates the sincerity of their convictions.”[16] Additionally,
in contrast to modern martyrs such as Muslim terrorists and even Christians,
“the beliefs of the apostles was not received secondhand, but from personal
experience with the risen Jesus...”[17] Modern
martyrs may have been “willing to suffer and die for a faith received
secondhand, but the apostles were willing to suffer and die for what they had
seen with their own eyes.”[18] There
is no evidence the apostles of Jesus Christ ever recanted their faith.[19]
In
conclusion, although the evidence of the martyrdom of the apostles does not
prove the resurrection of Jesus, it does show they sincerely believed it. “They
were not liars.”[20] There
is no better explanation for the reason the apostles were martyred than that
they were committed to something that truly happened—the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
[1] Sean McDowell, The Fate of the
Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus,
(London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015), 1.
[2] Michael R. Licona, The
Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers
Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2010), 366.
[5] Ibid. McDowell cites to Markus Bockmuehl,
“Peter’s Death in Rome? Back to Front and Upside Down,” Scottish
Journal of Theology 60 (2007): 7-13.
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