Apart from a few famous stories, like Peter walking on water, most readers of the Bible have only a vague notion of who Jesus’ apostles were and what exactly they did. Yet, without knowing their adventurous lives, the full story of the Apostolic Age fades into a Sunday school cliché. Even the most popular books on the subject fail to fit all the puzzle pieces together. This book, gleaned from over a decade of teaching and study, takes you alongside the apostles, reveals the world through their eyes, and accurately retraces every known step of their lives. Imprisoned in Nero’s Rome, Paul wrote, “I am an ambassador in chains.” “Apostle” means ambassador, and these long-suffering ambassadors of Christ bore the gospel over tens of thousands of miles from Jerusalem to Africa, Europe, and Asia. They planted churches, had heavenly encounters, worked miracles, wrote all-time best-sellers, were shipwrecked, flogged, imprisoned, and martyred, and yet they turned empires and kingdoms upside down. Open this book and begin a journey of discovery, back to the first century, experiencing how, against all odds, these embattled and triumphant ambassadors in chains so perfectly fulfilled Jesus’ Great Commission.

The stories and contributions of the apostles provide an important entrée into church history. This comprehensive historical and literary introduction uncovers their lives and legacies, underscoring the apostles' impact on the growth of the early church. The author collects and distills the histories, legends, symbols, and iconography of the original twelve and locates figures such as Paul, Peter, and John in the broader context of the history of the apostles. He also explores the continuing story of the gospel mission and the twelve disciples beyond the New Testament.

This book is a definitive history of the lives and deaths of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. It details the lives of twelve Jewish men who walked the earth with the Son of God and who changed the course of world history. Using scholarly sources, modern translations of the ancient texts, and the often-ignored concept of local tradition, the author follows each of the Twelve Apostles from their calling by the Lord, to the most likely geographical locations of their evangelical missions, and to the locations of their deaths by martyrdom. As well as it can be known, the author goes one step further and tells the reader the fascinating stories of the far-flung postmortem journey's of each apostle's earthly remains and informs us of where their tombs can be visited today. Along with all of this, Dr. Orzeck shares with us his firsthand account of his adventures involved in visiting the locations mentioned in the book. He does so first and most importantly because of what he feels is a huge responsibility to get the story of these great men correct as humanly possible. With the possible exception of the late Pope John Paul II, to the best of his knowledge, he (and his wife and traveling partner) are the only persons ever to have been in the physical presence of all Twelve Apostles of Jesus since the first Pentecost, an honor he doesn't take lightly.

Disciple means student. Apostle means ambassador. "I am an ambassador in chains," wrote Paul in Ephesians 6:20. In Christ, twelve scared, scattered Apostles turned the world's most powerful Empire upside down - and then changed the world forever. Who were these Apostles? Were they rich or poor? Educated or illiterate? Related to Jesus and to each other or random strangers? Did they live long and travel far and wide, or die young in their home towns? Did they die as martyrs or in peace? This book reveals the surprising answers - drawn straight from the ink on the pages of Scripture, where they have lain in plain sight for over nineteen centuries. Around 56 A.D., in 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For I think that God has exhibited us Apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."In 100 A.D., about when the Apostle John died, there were perhaps one million Christians in the world - only 0.3% of the world's estimated population. For the next two centuries, Christians would be a persecuted minority, with no worldly reward for their labors. Today, over two billion people profess Christianity - about 33% of the world's population. There are 110 times more people, in percentage terms, who profess Christ than did so at the close of the Apostolic Age. So, they did the amazing work Jesus gave them to do, these tireless, devoted ambassadors in chains.Jim Moseley has taught and written 17 books on Biblical theology since 2008, focusing on apologetics, science, history, archaeology, and comparative religions and doctrines. He is President of a non-profit organization (thebiblehistoryguy.com), whose mission is finding faith through facts. He is working on a Master's Degree in Divinity at Liberty University.

The Training of the Twelve tells us in detail how Jesus chose and trained the twelve apostles, imbuing each with the knowledge and instruction that would become the founding wisdom of Christianity. We find in this book a detailed and intensive Biblical biography, with chapters dedicated to each of the twelve. The methods which Jesus Christ uses in selecting his disciples is examined, as we witness the various episodes in his existence. Bruce's narrative is chronological, and it is useful for the reader to have a Bible to hand to better understand and comprehend the lessons present in the text. A. B. Bruce also includes soundly reasoned passages on the identity of three unnamed apostles. Alexander Balmain Bruce worked for decades in the Free Church of Scotland, preaching and studying Bible lore. His commentaries were popular during his lifetime, with translations made to other languages - notably, he was among the few Scottish Biblical theologians to gain the approval and respect of German scholars.

Who were the Apostles really? What happened to them after the end of the Gospel story? You'll be surprised by the wealth of detail Ruffin has dug up for each apostle - even Judas Iscariot.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James