The Martyrdom of the Apostles

1. Andrew, the brother of Peter

Little is known about the missionary work of Andrew in his later life. According to Eusebius, he preached in
Scythia, an area which is now Russian territory between the Black and Caspian Seas. An apocryphal source
maintains that he was crucified in Patras, Greece, and that he was bound, not nailed, to a cross from which he
preached for two days to the people before he died.
Patras GreeceBlack SeaCaspian SeaScythia2. James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John
Although not acceptable by some people, he preached in Spain and was buried there at Compostela. It is also
known that he was executed by Herod Agrippa I (AD 42-44), that he is probably the first of the Twelve to be
martyred.
CompostelaHerod Agrippa I3. John
Most probably John was present in the Council of Jerusalem (AD 49) and left for Ephesus in Asia Minor. Acc.
To tradition, he miraculously escaped death under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Domitian but was
banisehed in the island of Patmos. After the death of Domitian in AD 96, John returned to Ephesus and acc. To
Epiphanius, AD 100, John died there in peace.
EphesusAsia MinorEpiphanius4. Philip
Acc. To Eusebius, Philip preached the gospel in Central Asia Minor, and died in Hierapolis where he was
crucified head down during the reign of Domitian. Papias bishop of Hierapolis knew the two daughthers of
Philip who lived there and learnt from them that Philip raised a dead man back to life. Philips remains are
believed to have been brought to Rome and preserved there since the sixth century.
Central Asia MinorHierapolis5. Bartholomew
So little was known about Bartholomew but acc. To Eusebiues(3rd century), a man named Pantaneus who ent to
India, discovered that some people in India had knowledge of Christ. They showed him a copy of St. Matthews
Gospel in Hebrew, which, they held, had been brought there by Bartholomew. The India, to which Pantaneus
referred to was Ethiopia or Arabia as what people indicrimenately used in those days. Other traditions
maintained that he whipped and beheaded on the orders of King Astyges, at Albanopolis on the shore of Caspian
Sea. And still others believed that he preached and died in Armenia.
EusebiusPantaneus6. Thomas
The traditional accouts about Thomas missionary activities are no more reliable than those concerning the other
disciples. It was clamied, that Thomas evangelized the Christians of St. Thomas in coastal area of Malabar,
India. He was believed martyred by spearing, near Madras in AD 72 and was buried at Mylapore, a suburb of
that city.
Malabar, IndiaMylapore-

7. James, the son of Alpheus

Hegesippus, a historian of the 2nd century, gives a vivid account of the martyrdom of James. On his visit to the
Temple, the scribes and Pharisees set him on a pinnacle of the Temple and urged him to deny that Jesus was the
Messiah. On the contrary, James delivered a rousing vindication of Christ and his hearers began to chant their

praise of Jesus. Furious, the scribes and Pahrisees cast James from the Temple. But the fall did not kill him, so
they began to stone him. As they did so, James prayed for his persecutors. Eventually he was beaten to death
with a fullers club, and was buried at the place where he died.
ScribesPhariseesFullers club8. Jude Thaddeus
Tradition has it that jude exercised his ministry in Mesopotamia, then joined the disciple Simon in Persia where
they preached together, made many conversions, and finally were martyred.
MesopotamiaPersia9. Simon, the Zealot
There is no reliable information about Simons ministry. Early Christian writers identify him with Simeon, son of
Cleopas, who acc. To the historian Hegesippus, succeeded James as head of the church in Jeruslem. Western
tradition holds, as we have seen, that Simon was martyred with Jude in Persia.
10. Matthew
Tradition notes his ministry in Judaea, after which he went to the Est, suggesting Ethiopia and Persia. Legend
differes as to the scene of his missions and as to whether he died naturally or martyred. His relics were alledgely
discovered in Salermo, Italy in 1080 AD.
Salermo, ItalyEthiopiaJudaea11. Matthias (replaced Judas Iscariot)
The N.T. makes no further mention of him after his election. One tradition says that Matthias preached in Judea
and was stoned to death by the Jews. Another tradition holds that he worked in Ethiopia and was martyred by
crucifixion.
The First Christain Roman Emperor-Constatantine the Great
The End of Persecution
The Emperor Diocletian had essentially divided the Roman Empire into East and West in 292 AD. He
established his residence in Asia Minor and ruled the Eastern Empire, while his close frien Maximian ruled the
Western Empire from Milan in Italy.
In 312 AD, an armed conflict broke out between Constantine and Maxentius, both of whom sought the position
of Emperor of the Western Empire. Constantine decided to pray to the God of the Cristians for help in the
struggle. In his dream he saw Christ appeared to him and told him to inscribe the first two letters of his name
(XP in Greek) on the shields of his troops. The next day he saw a vision of a cross in the sky, over which were
emblazoned the latin words in hoc signo vinces-in this sign you will conquer. Outnumbered, Constantine
defeated Maxentius and took Rome and eventually the whole Roman Empire.
In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which stopped the three centuries persecution in the
Roman Empire and granted them religious freedom. The Edict promised to the Christians and to all human
beingsfreedom to follow whatever religion each person chooses.
Declarations
1. He imposed restrictions on pagan practices and openly favored Christianity. He was conviced that God was
behind his victory.
2. He publicly displayed the Christian symbols and lavished the Church with his generous donations
3. He built many chuches and basilicas
4. He granted Chriatian clergy special privileges as a distinct social class. They were exempted from military
service and forced labor.
5. the Roman law was modified in terms of Christian values.
6. Sexual offensenses such as adultery, concubinage and prostitution were punished severely.
7. A more humane attitude was shown toward slaves, children, orphans and widows.

8. Sunday, the day when Chiriantians assembled, was made a public holiday, a day of rest.
Constantine was baptized in 337 AD in Chriatianity, the year of his death. Under Constantine, the church and
state were united, a union that will make the Church the master of the west and architect of the Middle
Ages(600-1500), a role that will break the Church apart.
Constantine set up a new capital at Byzantium. This was a Christian city where no heathen worship was allowed.
In time, the city was named after him and became known as Constantinople.(Today it is called Istanbul). The
emperor then brought together the leaders of the Church and told them they must settle the differences of belief
which had grown over the years. He summoned some 220 bishops together to meet meet in the first general
ecumenical council at Nicaea in 325 AD to prepare a list of things that all Christians could accept and live by and
settle the Arian controversy regarding God as the Sons relation to the Father.
From Constantine to Pope Leo I, basic features of Catholicism were fixed in form:
1. Mass was highly standardized and ritualized.
2. The Church dogma about J.C., God and man was affirmed and clarified in definitive terms
3. Traditional practices were incorporated into canon law.
5. Celibacy was imposed among the clergy who took on the character of a sacred order.
6. Monasticism, that took root in Egypt, from the life of St. Anthony of Egpyt spread across Chritendom in
solitary and communal form.
Emperor Constantine did not make his Empire Christian. This was left to a successor, Theodosius, who made
Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. He ordered all his subjects to follow faith which Peter
delivered to the Romans..
Theodosius eliminated:
1. Paganism and seized pagan temples
2. Broke up statues of their gods
3. Prohibited the practice of pagan rites on the pain of death
The First Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Church
If the Roman persecution threatened the Church from without, heresies threatened the Church from within.
Several of these heresies almost divided the Church permanently.
Ecumenical Councils are great assemblies of Bishops representing the whole Church. They are convened to
discuss an impt. Problem or to condemn a heresy. All the Bishops are entitled to defend their opinion, but the
final decision is made by the Pope.
Church Council
Nicaea I (325 AD)
Constantinople I (381
AD)
Ephesus (431 AD)
Chalcedon (451 AD)
Constantinople II (553
AD)
Constantinople III

Niceaea II

Correction

Heresy

Error

Affirmed the divine

nature of Chirst against
Arianism
Proclaimed the nature of
the Holy Spirit

Arianism

Jesus was not God but

only a man

Macedonianism

Denied nature of the

divinity of the Holy Spirit

Defined the Virigin Mary

as the Mother of
God(theotokos)
Declared Jesus as one
person with two natures:
divine and human
Reiterated that Christ is
one person with two
nature: divine and human
Defined the faith truth of
the two wills

Nestorianism

Jesus was not God and so

Mary should not be called
the Mother of God
Jesus was not a real man
only divine

Declared the authenticity

of the veneration of
religious images

Iconoclasm

Monophysitism
Nestorianism
Monotheism

Jesus Chirst is two

persons one human, one
divine
Maintained that Christ
has two distict natures,
divine in the person of
Christ and human, but
also held that the two
natures are manifested in
but one will and activity
Against the religious use
of mages

At the center of the religious controversies stood the Mystery of the Incarnation. Was Jesus a mere human being?
Is He really the Son of God made man? How was the union of true man and true God in Jesus to be understood?
The Council of Nicaea I
It was held in the year 325 AD. It was covened by Emperor Constantine. It was attended by three hundred and
eighteen bishops and it solemnly condemned Arius and his movement. It proclemaned the divine nature of Christ
against Arianism. It also give birth to the Nicene Creed, which expresses the traditional beliefs of the Church.
The Council of Constantinople I
It was held in 381 A.D. it was convoked by a Catholic Emperor, Theodosius the Great, in that year during the
pontificate of Pope St. Damascus. It defined the divine nature of the Holy Spirit. It was convoked against
Macedonianism, which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
The Council of Ephesus
Held in 431 A.D. was convened by Pope St. Celestine I. it restated and clarified the traditional Catholic teaching
about the two natures of Christ and the Divine Motherhood of Mary against Nestorianism. This dangerous heresy
Promulgated by the priest Nestorius, argued that Jesus was not God. After the council, the people carried the
Bishops in triumph throughout the city. Pope Sixtus III, as a memorial of that event, built in Rome the splendid
basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the year 432 A.D.
The Council of Chalcedon
Held in 451 A.D. was convoked by Pope Leo the Great. This reafiremd the existence of two distict natures in
Christ. It was declared against Monophysism, whch was taught by Eutyches, a monk of Constantinople. He
bagan to teach in the year 446 AD that in Jesus after the Incarnation there was only one nature, a fusion of the
Divine and human. His followers were called Monophysites, from the Gk. Words monos meaning one and
physis meaning nature.
The Council of Constantinople II
Was convoked in the year 553 AD to condemn Nestorianism, which errouneously divided Jesus Christ in two
persons.
The Council of Constantinople III
Was convoked in the year 681 AD to condemn Monothelitism, a heresy maintaining that in Jesus there was only
one will. The name of the heresy was derived from the Gk. Words monos meaning one and thelema meaning
will.
The Council of Nicaea II
Held in 787 AD finally, professed the legitimacy of the veneration of the images against the iconoclasts (image
destroyers) who wanted to abolished all the icons and statues of saints. The council specified that adoration was
due to God alone, while veneration was for the saints.