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Quest for the Historical Apostles: Tracing Their Lives and Legacies
This comprehensive historical and literary introduction to the lives of the apostles underscores their impact on the growth of the early church.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 17, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 18, 2019
I quite enjoyed the journey the Author took me on, as we waded through History, Legend and Myth in a search for the fate of Jesus' disciples. From my youth, I have always "wished" that Luke had given us more info about what happened to them - even with Paul at the end of Acts, we have him under house arrest and still carrying on his ministry.
I also enjoyed how the Author frequently relates some of the more colourful "acts" that are written in various Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical works - and I also appreciated the fairness with which he treated many of these works.
It would've be nice to have a few more chapters (or a followup book) that covered people such as James (the brother of Christ), Mary (the mother of Christ), Barnabas, Luke, John Mark, Apollos, etc...
This book is well referenced and indexed - which I always like :)
I also enjoyed how the Author frequently relates some of the more colourful "acts" that are written in various Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical works - and I also appreciated the fairness with which he treated many of these works.
It would've be nice to have a few more chapters (or a followup book) that covered people such as James (the brother of Christ), Mary (the mother of Christ), Barnabas, Luke, John Mark, Apollos, etc...
This book is well referenced and indexed - which I always like :)
October 28, 2020
"The prisons there, and the bonds, and the scourges, and the big stones, and the swords, and the onsets by the Jews, and the assemblies of the heathen, and the indictments by tribunes, and the hearing of causes by kings, and the judgment seats of pro-consuls and the name of Caesar, do not need an interpreter... Whenever I read of these occurrences, so soon as I do so, I learn to suffer; nor does it signify to me which I follow as teachers of martyrdom, whether the declarations or the deaths of the apostles, save that in their deaths I recall their declarations also." - Tertullian
This engaging and accessible work by W. Brian Shelton is a well-organized and accessible introduction to the Apostles' lives and ministries, taken primarily from the New Testament, patristic sources, and the NT Apocrypha. Shelton introduces the book by briefly mentioning Schweitzer's famous work "The Quest of the Historical Jesus" (1906) and drawing a comparison to his present investigation of the historical apostles. However, Shelton makes a crucial caveat; he is writing as a believer for (primarily) other believers. The purpose is not to debunk the witness of the NT, but to build on it, to uncover more about the Apostles' ministries and fates.
Each of the Twelve (minus Judas Iscariot) gets his own chapter, with additional chapters on Matthias and Paul. A chapter usually begins with the biblical information, adds patristic references, sifts through NT apocryphal or gnostic texts, and then discusses other late traditions and legends. Each chapter concludes with information on relics, patronage, and feast days.
The study is strong as a survey, or starting point, before one digs more deeply into the Apocrypha and the Church Fathers. It is useful for laypeople as well, as Shelton assumes the reader has a general rather than specialized knowledge of the Apostolic College. No NT or Patristic academic training is necessary for engaging with this study, and Shelton does an admirable job of introducing major voices, traditions, and even geographical locations throughout the book.
That being said, I did find it odd how frequently Shelton utilized a handful of other works on the Apostles that are decidedly un-academic. Then, it seemed that he unnecessarily disagreed with these authors when they turned pop-psychologist and attempted to discern the personalities of the Apostles. While I am glad that Shelton never did this, it seemed strangely out of place to devote space (typically toward the end of a chapter) rebutting these popular-level books.
I also wish that Shelton had engaged with more specialized studies on the Apostles, especially from academic journals. At times it also seems he quotes from books for the sake of having a quotation he likes rather than a quotation that is pertinent to some argument he's making. The quotations from Wayne Grudem, for example, were out of place.
This engaging and accessible work by W. Brian Shelton is a well-organized and accessible introduction to the Apostles' lives and ministries, taken primarily from the New Testament, patristic sources, and the NT Apocrypha. Shelton introduces the book by briefly mentioning Schweitzer's famous work "The Quest of the Historical Jesus" (1906) and drawing a comparison to his present investigation of the historical apostles. However, Shelton makes a crucial caveat; he is writing as a believer for (primarily) other believers. The purpose is not to debunk the witness of the NT, but to build on it, to uncover more about the Apostles' ministries and fates.
Each of the Twelve (minus Judas Iscariot) gets his own chapter, with additional chapters on Matthias and Paul. A chapter usually begins with the biblical information, adds patristic references, sifts through NT apocryphal or gnostic texts, and then discusses other late traditions and legends. Each chapter concludes with information on relics, patronage, and feast days.
The study is strong as a survey, or starting point, before one digs more deeply into the Apocrypha and the Church Fathers. It is useful for laypeople as well, as Shelton assumes the reader has a general rather than specialized knowledge of the Apostolic College. No NT or Patristic academic training is necessary for engaging with this study, and Shelton does an admirable job of introducing major voices, traditions, and even geographical locations throughout the book.
That being said, I did find it odd how frequently Shelton utilized a handful of other works on the Apostles that are decidedly un-academic. Then, it seemed that he unnecessarily disagreed with these authors when they turned pop-psychologist and attempted to discern the personalities of the Apostles. While I am glad that Shelton never did this, it seemed strangely out of place to devote space (typically toward the end of a chapter) rebutting these popular-level books.
I also wish that Shelton had engaged with more specialized studies on the Apostles, especially from academic journals. At times it also seems he quotes from books for the sake of having a quotation he likes rather than a quotation that is pertinent to some argument he's making. The quotations from Wayne Grudem, for example, were out of place.
July 24, 2018
I have a review submitted elsewhere, so I won't publish my review here, but here is a quick synopsis.
This is a fascinating book which examines and describes the lives and legacy of the Apostles, beyond the pages of the New Testament. Shelton profiles the 11 apostles Jesus commissioned to share the Gospel with the nations, Matthias, the elected apostle who replaced Judas, and Paul.
In each of chapter, Shelton describes what we know about the Apostle from the Bible, literary sources attributed to them, references to them in patristic and writings, both historical and legendary material. Shelton synthesizes these to provide a profile of the apostle (he is an orthodox Christian, so finds the Gnostic accounts spurious but still historically valuable). He also provides information about the each Apostles veneration and patronage, and the possible location(s) of their tomb and remains.
I learned stuff and this a good at-a-glance resource for reference if you are interested in chasing down the legacy of an Apostle.
This is a fascinating book which examines and describes the lives and legacy of the Apostles, beyond the pages of the New Testament. Shelton profiles the 11 apostles Jesus commissioned to share the Gospel with the nations, Matthias, the elected apostle who replaced Judas, and Paul.
In each of chapter, Shelton describes what we know about the Apostle from the Bible, literary sources attributed to them, references to them in patristic and writings, both historical and legendary material. Shelton synthesizes these to provide a profile of the apostle (he is an orthodox Christian, so finds the Gnostic accounts spurious but still historically valuable). He also provides information about the each Apostles veneration and patronage, and the possible location(s) of their tomb and remains.
I learned stuff and this a good at-a-glance resource for reference if you are interested in chasing down the legacy of an Apostle.
April 10, 2018
First of all, I'm a big fan of the history of the early church and the personalities involved. When I started reading this book I didn't think I'd get into it at all because it has a dry introduction about sources and practices but once you get into the biographies of the apostles, it is really engaging. Without going down a speculative path, the chapters are really good at describing the historical and theological content available on the apostles and painting a picture that should provide most lay people some useful nuggets about the apostles and the early church. Highly recommended for people that want to learn more about the personalities of the New Testament.
April 14, 2024
This is another narrow audience book. I started the book thinking I was a lot more curious about the topic than I actually was. The book attempts to sort through the various writings (which range across the entire spectrum from canonical New Testament verses all the way to medieval fairy tales) to determine what became of the 13 apostles (counting Matthias and Paul) after the ascension. Ironically, we have multiple Gospels to tell us what became of Judas Iscariot.
The author works from a very wide range of sources, using a variety of textual analysis techniques to try to sift the probable from the completely fanciful. I really appreciate that he spent a significant time up front explaining his technique and approach, versus diving right into any particular biographical findings.
There is a bit of formula to the chapters, which helps focus on various aspects that readers may care more (or less about). Those factors include what the New Testament canon says (typically, not much beyond Peter and Paul), what various early apocrypha say, what church tradition holds and best information we have about their physical attributes and finally where they most likely died and where they were buried, originally and now).
Of course, the bones of saints have a historical habit of getting relocated, so where an apostle (probably) died, where they were buried and where somebody thinks the bones are today can be three wildly different locations.
The author is quite honest with the amount of confusion we still have about the names of the original 12 apostles and the complexity of the different names lists and references. For example, a particular later historical reference to "James" might refer to "James the Just" or "James the Younger" and different sources disagree about whom is meant. All of this adds to the difficulty of the task, regardless of which James you think is meant in any verse that mentions "Peter, James and John".
Comments the author makes indicate he thinks this book could be a text for a class and he writes to that audience, to some extent. Certainly, some technical vocabulary is used that was foreign to me (and to whatever dictionary my Kobo uses).
All, in all, I was ready to be done reading before this book ended, but I persisted to the finish. If you've ever wondered what was behind the curtain of a statement like "historical sources suggest that Peter was martyred in such and such a manner" - the answers are here for you to explore (and argue about).
It was eye opening just how much was written about these men and recorded in writings far beyond what we might think of as typical apocryphal books. It's also clear there has always been a ready audience for more stories (credible or otherwise), resulting in far more having been written than is canonical or credible.
The author works from a very wide range of sources, using a variety of textual analysis techniques to try to sift the probable from the completely fanciful. I really appreciate that he spent a significant time up front explaining his technique and approach, versus diving right into any particular biographical findings.
There is a bit of formula to the chapters, which helps focus on various aspects that readers may care more (or less about). Those factors include what the New Testament canon says (typically, not much beyond Peter and Paul), what various early apocrypha say, what church tradition holds and best information we have about their physical attributes and finally where they most likely died and where they were buried, originally and now).
Of course, the bones of saints have a historical habit of getting relocated, so where an apostle (probably) died, where they were buried and where somebody thinks the bones are today can be three wildly different locations.
The author is quite honest with the amount of confusion we still have about the names of the original 12 apostles and the complexity of the different names lists and references. For example, a particular later historical reference to "James" might refer to "James the Just" or "James the Younger" and different sources disagree about whom is meant. All of this adds to the difficulty of the task, regardless of which James you think is meant in any verse that mentions "Peter, James and John".
Comments the author makes indicate he thinks this book could be a text for a class and he writes to that audience, to some extent. Certainly, some technical vocabulary is used that was foreign to me (and to whatever dictionary my Kobo uses).
All, in all, I was ready to be done reading before this book ended, but I persisted to the finish. If you've ever wondered what was behind the curtain of a statement like "historical sources suggest that Peter was martyred in such and such a manner" - the answers are here for you to explore (and argue about).
It was eye opening just how much was written about these men and recorded in writings far beyond what we might think of as typical apocryphal books. It's also clear there has always been a ready audience for more stories (credible or otherwise), resulting in far more having been written than is canonical or credible.
July 20, 2024
Jesus selected twelve men to be a special group of His disciples; one, Judas Iscariot, would betray Him and then kill himself in grief. Another witness, Matthias, would take Judas’ place. The promotion and advancement of Christianity began with and was centered on these twelve Apostles, but what can be known about them?
W. Brian Shelton takes the reader on a journey to attempt to understand what was believed about the ultimate fate of the twelve Apostles plus Paul in Quest for the Historical Apostles: Tracing Their Lives and Legacies (galley received as part of early review program).
The author tackles the complexities of the task well: the different names which are presented in the different texts; the many competing stories about where the various Apostles ended up and how most of them were martyred; and so on. For each Apostle the author presents what is known about their discipleship, what, if anything, is said about them in the Gospels or Acts; what they did write or what they were purported to have written; and the various stories of ministries in various places. The author concludes each by considering the legacy of the apostle and where it is believed they are buried.
For Peter, James, John, and Paul, the ground covered is pretty familiar. For the rest, generally, not so much. The author attempts to wade through all of the stories which attended to the various apostles but maintained a critical eye: conflations were many, and many of the legends would contradict one another. I appreciated how the author would present the information, considering all primary sources and many of the secondary sources, and then provide a reasonable conclusion, rarely granting the most incredible stories and legends while trying to discover any possible grain of historical truth within the narratives.
Those extremely critical of church tradition and the legends and hagiographies which have attended to the Apostles will most likely not be persuaded or impressed. But if you are interested in considering the legacies of each Apostle and the claims which attended to them, this is a great introductory resource.
W. Brian Shelton takes the reader on a journey to attempt to understand what was believed about the ultimate fate of the twelve Apostles plus Paul in Quest for the Historical Apostles: Tracing Their Lives and Legacies (galley received as part of early review program).
The author tackles the complexities of the task well: the different names which are presented in the different texts; the many competing stories about where the various Apostles ended up and how most of them were martyred; and so on. For each Apostle the author presents what is known about their discipleship, what, if anything, is said about them in the Gospels or Acts; what they did write or what they were purported to have written; and the various stories of ministries in various places. The author concludes each by considering the legacy of the apostle and where it is believed they are buried.
For Peter, James, John, and Paul, the ground covered is pretty familiar. For the rest, generally, not so much. The author attempts to wade through all of the stories which attended to the various apostles but maintained a critical eye: conflations were many, and many of the legends would contradict one another. I appreciated how the author would present the information, considering all primary sources and many of the secondary sources, and then provide a reasonable conclusion, rarely granting the most incredible stories and legends while trying to discover any possible grain of historical truth within the narratives.
Those extremely critical of church tradition and the legends and hagiographies which have attended to the Apostles will most likely not be persuaded or impressed. But if you are interested in considering the legacies of each Apostle and the claims which attended to them, this is a great introductory resource.
September 15, 2022
The author has done an amazing amount of research into the lives of the apostles for this scholarly book. His quest includes, in addition to referencing the New Testament and the more reliable historians, studying the many apocryphal texts about the apostles. By this study and by using his best judgment, he has provided us with his reasonable conclusions about their journeys, their ministries, the ways in which their lives were lived, and the ways in which they ended.
It is more than unfortunate that so much of their lives has been lost to us - especially the lesser-known apostles like Mathias who was dismissed by one condescending apostle scholar as "a man of little consequence". (I was appalled to read that.) Nevertheless, Shelton has provided an excellent work for those like myself who might be curious to learn more about the lives of these very special chosen men.
It is more than unfortunate that so much of their lives has been lost to us - especially the lesser-known apostles like Mathias who was dismissed by one condescending apostle scholar as "a man of little consequence". (I was appalled to read that.) Nevertheless, Shelton has provided an excellent work for those like myself who might be curious to learn more about the lives of these very special chosen men.
August 18, 2018
Very informative and a good read!
Really enjoyed reading about each apostles supposed journeys and how each was marked by a faith to purse and to spread the message and gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Really enjoyed reading about each apostles supposed journeys and how each was marked by a faith to purse and to spread the message and gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
May 2, 2018
Up front the author lets the reader know that this work on the Apostles is going to be on the scholarly side. That is true, but the writer and researcher delivers on his subject. There are a lot of works on the Apostles, one recently published by a non-believer which is still surpisingly good, though that book looses a little depth while the writer guesses at things.
What is great about this "quest" is that W. Brian Shelton has deeply researched, and knows his topic. He presents the same using different lenses, and thus is able to make educated guesses when needed. Though a little scholarly for the casual reader, this book, if you are interested in the topic, is worth reading just the same.
What is great about this "quest" is that W. Brian Shelton has deeply researched, and knows his topic. He presents the same using different lenses, and thus is able to make educated guesses when needed. Though a little scholarly for the casual reader, this book, if you are interested in the topic, is worth reading just the same.
May 23, 2018
After recently reading on the Quest for the Historical Jesus, I was intrigued by this title. As a current student in Bible college, I sincerely appreciate the historical side of those that give us so much of the context of the New Testament. Written for the lay person, this could serve along side a bible study or new testament reading to help provide context and details about the apostles. Really enjoyed this one.
June 14, 2018
I absolutely loved this book! So much of what happened to the Apostles after the ascension of Christ is speculation, and has driven this Bible Nerd absolutely nuts. "The Quest for the Historical Apostles" was such a treasure. The author's drive to find the factual truth behind the Apostles was refreshing and mirrored my own heartfelt quest to learn more about these astounding men. But the author's drive and determination to stay true to authenticity is what drove me to the end of the book. It was a brilliant journey, one that I will happily reread again in the near future.
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