The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary

by Bernard Ruffin, C. Bernard Ruffin

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.

Genres: Religion, History, Catholic, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Biography

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

also known as C. Bernard Ruffin

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whole new shelf for this work. Rankly disappointing. The man assumes and guesses and accepts hagiographical legend and places it alongside tradition which I realize for many people might be one and the same thing but it isn't. Ruffin does the investigation of the early Church after Christ's death and Resurrection absolutely no favours with this book.

"According to the middle Eastern document, Thomas, while still at the court of Gundaphorus, was attending a banquet when he was punched in the face by a cupbearer. Thomas told the offender, "My God will forgive you this injury in the world to come, but in this world He will show forth His wonders, and I shall even now see that hand which smote me dragged by dogs!" Shortly afterward the cupbearer went out to draw water and was attacked by a lion, which killed him and mauled his body. A big black dog gnawed on the mangled remains and walked into the banquet hall with the cupbearer's right hand in his mouth."

Really, Oh really? Puuuuueaze. Placing these stupid and quite unworthy legends alongside the small number of details we do know only serves to undermine that genuine knowledge. The Traditions handed down by communities can having something to say and to illuminate the darkness of these periods but placing rubbish like this in the centre of a reflection and speaking of it as though it were, if you'll pardon the expression, Gospel is quite frankly ridiculous.

Being a practising catholic and very proud to be so, I am well aware that many might see the Catholic Church as grounded or founded on such legends but that is not the case. Hagiography, the overly imaginative, shall we say, accounts of saints lives and deaths are never presented in any meaningful way as scholarship or useful other than as piety. Ruffin presents the dubious next to the inspiring, the insanely silly alongside the beautifully moving and it besmirches everything. I had hoped this would be a simple reflection on the little we know about these twelve men, it wasn't. It was grabbing at straws and constructing a house which anyone,wolf or sheep, would very easily blow down with the slightest breeze of logic, reason or even the genuine search for knowledge of these central yet shadowed figures.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading for an upcoming podcast episode.

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Holy mackerel, people! Why is this book not a standard recommendation for every Christian who wants to know what the apostles did after Pentecost?

We know about John (mostly). We know about Peter (mostly). And a few others. But to read about Bartholomew's ministry to Iran is amazing. And that Thomas is the apostle who we know most about other than Peter or Paul ... well, that was pretty surprising also.

This book was lent to me for some research I'm doing so I'm just dipping into it here and there. But it is so fascinating and readable, with trustworthy scholarship, that I find myself reaching for it for my bedtime reading also.

Highly recommended.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

This compact little 1997 second edition paperback does a nice job of unraveling the full names and relationships of the thirteen apostles (including Judas’ replacement, Matthias). It also includes succinct summaries of each of their their lives after Pentecost bringing together what little source material exists, especially for the lesser-known members.

To me, it was instructive to learn that only two of the thirteen died of natural causes, the remainder suffered various forms of martyrdom ranging from stoning, to beheading, to crucifixion. I was also not aware that the original twelve included at least three pairs of brothers.

If you’re inclined to join Thomas, the proverbial doubter, about the veracity of the Christian story, it is worthy of consideration that he and so many of his peers were eventually willing to die rather than deny it. Martyrdom became the norm for early Christians for almost 300 years - a truly remarkable thing in itself.

If you have a curiosity about the dawn of Christianity, how it expanded to welcome gentiles as well as Jews, and how matters of dissension were handled, this is a succinct answer.

Definitely worth a few hours of time.

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was alright. He used books that I do not consider reliable, like The Acts of Thomas and The Acts of Peter, to use as sources for his information. He called them historical novel's and it read like he was giving them credibility. I know there is not a lot of info on the Apostles, so a lot of it is what has been legend and passed down through the church father's. The author is Roman Catholic, so he puts a lot of emphasis on church tradition.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruffin uses Church tradition as his primary source. He says clearly that, beyond the minimum we know from scriptures, we know nothing. As a result, this is more an apology for Roman Catholic theology than a true history.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I should have done more research on the author. Filled with mistakes and heresies. Told from a Catholic point of view; i.e. James not being Jesus' brother, etc.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really excited about this book when I picked it up, but am incredibly disappointed for several reasons, some of which I'll include here. First, there is a severe lack of footnotes. It doesn't cite much. For example, as a lifelong Catholic, I knew St. Peter was married (it's in Scripture), but I've never read anywhere any detail about his wife, some of which Ruffin writes about in this book (naming her, naming a possible daughter, talking about how Peter's wife aided his ministry and implying they were martyred together) without citing anything, whether is be modern research or pious tradition. Yet he dismisses another, more documented and better known pious tradition, of St. James the Greater ending up in Spain, out of hand. Later, he conflated Philip the Apostle with Philip the Deacon, applying much of what Philip the Deacon did in Acts 8 to the Apostle, of whom we know little. The chapter on Matthew/Levi was one of the stronger points, even noting in detail that the Church Fathers and early sources state that Matthew did indeed write the Gospel. However, in the appendix, it lists Matthew and Levi separately with dates of death decades apart.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked most about this concise study of the 12 apostles is how comprehensive Ruffin's study was without being overly biased. He includes information from historical, biblical, and apocryphal sources, while constantly noting what different theologians think about those sources, which ones are more reputable, how and why. He does seem to favor the Gospel of John at times and clearly has a different view on the author of Revelation than many theologians, arguing that it could indeed be the same apostle who wrote the Gospel of John. For the most part, though, this study was by far the best examination of the twelve that I found, much better than McBirnie and MacArthur, who seem more caught up in their own pilgrimages to sites and discussions of relics than they are the actual lives of the apostles.

[Jacob]

In my attempt to read or get rid of the books that have been sitting on my shelf I finally restarted this book (after finding it probably 10 years ago in a thrift store).

This is definitely a book filled with "it's entirely possible...". I wish he would have been more intentional about distinguishing between events/information we can be pretty confident in based on at least somewhat legit historical sources or at least a long-standing agreed upon tradition vs the events/information that are purely speculation by the author or those he cites. After finishing the book I don't really know which is which.

I'm really interested in this subject and will look for more reputable books once I clear my backlog.

[Maddie:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given to me by my grandpa. I liked it, but at some points I found the book hard to follow. It was intriguing and I picked it back up for the first time in at least a month today. I enjoyed it and read the rest.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the Disciples after the death of Jesus, wonder no more. A pretty good recap of their continued teaching and spreading of the Word after the Crucification.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the 12 Apostles. While it contends that little is known for sure, there is some written outside of scripture that puts together some conjecture.

[Kathleen Basi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. C. Bernard Ruffin takes Scripture and historical documents--even some apocryphal works and gospels that didn't make the Biblical cut (for good reason), and plumbs the depths for things we can learn about the lives of these men. I especially liked how he processed the Scriptural stories (in particular Acts), adding context and historical background that made everything so much clearer than reading without it. You never realize how much is left out of those stories, and how much it clarifies what's going on to have the setting.

Ruffin is very willing to admit what is speculation vs. what is known with reasonable certainty and what is clearly fiction. This book, although it was about the Apostles, actually made the person of Jesus come alive for me, because of what I saw reflected in his closest friends.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Book Blog ----> http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...

I added quite a bit to the original review on my blog and because I did not do this book justice the first time around. It is much better.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I really enjoyed this one. I love reading about figures from the Bible and find this ancient history so fascinating. It is so frustrating that so many documents have been and texts have been lost over the years. I found this one especially interesting because I don't really know anything about the Apostles after the Resurrection. I thought it was also interesting that the author included both the sort of outrageous claims that were handed down though the years in contrast to the more likely or reliable information. This is a quick read but informative and I definitely recommend it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the lives of the 12 Apostles, both during Jesus's time on Earth and after his death. I learned so much about the twelve apostles journeys, miracles, and difficult lives they encountered while preaching the good news from Iran to India. A well written book that incorporated historical facts of the time of the apostles as well as scriptural references that explained their individual personalities and "issues." If you are looking for information on "The Twelve," I highly recommend this book!

[Jennifer Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was interesting. It took a look at the lives of the twelve apostles after Jesus died and talked about what they did, where they cam from, and how they lived out the rest of their life.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book which give a glimpse about the twelve apostles and what they did after Jesus left then. My conclusion is that it gives only a small insight but it does motivate the reader to search out more information.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed look into the different historical accounts on the twelve apostles and gave me a new perspective on what they went through to help form the Church. There were times that the flow of the writing could have been improved, but overall I am glad I picked this book up.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise history of the lives of the Apostles after the Crucifixion. Author does a good job separating sources in scripture vs. apocryphal sources and common tradition.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, easy to read and interesting. Was a good start to my study of the 12.