# The 12 Apostles Risked T... ! [ rw-book-cover] (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1595924931002486786/ffRhSilk.jpg) URL: https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581449038479639 Author: @Culture_Crit on Twitter  ## AI-Generated Summary None ## Highlights > The 12 Apostles risked their lives to spread Christianity across the globe. > All but one were murdered for doing so — brutally. > Here's what happened to them, starting with Judas... (thread) 🧵 >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581449038479639)) > Preaching the Gospel was a dangerous business in the first century Roman Empire (and beyond). > Christians were widely persecuted, and most Apostles faced brutal martyrdoms for their teachings... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581454260400467)) > Judas Iscariot, however, died before the Resurrection. > Consumed by guilt, he returned the 30 pieces of silver received to betray Christ, and hanged himself near Jerusalem. >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581458471453046)) > First to be martyred was James the Greater, brother of John. > Herod Agrippa was desperate to suppress the growing movement in Judea, and had him beheaded before a crowd in Jerusalem in 44 BC. >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581463294984424)) > Emperor Nero was especially cruel, scapegoating Christians for the fire of 64 AD and branding them enemies of the state. > Mass executions took place at his circus, of which Saint Peter was one... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581466960797800)) > Peter bravely took his ministry to center of the globe, Rome — making him a major target for Nero. > Insisting he wasn't worthy of dying like Christ, he had the Romans crucify him upside down. >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581470840471841)) > Peter's legacy lives on as the first Pope, and the majestic altar of St. Peter's Basilica stands just meters from where he was killed. > His bones were only discovered in 1968, right beneath the altar floor where they were most expected... >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581474699215089)) > Peter's brother Andrew also died on the cross, after travelling through Asia Minor and Greece. > Roman authorities caught up with him in Patras and strung him on an X-shaped cross — now the national flag of Scotland. >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581481695322403)) > Philip, executed in Hierapolis for converting the wife of a proconsul, was also crucified upside down. > As he hung there he continued to preach, as tradition holds, and he wasn't the only one... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581486405611827)) > Bartholomew was skinned alive for converting the king of Armenia, but apparently kept preaching to a rapt audience as they peeled off his skin. > But executions got even more brutal than that... >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581491132543263)) > Simon the Zealot and Jude traveled together to Persia, where Jude was beaten to death with clubs. > Simon, however, was quite literally sawn in half by the authorities. >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581496950063260)) > Some Apostles traveled even further. > Doubting Thomas preached in India and later became its patron saint, although locals eventually came for him with spears... >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581500620050804)) > And Matthias, who replaced Judas as the 12th Apostle, is thought to have journeyed as far Ethiopia — before local pagans beheaded him. >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581505904898258)) > Matthew, the redeemed tax collector turned Gospel writer, also got to Ethiopia by many traditions. > Again, he was martyred for his words, hacked to death with swords and spears. >  >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581510728339833)) > Others faced death in Jerusalem. James the Less was called to deny Jesus before a large crowd, from atop the Temple. > Instead, he proclaimed Christ as the saviour — before being thrown from the building and killed by a mob. >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581515014914095)) > Only John died of natural causes. > It's thought he lived until 100 AD, exiled on the island of Patmos, where the Book of Revelation came to him in a set of startling visions... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581518525546789)) > Is all this history? > Although most of it isn't in the scripture, it does come from very ancient church tradition... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581522845729024)) > What is clear: the Christian message terrified the powers that be. > 12 great men had the courage to spread it anyway, and in so doing shook the Roman Empire to its core... >  ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879581528101187884)) > If you enjoy these threads, join my FREE newsletter — it goes deeper on topics like this. > Do NOT miss this week. > 100,000+ people read it: history, art, and culture 👇 > https://t.co/XivbEWxf4R ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879585143910002877)) > Here's a beautiful, FREE online course on the history of ancient Christianity... > https://t.co/7YxRDVblEh ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Culture_Crit/status/1879585304535073240))