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The Search for the Twelve Apostles
El Dr. William Steuart McBirnie, autor de éxito, revela la fascinante historia nunca antes contada de los apóstoles de Cristo y sus actividades, ofreciendo a los lectores un retrato de la vida de cada uno de ellos. McBirnie comienza donde termina el libro de Hechos. Narra la vida de estos sorprendentes hombres, su dedicación, humanidad, afán y triunfante fe. En Busca de los Doce Apóstoles [The Search for the Twelve Apostles] no es una historia de huesos y reliquias, sino una dramática narración de los hombres que conocieron mejor a Jesús y que fueron transformados por esa experiencia.
Best-selling author Dr. William Steuart McBirnie uncovers the fascinating untold histories of Christ's apostles and their activities, offering readers a snapshot of the life of each apostle. McBirnie begins where the Acts of the apostles leaves off. He brings these astonishing men to vivid life, with their dedication, humanity, zeal, and triumphant faith. En busca de los doce apóstoles/The Search for the Twelve Apostles is not a story of bones and relics, but a dramatic tale of the men who knew Jesus the best—and were transformed because if it!
Best-selling author Dr. William Steuart McBirnie uncovers the fascinating untold histories of Christ's apostles and their activities, offering readers a snapshot of the life of each apostle. McBirnie begins where the Acts of the apostles leaves off. He brings these astonishing men to vivid life, with their dedication, humanity, zeal, and triumphant faith. En busca de los doce apóstoles/The Search for the Twelve Apostles is not a story of bones and relics, but a dramatic tale of the men who knew Jesus the best—and were transformed because if it!
Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
June 23, 2011
Whatever happened to the men who learned at the feet of Jesus?
I picked this book up to provide a little insight into the legends and remembered personalities of Jesus’ entourage, for my upcoming book about John’s Gospel. It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.
Written by a believer, but properly skeptical about the legends that sprang up, the book goes through each of the Twelve and then wraps up with a discussion of five other notable apostles: John Mark, Barnabas, Luke, Lazarus, and Paul. As tradition dictates, Nathanial in the Gospel of John is assumed to be Bartholomew in the other three Gospels.
For each figure, McBirnie relates a bit of what the New Testament says, what later Gospels and church fathers report, and what traditions are known. He discusses where they later preached, what they were recognized for, how they died, where they were buried. Where legends disagree (and there are many contradictory traditions) McBirnie reports on them all. He personally visited several countries learning local traditions, so much of the research is original.
Interesting and easy to read, I recommend this book for anyone who is curious about the legends of Jesus’ closest followers.
I picked this book up to provide a little insight into the legends and remembered personalities of Jesus’ entourage, for my upcoming book about John’s Gospel. It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.
Written by a believer, but properly skeptical about the legends that sprang up, the book goes through each of the Twelve and then wraps up with a discussion of five other notable apostles: John Mark, Barnabas, Luke, Lazarus, and Paul. As tradition dictates, Nathanial in the Gospel of John is assumed to be Bartholomew in the other three Gospels.
For each figure, McBirnie relates a bit of what the New Testament says, what later Gospels and church fathers report, and what traditions are known. He discusses where they later preached, what they were recognized for, how they died, where they were buried. Where legends disagree (and there are many contradictory traditions) McBirnie reports on them all. He personally visited several countries learning local traditions, so much of the research is original.
Interesting and easy to read, I recommend this book for anyone who is curious about the legends of Jesus’ closest followers.
March 12, 2019
This book is exceptional...in that I read a little over half before deciding I would be much better off dropping it altogether even though I am reviewing it.
Full disclosure, had I continued on I would have classified it as a Kill-Yourself-First entry.
I thought the subject matter would be interesting. Instead it turned out to be a rehash of what is already broadly known about the apostles through the books in the New Testament followed by a lot of often conflicting and very questionable accounts of what the apostles did after the Bible quit reporting on them.
Solid conclusions about their movements, the circumstances of their deaths, their burial places and the movement of their bones (!) are nonexistent- even though they are based on exhaustive and dull Biblical 'scholarship'.
There just aren't reliable materials out there, guys. Let it go.
I don't care about the possible whereabouts of St. Thomas' finger bone. Neither do I wonder if St. Bartholomew might have been done in with a candlestick in the forum.
There are a lot more pressing matters for members of the faith to invest their time and thought in.
Full disclosure, had I continued on I would have classified it as a Kill-Yourself-First entry.
I thought the subject matter would be interesting. Instead it turned out to be a rehash of what is already broadly known about the apostles through the books in the New Testament followed by a lot of often conflicting and very questionable accounts of what the apostles did after the Bible quit reporting on them.
Solid conclusions about their movements, the circumstances of their deaths, their burial places and the movement of their bones (!) are nonexistent- even though they are based on exhaustive and dull Biblical 'scholarship'.
There just aren't reliable materials out there, guys. Let it go.
I don't care about the possible whereabouts of St. Thomas' finger bone. Neither do I wonder if St. Bartholomew might have been done in with a candlestick in the forum.
There are a lot more pressing matters for members of the faith to invest their time and thought in.
September 26, 2019
I have always wondered what happened to each of the 12 apostles. After 37 years of research and numerous trips to both Europe and the Holy Land, Mr. McBirnie, has written an in-depth and well researched book on the years of each apostle after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Their spread of the gospel goes far beyond the Holy Land and set the stage for the advance of Christianity throughout the world. He also covers Luke, Lazarus and Paul. Except for a couple, they all ended as martyrs for their faith. But what is most interesting is what happened to their bodies after their deaths. This book made me want to take a journey and visit each of the sites where their relics (bones) are interred. A well written, fascinating study of the lives of each of the apostles after Christ sent them out to spread the gospel.
January 23, 2024
I’ve read this book some time towards the end of last year. I realized that despite living in and next door many historically biblical and quranic locations, there was a lot that I didn’t get the chance to learn about and tie things together. There are parts of the book in which I’m uncertain of how credible it really is that only the author’s resources show, but I cannot call myself an expert or someone with deep knowledge in this area. I do think the experiments and long search the author had across so many countries and decades to connect the dots are inspiring and show so much dedication to understanding the people who shaped nations and whose names we still hear everywhere we go in various ways.
January 30, 2023
After 83 pages I can't take it anymore. Another evangelical propaganda book. I tried to give it another chance but after 50 pages I can't waste my time anymore.
And now here are some examples:
1. For lying: he says in multiple places the writers of the gospels are the guys we named them from. If you say this you are either a lying a-hole or you have never done research.
2. Bad sources: at one point he quotes Smith who quotes Eusebius who quotes Papias who most likely never meet the apostles and just wrote from at best second had sources. So instead of saying Eusebius said that Papias said you say a guy thinks that this happened based on his reading of what he thinks Papias might say. For those who don't know we don't have to much of what Papias wrote, he have him quoted be Eusebius who lived in 260-339 so about 200 years after the event he was born. Also everybody know Papias is not the most trust worthy guy.
3. Clear logical inconsistency and hypocrisy: he writes that some tradition about Andrew is too much to be true. But at the same time he thinks god farted the universe in 6 days, the donkeys talk and The red sea was split in two. I think at this point you lose your right to say what seems possible and what not.
And this are just a few and really flagrant examples. This book is a waste of time and also if you google this guy a little he seems to have been just another racist right wing evangelical based on what other books he wrote. Lets just say this you can not admire M. L. King Jr. but also this guy. And even if he would have not have this darker side he lies for Jesus and this is bad.
And now here are some examples:
1. For lying: he says in multiple places the writers of the gospels are the guys we named them from. If you say this you are either a lying a-hole or you have never done research.
2. Bad sources: at one point he quotes Smith who quotes Eusebius who quotes Papias who most likely never meet the apostles and just wrote from at best second had sources. So instead of saying Eusebius said that Papias said you say a guy thinks that this happened based on his reading of what he thinks Papias might say. For those who don't know we don't have to much of what Papias wrote, he have him quoted be Eusebius who lived in 260-339 so about 200 years after the event he was born. Also everybody know Papias is not the most trust worthy guy.
3. Clear logical inconsistency and hypocrisy: he writes that some tradition about Andrew is too much to be true. But at the same time he thinks god farted the universe in 6 days, the donkeys talk and The red sea was split in two. I think at this point you lose your right to say what seems possible and what not.
And this are just a few and really flagrant examples. This book is a waste of time and also if you google this guy a little he seems to have been just another racist right wing evangelical based on what other books he wrote. Lets just say this you can not admire M. L. King Jr. but also this guy. And even if he would have not have this darker side he lies for Jesus and this is bad.
August 17, 2014
I read this book mainly to learn about the traditions regarding what happened to the twelve apostles after Acts. I wasn't bent on accepting everything as fact, but I was surprised about how reasonable many of the traditions are. I had never thought about how widely the apostles must have traveled, but, after all, they were commanded, "Go and make disciples of all the nations ..." (Mt 28:19) and "...you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). For example, it's almost fact Thomas went to India; Simon from Cana could quite probably have gone to Britain; and Peter wrote 1 Peter from Babylon (1 Pet 5:13) (I don't know how I'd missed that before!).
What I didn't care for was all the description of churches and what happened to the apostles' bones. There seemed to be an unjustified amount of that rather dry information. But, that may be what some people are interested in, so this book has wide appeal.
What I didn't care for was all the description of churches and what happened to the apostles' bones. There seemed to be an unjustified amount of that rather dry information. But, that may be what some people are interested in, so this book has wide appeal.
December 12, 2007
Rated: F
May 29, 2022
Let's see..can I name all Twelve after reading this? Peter, James (son of Zebedee), Thomas, Philip, John, Andrew, Simon, Bartholomew, Matthew, Jude, James (son of Alphaeus), Judas Iscariot (fired), Matthias (called up). Ok, I cheated cause I actually forgot two already. Anyway this is a really useful book without being too intimidating or overwhelming, although there is a lot of material packed into it and much that is speculative. That is not so surprising considering the lack actual information about many of the lesser Apostles in the Bible itself and especially their later lives after the Book of Acts. Hence, there are necessarily a lot of references from early Catholic Church histories and major writers (such as Tertullian and Origen) about the peregrinations and activities of the Twelve after Pentecost. Some of this material, which is often quoted at length gets pretty detailed and is often confusing as there are often conflicting claims all over about where and how they died and where various body parts supposedly ended up (from Spain to England to India, but mostly in Rome or Constantinople). The author made dozens of trips to the places where the Apostles (all Saints in the Catholic Church, except you know who) were believed to have traveled and were buried. He got to see some really amazing places! The book was written in 1971 yet I doubt too much has changed, the trade in saintly relics having declined considerably since the Middle Ages! There are also short sections on five major figures who were not Apostles--Luke, John Mark (aka Mark writer of one of the Synoptic Gospels), Lazarus, Barnabas, and of course Paul, who basically wrote the New Testament, almost half the books. Altogether this a valuable little reference book to have on hand.
July 31, 2022
Very informative!!!
August 20, 2025
An attempt at a biography for each of the 12 apostles (and some bonus personalities) using archeological and tradition/myth. It was interesting enough.
August 6, 2020
The premise of this book is amazing: tell the post-biblical history of the apostles; where they went, what they did, and how they died. To a large extent, Mr. McBirnie does this, but it's the manner in which it is done that leads to a lackluster book.
Part of the problem isn't Mr. McBirnie's fault. No one really knows exactly what happened in the lives of the apostles. He claims to have read everything written on the subject - and I have no reason to disbelieve this claim - and he went to visit numerous places in Europe and west Asia to further his research. Because of this research, the information we are given seems quite reliable. In spite of all the research, no one really knows for sure about the history of most of the apostles, and this leads to a book filled with speculation and possibilities.
Reading about conjecture and historical traditions is fine - that's actually what I expected to read in a book like this - but what is not okay is quoting lengthy passages from sources, doing this repeatedly, and passing this off as good writing. Some of the quotations are pages long, and Mr. McBirnie sometimes does this with back to back quotes. Rather than quoting at length, a book reads much better when the author summarizes and combines multiple sources to paint a historical picture. When Mr. McBirnie does this, the book shines. As it is, it feels like lazy writing.
All in all, The Search for the Twelve Apostles is not a bad book. It is okay for getting information, but a person could probably just as easily get the gist of this information reading Wikipedia entries for the apostles.
Part of the problem isn't Mr. McBirnie's fault. No one really knows exactly what happened in the lives of the apostles. He claims to have read everything written on the subject - and I have no reason to disbelieve this claim - and he went to visit numerous places in Europe and west Asia to further his research. Because of this research, the information we are given seems quite reliable. In spite of all the research, no one really knows for sure about the history of most of the apostles, and this leads to a book filled with speculation and possibilities.
Reading about conjecture and historical traditions is fine - that's actually what I expected to read in a book like this - but what is not okay is quoting lengthy passages from sources, doing this repeatedly, and passing this off as good writing. Some of the quotations are pages long, and Mr. McBirnie sometimes does this with back to back quotes. Rather than quoting at length, a book reads much better when the author summarizes and combines multiple sources to paint a historical picture. When Mr. McBirnie does this, the book shines. As it is, it feels like lazy writing.
All in all, The Search for the Twelve Apostles is not a bad book. It is okay for getting information, but a person could probably just as easily get the gist of this information reading Wikipedia entries for the apostles.
May 3, 2016
This book is probably the best reference I've been able to find on what happened to the Jesus Christ's Apostles. While the New Testament's Book of Acts describes the beginning and growth of the early Christian church after Jesus Christ's resurrection, with the exception of James the Great, it is silent on what happened to them after the events in Acts. While parts of this book can be scholastic in tone, McBirnie does show that all the Apostles were remarkably brave men whose strength in their beliefs spurred them to spread the Gospel from India to Ethiopia to what is now southern Russia to Spain and even to Britain ---- explaining how Christianity went so quickly from what was an obscure sect of Judaism to a force too prevalent for even the might, hatred, and cruelty of the Roman Empire to suppress. Possibly not for everybody, but worth the read for those desiring to know the rest of the story on Jesus Christ's very first followers and disciples.
November 9, 2015
McBirnie knows more about the twelve apostles than anybody, he lets us know that several times. he's also been to the holy land more often that you have, he reminds the reader of that, and he's gotten to see stuff only v.special people get to see.
there are quotes in here from lots of books by important authors and historians, otherwise they wouldn't be in here, most of whom i don't recognize, but i'm not as well read as he is. long passages from the middle ages are quoted, but when he mentions chapter and verse in Clement - that isn't quoted. frustrating.
one line of the author's i did love was "The Britons offered stout and intelligent resistance to the Roman conquest as Caesar found out to his dismay, something primitives could not have done." p33 i'm sure the brits would offer stout...
there are quotes in here from lots of books by important authors and historians, otherwise they wouldn't be in here, most of whom i don't recognize, but i'm not as well read as he is. long passages from the middle ages are quoted, but when he mentions chapter and verse in Clement - that isn't quoted. frustrating.
one line of the author's i did love was "The Britons offered stout and intelligent resistance to the Roman conquest as Caesar found out to his dismay, something primitives could not have done." p33 i'm sure the brits would offer stout...
June 24, 2020
To its credit, this book satisfied my curiosity about the fates of the apostles after the death and resurrection of Christ. The author was thorough in citing his sources and he attempts at the end of each entry to summarize what he has learned.
But the evidence is often so fragmentary and contradictory that it is difficult to follow, to the point of being frustrating at times. The author resorts to long quotes from secondary sources, particularly when he is unsure himself.
So — great to satisfy a preexisting curiosity, not to enjoy in its telling.
But the evidence is often so fragmentary and contradictory that it is difficult to follow, to the point of being frustrating at times. The author resorts to long quotes from secondary sources, particularly when he is unsure himself.
So — great to satisfy a preexisting curiosity, not to enjoy in its telling.
August 30, 2012
A very fascinating book indeed. The amount of research is mind-boggling. The books contains almost every know story, theory and tradition about the Apostles and others, giving readers plenty to examine and weigh out to decide what may be truth and what is mere myth. The author shows his leanings, and I cannot say I always agree with them, but for the most part I am ignorant on much of this and just found it a thoroughly enjoyable journey through the wealth of information presented.
January 7, 2019
An amazing book, especially if you are interested in Church history, then this book is a must. It's more of a historical book tracing the events and lives of apostles right after where the book of acts ends, and follows right upto their deaths. This gives a peculiar insight into the early Church and also, the early Christian historians who began recording and tracing the apostles and Church fathers. A treasure.
December 30, 2011
Very interesting book and well researched. Not a smooth read for the layman since he repeats himself by providing long quotes that overlap from various sources. This book could have used another edit. The bottom line is that there is a lot of information about the lives and deaths of the early apostles, and most of them were missionaries outside of their home countries.
November 18, 2013
Have owned this book since 1981 & only got to p110. In October 2013, a trip to Amalfi & the beautiful church there of St.Andrew rekindled an interest in the topic. Well-researched, yet readable. Striking impressions of the lives of our Church founders, their faithfulness, zeal, vision, love, suffering.....So glad I read it!
January 19, 2025
Read this book 3 times. Of all the books I've read on the lives of the apostles this one is the best. I recommend it.
September 11, 2018
I have just finished reading this fasinating historical book looking back on the lives of the Apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude, Simon, Judas, and Matthias--what happened to the men who answered Jesus' call to follow him?
What impact did they have on the world? Where did they go and what did they do after Jesus' resurrection and ascension? In these fascinating profiles, Dr. McBirnie offers readers a snapshot of the lives of each apostle. His information was compiled by traveling to places where the apostles lived and visited, by studying the Scriptures and biblical history, by listening to local traditions, and by engaging in his own original research. Picking up where the book of Acts leaves off, McBirnie brings these men to life as he explores the legends, traditions, and real lives of the Twelve as they built the foundation of Christianity.
Well in having finished it, it reads like a follow up on the Book of Acts, an amazing read, of sifting out all the uncertainty of a lot of the unlikely legends and traditions. In so doing the author William Steuart McBirnie has ended up with a very probable history of the travels and the lives of these amazing men from Israel.
It was astounding to see how far each of these Apostles travelled to spread the Good News. They followed and used the means of travel along the trade routes established by the then Roman Empire to places you wouldn't have thought they could have reached in that time. It's also the story of their lives, the brutal deaths suffered by most of them and their final resting places.
What impact did they have on the world? Where did they go and what did they do after Jesus' resurrection and ascension? In these fascinating profiles, Dr. McBirnie offers readers a snapshot of the lives of each apostle. His information was compiled by traveling to places where the apostles lived and visited, by studying the Scriptures and biblical history, by listening to local traditions, and by engaging in his own original research. Picking up where the book of Acts leaves off, McBirnie brings these men to life as he explores the legends, traditions, and real lives of the Twelve as they built the foundation of Christianity.
Well in having finished it, it reads like a follow up on the Book of Acts, an amazing read, of sifting out all the uncertainty of a lot of the unlikely legends and traditions. In so doing the author William Steuart McBirnie has ended up with a very probable history of the travels and the lives of these amazing men from Israel.
It was astounding to see how far each of these Apostles travelled to spread the Good News. They followed and used the means of travel along the trade routes established by the then Roman Empire to places you wouldn't have thought they could have reached in that time. It's also the story of their lives, the brutal deaths suffered by most of them and their final resting places.
January 10, 2019
This is an interesting book that is well organised, giving each apostle his own chapter and treating him as thoroughly as the available evidence allows. Each chapter begins with what Scripture recounts of each apostle, and then continues the story with the available evidence. In some cases this is fairly scant, and in others (like Peter and John) there is quiet a lot of source material. That material ranges from writings of the early church fathers and others from era, which mainly consists of oral information, and legends/stories that have persisted through the centuries in local areas where apostles are said to have travelled and ministered.
However, McBirnie doesn't compile this evidence into much of narrative. Instead, he quotes huge chunks from his source material. While this is great for getting the info "straight form the horse's mouth", it doesn't make for a very compelling read. In some cases, McBirnie does little more than offer a connecting sentence or two between quotes, which can last a number pages. It's a missed opportunity to offer an more thorough analysis of available evidence and tell the stories of these amazing, dedicated men of God.
While the book might be a gripping read in itself, it is useful as a resource for sermon writing, allowing you to get a snapshot of any given apostle's life.
However, McBirnie doesn't compile this evidence into much of narrative. Instead, he quotes huge chunks from his source material. While this is great for getting the info "straight form the horse's mouth", it doesn't make for a very compelling read. In some cases, McBirnie does little more than offer a connecting sentence or two between quotes, which can last a number pages. It's a missed opportunity to offer an more thorough analysis of available evidence and tell the stories of these amazing, dedicated men of God.
While the book might be a gripping read in itself, it is useful as a resource for sermon writing, allowing you to get a snapshot of any given apostle's life.
June 11, 2023
Having just finished reading Taylor Caldwell's Dear and Glorious Physician, her well-researched yet fictionalized take on the life of St. Luke, I picked up this book which we've had in our possession through 40+ years of marriage, because I was curious how much is known about the 12 apostles after the end of the book of Acts.
McBirnie also did loads of research from chroniclers and historians as early as the beginning of the 2nd century through the 1970's when the book was published. He draws from both Western and Eastern church traditions and visited likely all of the places he mentions in the book. I found it very interesting and though very little is confirmed about the missionary journeys and deaths of most of the apostles, I was struck by how faithful each was to the Great Commission and by the likelihood that they travelled farther across the known world with the gospel than I could have imagined. It also made me pay attention to the many names referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles which before I've mostly skimmed over. These were real people with real and deep relationships to the men who walked with Jesus and the one, Paul, who came late but nevertheless had a life-changing encounter with the post-resurrection Christ which changed the course of the Church.
McBirnie also did loads of research from chroniclers and historians as early as the beginning of the 2nd century through the 1970's when the book was published. He draws from both Western and Eastern church traditions and visited likely all of the places he mentions in the book. I found it very interesting and though very little is confirmed about the missionary journeys and deaths of most of the apostles, I was struck by how faithful each was to the Great Commission and by the likelihood that they travelled farther across the known world with the gospel than I could have imagined. It also made me pay attention to the many names referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles which before I've mostly skimmed over. These were real people with real and deep relationships to the men who walked with Jesus and the one, Paul, who came late but nevertheless had a life-changing encounter with the post-resurrection Christ which changed the course of the Church.
January 9, 2025
This overview of the apostles works better as a Christian book than a history book. The author makes pains to stress the research he did, but there's still too much "it's probable..." and "it's possible..." for this to be taken as fact. I found the book interesting since it covered traditions and legends found outside the Bible. I had a few quibbles: John of Patmos was probably not the apostle John and the Romans had some justification for killing early Christians since they threatened the status quo. I also found it odd that at the end, MacBirnie wrote about apostles outside the original twelve and included Paul. As he rightly pointed out earlier in the book, Paul didn't know Jesus and therefore was outside the definition of who could be an apostle.
The book was originally published in 1973, so I have to forgive the most annoying thing. Lazarus is listed as a lesser apostle, but his sisters are only mentioned in passing. I know one of Christianity's greatest failings is its treatment of women, but Martha and the Marys stood by Jesus when the men were all in hiding at the end. They were taught by Jesus and were part of his original ministry. They deserve to be recognized as apostles, too.
The book was originally published in 1973, so I have to forgive the most annoying thing. Lazarus is listed as a lesser apostle, but his sisters are only mentioned in passing. I know one of Christianity's greatest failings is its treatment of women, but Martha and the Marys stood by Jesus when the men were all in hiding at the end. They were taught by Jesus and were part of his original ministry. They deserve to be recognized as apostles, too.
October 25, 2019
This book seems a useful reference, but on the whole it was a disappointment, especially in comparison to the more recent Fate of the Apostles by Sean McDowell. The latter suffered from a kind of formulaicness, but this work suffers in some sense from a seeming lack of method.
McBirnie quotes extensively from various sources, many of them late in history such that one wonders to what extent the later sources are reliable. Further, at least in the edition I read, it was difficult to tell what was a quote and what wasn't--in other words, the design was not well suited to McBirnie's text (a problem likely resolved in more recent reprint editions).
Finally, McBirnie focuses heavily on burial sights of the apostles for his information. This seems somewhat dubious. Granted, in tracking the bodily remains of the apostles, he may at times hit on how true a given myth is, but given how many churches like to claim an apostle for their own and the relative proliferation of relics during the Middle Ages, burial sights seem a difficult way to go about finding the supposed path of the apostles.
McBirnie quotes extensively from various sources, many of them late in history such that one wonders to what extent the later sources are reliable. Further, at least in the edition I read, it was difficult to tell what was a quote and what wasn't--in other words, the design was not well suited to McBirnie's text (a problem likely resolved in more recent reprint editions).
Finally, McBirnie focuses heavily on burial sights of the apostles for his information. This seems somewhat dubious. Granted, in tracking the bodily remains of the apostles, he may at times hit on how true a given myth is, but given how many churches like to claim an apostle for their own and the relative proliferation of relics during the Middle Ages, burial sights seem a difficult way to go about finding the supposed path of the apostles.
May 8, 2017
I learned a lot. Some of the information is dated, but since I knew almost nothing about the subject matter, this was a good place to start. The author is clear and concise. He has, over decades, traveled the globe, gathering both biblical and non-biblical literature, lore, archaeological finds and other evidence, to compile possible scenarios for how the apostles and a few other key New Testament figures lived out their faith and died for it also. It even explores possible locations for their remains. Some of it is conjecture based on circumstantial evidence. When that is the case, the author is quick to admit that is the case. I appreciate that kind of honesty in an author. Having said that, he does a good job of creating a picture of what may have happened to these great men. I give it two thumbs up and encourage anyone who is interested in the subject matter to give this book a chance.
January 27, 2021
I far preferred Ruffin's account of The Twelve to McBirnie. The writing style of this volume is cluttered and confusing with a compilation of block quotes from numerous sources all crammed together and mostly discounted by McBirnie as not historically verifiable. At least with Ruffin, he was able to parse the facts from fiction and build the mythological parts into stories that were engaging. McBirnie is also much more focused on what happened to the remains of the apostles after their death and speculations about their missionary journeys that include every theory possible and no clear indication of which ones are more notable and why. McBirnie also failed to include the theological significance of each individual in his chapters and what that could mean to the greater scriptural content in which they factor. There's tons of information here, but without meaning or purpose and presented in a somewhat unclear way.
December 9, 2022
The approach of the author is to refer to and quote other works which tell of what the Apostles did after the Book of Acts. The result is that this book is a survey of these other works. This leads to both repeating certain claims and also presenting conflicting claims. This would be of interest to someone who was looking for a summary of the content of various sources. I rate this a 2 because I wanted a book that assessed and merged such sources to present a single, most likely scenario.
Also, though the back cover states this “is not a story of bones and relics”, there is a lot about bones and relics in the book.
Also, though the back cover states this “is not a story of bones and relics”, there is a lot about bones and relics in the book.
August 8, 2019
Dr. McBirnie spent years doing research and visiting the sites with claims to information on the Twelve Apostles after Jesus' resurrection as well as other notable apostles (John Mark, Barnabas, Luke, Lazarus, and Paul). McBride traces Biblical accounts of all of these individuals and their contributions to the spread of Christianity throughout Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. With the additional references to apocryphal and gnostic texts as well as legends and tradition, this is a fascinating book which answers many questions and raises others.
October 27, 2023
Poor Pastor McBirnie, it's hard to accept that those who have kept the memory of the Apostles are Orthodox and Catholics, and we hates the Catholics (he doesn't really proffer about opinion about the Orthodox.) I'd originally heard about this book from a fellow Orthodox who commented that he's basically written an Orthodox book.
Having been to the Holy Land, it was interesting to be able to picture the area, as well as have him (begrudgingly) accept the stories of the Apostles' travels.
Not the most amazing book to read but interesting enough.
Having been to the Holy Land, it was interesting to be able to picture the area, as well as have him (begrudgingly) accept the stories of the Apostles' travels.
Not the most amazing book to read but interesting enough.
February 4, 2025
This is somehow condescending and pretentious, without being scholarly, interesting, or defensible.
When I read that the Britons had been portrayed by Caesar as being primitives, like the “painted Native Americans before the arrival of Columbus” I realized that this guy - Baptist preacher that he is - should not be writing history of any kind.
I laughed out loud regarding the early quote that one of the apostles referred to other apostles as “coworkers” - quoted by whatever messed up Bible translation this guy was using.
Ugh. Find a better book. This was poorly done.
When I read that the Britons had been portrayed by Caesar as being primitives, like the “painted Native Americans before the arrival of Columbus” I realized that this guy - Baptist preacher that he is - should not be writing history of any kind.
I laughed out loud regarding the early quote that one of the apostles referred to other apostles as “coworkers” - quoted by whatever messed up Bible translation this guy was using.
Ugh. Find a better book. This was poorly done.
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