Since
Christianity's inception, it has been common for Christian faith-defenders to
offer evidence supporting their belief in the risen Jesus. From Paul's testimony
in
1 Corinthians 15, the claim of eyewitnesses to support the resurrection of
Christ has been integral to Christianity. Many people point to the fact that
Jesus's apostles died without ever recanting their belief in him as evidence of
the truthfulness of their testimony.
But is this as strong a piece of
evidence as we've been led to believe? How do we know the apostles were actually
martyred, and does dying for one's faith prove anything other than loyalty to a
belief system? These are the questions Dr. Sean McDowell takes up in his new
book
The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest
Followers of Jesus (Ashgate, 2015). In
The Fate of the Apostles, McDowell
traces the historical evidence for the deaths of each of the Twelve and offers
an objective rubric for weighing the probability of their martyrdoms.
Clarifying What They Died For
Martyrdom is a heady concept. Across the
theological spectrum, there are many people who give up their comfort for their
beliefs. There are fewer who may subject themselves to pain or abuse because of
their faith, and fewer still who die for a religious belief. But all religious
traditions can probably point to someone who qualifies as a martyr for their
particular faith. So, how to approach the apostles' martyrdom, if they truly
were martyred, encompasses the first four chapters of the book. McDowell
keenly clarifies his goal is not to show the apostles were steadfast unto death
not simply in their refusal to give up Christianity, but they very specifically
refused to deny seeing the risen Christ.
This is a key point and one
that must be emphasized again and again to detractors who would liken the
apostles' fate to suicide bombers or some other modern contrivance. There would
be a difference between sincerely holding to the faith in which one was raised
and groomed versus the threat of death for testifying you've seen an executed
enemy of your childhood faith (and Rome) walking around. McDowell makes the
point right off in his book by underscoring the distinction:
The deaths of
others for their religious causes in no way undermines the evidential
significance of the fate of the apostles. Second, the apostles' willingness to
die for their beliefs does not demonstrate the inherent truth of the Christian
message, but that the apostles really believed that Jesus had risen from the
grave. The apostles could have been mistaken, but their willingness to die as
martyrs establishes their unmistakable sincerity.1
Outlining the Fate of Each Apostle
In the book, McDowell spends the first
four chapters outlining the nature and understanding of what martyrdom is, how
it would have been understood to the first generation of Christians, and how it
would fit within their newly forming belief system. He then devotes a chapter to
each of the apostles, including Paul and Jesus's brother James. As would be
expected, the historical evidence shrinks when lesser-known apostles such as
Simon the Zealot or Matthias are considered. Still, McDowell does a great job
showing that even with some apostles' fate in question, there is ample evidence
of apostles who did in fact die for their testimony of the risen Jesus and there
exists not a shred of evidence that any apostle recanted their belief. Given each would have been considered an eyewitness testifying on first-hand
knowledge, this is impressive and does the heavy lifting in setting up the
historical bedrock that the disciples did have some kind of experience that
needs explaining.
Readability
While the book is written and priced for an
academic audience (Amazon is offering the hardback at a pricey $118), McDowell's
style is open and easily enough read to be handled by a sophisticated high
school student. The footnotes throughout offer good support for his claims
within the text and his openings and conclusions of each chapter gives the
reader a nice, concise guide to the evidence more fully developed between them.
The Fate of the Apostles takes on a historical question that no one else to my
knowledge has done in such a complete manner. McDowell has truly done us a favor
in his research and publishing, investigating claims that were assumed but not
demonstrated in a systematic way. We now have a go-to source that should advance
the discussion for the evidence of the resurrection. For anyone interested in
church history, apologetics, or the origin of Christianity, I highly recommend
this book.
References
