St.

John the Evangelist

Plaque with St. John the EvangelistSt. John the Evangelist, elephant ivory plaque,
Carolingian, early 9th century; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Overall 18.3 × 9.4 × 0.7 cm.

In the Bible: St. John the Apostle and his brother St. James the
Greater were among the first disciples called by Jesus. In
the Gospel According to Mark John is always mentioned after James
and was no doubt the younger brother. The brothers asked Jesus to
let them sit, one at his right and one at his left, in his future glory
(Mark 10:35–40), a favor that Jesus said was not his to grant. In
the Gospel According to John, the “sons of Zebedee” are mentioned
only once, as being at the shores of the Sea of Tiberias when the
risen Lord appeared.
John and his brother, together with St. Peter, formed an inner
nucleus of intimate disciples. The trio witnessed the raising of
Jairus’s daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37 and Luke 8:51),
the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2), and Christ’s agony in the Garden of
Gethsemane (Mark 14:33 and Matthew 26:37).

Whether the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (who is never named)

mentioned in the Gospel According to John is to be identified with
John the Apostle (also not named) is not clear from the text. If the
two are the same person, then John was the only apostle mentioned
as being present at the Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:26–27), and a
dying Jesus entrusted the care of his mother, Mary, to John.
Similarly, “the one whom Jesus loved” and Peter were the first
apostles to arrive at Jesus’ empty tomb on the morning of the
Resurrection (John 20:2–8).

In Acts, John and Peter are established as leaders of the growing

faith community in Jerusalem. The pair miraculously healed a
handicapped man at the temple gate (Acts 3:1–11). They were
arrested for preaching about Jesus’ Resurrection but boldly
testified before the Jewish Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1–21).
John’s authoritative position in the church after
the Resurrection was especially demonstrated by his visit
with Peter to Samaria to lay hands on the new converts there (Acts
8:14–17).

According to tradition: John is the traditional author of

the Gospel According to John, the three Letters of John, and
possibly the Revelation to John in the New Testament. His
subsequent history is obscure. At the end of the 2nd
century Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, claimed that John’s tomb is
at Ephesus and identified him with the “beloved disciple.” That
John died in Ephesus is also stated by St. Irenaeus, bishop
of Lyon circa 180 CE. During the 3rd century two rival sites at
Ephesus claimed the honor of being the apostle’s grave. One
eventually achieved official recognition and became a shrine in the
4th century.

The legends that contributed most to medieval iconography are

mainly derived from the apocryphal Acts of John. These Acts are
also the source of the notion that John became a disciple as a very
young man. In Western iconography, the saint is often depicted as
young and beardless; in the Byzantine world, the evangelist is
portrayed as old, with a long white beard and white hair, usually
carrying his Gospel.

St. Philip

El Greco: Apostle Saint PhilipApostle Saint Philip, oil on canvas by El Greco; c.

1612; in the El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain.

In the Bible: Mentioned only by name in the Apostle lists of

the Synoptic Gospels, he is a frequent character in the Gospel
According to John, according to which (1:43–51) he came from
Bethsaida, answered Jesus’ call (“Follow me”), and was
instrumental in the call of Nathanael (possibly St. Bartholomew the
Apostle), whom he brought to Jesus.

At the time of his call, Philip seemingly belonged to a group

influenced by St. John the Baptist. He participated in the miracle of
the loaves and fishes (John 6:5–9). With St. Andrew the Apostle, he
brought word to Jesus that certain Greeks had asked to see him
(John 12:21–22). In John 14:8–9 Philip asked Jesus to reveal the
Father and received the answer “Have I been with you so long, and
yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the
Father.”

According to tradition: Philip’s apostolate was supposedly in the

territory of Scythia, an ancient Eurasian area. He died of natural
causes, according to one tradition, but, according to another,
by crucifixion, accounting for his medieval symbol, a tall
cross. The Acts of Philip are apocryphal and probably date from the
3rd or 4th century. In medieval art he is often depicted with loaves
of bread. A number of legends confuse him with St. Philip the
Evangelist (Philip the Deacon), who was one of the seven deacons
of the early church (Acts 6:5).

St. Thomas

Caravaggio: The Incredulity of Saint ThomasThe Incredulity of Saint Thomas, oil

on canvas by Caravaggio, 1601; in the Picture Gallery of Sanssouci, Potsdam,
Germany.

In the Bible: St. Thomas’s character is outlined in the Gospel

According to John. When Jesus planned to return to Judaea despite
rising animosity against him there (John 11:5–16), Thomas voiced
his support, stating, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” At
the Last Supper (John 14:1–7), Thomas could not comprehend what
Jesus meant when he said, “I will come again and will take you to
myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to
the place where I am going.” Thomas’s question “How can we know
the way?” caused Jesus to answer, “I am the way, and the truth,
and the life.”
Perhaps the best-known event in Thomas’s life is the one from
which the phrase “doubting Thomas” developed. In John 20:19–29
he was not among those disciples to whom the risen Christ first
appeared, and, when they told the incredulous Thomas whom they
had seen, he requested physical proof of the Resurrection. This
evidence was provided when Christ reappeared and specifically
asked Thomas to touch his wounds. Thomas’s sudden realization of
the truth (“My Lord and my God!”) made him the first person to
explicitly acknowledge Jesus’ divinity.

According to tradition: The 4th-century historian Eusebius of

Caesarea noted that Thomas
evangelized Parthia (modern Khorāsān). Later tradition holds that
Thomas extended his apostolate into India, where he is recognized
as the founder of the Church of the Syrian Malabar Christians,
or Thomas Christians. His martyrdom may have occurred under the
king of Mylapore at Madras (now Chennai), where San Thomé
Cathedral, his traditional burial place, is located.

Writings related or accredited to Thomas include the

apocryphal Acts of Thomas, the Gospel of Thomas (among
the Coptic gnostic papyri found in 1945 in Upper Egypt), The Book
of Thomas the Athlete, and Evangelium Joannis de obitu
Mariae (“The Message of John Concerning the Death of Mary”).
St. Bartholomew
Depiction of St. BartholomewSt. Bartholomew, tempera on wood, by the workshop
of Simone Martini, c. 1317–19; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

In the Bible: There are only four mentions of St. Bartholomew in

the New Testament: one in each of the three Apostle lists in
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also in Acts 1:13. Nothing else is
known about him from Scripture. However, given that Bartholomew
is a family name meaning “son of [Hebrew: bar] Tolmai, or Talmai,”
and because he was always associated with St. Philip the Apostle in
the Gospel lists, there is speculation that he may be the Nathanael
mentioned in John 1:43–51, who was called with Philip by Jesus. His
full name would then be Nathanael bar Tolmai. This identification
seeks to explain how the otherwise unknown Bartholomew could be
mentioned in the Apostle lists, while Nathanael, whose call is
explicitly described by John, does not figure in them.

According to tradition: Bartholomew served as a missionary

to India, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia (in what is
now Iran), Lycaonia (in what is now Turkey), and Armenia. The
apostle is said to have been martyred by flaying and beheading at
the command of the Armenian king Astyages.