Apostles

An apostle is one of the twelve disciples of Christ, who he sent out to preach the Christian gospel. They were: Peter, Andrew, James the Greater, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, his brother Thaddeus, Simon and Judas Iscariot. The latter betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. Matthias took his place. Generally one speaks of them as ‘pupils’ or ‘disciples’ (followers) for their acts during the life of Jesus, and as ‘apostles’ for their deeds after his death, when they were then joined by one more apostle, namely Paul. According to the New Testament book Acts, Christ gave the apostles their mission after he ascended to heaven. This took place during Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on them. Thereafter the apostles could speak ‘in all tongues’ and were ready to spread the word of Christ throughout the world.