Documents for "Early Christianity: Biographies":

• Andrew, Saint [Gr.,=manly], in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles, brother of Peter. According to tradition he was a missionary in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and S Russia. According to the apocryphal Acts...

• Barnabas, Saint Christian apostle. He was a Cypriot and a relative of St. Mark; his forename was Joseph. Several passages in the New Testament relate that Barnabas was a teacher and prophet in the church at...

• Bartholomew, Saint in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles, usually identified with Nathanael. Nathanael is a given name, Bartholomew an Aramaic patronymic meaning "son of Talmai." Tradition makes N India...

• Christ see Jesus.

• Didymus see Thomas, Saint.

• James, Saint d. c.AD 43, in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Greater. He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of St. John ; these brothers were the Boanerges, or Sons of Thunder. St. James was killed by Herod Agrippa I. Veneration of St. James has been widespread, especially in Spain (where he is called Santiago); the...

• James, Saint in the Bible, one of the Twelve Apostles, called St. James the Less or St. James the Little. He was the son of Alphaeus; his mother, Mary, was one of those at the cross and tomb. The Western Church...

• James, Saint in the Bible, the "brother" of Jesus. The Gospels make several references to the brothers of Jesus, and St. Paul speaks of "James the Lord's brother." While Protestants generally regard James as a child of Mary and Joseph conceived after the birth of Jesus, Catholic and Orthodox belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary precludes a blood...

• Jesus or Jesus Christ , 1st-century Jewish teacher and prophet in whom Christians have traditionally seen the Messiah [Heb.,=annointed one, whence Christ from the Greek] and whom they have characterized...

• Jesus Christ see Jesus.

• John Mark see Mark, Saint.

• John the Baptist, Saint d. c.AD 28-AD 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his...

• John, Saint one of the Twelve Apostles, traditional author of the fourth Gospel, three letters, and the Book of Revelation (see John, Gospel according to Saint ; John , letters; Revelation ); it is highly unlikely, however, that all five works were written by the same author. In the Gospels he and his brother, St. James (the Greater), are identified as sons of Zebedee; Jesus called...

• Judas in the Bible. 1 See Jude, Saint. 2 Judas Maccabeus: see Maccabees. 3 See Judas Iscariot. 4 See Judah 1 (of which Judas is the Greek form). 5 In the Acts of the Apostles, owner of...

• Jude, Saint or Saint Judas [Jude is an English form to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot], in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles, also called Thaddaeus. He is thought to have been the son or brother of St. James...

• Lebbaeus apostle: see Jude, Saint.

• Luke, Saint [Gr. Lucas ], traditional author of the third Gospel (see Luke, Gospel according to Saint ) and of its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. Paul's letter to the Colossians identifies him as "the beloved physician" and implies that he was a Gentile. Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History affirms the tradition that Luke accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey and on his journey to Rome. According to tradition he was a painter and died a martyr. As an evangelist his symbol...

• Mark, Saint [Lat. Marcus ], Christian apostle, traditional author of the 2d Gospel (see Mark, Gospel according to ). His full name was John Mark. His mother, named Mary, had a house in Jerusalem, which the Christians used as a meeting place. Mark accompanied St. Paul and St. Barnabas, who was his cousin or...

• Mary in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos ). Her name is the Hebrew...

• Matthew, Saint in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles. Also called Levi, he was a publican (tax collector) from Capernaum. Since the 2d cent. the first Gospel (see Matthew, Gospel according to ) has been...

• Matthias, Saint in the Bible, apostle chosen by lot to fill the place of Judas Iscariot. He is said in ancient tradition to have died a martyr at Colchis. Feast: Feb. 24.

• Nathanael in the New Testament, disciple mentioned only in St. John's Gospel and plausibly identified with St. Bartholomew.

• Paul, Saint d. AD 64? or 67?, the apostle to the Gentiles, b. Tarsus, Asia Minor. He was a Jew. His father was a Roman citizen, probably of some means, and Paul was a tentmaker by trade. His Jewish name was...

• Peter, Saint d. AD 64?, most prominent of the Twelve Apostles, listed first in the Gospels, and traditionally the first bishop of Rome. His original name was Simon, but Jesus gave him the nickname Cephas...

• Philip, Saint one of the Twelve Apostles. Like Peter and Andrew, he came from Bethsaida in Galilee. He is mentioned several times in the New Testament (Mat. 10.3; John 1.43-51; 6.5,7; 12.21,22; 14.8,9; Acts...

• Saul of Tarsus see Paul, Saint.

• Simon Peter see Peter, Saint.

• Simon, Saint in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles. In the Gospels he is called the Canaanite or Cananaean or Zelotes, synonymous terms referring probably to association with the sect of Zealots. Feast...

• Thaddaeus apostle: see Jude, Saint.

• Thomas, Saint one of the Twelve Apostles, called Didymus. According to John, he refused to believe in the resurrection until he saw Jesus' wounds; hence the expression "doubting Thomas." John 11.16; 14.5; 20.24-29; 21.2. By tradition he is said to have gone as missionary to Parthia or India. The Syriac-rite Christians of Malabar, India, whose church was established by the 3d cent.,...

• Virgin Mary see Mary.