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I just want to note that Judas, though a disciple, was not an apostle.
Paul was not a disciple, but was an apostle.
He was willing to be discovered as a follower of Jesus, when everyone else fled in fear.
Oops... Judas wasn't martyred as your list points out; he committed suicide. So technically it should read "All except two."
Shadrach, Mesahach, and Abednego?
BTW-There is at least one early Church father writings (Clements) that makes it plausible for John to have died around 70AD. This is often used in debating the date of Revelation.
Uhhhhh....not Paul?
Traditionally, only St. John escaped martyrdom.
The information about the passions of the various apostles was pretty well known and recorded fairly consistantly in the stained glass and paintings of the Middle Ages.
Two other sources that pretty much verify your opening post are the Catholic “Golden Legend” and the Protestant “Fox’s Book of Martyrs”, both books were huge best sellers.
BTW, an argument can be made that the first one was...
... Enosh.
(Genesis 4:26)
:^D
The recent book “Jesus of Nazareth” by Pope Benedict XVI has a very good analysis of the Gospel of John, which connects authorship to the Apostle John. If John the Evangelist did not write it himself, it appeared to be written by his disciples whom John obviously gave his oral testimony to.
Just like the early chapters of Luke. How did those events find their way into print? Because Mary kept all those things in her heart, just like it says! She told the Apostles her story, and they passed it on, and it was eventually written down by Luke.
The other Evangelists (other than John) were also martyred, just in case anyone is keeping track.
And I do believe the traditions that the rest were martyred except Judas. Oddly, I do think Judas was sorry but succumbed to despair, guess it isn't for us to know his ultimate destiny, the "Son of Perdition." Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he had asked forgiveness at the foot of the cross. It would have taken great humility and faith to do such a thing, don't like to think about it too much; my mind goes into a pretzel :-)
Many consider St. John to be a martyr as well. He miraculously survived being boiled in oil and later died “naturally”. The boiling in oil would certainly have resulted in his unequivocal martyrdom without supernatural intervention.
For a Thomistic discussion please refer to:
“Why St. John Was Not Boiled in Oil”
http://www.cts.org.au/2001/universitas10/stjohnnooil.htm
“Perhaps you are thinking as you read the title that I am going to demythologise the tradition that St John the Evangelist was miraculously preserved from death in boiling oil. Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. This article presupposes that the miracle did take place and seeks to understand the nature of the miracle that occurred... “
This may be a stupid question, but I am not a Christian.
Did any of the apostles die before Jesus?
Just where does this info come from? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul; all are documented in the New Testament, but the others? A few are mentioned later in the NT after the Gospels, but their fates are not revealed.
Judas: Suicide.
The suicide of Judas Iscariot doesn't fall within my definition of martyrdom.
Maybe because he was such a fast runner he was able to evade capture?
One word sasys it all, doesn't it?
Your list leaves out SS. Peter and Paul. +James, the step-brother of the Lord, was not an apostle, althought +Paul calls him an apostle (by misake?) in Gal 1:19.
