Jesus selected twelve men to be a special group of His disciples; one, Judas Iscariot, would betray Him and then kill himself in grief. Another witness, Matthias, would take Judas’ place. The promotion and advancement of Christianity began with and was centered on these twelve Apostles, but what can be known about them?

W. Brian Shelton takes the reader on a journey to attempt to understand what was believed about the ultimate fate of the twelve Apostles plus Paul in Quest for the Historical Apostles: Tracing Their Lives and Legacies.

The author tackles the complexities of the task well: the different names which are presented in the different texts; the many competing stories about where the various Apostles ended up and how most of them were martyred; and so on. For each Apostle the author presents what is known about their discipleship, what, if anything, is said about them in the Gospels or Acts; what they did write or what they were purported to have written; and the various stories of ministries in various places. The author concludes each by considering the legacy of the apostle and where it is believed they are buried.

For Peter, James, John, and Paul, the ground covered is pretty familiar. For the rest, generally, not so much. The author attempts to wade through all of the stories which attended to the various apostles but maintained a critical eye: conflations were many, and many of the legends would contradict one another. I appreciated how the author would present the information, considering all primary sources and many of the secondary sources, and then provide a reasonable conclusion, rarely granting the most incredible stories and legends while trying to discover any possible grain of historical truth within the narratives.

Those extremely critical of church tradition and the legends and hagiographies which have attended to the Apostles will most likely not be persuaded or impressed. But if you are interested in considering the legacies of each Apostle and the claims which attended to them, this is a great introductory resource.

A scholarly quest to explain exactly what happened to the apostles after Jesus' death. Separating fact from fiction. As a low church liturgy Protestant, I have no knowledge of church history. I'm delighted to study with these resources that show me Church didn't begin in 1517.

I absolutely loved this book! So much of what happened to the Apostles after the ascension of Christ is speculation, and has driven this Bible Nerd absolutely nuts. "The Quest for the Historical Apostles" was such a treasure. The author's drive to find the factual truth behind the Apostles was refreshing and mirrored my own heartfelt quest to learn more about these astounding men. But the author's drive and determination to stay true to authenticity is what drove me to the end of the book. It was a brilliant journey, one that I will happily reread again in the near future.

Up front the author lets the reader know that this work on the Apostles is going to be on the scholarly side. That is true, but the writer and researcher delivers on his subject. There are a lot of works on the Apostles, one recently published by a non-believer which is still surpisingly good, though that book looses a little depth while the writer guesses at things.

What is great about this "quest" is that W. Brian Shelton has deeply researched, and knows his topic. He presents the same using different lenses, and thus is able to make educated guesses when needed. Though a little scholarly for the casual reader, this book, if you are interested in the topic, is worth reading just the same.

First of all, I'm a big fan of the history of the early church and the personalities involved. When I started reading this book I didn't think I'd get into it at all because it has a dry introduction about sources and practices but once you get into the biographies of the apostles, it is really engaging. Without going down a speculative path, the chapters are really good at describing the historical and theological content available on the apostles and painting a picture that should provide most lay people some useful nuggets about the apostles and the early church. Highly recommended for people that want to learn more about the personalities of the New Testament.