Pick an Apostle, any Apostle Trivia Quiz

Answer:

"Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him."
- Matthew 10:2-4, NASB

Simon, sometimes called Simon Peter and most commonly called simply Peter, was a fisherman. His brother Andrew was also a fisherman. When Jesus asked them to follow Him, He told them that they would become fishers of men (Matthew 4). Actually James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also fishermen.

Simon and his brother Andrew were originally disciples of John the Baptist, and they became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. All of Jesus' original followers were Jews. Gentile believers in Jesus came later and technically nobody was a Christian before the death and resurrection of Jesus. Before that, almost everybody in the Bible were Jews, whether ethnic born or Gentile convert to the religion and nation. Many Christians consider Pentecost in Acts 2 to be the beginning of the church age.

Roman Catholics consider Peter to have been the first pope, but Eastern Orthodox Catholics and Evangelicals reject this idea. They believe that all of the apostles were just as much, if not more, of leaders than Peter was. For instance, Evangelicals point-out the great influence that the Apostle Paul had on the early church.

Some interesting information regarding James and John the sons of Zebedee: several scholars believe that their mother Salome was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This would make them cousins. Also, James was the first martyred apostle, while ironically, John was the only apostle who wasn't martyred. John is credited by some with writing the Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John, and the book of Revelation.

Philip was from the same city that Peter and Andrew were from (John 1).

Many scholars believe that Bartholomew and Nathanael were the same person. In John 1, Jesus said that Nathanael had no deceit. This means that he was an honest person; not that he was completely sinless.

Thomas is remembered for doubting the resurrection of Jesus, but according to John 11, Thomas had much compassion for Lazarus, the friend of Jesus who died.

Matthew was a tax collector and is credited with writing the Gospel of Matthew.

The Bible says next to nothing about James the son of Alphaeus, apart that he was one of the twelve apostles. People can only speculate about him.

Another name for Thaddaeus is Judas, the son of James. James, Judas, Simon , John etc. are common names in the New Testament for different people.

Simon the Zealot is the only original apostle whose sect of Judaism is mentioned in the New Testament. During the time of Jesus, the typical sects of Judaism were Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. Note that some translations might call him "Simon the Canaanite", but this is likely a reference to him being from the city of Cana. Simon was certainly a Jew; not a Canaanite in the traditional sense.

Judas Iscariot, yeah, that guy. He's pretty famous, or eh, infamous.

As for the others:
James and Judas, the brothers of Jesus, became believers and apostles after the resurrection. Jesus' brothers, James, Simon, Judas, and Joseph Jr. didn't believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry. They basically thought that He was mentally ill (John 7). But James became a leader in the Jerusalem church and is credited with writing the book of James. Likewise, Judas is credited with writing the book of Jude.

The book of Acts tells the continuing story of the original eleven apostles, along with others who became apostles or otherwise leaders of the church. It's interesting to note that James, the Lord's brother, became prominent after James, the son of Zebedee, was martyred. But according to Acts 1, the eleven apostles were all in the upper room, along with Jesus' many female followers, and Jesus' mother and brothers.

Matthias was the replacement for Judas Iscariot according to the book of Acts. However, the New Testament says next to nothing about him.

Saul/Paul was a Pharisee who became the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Luke and Mark are credited with writing the Gospels that bear their names, but they were missionaries with the Apostle Paul. Mark is also called John Mark. Luke was the only Gentile writer of the Bible.

The Apostle Paul mentions Junias in the book of Romans. Some scholars believe that she was a female apostle.