James Allen Moseley
Published: 2020-01-09
Total Pages: 393
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Disciple means student. Apostle means ambassador. "I am an ambassador in chains," wrote Paul in Ephesians 6:20. In Christ, twelve scared, scattered Apostles turned the world's most powerful Empire upside down - and then changed the world forever. Who were these Apostles? Were they rich or poor? Educated or illiterate? Related to Jesus and to each other or random strangers? Did they live long and travel far and wide, or die young in their home towns? Did they die as martyrs or in peace? This book reveals the surprising answers - drawn straight from the ink on the pages of Scripture, where they have lain in plain sight for over nineteen centuries. Around 56 A.D., in 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For I think that God has exhibited us Apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."In 100 A.D., about when the Apostle John died, there were perhaps one million Christians in the world - only 0.3% of the world's estimated population. For the next two centuries, Christians would be a persecuted minority, with no worldly reward for their labors. Today, over two billion people profess Christianity - about 33% of the world's population. There are 110 times more people, in percentage terms, who profess Christ than did so at the close of the Apostolic Age. So, they did the amazing work Jesus gave them to do, these tireless, devoted ambassadors in chains.Jim Moseley has taught and written 17 books on Biblical theology since 2008, focusing on apologetics, science, history, archaeology, and comparative religions and doctrines. He is President of a non-profit organization (thebiblehistoryguy.com), whose mission is finding faith through facts. He is working on a Master's Degree in Divinity at Liberty University.