Lives of the Apostles of Jesus Christ

Written in 1835 by David Francis Bacon, this meticulous historical account reconstructs the lives of the men who carried Christ's message into the world. Bacon distinguishes between the Galilean apostles, Peter, Andrew, James, John, and their companions who walked with Jesus in Galilee, and the Hellenist missionaries like Paul and Barnabas who spread Christianity across the Mediterranean. The work draws extensively from ancient sources to separate legend from history, examining each apostle's origin, mission, and documented legacy within the early Christian community. Bacon defines 'apostle' itself, unpacking its Greek and Hebrew roots to reveal the weight of meaning: messengers sent with authority, bearing witness to resurrection. This is not devotional literature but careful historical scholarship, attempting to answer which details survive in tradition and which emerge from the texts themselves. For readers interested in the New Testament beyond Sunday school narratives, in who these figures actually were and how Christianity transformed from a small Jewish sect into a Roman faith, Bacon offers a rigorous and unexpectedly gripping reconstruction.