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By the term Twelve Apostles only the twelve Disciples of Christ should be understood. There are four lists of their names in the New Testament: Matthew 10:12, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, and Acts of the Apostles 1:13. The list of names is as follows: Simon also called Peter(Cephas", in Aramaic) and Andrew his brother; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus: Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord. The lists do not agree with each other as to the sequence of names, agreeing only in listing Peter first even though it was Andrew, his brother, who was called first by the Lord.

It is believed that Christ selected only twelve, which was the number of the twelve sons of Jacob, who later became the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the Pentecost Christ's twelve disciples became the leaders of the new Church. The number twelve was considered so important that very shortly after the falling of Judas Iscariot the remaining eleven voted in a new Apostle by the name Matthias. There are three from among the twelve (Peter James, John) who constituted the inner circle around Christ and were selected to witness extraordinary events in the life of Christ, such as His Transfiguration and His agonizing prayer at Gethsemane. It should be noted that besides the Twelve, Christ selected another seventy from among the multitudes that followed him. Their main mission was to precede Christ in visiting towns and make the necessary preparations for His visits.

The basic qualifications of the Twelve Apostles by which the Church distinguished them from among other preachers of the Gospel include the following: the fact that it is these whom Christ called to follow Him and they did follow Him during His entire life and work on earth until the day of His Ascension; and after the coming down on them of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost, they witnessed in public and to the entire world the Resurrection. of Christ and the new faith in Him; the status of apostolicity demanded that one should have been an eyewitness to the Lord's sayings and deeds and a follower of Him throughout His earthly sojourn so that his witness and evidence about the Lord would be supported on his own personal experience. According to the Acts of the Apostles 4:20, it was only the Apostles who were entitled to state as they did, "for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard".

The Apostles were called by Christ to continue His work of redeeming men from sin by faith in the true God and by thus establishing the kingdom of God on earth. Christ Himself shortly before His Ascension commanded them to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them "in the name of the Father; and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" and teaching them to observe all that He had commanded them; and He promised to be with them always.

Simon. More generally known as Peter (and referred to as "Cephas, his Aramaic name, in some of Paul's epistles). The brother of Andrew. A fisherman from the Sea of Galilee. Considered to be the most impulsive of the group, always ready to speak up, and swing a sword on occasion (e.g. the cutting off of a man's ear at the time of Jesus' arrest. Peter was eventually crucified upside down, at his own request, because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord.

Andrew. He was active in bringing people to Jesus, including his brother Peter. He preached the gospel throughout Asia. On his arrival at Edessa, he was arrested and crucified on a cross, two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground (thus the term, St. Andrew's Cross).

James, the son of Zebedee and the elder brother of John, was killed when Herod Agrippa arrived as governor of Judea. Many early disciples were martyred under Agrippas rule, including Timon and Parmenas (about 44 A.D.). He was the first of The Twelve to be martyred.

John. John and his brother James were the third and fourth fishermen of the Sea Of Galilee that Jesus had called to service that day (brothers Andrew and Peter were the first two). John lives to old age because (apart from caring for Mary who was likely not more than age 50 at the time of The Crucifixion) he had yet more writing to do. While banished to the island of Patmos, after having already written the Gospel of John he was given to write the Book of Revelation.

Philip. From Bethsaida, as were Andrew and Peter. Eventually martyred, possibly at Hierapolis. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified (about 54 A.D.).

Bartholomew. He was one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Tiberias after His resurrection. He was also a witness of the Ascension. He was cruelly beaten and crucified by idolaters in India.

Thomas. He was also called Didymus, which is the Greek version of his name. Not easily convinced, he has the nickname "Doubting Thomas" because he wanted to actually see and touch Jesus after His Resurrection. Certainly a good witness for us today, because he wanted indisputable proof of what he was expected to report about. He preached in Parthia and India. He was thrust through with a spear by pagan priests.

Matthew. Formerly a tax collector at Capernaum, he became one of the more prominent apostles. He was preaching in Ethiopia when he suffered martyrdom by the sword (about 60 A.D.).

James. Known as James the Younger, or James the Less, he wrote the epistle, which bears his name. The half-brother of Jesus, administered the early church in Jerusalem and was the author of a book in the Bible. At the age of 94 he was beat and stoned, and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.

Thaddaeus. Also known as "Judas the brother of James;" while John probably referring to the same person, speaks of "Judas, not Iscariot." He was crucified at Edessa in about 72 A.D.

Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were a nationalistic sect with very strong political views. There seemed to be a wide variety of personalities among the apostles.  Simon was martyred in Persia by being beheaded or sawn in pieces.

Judas Iscariot. The traitor. Judas was the oldest disciple; because he sat directly to the left of Jesus during the Passover meal; and they were seated according to age. He was also the only disciple not from Galilee.

Matthias. To bring the number back up to twelve after Judas fell away, Matthias was chosen by the remaining eleven apostles. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.

The twelve apostles are listed in four places in the bible. All were martyred except for John. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and was replaced by Matthias. see Acts 1:21-26