The Twelve Disciples Trivia Quiz

Answer: John

All twelve disciples are listed by name in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, and Luke 6:14-16. John's gospel only names nine of the disciples, and even these are not listed together. Eleven of the original twelve disciples are also named in Acts 1:13, meeting together in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus.

The New Testament authors use several variations of the disciples' names, such as Aramaic and Greek forms, or surnames and given names. This can sometimes make it difficult to recognise which disciple is being referred to. According to Matthew's gospel the twelve original disciples are named as "Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot,".

Answer: None of these

Both Mark and Luke are referred to as Saint in the titles of their gospels, and Paul is referred to as Paul the Apostle, but none of these were members of the twelve disciples.

Answer: Philip

James, Peter, and John are all named in Galatians 2:9. Peter is named there as Cephas, though in the two preceding verses Paul calls him Peter. Galatians is the only one of Paul's epistles which names all three disciples. The only other of Paul's epistles to name one of the twelve disciples is 1 Corinthians which mentions Peter, there called Cephas, in several verses.

Answer: The sons of thunder

Jesus gave this name to James and John who were brothers. The incident is mentioned in Mark 3:17 as follows: "And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder". James was the first disciple to suffer martyrdom, being beheaded in 44 AD by order of Herod Agrippa I.

Answer: True

Luke 6:13 states "And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles".

Answer: Nathanael

This statement is found in John 1: 46. In the next verse, Jesus describes Nathanael as "an Israelite indeed in in whom is no guile." Nathanael then goes on to say "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." It is only in John's gospel that Nathanael is mentioned by this given name.

In the other three gospels he is referred to as Bartholomew. This may be because 'bar Tholomew' means son of Tholomew. Thus he could correctly be referred to as Nathanael, bar Tholomew.

Answer: They were all the same person.

Thaddaeus is possibly the most confusing of the disciples to recognise. Matthew 10:3 records that Thaddaeus was the surname of Lebbaeus. Mark refers to him as Thaddaeus (Mark 3:18), and Luke calls him Judas the brother of James (Luke 6:16). He is also called Judas the brother of James in Acts 1:13, and in John 14:22 he is referred to as Judas not Iscariot.

This may be John's attempt to positively distinguish him from Judas Iscariot who was responsible for the betrayal of Jesus. Some Bible versions also refer to him as Judas, son of James.

Answer: Simon the Canaanite

He is referred to as Simon called Zelotes in Luke 6:15, Simon Zelotes in Acts 1:13, and Simon the Canaanite in Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18. The Zealots were a militant, sometimes violent, Jewish sect who objected to paying tribute to the Romans or to acknowledge Caesar as king, believing their only king was God. There is no evidence that Simon was an active member of this militant sect, and the term 'zealot' may simply imply his religious zeal.

Cephas, meaning 'a stone', was the name bestowed by Jesus on the disciple Peter (John 1:42). Alphaeus was the father of the disciples Matthew and James, though these may not be the same Alphaeus (Mark 2:14 and Luke 6:15). Judas not Iscariot was one of the alternative names of the disciple Thaddaeus (John 14.22).

Answer: True

This is recorded in John 1:35-40. Andrew was Peter's brother, and introduced Peter to Jesus. They came from Bethsaida, and worked as fishermen.

Answer: He would not believe that Jesus had been resurrected unless he could touch him.

The episode where Thomas expresses his doubts about the resurrection of Jesus is recorded in John 20:24-29, where Thomas says "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Thomas is sometimes referred to as Didymus, or Thomas called Didymus (John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2).

This is simply the use of both the Aramaic and Greek forms of his name, which means twin.

Answer: They wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume the inhabitants.

This interesting episode is described in Luke 9:51-56. Jesus and the disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when the Samaritan villagers refused to receive them. Verse 54 describes the initial reaction of James and John, "And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?". Jesus then rebukes them, saying "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

Answer: by casting lots

The choosing of the replacement for Judas is described in Acts 1:22-26. Verse 23 names the two individuals who were considered, Joseph called Barsabas and Matthias. Verse 26 describes how Matthias was chosen by the casting of lots.

Answer: Matthew records that he hanged himself, and Acts records that he fell and burst open.

Matthew 27:3-5 records that he hanged himself after attempting to return the thirty pieces of silver he'd been given for betraying Jesus. Acts 1:18 records that he bought a field with the silver, then fell headlong in it, and burst asunder. Some authorities claim there is no contradiction in these accounts, as it merely implies that the rope he used to hang himself must have snapped, causing him to fall violently to the ground.

Answer: Peter

St. Peter is traditionally considered by the Roman Catholic Church to have been the first pope. The justification for this belief may be found in Matthew 16: 18-19, where Jesus says to Matthew, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Answer: John

John was the author of five books of the New Testament, although it must be acknowledged that scholars do not all think these, called the Johannine works) had the same author. These were the Gospel According to St. John, the First Epistle of John, the Second Epistle of John, the Third Epistle of John, and The Revelation of St. John the Divine.

The apostle Paul was author of fourteen New Testament books, but was not one of the twelve disciples. Luke was author of the Gospel According to St. Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles, but he was not one of the twelve disciples. Peter was one of the twelve disciples, but was author of only two New Testament books, these being the First Epistle of Peter and the Second Epistle of Peter.