The Apostles
From the Death of Jesus to the Birth of Early Christian Communities: Faith, Paul, and Religious Enthusiasm in the Ancient MediterraneanBy Ernest Renan
Length9h 23m
About this audiobook
In The Apostles, Ernest Renan continues his monumental historical reconstruction of Christian origins beyond the life of Jesus, examining the disciples' transformation of a vanished messianic movement into an organized and expanding faith. Drawing on Acts, Pauline materials, and comparative historical criticism, he follows the apostles through Jerusalem, the controversy over Gentile inclusion, missionary travel, communal conflict, and the gradual separation of Christianity from Judaism. Renan combines philological precision with a graceful, emotionally responsive narrative style: his apostles are neither merely doctrinal figures nor supernatural agents, but historically situated personalities shaped by memory, expectation, rivalry, and conviction. The work belongs to the nineteenth-century tradition of liberal theological scholarship, standing between ecclesiastical history and modern critical biography. A distinguished French philologist and historian of religion, Renan brought to the subject an exceptional command of Semitic languages, ancient texts, and the methods of comparative scholarship. His earlier studies of Judaism and Christianity, together with the controversy surrounding his Life of Jesus, encouraged him to investigate how religious movements acquire institutional form and historical power. Renan's own tension between intellectual skepticism and spiritual sympathy gives the book its distinctive tone. This volume is especially valuable for readers interested in early Christianity, the historical Jesus, apostolic communities, and the development of modern biblical criticism. It offers a lucid, humane, and historically ambitious interpretation—best read both as a pioneering scholarly work and as a revealing document of nineteenth-century debates about faith, history, and modernity.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (222)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreSpirituality and Religion
Length9 hrs 23 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 23, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Expositor's Bible: The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude
2CHAPTER I. FORMATION OF BELIEFS RELATIVE TO THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.—THE APPARITIONS AT JERUSALEM.
3CHAPTER II. DEPARTURE OF THE DISCIPLES FROM JERUSALEM.—SECOND GALILEAN LIFE OF JESUS.
4CHAPTER III. RETURN OF THE APOSTLES TO JERUSALEM.—END OF THE PERIOD OF APPARITIONS.
5CHAPTER IV. DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; ECSTATICAL AND PROPHETICAL PHENOMENA.
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER V. FIRST CHURCH OF JERUSALEM; ITS CHARACTER CENOBITICAL.
7CHAPTER VI. THE CONVERSION OF THE HELLENISTIC JEWS AND PROSELYTES.
8CHAPTER VII. THE CHURCH CONSIDERED AS AN ASSOCIATION OF POOR PEOPLE.—INSTITUTION OF THE DIACONATE.—DEACONESSES AND WIDOWS.
9CHAPTER VIII. FIRST PERSECUTION.—DEATH OF STEPHEN.—DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF JERUSALEM.
10CHAPTER IX. FIRST MISSIONS.—PHILIP THE DEACON.
11CHAPTER X. CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.
12CHAPTER XI. PEACE AND INTERIOR DEVELOPMENTS OF THE CHURCH OF JUDEA.
13CHAPTER XII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH.
14CHAPTER XIII. THE IDEA OF AN APOSTOLATE TO THE GENTILES.—SAINT BARNABAS.
15CHAPTER XIV. PERSECUTION OF HEROD AGRIPPA THE FIRST.
16CHAPTER XV. MOVEMENTS PARALLEL TO AND IMITATIVE OF CHRISTIANITY—SIMON OF GITTO.
17CHAPTER XVI. GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.
18CHAPTER XVII. STATE OF THE WORLD IN THE FIRST CENTURY.
19CHAPTER XVIII. RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION OF THE PERIOD.
20CHAPTER XIX. THE FUTURE OF MISSIONS. (pt. 1)
21CHAPTER XIX. THE FUTURE OF MISSIONS. (pt. 2)
More from Ernest Renan
Das Leben Jesu (Kommentiert)Ernest Renan12h 40m$1 · $0.00
The Life of Jesus (Annotated)Ernest Renan13h 21m3.9 (678)$2 · $0.00
Los ApóstolesErnest Renan9h 29m3.8 (12)$1 · $0.00
Recollections of My YouthErnest Renan9h 46m4.1 (210)$1 · $0.00
The ApostlesErnest Renan12h 23m3.8 (12)$2 · $0.00
Vie de JésusErnest Renan13h 35m3.8 (413)$1 · $0.00
Vie de Jésus (Édition résumée)Ernest Renan3h 13m$2
Vida de Jesús (Edición resumida)Ernest Renan3h 55m4.2 (40)$2
DIE APOSTELErnest Renan11h 45m4.0 (282)$1 · $0.00
Die Apostel (Kommentiert)Ernest Renan12h 56m3.8 (12)$1 · $0.00
Vie de Jésus (Annoté)Ernest Renan11h 30m4.0 (1.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Life of Jesus: According to the Study and Criticism of the BibleErnest Renan13h 54m4.0 (576)$2 · $0.00
The Way of RoninTu Lam12h 9m4.9 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Proud Police WifeRebecca Lynn4h 52m4.8 (14K)$10 · $0.00
I Hear His Whisper 365 Daily Devotions (Gift Edition)Brian Simmons, Gretchen Rodriguez9h 23m4.8 (2K)$10 · $0.00
A Little God Time for Women Morning & Evening DevotionalBroadStreet Publishing Group LLC15h 15m4.9 (1.2K)$10 · $0.00
The Chosen Presents: A Blended Harmony of the GospelsSteve Laube, Amanda Jenkins, Dallas Jenkins7h 8m4.9 (823)$10 · $0.00
Prayers from the Throne RoomBrian Simmons8h 55m4.9 (256)$10 · $0.00
31 Decrees of Blessing for Your LifePatricia King2h 38m4.8 (1.4K)$10 · $0.00
Loved BabySarah Philpott4h 51m4.8 (1.4K)$10 · $0.00
The QuranAllah23h 7m4.7 (136.1K)$1 · $0.00
The Secret of the RosaryLouis de Montfort6h 1m4.7 (16K)$2 · $0.00
The Holy Qur-an: Text, Translation and CommentaryAbdullah Yusuf Ali22h 16m4.7 (133K)$1 · $0.00
All of Grace (Annotated)Charles Spurgeon5h 1m4.7 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Steps to ChristEllen G. White3h 12m4.7 (13.8K)$2 · $0.00
The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Annotated)Joseph Smith13h 57m4.7 (575)$2 · $0.00
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God & Other Sermons (Annotated)Jonathan Edwards7h 51m4.7 (1.5K)$2 · $0.00
Swayam Ki AwaazPrem Rawat8h 34m4.7 (1.1K)$26 · $0.00
Behind the BadgeAdam Davis10h 18m4.7 (2.7K)$10 · $0.00
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m4.7 (669)$12 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
Praying GraceDavid A. Holland3h 2m4.7 (658)$10 · $0.00
You may also like
Saint Teresa of Ávila: Collected WorksTeresa of Avila37h 16m4.6 (846)$1 · $0.00
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Complete Seven-Volume Edition)Joseph Smith188h 48m4.6 (432)$1 · $0.00
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel WorkersEllen G. White16h 14m4.7 (415)$2 · $0.00
ActsBrian Simmons1h 28m4.8 (688)$8 · $0.00
Initiation, Human & Solar: Treatise on Theosophy and EsotericismAlice Bailey7h 49m4.3 (489)$2 · $0.00
The Purpose Driven® Liferick warren9h 23m4.0 (896.8K) Only with Ultra
Initiation, Human and Solar (Annotated)Alice Bailey7h 32m4.7 (256)$2 · $0.00
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of CarmelOf Avila Saint Teresa18h 23m4.3 (5.4K)$2 · $0.00
Lectures on CalvinismAbraham Kuyper9h4.3 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Is Atheism Dead?Eric Metaxas16h 48m4.5 (3.1K)$25
Evidence That Demands a VerdictJosh McDowell, Sean McDowell42h 36m4.4 (16.9K)$30
The Magic PresenceGodfré Ray King10h 21m4.6 (307)$1.20 · $0.00
An Apology for the True Christian DivinityRobert Barclay24h 3m4.3 (401)$2 · $0.00
The Books of Luke and Acts (2020 Edition)Brian Simmons10h 52m4.8 (1.3K)$10 · $0.00
The Kuzari (Annotated)Judah Halevi10h 1m4.4 (516)$2 · $0.00
Your Soul PurposeKim Russo9h 36m4.5 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Ecclesiastical History (Summarized Edition)Eusebius12h 28m4.3 (3.7K)$2
A Portraiture of Quakerism (Vol. 1-3) (Annotated)Thomas Clarkson27h 1m$3 · $0.00
Joseph Smith the Prophet-Teacher: A DiscourseB. H. Roberts2h 21m4.2 (64)$1 · $0.00
Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech, ActsRichard Francis Weymouth3h 48m$1 · $0.00