Apostles Christians (second half of the second century and first half of the third century) believed that only Peter, Paul, and James, son of Zebedee, were martyred. The remainder or even all of the claims of martyred apostles do not rely upon historical or biblical evidence. The relics of the Apostles are claimed by various Churches, many in Italy. Each of the four listings of apostles in the New Testament (, , , and ) indicate that all the apostles were men. The canonical gospels and the book of Acts give varying names of the twelve apostles. The list in the
Acts of the Apostles (genre) heads, however: the wealth and beauty of this world are to be despised, and any sexual activity is condemned as 'impure', in favour of love for God and preparation for the coming heavenly afterlife. Five of the non-canonical acts have survived almost completely, namely the Acts of John, Peter, Paul, Andrew, and Thomas. A large number of other narratives only exist in fragmentary form. The following list is not exhaustive. Acts of the Apostles (genre) The Acts of the Apostles is a genre of Early Christian literature, recounting the lives and works of the apostles of Jesus. The "Acts" (Latin: