Goodwill Fellowship Bible Study Group

1. Goodwill FellowshipBible Study Group Apostle Bartholomew The eighth disciple Prepared and Presented by Rev. Alfred Thiagarajan Welcome

2. Saint Bartholomew (right) with Saint John, by DossoDossi.

3. Bio Data: Full name: Bartholomew alias Nathanael Meaning: son of Tolmay (Ptolemy) or son of the furrows (ploughman). Father’s Name: Tolmay Year of Birth: 1st century Place of birth: Cana, Galilee Language: Hebrew Profession: Plough man Honored in : Assyrian Church of the EastRoman Catholic ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchesOriental OrthodoxyAnglican CommunionLutheran ChurchIslam (named in Muslim exegesis as one of the disciples)

4. Feast : August 24 (Western Christianity)June 11 (Eastern Christianity) Patronage: Armenia : bookbinders, butchers, Florentine cheese and salt merchants; Gambatesa, Italy; Għargħur, Malta; leather workers neurological diseases; plasterers; shoemakers; curriers; tanners; trappers; twitching; whiteners Attributes: Knife, His flayed skin Year of Death: 1st centuryType of Death: Flayed and then crucified Place of Death: Albano polis , Armenia

6. He was introduced to Christ through St. Philip, another of the twelve apostles in John1:45-47, where the name Nathaniel first appears.

7. John 1:45-50 New International Version 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.   “Come and see,” said Philip.  47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.    Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”  49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”  50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”

8. Evidences that Bartholomew is one of 12 Disciples Matthew 10:3 New International Version 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Mark 3:18 New International Version 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot .

9. Luke 6:14 New International Version (NIV) 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Acts 1:13 New International Version (NIV) 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

10. Evidence that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same The name Nathanael does not occur in the first three Gospels; but it is commonly believed that Nathanael and Bartholomew is the same person. The evidence for that belief is as follows: St, John who twice mentions Nathanael, never introduces the name of Bartholomew at all. St. Matthew, (Matthew 10:3) St. Mark, (Mark 3:18) and St. Luke, (Luke 8:14) all speak of Bartholomew but never of Nathanael. It was Philip who first brought Nathanael to Jesus, just as Andrew had brought his brother Simon.

11. In the East, where Bartholomew's evangelical labors were expended, he was identified as Nathanael, in works by Abdisho bar Berika (often known as Ebedjesu in the West), the 14th century Nestorian metropolitan of Soba, and Elias, the bishop of Damascus. Giuseppe Simone Assemani specifically remarks, "the Chaldeans confound Bartholomew with Nathaniel".

12. Traditions: Along with his fellow apostle Jude, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Traditions record him as serving as a missionary in Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and Lycaonia.

13. Ministry in India: Two ancient testimonies exist about the mission of Saint Bartholomew in India. These are of Eusebius of Caesarea (early 4th century) and of Saint Jerome (late 4th century). Both these refer to this tradition while speaking of the reported visit of Pantaenus (Greek theologian) India in the 2nd century. Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History (v §10) states that after the Ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew

14. The studies of Fr A.C Perumalil SJ and Moraes hold that the Bombay region on the Konkan coast, a region which may have been known as the ancient city Kalyan, was the field of Saint Bartholomew's missionary activities

15. Martyrdom : Bartholomew is said to have been martyred in Albano polis in Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded, but a more popular tradition holds that he was flayed alive and crucified, head downward. He is said to have converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Astyages, Polymius' brother, consequently ordered Bartholemew's execution.

16. In Islamic literature Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet of Islam. The Qur'an also speaks of Jesus's disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God". Muslim exegesis and Qur'an commentary, however, names them and includes Bartholomew amongst the disciples.

17. Monastry: The 13th century “Saint Bartholomew Monastery” was a prominent Armenian monastery constructed at the site of the martyrdom of Apostle Bartholomew in the Vaspurakan Province of Greater Armenia (now in southeastern Turkey).

18. The Saint Bartholomew Monastery at the site of the Apostle's martyrdom in historical Armenia

19. Commemorations: According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church [The Church of Alexandria, the ancient Church of Egypt, one of the Oldest in Christianity], his martyrdom is commemorated on the 1st day of the Coptic Calendar (1st day of the month of "Thout"), which currently falls on September 11 . Bartholomew Fair is held in Smithfield, London since the Middle Ages in August .

20. Bartholomew's relics The 6th-century writer in Constantinople, Theodorus Lector, confirmed that in about 507, Emperor Anastasius gave the body of Bartholomew to the city of Dura-Europos, which he had recently re-founded. The existence of relics at Lipari, a small island off the coast of Sicily, in the part of Italy controlled from Constantinople, was explained by Gregory of Tours by his body having miraculously washed up there: a large piece of his skin and many bones that were kept in the Cathedral of St Bartholomew the Apostle, Lipari, were translated to Beneventum in 803, and to Rome in 983 by Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, conserved at the basilica of San Bartolomeoall'Isola.

21. In time, the church there inherited an old pagan medical centre. This association with medicine in course of time caused Bartholomew's name to become associated with medicine and hospitals. Some of Bartholomew's skull was transferred to the Frankfurt Cathedral, while an arm is venerated in Canterbury Cathedral today.

22. The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew

23. Miracles Of the many miracles performed by Bartholomew before and after his death, two very popular ones are known by the townsfolk of the small island of Lipari. The people of Lipari celebrated his feast day annually. The tradition of the people was to take the solid silver and gold statue from inside the Cathedral of St Bartholomew and carry it through the town. On one occasion, when taking the statue down the hill towards the town, it suddenly got very heavy and had to be set down. When the men carrying the statue regained their strength they lifted it a second time. After another few seconds, it got even heavier. They set it down and attempted once more to pick it up. They managed to lift it but had to put it down one last time. Within seconds, walls further downhill collapsed. If the statue had been able to be lifted, all the towns people would have been killed.

24. During World War II, the Fascist regime (German/Italian) looked for ways to finance their activities. The order was given to take the silver statue of St Bartholomew and melt it down. The statue was weighed, and it was found to be only a few grams. It was returned to its place in the Cathedral of Lipari. In reality, the statue is made from many kilograms of silver and it is considered a miracle that it was not melted down. St Bartholomew is credited with many other miracles having to do with the weight of objects.

25. Art and literature The account of Bartholomew being skinned alive is the most represented in works of art, and consequently Bartholomew is often shown with a large knife, holding his own skin (as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment), or both. Bartholomew is also the patron saint of tanners.

26. St Bartholomew displaying his flayed skin in Michelangelo's The Last Judgment.

27. Statue of St. Bartholomew, with his own skin, by Marco d'Agrate, 1562 (Duomodi Milano)

28. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2oSplVVlDk&feature=related

29. Thanks for coming God bless you all. Our Next Bible study is on May 12th, 2012