This book reprints a year's worth of Pope Benedict XVI's weekly addresses at his public audiences where he meditates on the stories of the twelve apostles, St. Paul and other early disciples of Christ. He draws lessons from these that apply to all of us. An excellent and easy read with short chapters that can be read independently.

Caveat emptor: This is the same exact content as "Jesus, The Apostles and The Early Church" published by Ignatius Press. The Ignatius Press version is printed on heavier paper and is a more well produced book for the same price. Buy that one instead! Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church: General Audiences, 15 March 2006-14 February 2007

This book is well-written but its title is deceptive. The early chapters front-load what follows with the theological premises of the Roman Catholic Church so it is less about the Apostles than we might hope. BXVI is known as a scholar, and certainly his scholarly bent shows in what he writes, leaving many people who haven't personally dug into the current scholarship feeling impressed. If one believes in apostolic succession and Christ's entrusting the apostles with maintaining fidelity and truth (and this reviewer does accept this concept), then there are those of us who feel that the mandate for truth has failed. I have to assume that the Bishop of Rome believes what he has written, but the world has changed in that the world of scholarship is open to those of us in the pews. We don't have to accept a distorted and incomplete scholarship. We're no longer illiterates who are dependent upon the Church to tell us what to believe. We can dig it out and weigh its efficacy for ourselves. It cannot be that the Bishop of Rome is unaware of the extensive scholarship, as he has the unfathomable riches of the Roman Catholic Church that would make it easy.

I will only briefly address two overwhelmingly glaring areas. We note that women disciples are discussed in the very back of the book. BXVI lists many of the women, but he is only able to magnify the works of those who are coupled, such as Priscilla and Aquila. He makes no note of the importance that in scripture, Priscilla is listed first. And he manages to get through chapters on St. Paul's co-workers and the chapter on women without mentioning the Apostle Junia (Romans 16:7). The scholarship here is clear: There was one named female Apostle. See Eldon Jay Epp (2005). Junia: The First Woman Apostle. Minneapolis: Fortress Press (available on Amazon).

Then, the gospel material on St. Peter is, as would be expected, seriously selective, reinterpreted and reworked. What is lost is that the meaning of "Apostle" was being fought in the first century, and we know who won out in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Luke carves out a view that the 12 are the only trustworthy witnesses of the Resurrection.

Luke's "twelve" is a select group and it is ONLY in Luke they are specifically chosen FROM a larger group of followers, a group not present in Mark and Matthew [see Luke 6:13]. Matthew uses the term, "apostolic" only once [10:2-5]. Mark uses it only once [6:30]. Luke uses the term 6 times in the Gospel, and 34 times in Luke-Acts. The author of Luke and Acts writes several decades after Paul and adds new requirements for apostleship, limiting it to the Twelve, excluding Paul, James the brother of Jesus, who rose to head the Jerusalem Church, and all female apostles. The restriction of "Apostle" seen in Luke-Acts is not seen in Paul. Luke downplays the functionality of the role or mission of Apostleship and makes it more symbolic.

The preeminence of Peter is not uniform across the Gospels so we can see the struggle for authority that was going on. In 4G, Jesus never specifically chooses Peter as a member of a subgroup of disciples. He does not have any special resurrection appearance until Chapter 21, which is a later add-on redaction.

Contrary to BXVI, Peter is not depicted as the first to see the Risen Christ across the Gospels. Matthew, Mark and John give prominence to Mary Magdalene. It is only in Luke that Peter is gifted with an individual appearance of the Lord [Luke 24:33-34]. In the other three Gospels, Jesus or angelic messengers send Mary Magdalene alone or with other women to proclaim the Resurrection. This is such an inconvenience to Rome that it must be obscured. So, at a minimum, the history as recounted in the canonical Gospels shows that the conflict for authority was going on in the 1st century.

If you want to see some of the available scholarship for yourself, read Ann Graham Brock (2003). Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority. Harvard University Press (available on Amazon). Based on her PhD dissertation at Harvard, she has very effectively demonstrated in the canonical Gospels, with supplementary non-canonical sources including the Acts of Peter and Acts of Paul, that where Peter is made prominent in the Gospels, Mary Magdalene and the other women are diminished, and vice versa.

The Apostles reads easily if you accept the underlying premises, and if you don't, the book well captures official Roman Catholic views. It is not an unbiased account of the early history of the church. There is good information in this book, but it should not be read in isolation or as an accurate picture of the first century of Christianity.

I consider that nowadays Pope Benedict XVI is currently "an universal moral reference" for mankind, the Catholic Church is all over the world the only one of churches growing vigorously among the young and the intellectuals .. The message of Jesus is as fresh as always !!!

Although I am a Protestant, I found the Pope's book enlightening and interesting. The first two chapters are rich in wisdom, pointing out our blessing of the Lord's very presence as we minister, and the living tradition which the Apostles and subsequent ministers have passed on to us. Throughout this book, the Pope pointed out the greater symbolism of various events in which the Apostles participated. For example, the theological significance of the great catch of fish. He also summarized the theological importance of his points, emphasizing key matters such as what constitutes a good witness: those that compel us to "come and see." His command of the first century evangelistic campaign and the order of events was revealed in an easy to follow manner. He identifies various characteristics of the Apostles and relates them to Christ's overall ministry. Furthermore, he draws from early church writings. Most importantly, the Pope supported his teachings with scripture and flatly stated that we are saved by faith alone. This should be appreciated by both Catholics and Protestants.

Curtis Mosley
Houston, Texas
May 25, 2008

"They are blind and their leaders are blind. And when the blind follow the blind they all fall into the pit." Jesus the Messiah and Lord from the Gospels

Unfortunately and tragically Pope Benedict XVI has done it again. His deception has no limits, which is fitting for a modernist. Joseph Ratzinger has continually denied and still denies the Christological Doctrines of the Catholic Christian faith as defined by the Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church. He does not assent to the Doctrines of the Catholic faith as defined by the Ecumenical Council of Trent against the Protestant heresy and he describes Martin Luther as one of his theological mentors. Finally, on the Vatican website gives approval to biblical modernism which teaches that the Apostles invented the Christian religion from their subjective experiences. His religious subjectivism ends up denying the objectivity of the public Divine revelation of the Christian religion. Deniars of these facts, please research them for yourself and this won't be the end to Ratzinger's heresies but just the beginning. Yet how is he able to deceive people into thinking that he is a Catholic Christian. The answer is that he is a modernist and in fact a moderate modernist as described by Pope St. Pius X's encyclical On Modernism(Pascendi Dominici Gregis) for which on one page they will read "... as a Catholic and on the next page as a rationalist(which includes in contemporary times religious subjectivism)." Unfortunately, the consequences of this grave deception is great as it is a matter of human salvation. "They are blind and their leaders are blind. And when the blind follow the blind they all fall into the pit."Jesus of Nazareth Tragically it is only true traditional Catholics who recognize that we have had only modernist popes starting with Pope John XXIII and consequently refuses to be blind and thereby fall into the pit of a modernist Novus Ordo Construct outside the Historical Catholic Church and which ultimately leads to hell. The only way this situation will change is when a traditional Catholic pope is elected and yes every traditional Catholic is praying and working for this day to come. The day of deception will be over modernists, religious necoconservatives(Our Sunday Visitor), and indultarians. Yes, laus tibi Christe, when the day of deception will be over!Then History will not judge lightly the modernists and appeasers of modernists, the reliogious neocons and indultarians. History and the Lord of history will vindicate their faithful servants who passed on what they have received: the traditional Catholic remnant and the truth about modernism and this great apostasy led by modernist popes will be known and accepted by all. Ratzinger has done it again but not for long! The truth can not be held back!

Pope Benedict XVI does a beautiful easy to understand in depth look into the apostles. He pulls from Scripture and opens up insights into their lives and personalities as only one guided by the Holy Spirit can do.
The reader benefits from his gifts as teacher and scholar, which he uses to meet us at the place of knowledge where we are, and raise us up to a greater understanding of these 12 disciples/apostles of Christ.

Having read that Benedict XVI was a scholar and theologian, The Apostles was unexpected. This book adds nothing to the field of scholarship on the apostles. It's a puff piece to substantiate authoritarian dogma.

This book is excellent. It is a compliations of many of the Pope's Wednesday audience messages related to the Apostles. It is a must buy if any person interested to know the "portfolio" of all the apostles.

Pope Benedict is a difficult read. He is a deep thinker and uses long words with lots of consonants to make his points. This volume, however, is easier than most of his writings and is a clear and concise description of the Apostle and a few major disciples mentioned in the Bible. He makes a special point to note prominent female disciples. He doesn't argue the contradition where St. Paul praises Phoebe the "deaconess" yet later refuses the women of Corinth the right to teach. I would have loved to hear his words on the matter as I have read Protestant authors explain Paul's letter as being for specific Churches and not to be taken generally for all Churches.

The Apostles by Benedict XVI is a collection of some of the General Audiences given by Benedict XVI which deal with the origins of the Catholic Church (the full title of the book is The Origins of the Church, the Apostles, and Their Co-Workers). The book provides a look at the founding of the church by Christ and an examination of the apostles and some of the important early figures within the church. Because it is a collection of general audiences the book lacks the sort of opening or conclusions that one would expect from a typical book; however, the collected audiences hold together very well.

Readers are given an excellent taste of the Pope's brilliant analysis. This book is great for Catholics who do not read a lot of theology. The Pope's books, generally speaking, are not beach reads and require a lot of time and thought; however, the subject matter in this book is presented in a much simpler fashion making it an excellent choice for those who aren't used to reading theological works. A simple style is not the same thing as simple minded though, so even veteran readers of theology will find this book to be enjoyable.

This book will make a great addition to any Catholic's personal library, whether that library is a whole room of books or a single shelf.

Excellant reading material. This book helps one know the Apostles and the Holy Father and understand the meaningful value throughout Scriptures. This is a book to read more than once in order to absorb and retain all it contains.

With brevity and flair, Pope Benedict XVI takes us on a journey through the lives of each Apostle and their immediate followers such as Stephen, Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, Apollos, and more. Legend takes a backseat to the more historically-founded evidence yet the men and women who knew Jesus still loom large in the imagination and provide valuable lessons as human beings. The chapters are short, made up of a collection of homilies given through 2006 and early 2007. For the most part, the lessons provided are simple yet profound. A solid work as historical study or catecheses and well worth the study.

Cannot wait to read Pope Benedict's next book. This was terrific.
I fell in love again with Pope Bene as well all the apostles! Such a
terrific writer! Wow!

We love you,

Gloria Knapp

Recognizing that this is a translation, the work is EXCELLENTLY prepared and well written. The facts are presented in such a way as to be both interesting and informative. The Holy Father, once again, has written a wonderful work.

Whatever our beloved Holy Father wrote, this isn't it. I'm only in the second chapter, and am frequently confused by the erratic usages. "Communion," for instance, is sometimes in lower case, sometimes in upper case, and sometimes in quotation marks, never for any discernible reasons. Capitalization seems to be based on whim, not on any system of meaning, and the translation is often simply clunky. Someone needs to pray ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys, and start over.

Pope Benedict XVI has created a wonderful work in "The Apostles." A word for those who have read his pre-Pope works, or even Pope JPII's works, this book is amazingly simple and readable in style, and one can easily take a chapter a day and get through it. He provides meditations, scriptural history and traditions for each of the Apostles and a few others mentioned in the New Testament in a way I have never seen. This book will open your eyes to the profound lives of each of the Apostles and how they experienced Jesus in their own unique ways, their strengths and their weaknesses. I honestly could not put this book down. Incredible, packed with depth yet written for the common lay person!

This would be especially good for confirmation classes as it is brief and would be a good way to start the class.

In some way this book was being written at the same time as Jesus of Nazareth as Pope Benedict gave his weekly teaching on the Apostles that Jesus chose and that the Church chose after Jesus' resurrection. The pope had insisted that in Jesus of Nazareth he was writing as Joseph Ratizinger, not as the Pope--but in this book we have the clear teaching of Pope Benedict with some of the same conclusions as he reaches in Jesus of Nazareth, but also a lot more that touches on some issues that were found wanting in the later work by some scholars.

One of Pope Benedict's loudest critics of Jesus of Nazareth was the former Catholic (now Jewish) scholar Geza Vermes who wrote in his review of the book in The Times of London saying "Another recurrent theme in Ratzinger's perception of Christ is that Jesus
intended the Gospel to be preached to all the nations. If so, did he just forget Jesus' sayings that contradict the universality of the apostolic mission, namely, that both Jesus and his disciples were sent only to the "lost sheep of Israel" (Matthew x, 5-6; xv, 24)."

In this book The Apostles, the Pope answers this criticism, showing how the accounts that we have in the Bible show that Jesus clearly intended to create a Church that would reach out beyond the limited scope of Israel. He also provides an excellent overview of what can be known from the Bible and the early church about the first followers of Jesus--as well as what lessons we can derive from their example. This is an excellent follow-up to Jesus of Nazareth and like everything that Joseph Ratzinger writes is clear and precise--while at the same time incredibly inspirational.

The publisher has also created Study Guide for the Apostles by Pope Benedict XVI which will make this book a great small group study item for churches wishing to delve deeper into the Biblical accounts of those Jesus chose to follow Him.

I am the author of The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You.

Wow, what an opportunity..to hear about Church history--first hand--from the Holy Father. I learned so much about my church, my faith and found the stories of the saints so inspiring. I'm also amazed that the head of the Church can write in a way that the average Catholic actually enjoys reading..it's not some academic sounding textbook.