Jim Caviezel as Luke and James Faulkner as Paul in "Paul, Apostle of Christ"
(LIVE SCIENCE) -- The apostles were 12 of the disciples of Jesus who went on to spread his message and found the early Christian church. After the crucifixion of Jesus in the 1st century, they split up and began to proselytize both the message of Jesus and the concept that he was the son of God. In so doing they expanded the following of this offshoot of Judaism and set out the early tenets of what Christianity would become.
The apostles typically refers to those who were among the original followers of Jesus, although the term apostle, which means "one sent on a mission," according to Merriam-Webster, is sometimes applied to later figures such as St. Paul who also had a big impact as a missionary. Their efforts helped to forge the religious movement that has shaped history and is today followed by around 2.6 billion people today.
The Gospels of the New Testament and the Acts of the Apostles describe a core of twelve followers of Jesus that were closest to him. These are the men most commonly called apostles, though the term is occasionally applied to others in the Bible.
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