In his book, The Fate of the Apostles, Sean McDowell reviews the subject of martyrdom in light of claims that certain ones of Jesus’ initial twelve apostles were martyred. In the first four chapters, he addresses the concept of martyrdom in the early church, including a definition of the term from various perspectives. Within these chapters, McDowell clearly and succinctly asks difficult questions, including what defines martyrdom and philosophical approaches to the concept to martyrdom (“dying to self” due to faith), etc. Throughout, he digs deep into analyzing facts from the importance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ to the early church, as well as persecution of the same. He powerfully debunks claims that martyrdom either did not occur or was not as severe as the facts point to, by providing substantial research and references for these important aspects of foundational Christian doctrine and experience.Following this initial, in-depth discussion on the reality and implications of the death and resurrection of Jesus and martyrdom in the early church, McDowell devotes chapters to individual apostles. He dives into their lives ministries and then lands on providing extensive research surrounding how their lives ended (or, as with the case of John the apostle), addressing all twelve original apostles, as well as Paul and James the brother of Jesus and Mathias, who was chosen as the apostle who took Judas’ place after he betrayed Jesus.As a reader with an advanced degree in a research driven field, I recognize the analytical and research quality of McDowell’s work, as well as his commitment to ask hard questions and get to the root of tough subjects. His goal is to find and express the truth, rather than push a personal agenda; and he does so in a way that is extremely well researched. He even challenges some traditional views on what happened to some apostles (e.g., the apostle John), due to the solid research he provides.I really respect Dr. McDowell and have personally been hugely impacted by his ministry (together with his dad before him) since I got saved several years ago. This book is a must read for anyone who really wants to be a) encouraged in their faith and/or b) be able to answer people who say that the apostles didn’t really die for their faith, or that Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead. The entire book is extremely well written and engaging. It is well resourced, clearly organized, and interesting to read.The only small point of criticism I would provide, is that I would have liked to see a direct call for someone to put their faith in Jesus somewhere in the book. Having “said the prayer” and fully devoted my life to Jesus personally, I know that doing so, together with the potent research such as is furnished in this book, can be that life changing moment anyone who doesn’t yet know Jesus needs to take that first step.In conclusion, this book was powerful, well written, and definitely worth the read! After taking readers on a journey of the subject of resurrection from the dead and martyrdom in the early church, the author studies the lives of each individual apostle, including Paul, James the brother of Jesus, and Matthias. He analyzes research on the lives and deaths of each apostle. After diving deep into these subjects, he both affirms orthodox Christian doctrine, while also challenging non-doctrinal, yet very important traditional beliefs about the fate of certain apostles. The end result of reading this book is a) an encouragement of faith in the truth that Jesus Christ of Nazareth did die for the sins of the world, rose from the dead, and that the majority of those who followed Him from the beginning not only were willing to die for their faith, but in fact did so. On every point, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the subject of the resurrection of Jesus and fate of the early apostles.