Andrew the Apostle (Koine Greek: Ἀνδρέας, romanized: Andréas [anˈdre.aːs̠]; Latin: Andreas [än̪ˈd̪reː.äːs]) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus.
The title First-Called (Πρωτόκλητος, Prōtoklētos) used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of John, where Andrew, initially a disciple of John the Baptist, follows Jesus and, recognising him as the Messiah, introduces his brother Simon Peter to him.
According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the apostolic successor to Andrew is the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
The name "Andrew" (meaning manly, brave, from Ancient Greek: ἀνδρεία, romanized: andreía, lit. 'manhood, valor'), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews and other Hellenised people since the second or third century B.C. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him.
Andrew the Apostle was born to a Jewish family in Bethsaida, in Galilee, possibly between 5 and 10 AD. The New Testament states that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and likewise a son of Jonah. "The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored. We are in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present".
Both Andrew and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade and also Simon Peter who became a "fisher of men", hence the tradition that Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them "fishers of men" (Ancient Greek: ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων, romanized: halieîs anthrṓpōn). According to Mark 1:29, at the beginning of Jesus' public life, they occupied the same house at Capernaum.
In the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Mark Simon Peter and Andrew were both called together to become disciples of Jesus and "fishers of men". These narratives record that Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, observed Simon and Andrew fishing, and called them to discipleship.
In the parallel incident in the Gospel of Luke Andrew is not named, nor is reference made to Simon having a brother. In this narrative, Jesus initially used a boat, solely described as being Simon's, as a platform for preaching to the multitudes on the shore and then as a means to achieving a huge trawl of fish on a night which had hitherto proved fruitless. The narrative indicates that Simon was not the only fisherman in the boat (they signalled to their partners in the other boat ...) but it is not until the next chapter that Andrew is named as Simon's brother. However, it is generally understood that Andrew was fishing with Simon on the night in question. Matthew Poole, in his Annotations on the Holy Bible, stressed that "Luke denies not that Andrew was there".
The Gospel of John states that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, whose testimony first led him, and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist, traditionally believed to be John the Apostle, to follow Jesus and spend the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. Andrew at once recognized Jesus as the Messiah and hastened to introduce him to his brother. For this reason the Eastern Orthodox Church honours him with the name Protokletos, which means "the first called". Thenceforth, the two brothers were disciples of Christ. On a subsequent occasion, prior to the final call to the apostolate, they were called to a closer companionship, and then they left all things to follow Jesus.
Subsequently, in the gospels, Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus. Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and fishes, and when certain Greeks went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip then had recourse to Andrew. Andrew was present at the Last Supper. Andrew was one of the four disciples who came to Jesus on the Mount of Olives to ask about the signs of Jesus' return at the "end of the age".
Eusebius in his Church History 3.1 (4th century) quoted Origen (c. 185 – c. 253) as saying that Andrew preached in Scythia. According to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, Andrew visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea before making his way to Chersonesus in Crimea. According to the legend, attributed to Nestor the Chronicler, Andrew reached the future capital of Kievan Rus' and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city with many churches. Then, "he came to the [land of the] Slovenians where Novgorod now [stands]" and observed the locals, before eventually arriving in Rome.
According to Hippolytus of Rome, Andrew preached in Thrace, and his presence in Byzantium is mentioned in the apocryphal Acts of Andrew. According to tradition, he founded the see of Byzantium (later Constantinople) in 38 AD, installing Stachys as bishop. This diocese became the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople under Anatolius, in 451. Andrew, along with Stachys, is recognized as the patron saint of the Patriarchate. Basil of Seleucia (5th century) also knew of Apostle Andrew's missions in Thrace, Scythia and Achaea.
Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patræ) in Achaea, in AD 60. Early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of Tours (6th century), describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Jesus is said to have been crucified; yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or "saltire"), now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's Cross" — supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been. The iconography of the martyrdom of Andrew – showing him bound to an X-shaped cross – does not appear to have been standardized until the later Middle Ages.
The apocryphal Acts of Andrew, mentioned by Eusebius, Epiphanius of Salamis, and others, is among a disparate group of Acts of the Apostles that were traditionally attributed to Leucius Charinus, but it shows several signs of a mid-2nd-century origin. It describes the supposed travels of the title character, the miracles he performed during them, and finally a description of his martyrdom. Eusebius knew the work, which he dismissed as the product of a heretic and absurd. The Acts, as well as a Gospel of St Andrew, appear among rejected books in the Decretum Gelasianum connected with the name of Pope Gelasius I. Dennis MacDonald posits the theory that the non-canonical Acts of Andrew was a Christian retelling of Homer's Odyssey.
Relics alleged to be those of the Apostle Andrew are kept at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, Patras, Greece; in Amalfi Cathedral (the Duomo di Sant'Andrea), Amalfi and in Sarzana Cathedral in Sarzana, Italy; St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Church of St Andrew and St Albert, Warsaw, Poland. There are also numerous smaller reliquaries throughout the world.
Andrew's remains were preserved at Patras. According to one legend, Regulus (Rule), a monk at Patras, was advised in a dream to hide some of the bones. Shortly thereafter, most of the relics were transferred from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor Constantius II around 357 and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.
Regulus was said to have had a second dream in which an angel advised him to take the hidden relics "to the ends of the earth" for protection. Wherever he was shipwrecked, he was to build a shrine for them. He set sail, taking with him a kneecap, an upper arm bone, three fingers, and a tooth. He sailed west, towards the edge of the known world, and was shipwrecked on the coast of Fife, Scotland. However, the relics were probably brought to Britain in 597 as part of the Augustine Mission, and then in 732 to Fife, by Bishop Acca of Hexham, a well-known collector of religious relics.