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588 APOPLEXY the locusts represent the Saracens, and that Apollyon means especially Mohammed ; but it is more likely that the figure is a general rep- resentation of the convulsions attending the breaking down of paganism and the establish- ment of Christianity. In the " Pilgrim's Prog- ress " Apollyon is the name of the evil spirit encountered by Christian in the valley of the shadow of death ; hence the word has come to be almost a synonyme for the chief of the fallen angels. APOPLEXY. See BRAIX, DISEASES OF THE. APOSTLES (Gr. ax6aro'kot, the sent, messen- gers), a title bestowed in the New Testament upon all who were commissioned to preach the gospel of Christ, but especially upon the twelve whom Jesus chose from the whole number of his disciples to be his heralds among Jews and Gentiles. Their names were Simon Peter, Andrew, James (son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (Levi), James (son of Alpheus), Lebbeus (Thaddeus), Simon, and Judas Iscariot. They were mostly Galile- ans and laboring people, all being fishermen but Matthew, who was a tax-gatherer. Some of them were connections of the family of Jesus or companions of his youth, and they had been disciples of John the Baptist before Christ's ap- pearance. They accompanied Christ on his journeys, witnessed his works, heard his pub- lic teaching and discussions, and the more in- timate of them (Peter, James, and John) were often admitted to the privacy of his medita- tions. During his lifetime the apostles under- took one missionary expedition at their Mas- ter's bidding; but after the resurrection the eleven remained in Jerusalem, not openly dis- tinguished from other Jews. The place of Judas was filled by Matthias. It was not until the day of Pentecost that their work commenced in earnest with th,e public an- nouncement of Christ as the Messiah. The per- secution to which Stephen fell a victim scat- tered the believers (some think only those of Greek extraction) ; but the apostles still con- tinued in the city or in Judea, Peter alone venturing reluctantly to make a short journey as far as Cassarea, where he baptized some un- circumcised people. The work assigned by Christ of preaching the gospel to " all the world," left unattempted by the original apos- tles, who wished to confine its blessings to the circumcised Jews, was first fully undertaken by Paul, a man who had never seen Jesus on earth, had received no commission from him like the rest, had sought from Peter and his companions no authoritative exposition of the Master's truth, and was at first an object of suspicion. All that we know from historical records respecting the apostles is gathered from the letters of Paul and the book of Acts, though legends about all of them were early current, recounting their voyages, sufferings, and mar- tyrdoms. An interesting account of the apos- tles' labors is found in Neander's "Plant- ing and Training of the Christian Church." APOSTOLICI Schwegler's Nachapostolisches Zeitalter should also be consulted. APOSTLES' CREED, the oldest, most compre- hensive, and most universally accepted creed of Christendom, interesting from its antiquity, and still more from its general adoption by the Greek, Roman, and Protestant churches. It reads as follows : "I believe hi God the Father Almighty (Maker of heaven and earth) : and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, (dead,) and buried; (lie de- scended into hell,) the third day he rose from the dead ; he ascended into heaven, and sit- teth on the right hand of (God) the Father (Almighty) ; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy (catholic) church, (the communion of saints ;) the forgiveness of sins ; the resurrection of the body ; (and the life everlasting.) Amen." The passages en- closed in parentheses are additions to the origi- nal form, which was complete by the middle of the 2d century. The nucleus of the creed is supposed to have been the formula of baptism, " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," to which the other articles were appended, the whole forming a brief summary of historical statements from the New Testament in regard to the Father, Son, and Spirit. The creed is rather an epit- ome of recorded facts than a system of specu- lative opinions, and was never designed nor used to express the philosophical thoughts of the church. The impression that this vener- able symbol was regarded as a secret formu- la, part of the duciplina arcani, is erroneous. The tradition that it was made by the apostles themselves, who at a meeting in Jerusalem contributed each an article toward an authen- tic, compendious, and unchangeable rule of faith, rests upon no historical evidence. APOSTOLICI. I. A sect of the 2d century, mentioned by St. Augustine, concerning which very little is known. They considered mar- riage and individual possession of property mortal sins. II. A sect of the 12th century, mostly from the lower classes of society, who would not take an oath, nor shave, nor cut their hair, nor marry. Although their lives were blameless, many of them were executed at Cologne. III. A sect founded about 1260 by Gerard de Segarelli of Parma, a young man who had been rejected from the Franciscan order. They believed that the kingdom of heaven was soon to come, and went barefoot through Italy, Switzerland, and France, preach- ing, begging, and singing. They rejected mar- riage, but lived in intimacy with females whom they called spiritual sisters, and who accom- panied them on their journeys. Segarelli was burned as a heretic in 1300. The sect existed a while longer under Dolcino, a Milanese, but soon became reduced to banditti, and after his execution in 1307 the movement ceased.