Bartholomaeus

(Βαρθολομαῖος), one of the twelve apostles of our Lord. Eusebius (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 5.10) informs us, that when Pantaenus visited the Indians, he found in their possession a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, which their fathers had received from Bartholomew. The story is confirmed by Jerome, who relates that this Hebrew Gospel was brought to Alexandria by Pantaenus. It is not very easy to determine who these Indians were; but Mosheim and Neander, who identify them with the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, are probably in the right. The time, place, and manner of the death of Bartholomew are altogether uncertain. There was an apocryphal gospel falsely attributed to him, which is condemned by Pope Gelasius in his decree de Libris Apocryphis. (Tillemont, Mémoires, &c. vol. i. pp. 387-389, 642-645. Ed. sec.; Mosheim, de Rebus Christianorum, &c. p. 205, &c.; Neander, Allgemeine Geschichte, &c. i. p. 113.) [J.M.M]