Apostles

Christianity in Rome appears to have been the result not of missionary activity but rather of the immigration of Christians from Palestine and Syria, who joined together to form a community. Ambrosiaster (the name given to the author of Latin commentaries, formerly attributed to Ambrose, on the Pauline epistles) is scarcely expressing a private opinion when he declares that the Romans 'accepted faith in Christ without seeing any miraculous works or any apostle.

Only in the letters of Paul do we have contemporary testimony to the foundation of churches by an apostle. In a variation of the architectural metaphor, Paul declares to the Corinthians, 'According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation' (1 Cor. 3:10; cf. v. 6). However, the notion of the apostles as founders of Christian communities goes beyond its historical verifiability. It takes on a crucial theological significance in the formation of the New Testament canon and in the use of the word 'apostolic' throughout the history of the Christian church.

The word 'apostle' is used in the New Testament to designate both the founder of a church and the emissary of a church. In the latter sense, the apostle (Acts 14:4, 14) is 'sent' by the community, whether to missionary endeavors (Acts 13:1-3; 2 Cor. 8:23; cf. Rom. 16:7) or with a more limited mandate. Epaphroditus is the 'apostle' of the Philippian community (Phil. 2: 25), which has sent him to deliver the church's gift (4:18) to Paul in prison. But who 'sends' the apostle who is the founding father of a local congregation?

In an early church order, which has been dated to the end of the first century, apostles have the meaning of itinerant missionaries: 'Let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord. He shall not stay more than one day, but if there is need, for a second day also. If he stays three days, he is a false apostle.'

The conception of apostles as witnesses to the resurrection is found in Acts (2:32; 3:15; 13:31; 4:33). However, there is also a more exclusive understanding of apostleship, which is most clearly expressed in the account of the election of Matthias. Peter considers as candidates for the office left vacant by the apostasy of Judas only those 'who have accompanied us during all the time that Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us' (Acts 1: 21-2).

Although Luke's identification of the apostles with 'the Twelve' ( Luke 6:13) is a later theological development, it is quite likely that during Paul's lifetime there were those who refused to acknowledge as an apostle in the full sense someone who had not been associated with the earthly Jesus. This would explain both Paul's defensiveness concerning his right to be considered an apostle and his sarcastic references to the 'super-apostles' (2 Cor. 12:11) and to 'James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars' (Gal. 2:9) of the Jerusalem community (cf. v. 6). Peter and John, the son of Zebedee, were among the Twelve (Mark 3:16, 17 par.), whereas James was 'the Lord's brother' (Gal. 1:19).

Order Custom Essay on Apostles