In the previous section, I suggested that we should situate our understanding of apostleship within the missio dei - specifically the sending of the Son and the Spirit. In this section, I will review the various categories of apostle present in the New Testament.
The Son and the Spirit
Hebrews 3:1 describes Jesus as ‘the apostle and high priest of our confession’. Jesus clearly understood that he had been sent by God: the phrase ‘the one who sent me’ appears repeatedly in the synoptic Gospels (Luke 10:16; Mark 9:37; Matthew 10:40). The Gospel of John give us thirty-nine sayings which refer to the sending of Jesus by God. [1] This is a dominant theme in John’s Gospel and we clearly see the way in which Jesus’ mission is passed on to his disciples: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ (John 20:21). The Holy Spirit is not described as an apostle in the New Testament but I argued in the previous section that we should use the verbs apostello and pempo as a framework for understanding apostleship. The Holy Spirit continues the apostolic ministry of Jesus Christ and can be described as apostolic.
The Twelve
Does the Apostolate consist in the Twelve? Mark 3:14 reads: ‘And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.’ Revelation 21:14 clearly understands the apostles to be the Twelve: 'the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.' However, the overall tone of this passage suggests that the Twelve here may have symbolic significance - representing Israel. In the first chapter of Acts, the disciples are faced with the task of finding a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Verses 21-22 seem to offer a fairly comprehensive definition of membership: 'one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.' While this appears to be a fairly clear list of requirements, it excludes some (see below) who are named as apostles in the New Testament. Furthermore, it is clear that not all those who meet these criteria are counted amongst the Twelve. In these verses final membership of this group is decided by casting lots(verse 26)!
The Seventy or the Seventy-Two
Can we include this wider group? Luke 10:1 uses the verb apostello and there is an argument for seeing these missionaries as apostles. There are problems concerning Luke 10:1, such as whether it should read ‘seventy’ or ‘seventy-two.’ Nolland has pointed out that the numbers seventy and seventy-two represent the tradition number of the nations of the world ( Genesis 10 – seventy in the Hebrew OT and seventy-two in the Greek OT). Luke appears to be indicating subtly that many will be invited to join the apostolic band as the mission of Jesus turns to the Gentiles. [2]
The Apostle Paul
From 1 Corinthians 15, it is clear that Paul recognised the Twelve as a separate category. He himself does not meet the criteria listed in Acts 1:21-22 because he was not a companion of Jesus. Paul is emphatic about his apostolic status and appeals to the fact that he had ‘seen’ the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1). Are apostles, therefore, limited to the Twelve plus those to whom the risen Christ has appeared and commissioned? It appears that Paul’s definition includes other kinds of apostle, too. Firstly, Paul does not just cite Jesus’ appearing to him in order to argue for his apostolic status. In 1 Corinthians 9:1, Paul appeals to his role as founder of the Corinthian church in order to prove his apostolic status. In 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul appeals to the miraculous signs and wonders he has performed as proof of apostleship. In 1 Corinthians 4:9-13 he links suffering to apostleship. So, Paul does not appear to base his own sense of apostleship solely on having seen the risen Christ. Secondly, a number of individuals are described as apostles without any reference to Jesus Christ having appeared to them. It is possible that they had, in fact, seen the risen Christ. It is not possible completely to exclude this possibility but we learn nothing of this from the New Testament itself. Given the importance Paul clearly attaches to his own theophany, this seems unusual and begs questions.
Titus and Epaphroditus
2 Corinthians 8:23 reads, ‘As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.’ but the word translated ‘messengers’ here is a plural form of apostolos. Similarly, in Philippians 2:25, Paul writes, ‘I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need.’ Here again ‘messenger’ is a form of apostolos. P. W. Barnett believes that this is a separate category of apostleship: ‘apostles of churches’ whose role is ‘practical and not directly religious,’ [3] but I think this is a specious distinction and I very much doubt that Paul would have seen practical missions as ‘not directly religious’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5)
Paul's Co-Workers
A number of people are described as apostles in the context of their collaboration with Paul. Barnabas is clearly described as an apostle in Acts 14:4, 14 in the context of missionary work. Acts 15:22 describes how Judas and Silas are sent (pempo) to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The letter 1 Thessalonians is sent by ‘Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy’ and continues in 2:7: ‘we might have made demands as apostles of Christ’. This certainly seems to suggest that Paul regarded both Silvanus and Timothy as apostles. It is possible that Paul refers to Apollos as an apostle in 1 Corinthians 4:9, though this is less certain. [4]
Andronicus and Junia(s)
They are described as being ‘prominent among the apostles’ (although ESV has ‘well known to the apostles’). [5] Clark has argued persuasively that Andronicus and Junia(s) were itinerant missionaries. [6] We will address ourselves later to the vexed question of the latter’s gender. Given that they shared in Paul’s imprisonment (Romans 16:7), it does not seem appropriate to classify them as ‘apostles of churches,’ even if we see merit in this category. Schnackenburg sees them as ‘Hellenists’ and deems it ‘highly improbable that they had seen the risen Lord.’ [7] He concludes that they ‘belonged to a group of ‘apostles’ who were early and recognized heralds of the gospel, without being able to lay claim to an appearance of the risen Lord.’ [8]
James and his apostles
In Galatians chapter two, Paul describes how he went up to Jerusalem (with Silas and Barnabas) in order to gain approval for his gospel and his mission to the uncircumcised. Paul compares his mission with Peter’s in verse 8: ‘for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles.’ In this context of apostolic ministry, it is noteworthy that the ‘pillars’ include James (not one of the Twelve): ‘when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised’ (verse 9). James appears in the context of apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:7 and Galatians 1:19 is more explicit still: ‘I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother.’ In addition, we will note Galatians 2:12 where Paul reports that, ‘certain people came from James.’ This is not a clear instance of apostleship but it fits in with a wider pattern of sending delegates.
False Apostles
Paul refers to false apostles (pseudapostolos) in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 and says that they have disguised themselves as apostles of Christ. They appear to have based their claims to apostolic status on rhetoric, boldness, missionary achievements, special revelations, and miracle-working. [9] There is no suggestion that they had seen, or claimed to have seen, the risen Lord. It is significant that Paul does not simply denounce them as lacking this one hallmark of apostleship. This suggests that Paul did not rule out apostleship in principle for those to whom Christ had not appeared.
The Last Apostle?
In 1 Corinthians 15:8, Paul refers to his own apostolic status: ‘Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me’. In Barnett’s view, Paul’s ‘careful words … serve to show that while there were apostles before him, there were no apostles after him.’ [10] If this is true, the passages we have considered cannot refer to an ongoing office of apostle. Should we understand Paul’s phrase ‘last of all’ in a chronological sense? A number of scholars agree with Barnett that it should be taken chronologically. [11] For Fitzmyer, the expression, ‘is best understood as an expression of humility ...’ [12] Collins suggests that it could carry a sense of completion or convey humility. [13] The chronological interpretation, then, is far from certain. Even if Paul is understood to be speaking chronologically, though, I think we still need to make room for more than one kind of apostleship. It is possible that Paul meets two definitions of apostleship: those who received a special appearance of Jesus and those who pioneered Christian communities. It is quite possible for Paul to be the last to receive a special appearance of the risen Lord but not the last to exercise apostleship in a more general sense. [4] cf. A. C. Clark Apostleship: Evidence From the New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Vox Evangelica 19 (1989), p.58
[6] A. C. Clark Apostleship: Evidence From the New Testament and Early Christian Literature, Vox Evangelica 19 (1989), p.59
[7] R. Schnackenburg, Apostles Before and During Paul’s Time in W. W. Gasque et al (ed.), Apostolic History and the Gospel, (Exeter: Paternoster, 1970), p.294
[11] F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1971), p.142; D. E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003)
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[13] R. F. Collins, First Corinthians, Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 7, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1999) p.537
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