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  • From: Frich107 AT aol.com
  • To: corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Apollos an apostle?
  • Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 03:19:50 EDT

Dear Tony,

Thanks for your response on this subject. Having read your reply, I realise
that I was not perhaps as clear as I should have been in my original post.
When
I speak of whether Apollos is an apostle, I am speaking of that in Paul's
view alone, not in the wider scheme of things in the New Testament, or in
modern
attempts at historiography. Nonetheless what you said is interesting, and I
shall comment on that below.

>Dear Fred, I think option 4 would be viable. Luke
>himself referred to both Paul and Barnabas as
>"apostles" as well. (Acts 14:14)

I agree that Luke does, but ultimately Paul never says that Barnabas is an
apostle. That is not necessarily to say that Paul didn't view Barnabas as an
apostle, but that rather to say thus is an argument from silence as far as
Paul
is concerned.

>The word "apostle" as
>one who is sent would describe the missions of Apollos
>and Barnabas.

I agree that in its most general sense both Apollos and Barnabas could be
considered apostles.

>At the same time, apostleship seems to be
>used of Paul in 1 Cor.9:1 in reference to someone who
>had "seen" Jesus.

This idea is also found, I believe, in 1 Corinthians 15 in perhaps even more
explicit terms, though there may be other ways of reading this.

>I think there is a subtle distinction
>made between "Apostle" (those who saw Jesus, Paul is a
>late comer in this regard), and "apostle" (one who is
>sent to proclaim the gospel). Of course, there were no
>lower case letters in the earliest textual MSS, but I
>think context bears out these distincions.

I agree completely that there is a distinction between the two groups of
apostles that you identify. In Paul's writings I believe that they are
distinguished by the qualifying phrase 'of the church(es)'. Paul only speaks
explicitly
of such people on two occasions (2 Corinthians 8:23 and Philippians 2:25),
and
yet they are obviously very different from Paul and the Jerusalem apostles,
or
the Twelve. Paul often refers to himself as an apostle 'of Christ Jesus',
which again is a qualifier that I believe distinguishes him from the apostles
of
the church. He is sent by Christ, whereas they are sent by local ekklesia.

Regards,
Fred Rich

Ph.D. Student,
Department of Biblical Studies,
University of Sheffield,
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire,
UK.




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