From: Perry L. Stepp (plstepp@flash.net)
Date: Fri Jul 09 1999 - 10:19:33 EDT
From: Ltwist <Ltwist@leupold.com>
>Check out the use of APOSTOLOS in Eph. 4:11 where I think
>you'll find it's a gift and that it's main qualification is to have
>seen the risen Body of our LORD JESUS. 1 Cor. 9:1 et al.
Your reference to 1 Cor 9.1 does not prove that Eph 4.11 refers only to
those who were personal witnesses to the resurrection--in fact, in the
context of Ephesians, there is no reference to such a qualification. The
context of Eph 4.11 weakens your conclusion.
1 Cor 9.1 does not limit apostleship to those who were personally witnesses
of the resurrection. The verse reads: "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?
Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?"
Taking this verse as a list of qualifications for apostleship seems suspect,
doesn't it?
My general impression is that APOSTOLOS was taken in two senses.
First, it was used as a title for the authoritative leaders of the early
church who were original followers of Jesus, witnesses of his resurrection
(Acts 1.22) (Paul receives special dispensation to belong to this group
because of Jesus' appearance to him).
Second, in several places (Acts 14.14, Eph 4.11, 1 Thess 2.6, etc.) it
appears to be used in a more generic sense of missionaries who went into
areas where the gospel had not yet been preached. In which case, one could
argue, the office of APOSTOLOS continues to exist today.
PLStepp
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Senior Pastor, DeSoto Christian Church, DeSoto TX
DCC's webpage: http://come.to/DeSotoCC
Ph.D. Candidate in Religion, Baylor University
#1 Cowboy Fan
Does it not concern us that God's name is often
dishonored because of poor theologies of God?
--Clark Pinnock, *The Openness of God*
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