APOSTLE

APOSTLE, Ἀπόστολος, q.d. Envoy or Messenger; a Disciple of Jesus Christ, commissioned by him to preach his Gospel, and propagate it to all the Parts of the Earth. See GOSPEL. St. Paul is frequently called the Apostle, by way of Eminence; and the Apostle of the Gentiles, by reason his Ministry was chiefly made use of for the Conversion of the Gentile World, as that of St. Peter was for the Jews.

The several Apostles are usually represented with their respective Badges or Attributes: St. Peter, with the Keys; St. Paul, with a Sword; St. Andrew, with a Cross or Saltire; St. James minor, with a Fuller’s Pole; St. John, with a Cup and a winged Serpent flying from it; St. Bartholomew, with a Knife; St. Philip, with a long Staff, whose upper End is formed into a Cross; St. Thomas, with a Lance; St. Matthew, with a Hatchet; St. Matthias, with a Battle-Ax; St. James major, with a Pilgrim’s Staff and a Gourd-Bottle; St. Simon, with a Saw; and St. Thaddaeus, with a Club.



The Word Apostle, Ἀπόστολος, originally signifies a Person delegated or sent; from the Verb ἀποστέλλω (apostellō), to send. In this Sense it occurs in Herodotus, and other profane Authors. Hence, in the New Testament, the Term is applied to various sorts of Delegates; and to the twelve Disciples, by way of Eminence. There was a certain false Stage of the Gospel that contentiously disputed Paul his Quality of an Apostle; because none could be said to be sent by him who had not seen and been Witnesses of his Actions. In answer to these sophistical Doers, who had seduced the Churches of Galatia; he begins his Epistle to them with these Words, "Paul an Apostle, not of Men nor by Man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father." By which he signified that he had his Mission immediately from God; and consequently was a true Apostle.

The name Apostle was also attributed to the ordinary traveling Ministers of the Church. Thus St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Romans, XVI. 7, says, "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my Kinsmen and Fellow-Prisoners, who are of note among the Apostles."The Name Apostle was also given to those sent by the Churches to carry their Alms to the Poor of other Churches. This Usage they borrowed from the Synagogues, who called those whom they sent on this Message, by the same Name; and the Function or Office itself Ἀποστολή (apostolē), q.d. a Mission.

Apostle is also used for a Person who first planted the Christian Faith in any place. Thus St. Dionysius of Corinth is called the Apostle of France; St. Xavier the Apostle of the Indies, etc. In the East Indies, the Jesuit Missionaries are also called Apostles. See MISSIONARY, etc.

In some Ages of the Church, the Pope was also denominated Apostle. See SIDON. Apollinar. Lib. VI. Ep. 4. See also POPE and APOSTOLICAL.

In the Greek Liturgy, Apostle is particularly used for the Epistles of St. Paul, printed in the Order wherein they are to be read in Churches, through the Course of the Year. Another Book of the like kind, containing the Gospels, is called Εὐαγγέλιον (Euangelion), Gospel. The Apostle, of late Days, has also contained the other canonical Epistles; the Acts of the Apostles, and the Revelations. Hence it is also called, Acts of the Apostles, Πράξεις τῶν Ἀποστόλων, that being the first Book in it. See ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

Apostle is also used among the Jews, for a kind of Officer anciently sent into the several Parts and Provinces in their Jurisdiction, by way of Visitor, or Commissary; to see that the Laws were duly observed, and to receive the Monies collected for the Reparation of the Temple, and the Tribute payable to the Romans. The Theodosian Code, Lib, XIV. De Judaeis, calls them Apostoli, "qui ad exigendum aurum atque argentum a Patriarcha certo Tempore diriguntur." The Jews called them שליחים (Shelichim), q.d. Envoys, Messengers.

Julian the Apostate remitted the Jews the Apostle, among other things; that is, as he himself explains it, the Tribute they had been accustomed to send him.

These Apostles were a degree below the Officers of the Synagogues called Patriarchs, and received their Commissions from them. Some Authors observe, that St. Paul had borne this Office; and that it's this he alludes to in the beginning of the Epistle to the Galatians: as if he had said, "Paul, no longer an Apostle of the Synagogue, not sent thereby to maintain the Law of Moses, but now an Apostle and Envoy of Jesus Christ, etc." See PERRON, though he does not believe that St. Paul had been an Apostle of this kind; yet imagines that he alludes thereto, in the Passage just cited.

In the Arsenal of Bremen, there are twelve large Pieces of Cannon called the twelve apostles; on a Supposition that the whole World must be convinced, and acquiesce in the Preachings of such apostles.

APOSTLE