Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tl00360)

In message <344EB36F.5FDF@sprynet.com>, Bart Lidofsky
<bartl@sprynet.com> writes
>Nicole Suter wrote:
>> 
>> To Bart Lidofsky: "There is a major difference between an "apostle" and a
>> "disciple"; an apostle abandons a belief system to learn a new one."
>> 
>> Bart, this hurts! To me this feels icecold-iconically again. Brrr, I am all
>> frozen. Please send enormous amounts of hot water!
>
>       It is a common error to consider an apostle to be another word for a
>disciple of a religious teacher. It was that which I was addressing.
>
>       Bart Lidofsky

This is true.  An apostle is a plenipotentiary for the teacher, with
authority to act in the name of the teacher, a *sheliach* in Hebrew - it
is almost as if the apostle has power of attorney - indeed, in Old
Testament times this would have been a common understanding of the
function.  Hence the idea of an apostle, later a bishop or priest,
acting "in his name."

Alan