What Is Apostle?
Apostle renders the Greek 'apostolos', one who is sent: a representative dispatched on a mission with the sender's authority. In the Gospels Jesus chooses twelve from among his disciples and names them apostles, a choice carrying the symbolic wholeness of the twelve tribes of Israel. The apostles' core task is to proclaim the gospel as witnesses of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and to establish communities. The book of Acts tells how this mission spread from Jerusalem toward the nations. Paul, though not one of the Twelve, counts himself an apostle because of his encounter with the risen Christ and his sending to the nations, and he defends this calling in his letters. The New Testament sometimes uses the word more broadly for representatives sent by communities. Apostleship marks the church's founding era in which the foundation of teaching was laid; most of the New Testament writings rest on the apostles and their circles.