The argument founded on I Cor. iv. 9, com pared with ver. 6, to prove that Apollos is termed an apostle, cannot bear a close examination. The only instance in which it seems probable that the word, as expressive of an office in the Christian church, is applied to an individual whose call to that office is not made the subject of special narra tion, is to be found in Acts xiv. 4, 14, where Barnabas, as well as Paul, is termed an apostle. At the same time it is by no means absolutely certain that the term apostles, or messengers, does not in this place refer rather to the mission of Paul and Barnabas by the prophets and teachers at Antioch, under the impulse of the Holy Ghost (Acts xiii. 1-4), than to that direct call to the Christian apostleship which we know Paul received. Had Barnabas received the same call, we can scarcely persuade ourselves that no trace of so important an event should have been found in the sacred history, but a passing hint, which admits, to say the least, of being plausibly accounted for in another way. We know that on the occasion referred to, ' the prophets and teachers, when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul Or Avg at"), sent them away ;' so that, in the sense in which we shall immediately find the words occurring, they were d7-6o-roXo/— of the prophets and teachers.
The word `apostle' occurs once in the New Testament (Heb. iii. I) as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ : ' The apostle of our profession,' i. e., the apostle whom we profess or acknowledge. The Jews were in the habit of applying the term itzi, from r6v), to send, to the person who pre sided over the synagogue, and directed all its officers and affairs. The Church is represented as the house or family of God,' over which he had placed, during the Jewish economy, Moses, as the superintendent,— over which he has placed, under the Christian economy, Christ Jesus. The import of the term apostle, is—divinely-commis sioned superintendent ; and of the whole phrase, the apostle of our profession,' the divinely-com missioned superintendent, whom WE Christians acknowledge in contradistinction to the divinely appointed superintendent Moses, whom the Jews acknowledged.
In 2 Cor. viii. 23, we meet with the phrase drbaroXot rendered in our version `the messengers of the churches.' Who these apostles were, and why they received this name, is obvious from the preceding context. The churches of Macedonia had made a liberal contribution for the relief of the impoverished and persecuted saints of Judma, and had not merely requested the Apostle ' to receive the gift, and take on him the fellowship of ministering to the saints,' but at his suggestion had appointed some individuals to accompany him to Jerusalem with their alms. These `apostles or messengers of the churches' were those `who were chosen of the churches to travel with the Apostle with his grace [gift], which was administered by him,' to the glory of their common Lord (2 Cor. viii. 1-4, 19). Theophylact explains the phrase thus : 6/ 671-6 T&P TE/.115Wores eel xeeporovii OgPTES, those sent and chosen by the churches.' With much the same meaning and reference Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 25) is termed ci7r6aroXos a messenger of the Philippian Church—having been employed by them to carry pecuniary assistance to the Apostle (Phil. iv. 14-18). Theophylact's exposition is as follows :—'A7r6crroXor rap' 1)Av droaraXevra 7rp6s ge-31' atiroff 72cp icrar, aretXaVres TeL rp6s xpelar.
It is scarcely worth while to remark that the Creed, commonly called The Apostles', though very ancient, has no claim to the name, except as it contains apostolical doctrine. A full and satis factory account of it will be found in Lord King's History of the Apostles' Creed, with Critical Observa tions on its several Articles. The Canons and Con stitutions, called apostolical, are generally admitted to be forgeries, probably of the fifth century.
In the early ecclesiastical writers we find the term 6 cizr6croXos, the Apostle,' used as the designation of a portion of the canonical books, consisting chiefly of the Pauline Epistles. ' The Psalter' and ' the Apostle' are often mentioned to gether. It is also not uncommon with these writers to call Paul ' The Apostle,' ,ear' B.