Introduction This is a journal article critique of Robert D. Culver’s “Apostles and the Apostolate in the New Testament” published in the April to June 1977 issue of Bibliotheca Sacra, a Dallas Theological Seminary publication for over 165 years which concentrates in the studies in theology, Bible exposition, and ministry. The author of this article Robert Culver was a professor of Theology who taught a combined 25 years at Wheaton College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He was an author, preacher, pastor and teacher right up until his death at 98 years old. His most noted publication was the massive 1200-page Systematic Theology: Biblical & Historical in 2005. The examination of Apostles in the New Testament is covered under …show more content…
Culver challenges this issue with the legitimacy of this assertion. However, Culver believes it could be feasible because of the linguistic background of the Greek and Hebrew usage of the word in the Old and New Testaments, “the reader of the Bible must decide what it means from the way it is used.” He examines the linguistic background of the word in the Bible, first with the Old Testament and then moving onto and primarily concentrating on the New Testament usage of the word. Culver writes that the background of “the word apostle in the older Greek literature was a special maritime term or military term” simply meaning to be sent away. Culver then proceeds to the background in Jewish usage with its roots in the Old …show more content…
However, it is this author’s opinion that he does not supply enough evidence to support his case. Each of the six essential features of an Apostle can still be applied today depending on the way the reader interprets these features. There are numerous Biblical references that demonstrate that modern day Apostles still continue to function in the church today. Jesus Christ gave spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit after His resurrection to edify His Church. They are part of the “fivefold” ministry and are just as valid and needed in the Church today. The “building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12) requires all five of the spiritual gifts given by Jesus Christ Himself in Eph. 4:11, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.” Apostles are provided by Jesus Christ to equip His saints for His service here on earth. Scripture is very clear that “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:20-22). Jesus Christ was and still is the cornerstone of the Church, just as the Apostles were the foundation then and
Ruden, Sarah. Paul among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time. New York: Pantheon, 2010. Print.
Coogan, Michael David., Marc Zvi. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Standard Version with the Apocrypha : An Ecumenical Study Bible. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com. Web. 3 Mar 2011. Accessed 22 April 2014.
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
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When Jesus called His disciples, His invitation was simple. He invited them to follow Him. The same is true today. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave His last charge to His disciples, and the charge was simple. He called his followers to go and make disciples. Much effort has been placed by Christians to fulfill this charge, commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus chose to fulfill the implementation of the New Covenant through 12 men who He called, appointed, and commissioned, and he only had a few short years to prepare them for the task (Willson, 1990). His methods were unconventional and were revolutionary for that time. His disciples were to be trained extensively by Jesus, living with Him for three years prior to His ascension. He taught about servant leadership and its meaning for both the leader and follower Matt. 20:25-28). From the beginning, Jesus put in place a careful plan, and an examination of His actions in the Gospels showed that Jesus left behind the pattern to be replicated. His methods, which included the incorporation of three different levels of discipleship, included His interaction with Peter, His closest three (Peter, James, and John), and finally the group of 12. This paper identified and analyzed the three levels of discipleship Jesus modeled, these discipleship methods were then measured against modern leadership theories, and Jesus’s level of involvement and interaction with his disciples were critiqued in light of these modern theories in an effort to determine the effectiveness of this approach.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
deSilva, David A. An Introduction to the New Testament; Context, Methods & Ministry Formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
R., Richard, and Jr. Melick. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (New American Commentary). Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 1991.
Witherington III, Ben. The Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids: Erdmans Publishing Co., 1998. 295-97. Print.
In the first case, the apostles experience the Holy Spirit in the same way that Jesus experienced
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-12 New International Version)