Apostle vs Disciple
Difference between apostle and disciple can be understood when you know what the two terms stand for individually. The words apostle and disciple are often encountered in biblical study. Many treat apostles and disciples to be the same and often use these words interchangeably. However, it is wrong and needs to be clarified. You ought to know the difference between an apostle and a disciple to have a clearer understanding of the concepts. Therefore, in this article, we will be discussing what each term stands for in order to make you understand the difference between apostle and disciple.
Who is a Disciple?
According to the Oxford English dictionary, a disciple is ‘a follower or pupil of a teacher, leader, or philosopher.’ So, you understand that a disciple is basically a pupil or a student. In his time, Jesus accepted all as his disciples, and this huge population consisted of sinners and women and that made purists angry. The word disciple comes from a Latin word discipulus, which means a learner who learns from his teacher.
If you study the Bible, you would come to know that disciples were followers or students of the Jesus Christ. Out of his scores of followers, Jesus chose twelve to travel and learn from him. Of course, these 12 were also originally the Disciples of Christ. These were the men who were later sent to far off lands to act as messengers, and these 12 men became first apostles.
Jesus and his apostles.
Who is an Apostle?
According to the Oxford English dictionary, the general meaning of the term apostle is ‘a vigorous and pioneering advocate or supporter of a particular policy, idea, or cause.’ This is apart from its use to Jesus Christ’s 12 apostles. In that sense, they were twelve disciples or students, who later became messengers of the religion as they supported the religious belief of Jesus.
It is true that apostles were also disciples, but one cannot use the word apostle when he is referring to someone who has merely been a follower or a disciple of the Christ. So, not all of disciples were apostles though all apostles were disciples.
An apostle was, apart from being a follower of Jesus, a special trainee who was to be later sent out as a messenger to preach Christianity. Interestingly, among the 12 that Jesus chose as apostles, there was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ and later killed himself. Matthais replaced Judas and joined rest of the group to become an apostle. The original 12 apostles were Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (the Less), Judas (or Thaddaeus), Simon, and Judas Iscariot.
What is the difference between Apostle and Disciple?
Apart from the word disciple, there is also mention of the word apostles in Bible and people think of these two as being same which is not true.
• If you get to the Greek roots of the words apostle and disciple, the difference between the two becomes crystal clear. The Greek word for disciple literally means student while the Greek word for apostle means a messenger or sent one.
• While it is true that Jesus chose 12 of his disciples to become messengers later on, not all disciples can be called apostles.
• All 12 apostles of Jesus were disciples. However, you cannot say all the disciples of Christianity are apostles.
Images Courtesy: James Tissot, The Exhortation to the Apostles via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
Since Jesus chose Judas Iscariot as an Apostle, did he make a mistake? Or was Judas chosen to fulfill a prophecy, and thereby fulfilling his destiny? If that is so, surely he cannot be held responsible for his actions?
get real. Jesus made no mistakes lol he was perfect. yes he can be held accountable for his actions. is that a serious question? how could he not be held accountable for His actions. This is God’s son we are talking about here. are you mad?
You mis-read my remark. I was not referring to Christ, but Judas. Judas can not be held responsible for his actions as he was chosen by Christ to fulfil his role in Christs destiny. I am real and I am not mad. I simply pose a theoretical question. Calm down, no need to blow a gasket just because you are so close-minded that you cannot contemplate a theological question. Religious zealots are some of the worlds most dangerous people. They become so blinded by their beliefs that they cannot see beyond their blinkers.
actually, even though prophesy predicted the how and the why Jesus would be betrayed, I believe Judas was given chances,,, in John 13, Jesus washed Judas’s feet along with the others, this could have humbled him and caused him to re-thing his plans. , but it didn’t’. in verse 26, Jesus dipped the bred and handed it to Judas–a sign of a friend,,a gesture of reaching out to him– again, Judas was given a chance to look into the face of Jesus and repent,,,,But he chose not to. the key is chose–he got up and walked into the darkness, (verse 27) and gave Satan and entry into his heart and soul. If Judas had repented, prophesy would have been fulfilled –but by someone else…I;m sorry, I’m don’t’ mean to preach, I am speaking personally, and it’s ONLY my opinion, but I believe that Judas was given every chance to change, and he CHOSE not to — , so then he was a “free agent” and Satan was able to CHOOSE him.. It is not God’s will that any should perish, but there are sadly those like Pharaoh and Judas–and others, who stubbornly choose not to accept salvation that Jesus offers,
I hope this helps, a little, it’s heartbreaking to think of those who will not
Donal’s comment is excellent.
Hey Donal,
I used to struggle quite a bit with the same types of questions. For me, it essentially boiled down to the difficulty in understanding the apparent contradiction between humans having free will, and God’s deterministic and omniscient ability. But they really don’t have to be seen as a contradiction.
What I believe is that God does give us free will to make our own choices, allowing both good and bad choices. He desires a relationship with us, and healthy relationships require the desire by both parties to know the other, and the ongoing effort involved in growing closer. If we were forced to do exactly God’s will at all times, and never made the choice to develop that relationship, it would be a 1-sided relationship. I don’t believe that is what God desires. So that is the free will side. We are allowed choices, and are responsible for those choices.
This doesn’t mean God doesn’t work in the world, or that he doesn’t know everything that will happen before it happens. By knowing the choices we are going to make, he can use those choices according to his plan, and even mold key aspects of his plan around those choices. That in no way negates the fact that we are allowed to make choices and are responsible for the choices we make. It is a difficult subject for all of us as humans to understand, not being omniscient, but I do think this perspective allows us to grasp the basics of how to understand and explain these types of questions.
So back to Judas, yes, he was 100% responsible for his choices and we are all accountable for the choices we make, whether we believe in Christ or not. And at the same time, the choices that we (including Judas) are allowed to make can be used by God to fulfill His plan. They are not mutually exclusive options.
In a general sense, Disciples are listeners, Apostles are preachers.
God is unknowable. God is FAR beyond human understanding. When we try to define and codify God, IMHO, we are severely limiting ourselves by default. But, we’re human; this is one of the Things We Do. Again, all IMHO, the biggest, most heinous mistake that we do to each other is to try to inflict our own beliefs, our patterns of faith, upon each other, which comes hand-in-hand with judgement of the other person’s experience and beliefs/faith. That is not only horribly disrespectful to that person, but God. The way the other person believes? THAT is how God, maybe by another name, maybe not, interacts and communicates to this person.
And who are we to judge God?