What is the difference between Apostles and Disciples?

I see Jesus both words used in Scripture and never understood the difference?

Thanks.

MaryLu

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), June 12, 2002

Answers

MaryLu

Simply put if I may say it this way

disciples --those who are learning. Christ trained them. Catechists.

apostles --those who are teachers. They teach the word of GOD -Jesus Christ himself. Confirmed believers.

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 12, 2002.

Thanks MaryLu for asking this. Actually last night, while I was reading the Gospels, that thought entered my head too!

Fred, is that written somewhere? Not that I don't trust you, but I could swear when I read the Gospels, when Jesus began his ministry, it said that "he called his Apostles". So, how could it mean teachers when Christ had just called them?

It could be that I misread something (which I have been known to do).

Thanks for the help.

In Christ.

-- Jake Huether (jake.huether@lamrc.com), June 12, 2002.

Jake

If you read the Bible clearly youu will clearly note the fact that the 12 were called disciples during the time Christ was alive and he referred to them as Apostles afterr his death. It is all there. Just carefull observation will reveal this. He told the Apostles to go out their an make disciples out all people in all nations. It is all there. I will try to find that for you .

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 12, 2002.

This is from the Catholic Concordance:

An Apostle is someone who is sent (by Jesus to preach.)

A disciple in the gospels are those who follow Jesus. In Acts all are called disciples who follow Jesus.

It is clearly defined in the Concordance. Blessings.

Hope this helps. Blessings.

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 12, 2002.

Thank you, Fred. Knew I would get the 'right' answer from you!

MaryLu :)

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), June 12, 2002.

MaryLu

LOLOLOL You actually forced this old man's brain to work a bit. I enjoyed it though. GOD LOVES US ALL.

Blessings.

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 12, 2002.

Thank you Fred. I just learned something new :)

In Christ.

-- Jake Huether (jake.huether@lamrc.com), June 12, 2002.

me too thanks Fred

-- KG (csisherwood@hotmail.com), June 13, 2002.

1: After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.

If these 70 were not Apostles, what business did they have preaching?

The definition that only the Apostles were preachers I thin is not quite acurate.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), June 13, 2002.

Enrique

Each Apostle also had disciples who were also folowing them around and were being taught the words of Christ. When they were ready the Apostles then sent them out too to proclaim the Words of Christ too. That is how the Apostolic tradition has survived to this day in our priests, bishops and Popes. This process is called the laying of hands or passing the word from Apostle to disciple who later became Apostle to their Disciples. That is how the priest you see today can actually by the laying of hands backwards can be traced all the way back to Peter and then to Christ at the River Jordan.

Hope this explains things.

Blessings.

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 13, 2002.

Enrique

I will add this fact which is in Acts of the Apostles. The first thing they did was to appoint another disciple to replace Judas the betrayer and Stephen was promoted to the position. The ascension continues to this very day. Look at the College of Cardinals as an example.

Blessings.

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 13, 2002.

Hello, Enrique.

Before giving rise to a proper title, the apostolate was a function. It actually at the end of a slow evolution that the title of Apostle was used in a pivliged sense and restricted to the circle of twelve (Mt 10,2) and later attributed to Our Lord (Lk 6,13). But if this title of honor belongs to the twelve alone, it is clear that others with them exercise a funtion which can be qualified as "apostolic."

From the time of the publc life, however Jesus had Himself opened the way to this extension of the apostolic mission. Besides the predominant tradition which narrates the mission of the twelve, Luke has retained another tradition, according to what Jesus, "again selected seventy-two[disciples] others and sent them on ahead of Him" (Lk 10,1). Here we have the smae object of the sending as for the twelve, the same official character;"Who hears you, hears me; who refuses you fefuses Me and who refuses Me refuses Him who sent Me" (Lk 10,16;cf Mt. 10,40 p) So, Enrique, in Jesus' mind, therfore, the apostolic mission is not limited to that of the twelve.

God bless you, and "little Pablito"

David

-- David (David@excite.com), June 13, 2002.

Correction:

St. Matthias was chosen as an apostle to replace Judas. St. Steven was the first martyr.

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), June 13, 2002.

aOOPs Mateo thanks..

-- Fred Bishop (FCB@heartland.com), June 13, 2002.

Folks,
Today's (Sunday) gospel reading and some other New Testament passages give us a new insight into this question, the result being different from some of the things that were stated above.
Here is part of the reading (from Matthew 9 and 10):

"Then [Jesus] summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter ... and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
"Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, " ... make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."

St. Luke, in chapter 6, tells us:

"In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, ... and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people ..."

Then, in chapter 9, St. Luke writes:
"And [Jesus] called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. ... On their return the apostles told him what they had done."

Then, in chapter 10, St. Luke writes:
"After this the Lord appointed seventy others [traditionally called "disciples"], and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, " ... Whenever you enter a town ... say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

In the Acts of the Apostles, Sts. Paul and Barnabas (and, by implication, St. Matthias) are called "apostles."

The word "disciple" comes from the Latin for "pupil" (from discere = to learn).
The word "apostle" comes from the Greek for "messenger" (from apostellein = to send off).

So what conclusions can be drawn from all this?

1. All those who learned the "good news" from Jesus (men, women, and children) -- and those who learned from them later -- are called "disciples" (pupils)

2. In the Bible, the "Apostles" (messengers) are a subset of the disciples. At first, the Apostles are only the twelve chosen directly by Jesus. Later, Sts. Matthias, Paul, and Barnabas become Apostles by succession or extension, becoming new "messengers sent off" by Jesus.

3. The Apostles are called by that title early in Jesus's memory, not just after his death. They are already "sent off" to preach, cure, etc., in the early days. It is true that, in the gospels, the twelve are more often called the "twelve disciples" or just "the disciples" than the "Apostles."

4. But even certain disciples (seventy) behave like the Apostles, being "sent" ahead of Jesus to announce his coming. Nowadays, the Church calls the various forms of work that even lay people are called to do "apostolates" -- making us all (like the seventy) "little apostles."

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 16, 2002.

Oop! I meant "ministry" rather than "memory" in this sentence:
"The Apostles are called by that title early in Jesus's memory, not just after his death."

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 16, 2002.

Thought for the Day

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BELIEVER AND A DISCIPLE

A believer praises the Lord in good times, the disciple at all times. The Holy Spirit resides in the believer but shines through the disciple.

A believer loves God with heart and mind, while a disciple commits the will. A believer loves God and others, but they are the disciple's life. A believer lives in hope, but for the disciple, God's hope is certain. A believer seeks forgiveness for sin, but a disciple also determines not to walk that path again. A believer had faith in God but the disciple's faith is tempered in the fire of testing. A believer loves the Lord, but the disciple's love is unconditional. The believer serves the Lord in strength, but the disciple is made perfect through weakness. God is part of the believer's life, but the central focus of the disciple. A believer forgives, but the disciple also forgets. A believer communicates with God at their own convenience, but the disciple's heart is open to the Lord at all times.

While none of us can lay claim to living up to all these principles, all of the time - for we have not yet reached perfection - they can remind us of the direction in which we are to go. But let's try our hardest to make our words and actions mirror images of each other. -- Author Unknown From Spiritual Uplifts

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Bible Verse John 8:31

Jesus told the people who had faith in him, "If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples Contemporary English Version

Prayer

Lord, help me to live as your disciple. Amen

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), July 12, 2002.

Hi Mary Lu,

Thank you for that. I learned something new here today from this thread.........the difference between Apostles and Disciples.

God Bless,

-- Kathy (sorry@nomail.com), July 12, 2002.