Apostle
From Neoredemptive
The Greek word Apostolos (652), usually translated "apostle", means one who is sent and given authority to fulfill his commission by the sender. Many of the uses in Scripture are references to the Twelve, Paul, and a cloud of other personalities (see All the Apostles of the Bible). The implied "sender" of an apostle is usually God, although the same word is also used to refer to otherwise unremarkable people sent as messengers to churches (see 2 Corinthians 8:23, Philippians 2:25). More to the point, the word's use in scripture seems to have a less technical meaning than in most modern systematic theologies; for example, scripture never links the word with concepts like "the exclusive right to author New Testament scripture". These entanglements generally imply that the apostolate completed its purpose and was therefore discontinued some time around the end of the first century (the end of the so-called "apostolic era"). We generally find these arguments unconvincing; see On the Cessation of the Charismata (particularly the appendix) for a discussion of how the text of scripture treats the concept of an "apostle" and the absence of a warrant for the discontinuation of the apostolic function as it is envisioned and presented in the text itself.
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A Caveat on "Offices" in the Church
As we note about prophets, the title of "apostle" is not the point, and we should be skeptical of those who are too emphatic about making it the point. The point is always to serve Jesus Christ and His church, and any notion of office, commission, authority, or title must be entirely subservient to that end. So let's please make a point of not getting hung up on whether some particular person should be addressed as "Apostle Jim" or not, hung up on demanding titles for ourselves, or hung up on our own "humility" for not taking a title we "scripturally should have".
The Title and the Office
There is an important and seldom-recognized distinction between calling someone an "apostle" as an honorific and identifying someone as an "apostle" as their office within the church. Many people clearly possess apostolic gifts and skills, and use them to serve the church as they have opportunity; we would have no objection to referring to these people as "apostles" in an honorific sense, but this does not necessarily mean we think it's a good idea for them to put "Apostle of Jesus Christ" on their business card or their letterhead. The office of "Apostle" needs to be considered far more carefully, and the scriptural requirements weighed seriously.
Women as Apostles?
A single passage in Romans makes an oblique reference a woman (Junia) who is highly esteemed "among (as one of?) the apostles". There are no texts expressly prohibiting a woman from being considered an apostle (in the honorific sense); if we consider the office of apostle as one legitimate expression of eldership, then the pertinent gender roles passages must be taken into consideration (particularly 1 Timothy and Titus). If the apostolate is understood as something distinct from eldership, then those verses do not apply, although this should not be taken as license to use the office of apostle to overstep other scriptural restrictions on the ecclesiastic authority of women.
Objections
Requirements for the Office of Apostle
Commissioned by Jesus Christ
Power Ministry
Character
Eye Witnesses to the Risen Christ?
/TODO/
Paul was a "spiritual" eye-witness -- while he did see Christ, apparently none of his traveling companions at the time did. If one has not dismissed prophecy and other revelatory gifts from the ongoing life of the church, this remains a possibility.
Authorized to Write Scripture?
... The possibility of an open canon, and the countless errors promulgated by so-called apostles ...
Scripture itself does not link the apostolate with scripture-authoring. Indeed, several Gospels were not written by the Twelve or even eye-witnesses to the risen Christ, and it is not clear who wrote Hebrews, so we cannot know whether it was written by one of the men Scripture identifies as apostles.
