Apostolic

From Neoredemptive

Having to do with the person of an apostle, the office of apostle, the apostolate, or the history and legacy of any of the above.

Biblical Use

See our writings on the biblical concepts of an apostle and the apostolate. Within the context of the present-day church, those things which are distinctively connected with the person, gift and role of an apostle of Jesus Christ (present or past) can be legitimately called "apostolic". However, the word carries so much linguistic baggage that we generally prefer not to use it.

Common Uses

The lifespan of the Twelve Apostles - roughly the first century AD - is often called "the apostolic age", "the apostolic era", or "apostolic times". The first-century church is thus the "apostolic church". This widely-understood use of the term, while not strictly incorrect (apostles did figure prominently in the first-century church), reenforces the mistaken notion that the apostolate was limited to the Twelve, so we try to avoid using the word with this meaning.

Misuse

This word has been bandied carelessly in pentecostal and third-wave circles and church government debates to the point that it has virtually lost its usefulness.

• Oneness pentecostals call themselves and their heresy of modalism "apostolic". It is the keyword many use to identify one another in online forums -- "are you apostolic?"
• A whole host of values, styles, and personality types are colloquially called "apostolic" within the circles of Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation - some appropriately, some not so much.
• For any form of church government, there are advocates who refer to the other models with descriptive names (congregational, presbyterian, episcopalian, etc.) while calling their own "the apostolic model".
• In Roman Catholicism, the papacy is spoken of as "apostolic" because of the line of "apostolic succession" of the office from the apostolate of Peter.