Difference between an apostle and a disciple

[CountrySteve]

just as the title says whats the exact difference between a apostle and disciple and can there still be apostles today or was that just only during the time of Jesus and how does all this fit with apostolic succession?

 

[ibo]

just as the title says whats the exact difference between a apostle and disciple and can there still be apostles today or was that just only during the time of Jesus and how does all this fit with apostolic succession?

Apostles are the Bishops.
disciples are all the christians who follow Jesus.
Exact diferrence you cannot find.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

In the Gospels, you will only see the term ‘Apostle’ once. John 13:16

If we pluralize it, ‘Apostles’, we see it in the Gospels nine times. Once in Matthew, 10:2, once in Mark, 6:30, and Luke seven times, 6:13, 9:1, 9:10, 11:49, 17:5, 22:14, and 24:10.

Disciple is used 23 times in the Gospels. Pluralized we see it around 211 times.

 

[fermat]

Apostles are the Bishops.
disciples are all the christians who follow Jesus.
Exact diferrence you cannot find.

Bishops are the *successors *to the to the Apostles, not Apostles themselves.

The Apostles are those who learned from Jesus. We are all disciples.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

Mat 10:1 And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.
Mat 10:2 And the names of the twelve Apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
Mat 10:3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus,
Mat 10:4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Luk 6:13 And when day was come, he called unto him his disciples: and he chose twelve of them (whom also he named apostles):
Luk 6:14 Simon, whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Luk 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who is called Zelotes,
Luk 6:16 And Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor.

 

[Saintlucy]

An apostle is one who is sent forth with a message. The apostles taught the faith whereas disciples learnt the faith. The apostles were disciples first but were taught the fullness of the faith by our Lord after his Resurrection so that they were able to evangelize. They were also ordained into the priesthood by Christ who breathed on them so that they received the Holy Spirit.and given the power to ordain others and to forgive sins.

Hope this helps

 

[twinc]

An apostle is one who is sent forth with a message. The apostles taught the faith whereas disciples learnt the faith. The apostles were disciples first but were taught the fullness of the faith by our Lord after his Resurrection so that they were able to evangelize. They were also ordained into the priesthood by Christ who breathed on them so that they received the Holy Spirit.and given the power to ordain others and to forgive sins.

Hope this helps

 

[twinc]

so when all is said and done was the beloved disciple really the beloved Apostle or was that title reserved for Peter “lovest thou Me more than these” - twinc

 

[ibo]

Bishops are the *successors *to the to the Apostles, not Apostles themselves.

The Apostles are those who learned from Jesus. We are all disciples.

I would say that the Bishops are the Apostles. If not, the Apostles disappeared? If yes, why?

 

[twinc]

twinc:
it seems to me that the power to forgive or retain sin was given to the disciples and not just to apostles[Jn.20:23] - twinc

 

[Telstar]

I would say that the Bishops are the Apostles. If not, the Apostles disappeared? If yes, why?

The Apostles are the ones Jesus chose, personally. The disciples are the ones that followed, but were not necessarily handpicked by Jesus, Himself. The Apostles were chosen from amongst the earliest followers. I believe the distinction was that they were the ones that were with Him all throughout His public life, therefore, the most reliable to bear witness to all that He said and did. He also taught them much more than He taught the others, as is shown in many passages where He took the 12 aside to speak with them, alone.

I’m not so sure that disciples were all the rest of His followers. I think they were also given some responsibility over the rest of the flock and some of them also preached. The Apostles were chosen to be the leaders of the whole flock but they were still, technically, ‘disciples’, like Bishops and Cardinals of today are still Priests. But, the Apostles had more authority as direct witnesses of what Jesus actually taught.

 

[Telstar]

it seems to me that the power to forgive or retain sin was given to the disciples and not just to apostles[Jn.20:23] - twinc

That’s another reason why I believe the disciples were equivalent to today’s Priests, because Jesus also seems to distinguish them from the rest of the flock. Many of the Epistles are usually instructions that are mainly addressed to the Bishops, but also to the disciples, which seems to show them to also be leaders of the rest of the flock. But, I could be wrong.

 

[tgauchsin]

Twelve Apostles are those chosen by Christ to sit in judgement of the twelve tribes of Isreal on Judgement Day. Which is why Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after his betrail and suicide. They had to keep the number of Apostles at twelve.

Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt 19:28)

 

[buffalo]

Disciple

This term is commonly applied to one who is learning any art or science from one distinguished by his accomplishments. Though derived from the Latin discipulus, the English name conveys a meaning somewhat narrower than its Latin equivalent: disciple is opposed to master, as scholar to teacher, whilst both disciple and scholar are included under the Latin discipulus. In the English versions of the Old Testament the word disciple occurs only once (Isaiah 8:16); but the idea it conveys is to be met with in several other passages, as, for instance, when the Sacred Writer speaks of the “sons” of the Prophets (2 Kings 2:7); the same seems, likewise, to be the meaning of the terms children and son in the Sapiential books (e.g. Proverbs 4:1, 10; etc.). Much more frequently does the New Testament use the word disciple in the sense of pupil, adherent, one who continues in the Master’s word (John 8:31). So we read disciples of Moses (John 9:28), of the Pharisees (Matthew 22:16; Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33). of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14; Luke 7:18; John 3:25). These, however, are only incidental applications, for the word is almost exclusively used of the Disciples of Jesus.
In the Four Gospels it is most especially applied to the Apostles, sometimes styled the “twelve disciples” (Matthew 10:1; 11:1; 20:17; 26:20; 28:16, having reference to events subsequent to Christ’s Passion, mentions only the “eleven disciples”), sometimes merely called “the disciples” (Matthew 14:19; 15:33, 36; etc.).

 

[buffalo]

The expression “his disciples” frequently has the same import. Occasionally the Evangelists give the word a broader sense and make it a synonym for believer (Matthew 10:42; 27:57; John 4:1; 9:27, 28; etc.). Besides the signification of “Apostle” and that of “believer” there is finally a third one, found in St. Luke, and perhaps also in the other Evangelists. St. Luke narrates (6:13) that Jesus “called unto him his disciples, and he chose twelve of them (whom also he named apostles)”. The disciples, in this disciples, in this context, are not the crowds of believers who flocked around Christ, but a smaller body of His followers. They are commonly identified with the seventy-two (seventy, according to the received Greek text, although several Greek manuscripts mention seventy-two, as does the Vulgate) referred to (Luke 10:1) as having been chosen by Jesus. The names of these disciples are given in several lists (Chronicon Paschale, and Pseudo-Dorotheus in Migne, P.G., XCII, 521-524; 543-545; 1061-1065); but these lists are unfortunately worthless. Eusebius positively asserts that no such roll existed in his time, and mentions among the disciples only Barnabas, Sosthenes, Cephas, Matthias, Thaddeus and James “the Lord’s brother” ( I.12Church History). In the Acts of the Apostles the name disciple is exclusively used to designate the converts, the believers, both men and women (6:1, 2, 7; 9:1, 10, 19; etc.; in reference to the latter connotation see in particular 9:36) even such as were only imperfectly instructed, like those found by St. Paul at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5).

 

[Spencerian]

The difference was noted in the thread, but the explanation seemed a bit complicated, so let me have a stab at it, based on CAL questions on this same topic.

The Apostles (the apostolate) are distinct from their successors, the bishops (the episcopate), in that:

1. 
   *]The Apostles were given special graces of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost (with Paul a later exception), and thus, were able to perform miracles that their successors were not necessarily able to perform
   *]The Apostles were generally hand-picked disciples by Christ Himself, who gave them special tasks not given to other followers
   *]The Apostles were direct eyewitnesses to Christ himself and His acts
   *]The Apostles were given the gift of apostolic orders by Christ Himself (with Paul, again, a special exception)
   
   Bishops were ordained by the Apostles, but the Apostles could only be ordained by Christ Himself (with Judas’s immediate replacement a special exception, as well, who was a direct eyewitness to Christ’s ministry). Depending on their gifts, these bishops did not necessarily perform miracles as Apostles often did, nor may they have been direct eyewitnesses to Christ’s entire or even partial ministry.

 

[styrgwillidar]

From the catechism scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s1c2a2.htm

I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION

75 “Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline.”

In the apostolic preaching. . .

76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:

• orally “by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit”;
• in writing “by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing”.34

. . . continued in apostolic succession

77 “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority.” Indeed, “the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.”

IN BRIEF

96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.

As noted by another poster, Paul is the exception, the only apostle not to receive his instruction directly from Jesus.

659 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand. Only in a wholly exceptional and unique way would Jesus show himself to Paul “as to one untimely born”, in a last apparition that established him as an apostle.

IV. THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC

857 The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways:

• she was and remains built on “the foundation of the Apostles,”**362the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;363 **

The bishops - successors of the apostles

861 “In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their ministry.”

862 “Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops.” Hence the Church teaches that “**the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles **as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ.”

Anyway, from the above you can see that the Church uses the term Apostle to refer to the original 11 plus St. Paul. Although the church continues to be apostolic, that is preach and teach what Jesus handed on, the bishops are not Apostles but their successors.