The Apostles and the Early Church

When many think of the early Church, they think of a perfectly uniformed group of individuals praising and worshiping together. This, in fact, is not true; the early church was not perfectly unified and had many internal and external conflicts. The apostles preached about Jesus and tried to get followers through talking about his life, death, and resurrection. When the church was starting, many internal questions arose like: Who can hear the gospel? Who was in charge? And what does it mean to be free? Many also were not sure whom to turn to ensure that something was valid within the church. With so much confusion, people turned towards the principle apostolicity, which connected the work and intentions of the apostles and ensured reliability. They used the partnership with the spirit to make decisions.

Peter: Initially Peter was known as Saul. He was the first disciple of Jesus who lived as a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee until he was called, along with his brother Andrew, by Jesus. The important even of being called by Jesus is recorded in early Matthew, “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” (Matthew 4:18-20 KJV) While he is credited for writing only two books found in the new testament, and being an attendee of the Last Supper, he still fulfilled the augury found in Matthew, “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” (Matthew 26:34) After Peter did this, he proved Jesus to be correct. When Peter did this he verified Jesus’s insight and is another example of the truth of the Bible.

Saint Andrew is known as the first apostle chosen by Jesus. Although, Saint Andrew was the first one chosen, his brother, Peter is known as the apostle whom Jesus gave “the keys to his kingdom” and the one who had utmost authority over the rest of the apostles. Before Jesus chose Saint Andrew, Saint Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist. He first

The story of the early Christian church involves a number of experiences of persecution. Most of the conflicts happen between Christians and Jews. Acts narrates that Peter and John were arrested by Sadducees (4:3-22), then harshly questioned by the Sanhedrin (5:17-42), and then flogged for what they believed in (5:40). The readers can begin to see the reason for persecution from the start—their belief in the unconditional love and resurrection of Jesus. Acts continues to show the demonstration of persecution by telling the stories of how Saul imprisoned many Christians (Ch. 8); how Jews plot to kill Paul (9:23-24, 20:19, 23:12-14); how King Herod executed James and imprisons Peter (12:1-5); how Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch

The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), in an effort to reacquaint the faithful to their three-fold dignity of priest, prophet and king received during their baptism, reaffirmed in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, also known as the ad intra (“Church within”) conciliar document Lumen Gentium, that, “…all the faithful, that is, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ…have been made sharers in their own way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ and play their part in carrying out the mission of the whole Christian people in the church and in the world” (48). Since the laity, religious, and clergy now had a shared responsibility as the People of God in bringing about the Kingdom of God, no longer would they be as

The principles of discipleship can be found throughout the Bible. One of the ultimate goals of discipleship is to become more Christ like which makes Jesus's life and grace an excellent basis for discipleship. Jesus invested in twelve men, the first Disciples, and entrusted them to continue the process. Peter, James, and John were a part of Christ's inner circle and he fostered and encouraged an exalted spiritual life and growth in these three. Paul was a Pharisee who was murdering Christians and then his life was transformed and he became an apostle. He gave his life over to God's purpose not only in a broad perspective, bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, but also personal. Timothy was a disciple of Paul; Paul was personally involved in Timothy's life. The Great Commission commands the Disciples, in Matthew 28:19, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". The Disciples followed the Great Commission and Christianity spread. Believers are meant to follow the

Christ created different ministries within His Church to benefit the Church and the ministers have sacred powers and served the people in an orderly way, so that all may obtain salvation. This council declares that Jesus set forth his Apostles and established His Church and willed the Bishops, who were the successors of the Apostles, to shepherd his people until the end of the world. He put Peter in charge and established a foundation of unity for the succession of the apostles and the succession of Peter as the representative of Christ. Jesus called the disciples and put Peter in charge and before he was crucified he sent them to Israel and to the rest of the

The apostles are the twelve followers that Jesus selected early on in his ministry. They were chosen to spread the Gospel after the death of Jesus Christ. These men were ordinary people that God used in marvelous ways. These men called us to follow Jesus Christ. After the Death of Jesus the spread the word of God to places as far as Rome.

He started his journey with extreme faith by leaving behind his career, friends, and even his wife, to follow the Messiah. Peter’s importance to Jesus was recognized early in instances such as when Jesus used Peter’s boat to show that he was truly the Messiah . Peter also made himself stand out from the rest of the Disciples when he showed his extreme intellect by confessing that Jesus was the Son of God thus strengthening the faith of the rest of the Apostles. Peter was also the Disciple who was present at the crucifixion of Christ, and even after he denied him three times, knew he had made a mistake and was extremely sorrowful for it. Peter was the Disciple who Jesus first showed himself to after his Resurrection, further adding on to the reasons why Peter is the most essential Apostle. Peter is the “rock” that the Church is built upon. He is the man who took over leading the Apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven. He made sure that the word of Christ would be spread to all sides of the world, so that all people may be saved. Not only was Simon Peter a saint, but he was also a martyr. St. Peter had great qualities that helped him achieve things that, to us, seem

In the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church, there had to be a leader. Jesus was the individual to select that leader. Jesus chose St. Peter to be the head of the Catholic Church. According to teaching, the charter of the Roman Empire Church was when Christ said to Peter,”I tell you, you are Peter, that on this rock I will build my church.” Peter seemed to be very important to Christ. Everyone that was Catholic believed that the Pope was the successor of Peter. Peter was known by everyone, and he definitely made an impact on the Catholic Church.

With that said, the word Apostle comes from the word apostolos which means “one who is sent” (Bro. Sharp New Testament class) or “to send forth” (TDNT pg. 67) note the reference to the function within the title of the word Apostle. In Acts 1:15-26, with the call of Matthias, it demonstrates that twelve was the number of apostles set, to govern the church. This also indicates that these twelve apostles held an authoritative position in Christ’s church. The function of the twelve apostles is given in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Thus we see that the primary responsibility of the apostles was to be witnesses of Christ wherever they were sent, or wherever they were. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, there are twelve apostles, who serve as “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (D&C

Saint Peter was born in Bethsaida Gaulanitis, Syria Roman Empire at around 1 AD. Peter’s feast day is on the twenty ninth of June. Bethsaida Gaulanitis was near where the Jordan River enters the Sea of Gennesaret. This place was abandoned at around 65 AD. Peter’s original name appointed to him by his parents was Simon, it became Peter when Jesus changed his name. His father’s name was Jonah. Jonah was a physically strong individual, hence he became a fisherman. Peter deeply followed in his father’s footsteps. His mother’s name was Perpetua. Not much is known about her. Peter also had a brother named, Andrew. Andrew was another one of Jesus’s twelve disciples. Peter did not go to school, he was just taught by his father in the trade of fishing

Saint Peter the Apostle, original name Simeon, or Simon (died AD 64, Rome), disciple of Jesus Christ, recognized in the early church as the leader of the disciples and the Roman Catholic Church as the first of its unbroken succession of popes. Peter a fisherman, was called to be a disciple of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He received from Jesus an Aramaic appellation Cephas which means “Rock.” This was translated into Greek as Petros (from the Greek Petra, “rock”) and became a Latin Petrus and the English Peter. Jesus told Peter he was the Rock upon whom the Christian Church would be built. Throughout the public life of Jesus, Peter is represented in the Gospel as the Spokesman and principal member of Jesus’ followers. He is the first named in the entire list given of these followers and was present with a privilege at few special occasions, example, the daughter of Jairus brought back to life by Jesus. He was also the first to see Jesus after his resurrection from the dead.

Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.

The gospel of Matthew is thought to have been written between 60-85A.C.E for those within the Jewish community who believe in Christ as the Messiah. Because the young sect still saw themselves as part of Israel, the persecution they experienced from fellow Israelites called for decisive action: either reconcile with the Jewish leaders or separate completely. In response, Matthew writes a narrative account of Jesus focused on building a solid community still rooted in Jewish heritage, but distinctly different in practice because of Christ (Koester).