Apollos
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Apollos (Απολλως; contracted from Apollonius) was an early Jewish Christian mentioned several times in the New Testament. His special gifts in presenting Christian doctrine made him an important person in the congregation at Corinth, Greece after Paul's first visit there (1 Corinthians 3:6). He was with Paul at a later date in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:12). In 1 Cor. 1:10-12 we read of four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names, though the "division" can hardly have been due to conflicting doctrines, and there is no indication that Apollos favored or approved an overestimation of his person.
Apollos is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, which hold a commemoration for him, Aquila and Priscilla on February 13.
Paul considered Apollos to be a valuable helper in carrying on his work in the important Corinthian congregation (1 Cor. 3:6, 4:6, 16:12). In harmony with Paul's notices are the statements in Acts that Apollos was a highly educated Alexandrian Jew, who "spoke and taught accurately enough about Jesus, even though he knew only the baptism of John" (18:24-28). He came to Ephesus (probably in 54), was instructed more accurately in the gospel there by Aquila and Priscilla and afterwards went to Achaia, after Christians in Ephesus first wrote to their counterparts recommending Apollos to them.[1]
Jerome states that Apollos was so dissatisfied with the division at Corinth, that he retired to Crete with Zenas, a doctor of the law; and that the schism having been healed by Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Apollos returned to the city, and became its bishop. Less probable traditions assign to him the bishopric of Duras, or of Iconium in Phrygia, or of Caesarea. In the Epistle to Titus, (3:13) Apollos is mentioned with Zenas as bearer of the letter to Crete.
[edit] Beliefs
It is difficult to get a correct idea of his religious standpoint, although it probably was that of the so-called disciples of John the Baptist Paul encountered in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7). These twelve had never heard of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2) which had been poured out on the believers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4); this was the baptism of holy spirit that Jesus said would follow the water baptism of John (Acts 1:5). Whether this inference is correct, according to Acts Priscilla and Aquila made him an adherent of the Pauline doctrine; the author of the Acts of the Apostles thought this fact of sufficient importance to be included in his history.
Apollos may have captivated his hearers by teaching "wisdom," as P. W. Schmiedel suggests, in the allegorical style of Philo, and he was evidently a man of unusual magnetic force. This suggestion has been recently repeated by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor: "It is difficult to imagine that an Alexandrian Jew ... could have escaped the influence of Philo, the great intellectual leader ... particularly since the latter seems to have been especially concerned with education and preaching."[2]
Martin Luther proposed Apollos as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and many scholars since have shared his view.
[edit] Notes
- ^ So the Alexandrian recension; the text in
38 and Codex Bezae indicate that Apollos went to Corinth. Joseph Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (New York: Doubleday, 1998), p. 639 - ^ Paul: A critical life (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), p. 275
[edit] References
- Articles in
- Encyclopaedia Biblica
- Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie
- The Jewish Encyclopaedia (Jewish Encyclopedia: Apollos)
- James Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible
- Karl Heinrich von Weizsäcker, Das apostolische Zeitalter (1886)
- A. C. McGiffert, History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age.
- Initial text from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
