Apostles

An Apostle is one who is sent out by our Lord Jesus Christ to spread the gospel that he is the Messiah, that he is risen, and that we are being saved as a result.

The word apostle comes from the Greek αποστολος, literally meaning "one who is sent out." Originally a military term referring to a sortie sent out against the enemy, apostle has in the Christian context come to refer to missionaries spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Twelve

Our Lord originally appointed twelve apostles as his initial Church community, commissioned with the task of sharing the faith. As told in the Gospels, Judas Iscariot was originally one of them, but with his apostasy and death, he was replaced with Matthias. After Judas' replacement, the Twelve consisted of:

Simon Peter Andrew the First-called, brother of Peter James (son of Zebedee) John the Theologian, brother of James Philip Bartholomew, also called Nathaniel

Thomas Matthew, also called Levi James (son of Alphaeus) Jude, also called Lebbaeus, surnamed Thaddeus, brother of James, brother of God Simon the Zealot, also called "the Cananite" Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot

The Seventy

The Seventy Apostles are those whom the Lord chose (described in Luke 10:1-16) in addition to the Twelve and sent forth to assist in the work of preaching. Over time, the Twelve added others to their number, who were sent out with the original Seventy to preach the gospel. Although this number eventually exceeded seventy, they were all nevertheless referred to as "of the Seventy" out of reverence to the number which the Lord originally chose.

Not all the names of the Seventy are known, but some are remembered by the Church:

Acaichus, Agabus, Alphaeus, Amplias, Ananias (who baptized Paul), Andronicus, Apelles, Apphia, Aquila, Archippus, Aristarchus, Aristobulus, Artemas, Asyncritus, Barnabas (leader of the Seventy), Caesar, Carpus, Cephas, Clement, Cleopas (who accompanied the Lord to Emmaus), Crescens, Crispus, Epenetus, Erastus, Evodus, Fortunatus, Gaius, Hermas, [[Apostle |]],

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Onesimus, Timothy (companion of Paul),

Other Apostles

The Apostle Paul is also referred to as an apostle, though he is not part of the Twelve or of the Seventy. Other saints are also referred to as apostles, though usually not as an initial title, but rather as an epithet, e.g., "Apostle to the North."