Disciple (Christianity)

The word "disciple" is derived from the Latin noun discipulus. The Greek noun mathetes, meaning a learner, became "disciple" in English translations. The ancient Greeks used the term to refer to those who followed a particular teacher or school of philosophy. In rabbinic Judaism, those who studied and adhered to a rabbi’s interpretations of the Torah were called disciples. The Christian New Testament uses the word "disciple" 261 times, 233 in the gospels and twenty-eight in the book the Acts of the Apostles. Occasionally, the term refers to the followers of John the Baptist or, more rarely, the Pharisees (leaders of an ancient Jewish sect), but most often it refers to those who followed Jesus during his lifetime. The twelve men chosen as Jesus’s closest associates were called disciples, but so too were those who belonged to a larger group of followers that included women as well as men. The word carries the connotation not just of one who accepts the teachings of a master but also of who adheres to those teachings in practice.

Brief History

Although biblical scholars continue to debate whether there really were twelve apostles, many scholars and most Christians traditionally have accepted that Jesus had an intimate group of twelve men who traveled with him and who received instruction from him. The list of the twelve appears in the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which all provide similar perspectives) with few inconsistencies, and Acts 1:13 lists eleven names with Matthias later added as a replacement for Judas (Acts 1:26). Mark, generally believed to be the oldest of the four New Testament gospels, speaks of Jesus calling and appointing twelve (Mark 3:13–15). Citing Luke 6:13, some theologians distinguish between disciple, a more general term, and apostle, a term that distinguishes the twelve as recipients of a mission and powers not bestowed upon other followers. Many scholars have argued that Jesus chose twelve to correspond to the twelve tribes of Israel, thus suggesting the creation of a community that represented a new Israel.

According to the gospel of John, the first disciples of Jesus were first followers of John the Baptist. Andrew and another man, whom some Bible scholars believe to be John, began following Jesus after hearing John the Baptist proclaim Jesus "the Lamb of God." Andrew shares his conviction that the new rabbi is the Messiah with his brother Simon, and Simon, whom Jesus renames Cephas, or Peter, becomes the third disciple. Jesus himself found Philip in Galilee, and Philip takes news about the Messiah to Nathanael. According to Matthew and Mark, Jesus called his first disciples, two pairs of brothers—Andrew and Simon, James and John, sons of Zebedee—when he began the Galilean stage of his ministry after the arrest of John the Baptist. These first followers indicated some level of belief in the messianic identity of Jesus, and they are likely the ones who are termed "disciples" at the wedding in Cana where the public ministry of Jesus begins.

Other than their names, little is known of most of the twelve disciples. Thomas is remembered primarily for his doubt because he required evidence before believing in that Jesus had been resurrected. From the second century on, Matthew has been widely accepted as the author of the gospel that bears his name, although modern scholars assign authorship to some unidentified Christian Jew. Judas is remembered as the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Others are mentioned in fleeting references or only in the lists of the twelve. The exception is Jesus’s inner circle consisting of Peter and the brothers James and John. They were with Jesus on such significant occasions as the Transfiguration, the Olivet discourse, and the night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter is also remembered in the Catholic tradition as being the first pope. After Acts 6, references to the twelve as a group cease.

Overview

Matthew notes that as Jesus moved through Galilee, teaching in synagogues and healing those who were brought to him, he attracted large crowds of followers. Some of these people also became disciples. Joseph of Arimathea, who requested the body of Jesus and provided a tomb for his burial, is identified as a disciple in the gospels of Matthew and John. Not all who desired to become disciples of Jesus were accepted; some were unwilling to meet what Jesus taught as the cost of discipleship, which included giving up all possessions and previous ties.

The Acts of the Apostles opens with the statement that disciples were increasing in number, equating disciple with a follower of Christ. Later in the book, individuals are identified as disciples, including Ananias, Paul, Tabitha (or Dorcas), Timothy, and Mnason of Cyprus. Discipleship in the sense of training and instruction in how to live as a Christian became a focus of the church. The final words of Jesus to the eleven included the instruction to convert and make as many disciples as possible. From the ministry of Paul through movements in contemporary Christianity, shifting emphases on conversion, promotion of a lifestyle characterized by love and self-denial, in stark contrast to social and political realities, has defined Christian discipleship.

The Apostolic Fathers, Christian authors in the late first and early second centuries, also used the term disciple. Ignatius referred to himself as a disciple, used disciple in the traditional sense of one who learns from another, and at times appeared to suggest that a disciple was a Christian with a particularly high degree of commitment, to the point of martyrdom. The Martyrdom of Polycarp echoes the association of disciple and martyr found in Ignatius’s work that preceded it, but also uses the term to designate a mentor relationship as in the reference to Irenaeus as a disciple of Polycarp. According to Ignatius, discipleship began at conversion and developed as the individual lived life in imitation of Christ and according to his teachings. That meaning persists into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries across divisions within Christianity.

Bibliography

Anderson, Matthew Lee. "Here Come the Radicals!" Christianity Today 57.2 (2013): 20–25. Print.

Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory: The New Testament Apostle in the Early Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012. Print.

Gibson, Jeffrey B. The Disciples’ Prayer: The Prayer Jesus Taught in Its Historical Setting. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015. Print.

Jamison, Christopher. The Disciples’ Call: Theologies of Vocation from Scripture to the Present Day. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print.

Longenecker, Richard N., ed. Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 1996. Print.

Moore, Rebecca. "The Women Disciples in the Kingdom of God." Women in Christian Traditions. New York: New York UP, 2015. 27–46. Print.

Sanneh, Lamin O. Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity. Oxford; New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.

Skinner, John E. The Christian Disciple. Lanham: UP of America, 1984. Print.

Segovia, Fernando F. Discipleship in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. Print.

Wilkins, Michael J. Following the Master: Biblical Theology of Discipleship. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992. Print.