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The Greek word apostolos, apostle, meaning "a person or persons sent forth" articulated the status and function of the apostolic office. An apostolos was a special messenger appointed by a higher jurisdiction to a specific capacity, charged with a commission, and granted limited powers. Saul, whose Greek name was Paul, received such a commission in Acts 9:1-2. He "went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him..." (Acts 22:5; 26:10; 9:14, 21) to empower him to arrest, take into custody, and extradite the followers of Yesh�a Ha-Notsri, Mishnaic Hebrew for Jesus of Nazareth, to Jerusalem for trial. In the New Testament a number of men, e.g., the Twelve, Barnabas, Paul, James the Lord's brother, and others, possessed apostolic office. Based upon their reading of Ephesians, some Christian fellowships regard the term apostle as a title and the appropriate designation for the highest of the official offices in Christian ministry. Others, the prevailing view, see this as a faulty exegesis. They argue that there have been no apostles since the close of the Apostolic Age. In the latter view the defining elements of an apostle included his witness by his personal presence and perception of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
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