Editing Apollos

{{short description|1st-century Alexandrian Jewish Christian}}
{{about|the person|the butterfly genus|Parnassius|the imprint|Inter-Varsity Press|the asteroids|Apollo asteroid|the singular of "Apollos"|Apollo (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name=Apollos
|birth_date={{circa|1st century}}
|birth_place=[[Alexandria]], [[Roman Egypt|Roman province of Egypt]]
|death_date={{circa|1st century}}
|feast_day= 13 February 
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Lutheran Church]]<br />[[Coptic Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Anglican Communion]]<br />[[Ethiopian Orthodox]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodox Churches]]<br />[[Roman Catholic Church]]
|image=
File:Епафродит, Сосфен, Аполлос, Кифа и Кесарь.jpg|imagesize=200px
|caption=[[Icon]] of Saints Epaphroditus, Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas and Caesar, {{c.}} 1400s
|death_place=
|titles= [[Confessor]]
|canonized_date= [[Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

'''Apollos''' ({{langx|grc|Ἀπολλώς}}) was a [[Christianity in the 1st century|1st-century]] [[History of the Jews in Alexandria|Alexandrian Jewish]] [[Jewish Christian|Christian]] mentioned several times in the [[New Testament]]. A contemporary and colleague of [[Paul the Apostle]], he played an important role in the early development of the churches of [[Ephesus]] and [[Ancient Corinth#Biblical Corinth|Corinth]].

==Biblical account==
===Acts of the Apostles===
Apollos is first mentioned as a Christian preacher who had come to Ephesus (probably in AD&nbsp;52 or 53), where he is described as "being fervent in spirit: he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning [[Jesus]], though he knew only the baptism of [[John the Baptist|John]]".<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|18:24-25}}</ref> [[Priscilla and Aquila]], a Jewish Christian couple who had come to Ephesus with the [[Paul the Apostle|Apostle Paul]], instructed Apollos:

:"When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more adequately."<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|18:26}}</ref>

The differences between the two understandings probably related to the Christian baptism, since Apollos "knew only the baptism of John". Later, during Apollos' absence, the writer of the [[Acts of the Apostles]] recounts an encounter between Paul and some disciples at Ephesus:
{{blockquote|And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.<ref>{{Bibleref|Acts|19:2-6}}</ref>}}

Before Paul's arrival, Apollos had moved from Ephesus to [[Achaia (Roman province)|Achaia]]<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|18:27}}</ref><ref>So the [[Alexandrian text-type|Alexandrian recension]]; the text in [[Papyrus 38|𝔓<sup>38</sup>]] and [[Codex Bezae]] indicate that Apollos went to Corinth. Joseph Fitzmyer, ''The Acts of the Apostles'' (New York: Doubleday, 1998), p. 639.</ref> and was living in [[Corinth]], the provincial capital of Achaia.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|19:1}}</ref> Acts reports that Apollos arrived in Achaia with a [[Epistle to Corinth|letter of recommendation]] from the Ephesian Christians and "greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the [[Old Testament|Scriptures]] that the Christ was Jesus.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Acts|18:27-28}}</ref>

===1 Corinthians===
Paul's [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]] (AD&nbsp;55) mentions Apollos as an important figure at Corinth. Paul describes Apollos' role at Corinth:
:''I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.''<ref>{{Bibleref2|1 Cor|3:6}}</ref>
Paul's Epistle refers to a [[Schism (religion)|schism]] between four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Apollos|volume=2|page=189}}</ref> (the third and fourth were Peter, identified as Cephas, and Jesus Christ himself).<ref>{{Bibleref2|1 Cor|1:10-13}}</ref> It is possible, though, that, as Msgr. [[Ronald Knox]] suggests, the parties were actually two, one claiming to follow Paul, the other claiming to follow Apollos. "It is surely probable that the adherents of St. Paul [...] alleged in defence of his orthodoxy the fact that he was in full agreement with, and in some sense commissioned by, the Apostolic College. Hence 'I am for Cephas'. [...] What reply was the faction of Apollos to make? It devised an expedient which has been imitated by sectaries more than once in later times; appealed behind the Apostolic College itself to him from whom the Apostolic College derived its dignity; 'I am for Christ'."<ref>Knox, R. ''Enthusiasm'', p. 13.</ref> Paul states that the schism arose because of the Corinthians' immaturity in faith.<ref>{{Bibleref|1 Cor|3:1-4}}</ref>

Apollos was a devout Jew born in Alexandria. Apollos' origin in Alexandria has led to speculations that he would have preached in the allegorical style of [[Philo]]. Theologian [[Jerome Murphy-O'Connor]], for example, commented: "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."<ref>J Murphy-O'Connor. ''Paul: A critical life.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996, p. 275</ref>

There is no indication that Apollos favored or approved an overestimation of his person. Paul urged him to go to Corinth at the time, but Apollos declined, stating that he would come later when he had an opportunity.<ref>{{Bibleref2|1 Cor|16:12}}</ref>

===Epistle to Titus===
Apollos is mentioned one more time in the New Testament. In the [[Epistle to Titus]], the recipient is exhorted to "speed [[Zenas the Lawyer|Zenas the lawyer]] and Apollos on their way".<ref>{{Bibleref2|Titus|3:13}}</ref>

==Extrabiblical information==
[[Jerome]] states that Apollos was so dissatisfied with the division at Corinth that he retired to [[Crete]] with Zenas; and that once the schism had been healed by Paul's letters to the Corinthians, Apollos returned to the city and became one of its elders.<ref name="JCET">Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to Titus 3:13</ref> Less probable traditions assign to him the bishopric of Duras, or of Iconium in Phrygia, or of Caesarea.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[Pope Benedict XVI]] suggested that the name "Apollos" was probably short for Apollonius or Apollodorus.<ref name=Benedict>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16ChrstChrch28.htm|title=Pope Benedict XVI. "Barnabas, Silas, and Apollos", ''L'Osservatore Romano'', February 7, 2007, p. 11}}</ref> He also suggested there were those in Corinth "...fascinated by [Apollos’] way of speaking...."<ref name=Benedict/>

==Significance==
[[Martin Luther]] and some modern scholars have proposed Apollos as the author of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], rather than [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] or [[Barnabas]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Both Apollos and Barnabas were Jewish Christians with sufficient intellectual authority.<ref>''The NIV study bible, new international version''; English (UK) edition; London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1987; p.1817.</ref> The [[Pulpit Commentary]] treats Apollos' authorship of Hebrews as "generally believed".<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/1_corinthians/3.htm Pulpit Commentary on I Corinthians 3], accessed 19 March 2017</ref> Other than this, there are no known surviving texts attributed to Apollos.

Apollos is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]], which hold a commemoration for him, together with saints [[Aquila and Priscilla]], on 13 February. Apollos is considered one of the 70 apostles<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2009/03/30/100947-apostle-apollos-of-the-seventy|title=Apostle Apollos of the Seventy|website=www.oca.org}}</ref> and his feast day is December 8 in the Eastern Orthodox church.

Apollos is not to be confused with [[Abib and Apollo|St. Apollo of Egypt]], a monk who died in 395 and whose feast day is January 25.<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Apollo |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1493 |website=catholic.org |publisher=Catholic Online}}</ref> Apollos does not have a feast day of his own in the traditional Roman Martyrology, nor is he reputed to have ever been a monk (as most monks come after [[St. Anthony the Great]]).

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* Articles in
** ''[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]''
** Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopadie''
** ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' ([http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1650&letter=A&search=Apollos Jewish Encyclopedia: Apollos])
* [[James Hastings]], ''[[Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible|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''

{{New Testament people}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollos}}
[[Category:1st-century bishops in Roman Achaea]]
[[Category:Biblical apostles]]
[[Category:Christianity in Roman Corinth]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity from Judaism]]
[[Category:Early Jewish Christians]]
[[Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
[[Category:People in the Pauline epistles]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]