Disciple (Christianity)

{{short description|Dedicated follower of Jesus}}
{{other uses|Disciple (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Apostle}}
[[File:Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles.jpg|thumb|400px|Jesus giving the [[Farewell Discourse]] ({{bibleverse||John|14-17}}) to his disciples, after the [[Last Supper]], from the ''[[Maestà (Duccio)|Maestà]]'' by [[Duccio]], 1308–1311]]

In [[Christianity]], a '''disciple''' is a dedicated follower of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]]. This term is found in the [[New Testament]] only in the [[Canonical Gospels|Gospels]] and [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]]. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. '''Discipleship''' is not the same as being a student in the modern sense. A disciple in the ancient biblical world actively [[imitation|imitated]] both the life and teaching of the master.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Köstenberger|first=Andreas J.|date=1998|title=Jesus as Rabbi in the Fourth Gospel|url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bbr/rabbi_kostenberger.pdf|journal=Bulletin for Biblical Research|volume=8|pages=97–128|doi=10.5325/bullbiblrese.8.1.0097 |s2cid=203287514 }}</ref> It was a deliberate apprenticeship which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Sri|first=Edward|date=2018|title=In the Dust of the Rabbi: Clarifying Discipleship for Faith Formation Today|url=https://review.catechetics.com/dust-rabbi-clarifying-discipleship-faith-formation-today|journal=The Catechetical Review|issue=#4.2|pages=online edition}}</ref>

The New Testament records many followers of Jesus during [[Ministry of Jesus|his ministry]]. Some disciples were given a [[Christian mission|mission]], such as the [[Matthew 10|Little Commission]], the [[Seventy disciples|commission of the seventy]] in Luke's Gospel, the [[Great Commission]] after the [[resurrection of Jesus]], or the [[Conversion of Paul the Apostle|conversion of Paul]], making them ''[[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]]'', charged with proclaiming [[the gospel]] (the Good News) to the world. Jesus emphasised that being his disciples would be costly.

==Background of the term==
The term "disciple" represents the [[Koine Greek]] word {{grc-tr|μαθητής}} ({{lang|grc|μαθητής}}),<ref>{{cite web   
| url = http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRGRK31.htm#S3101
| title = μαθητής}}</ref> which generally means "one who engages in learning through instruction from another, ''pupil, apprentice"'' <ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed)|last=Danker|first=Arndt, W., W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W.|publisher=Chicago: University of Chicago Press.|year=2000|pages=609}}</ref> or in religious contexts such as the [[Bible]], "one who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical reputation or a particular set of views, ''disciple, adherent."''<ref>''Ibid.''</ref> The word "disciple" comes into [[English language|English]] usage by way of the [[Latin]] ''discipulus'' meaning a learner, but given its biblical background, should not be confused with the more common English word "student."

A disciple is different from an [[apostle]], which instead means a messenger, more specifically "messengers with extraordinary status, especially of God’s ''messenger, envoy."''<ref>''A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature''., p. 122.</ref> But predominately in the New Testament it is used of ''"a group of highly honored [[Christians|believers]] with a special function as God’s envoys."''<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref name="Christianity.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.christianity.com/11536381/|title=Christian History: The Twelve Apostles|access-date=2007-11-19}}</ref> While a disciple is one who learns and apprentices under a teacher or [[rabbi]], an apostle is one sent as a missionary to proclaim the good news and to establish new communities of believers.

The meaning of the word "disciple" is not derived primarily from its root meaning or etymology but from its widespread usage in the [[Ancient history|ancient world]]. Disciples are found in the world outside of the Bible. For example among the ancient [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek philosophers]], disciples learned by imitating the teacher’s entire way of life and not just by remembering the spoken words of the teacher.

The first-century philosopher [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] appeals to the "living voice and intimacy of common life" of the disciple{{endash}}teacher relationship of many different philosophers:

{{blockquote|[[Cleanthes]] could not have been the express image of [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]], if he had merely heard his lectures; he also shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way, derived more benefit from the character than from the words of [[Socrates]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Epistles 1-65|last=Seneca|publisher=Trans Richard M Gummere, Loeb Classical Library 75|pages=Epist. 6.5–6.6, p. 27–28}}</ref>}}

In the world of the Bible, ''a disciple'' was a person who followed a teacher, or rabbi, or master, or philosopher.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Talbert|first=Charles H. and Perry L. Stepp|title="Succession in Mediterranean Antiquity, Part I: The Lukan Milieu" Society of Biblical Literature 1998 Seminar Papers: and "Succession in Mediterranean Antiquity, Part 2: Luke-Acts"|journal=Society of Biblical Literature 1998 Seminar Papers|pages=148–168 and 169–179}}</ref> The disciple desired to learn not only the teaching of the rabbi, but to imitate the practical details of their life.<ref name=":1" /> A disciple did not merely attend lectures or read books, they were required to interact with and imitate a real living person. A disciple would literally follow someone in hopes of eventually becoming what they are.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McKellar|first=Scott|date=2014|title=Taking on the "Smell of the Sheep": The Rabbinic Understanding of Discipleship|url=https://review.catechetics.com/taking-%E2%80%9Csmell-sheep%E2%80%9D-rabbinic-understanding-discipleship|journal=The Sower|issue=#35.2, April–June|pages=8–9}}</ref>

A Christian disciple is a believer who follows Christ and then offers his own [[imitation of Christ]] as model for others to follow (1 Corinthians 11:1).  A disciple is first a believer who has exercised faith (Acts 2:38).<ref>[[Born again#Catholicism]]</ref> This means they have experienced conversion and put Jesus at the center of their life and participated in rites of Christian imitation. A fully developed disciple is also a leader of others who attempts to pass on this faith to his followers, with the goal of repeating this process.(1 Corinthians 4:16–17; 2 Timothy 2:2). A special form of passing on leadership through discipleship is called [[apostolic succession]].

==Great crowd and the seventy==
{{Main|Seventy disciples}}
In addition to the [[Twelve Apostles]] there is a much larger group of people identified as disciples in the opening of the passage of the [[Sermon on the Plain]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|6:17}}</ref> In addition, seventy (or seventy-two, depending on the source used) people are sent out in pairs to prepare the way for Jesus (Luke 10). They are sometimes referred to as the "Seventy" or the "[[Seventy Disciples]]". They are to eat any food offered, heal the sick and spread the word that the [[Kingdom of God]] is coming.

==Undesirables==
Jesus practiced open table fellowship, scandalizing his critics by dining with sinners, tax collectors, and women.

===Sinners and tax collectors===
The gospels use the term "sinners and tax collectors" to depict those he fraternized with. [[Sinners]] were Jews who violated [[Tumah|purity rules]], or generally any of the [[613 mitzvot]], or possibly Gentiles who violated [[Noahide Law]], though [[halacha]] was still in dispute in the 1st century, see also [[Hillel and Shammai]] and [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity]]. Tax collectors profited from the Roman economic system that the Romans imposed in [[Iudaea province]], which was displacing Galileans in their own homeland, foreclosing on family land and selling it to absentee landlords. In the honor-based culture of the time, such behavior went against the social grain.

===Samaritans===
{{Main|Samaritans}}
Samaritans, positioned between Jesus' Galilee and Jerusalem's Judea, were mutually hostile with Jews. In Luke and John, Jesus extends his ministry to Samaritans.

===Women who followed Jesus===
In Luke (10:38–42), [[Mary, sister of Lazarus]], is contrasted with her sister [[Martha]], who was "cumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the better part," that of listening to the master's discourse.  John names her as the "one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair" (11:2).  In Luke, an unidentified "sinner" in the house of a Pharisee anoints Jesus' feet.  
Luke refers to a number of people accompanying Jesus and the twelve.  From among them he names three women: "[[Mary Magdalene|Mary, called Magdalene]], ... and [[Saint Joanna|Joanna]] the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and [[Susanna (disciple)|Susanna]], and many others, who provided for them out of their resources" (Luke 8:2–3).  Mary Magdalene and Joanna are among the women who went to prepare Jesus's body in Luke's account of the resurrection, and who later told the apostles and other disciples about the empty tomb and words of the "two men in dazzling clothes".  Mary Magdalene is the most well-known of the disciples outside of the Twelve.  More is written in the gospels about her than the other female followers.  There is also a large body of lore and literature covering her.

Other gospel writers differ as to which women witness the [[crucifixion]] and witness to the [[resurrection]].  Mark includes [[Mary Jacobe|Mary, the mother of James]] and [[Salome (disciple)|Salome]] (not to be confused with [[Salome|Salomé]] the daughter of Herodias) at the crucifixion and Salome at the tomb.  John includes [[Mary, the wife of Cleopas|Mary the wife of Clopas]] at the crucifixion.

[[Dorcas|Tabitha (Dorcas)]] is the only female follower of Jesus named in the New Testament and explicitly called a disciple.<ref name=Syswerda>{{cite book|last=Syswerda|first=Jean E.|title=Women of the Bible: 52 Bible studies for individuals and groups|year=2002|publisher=Zondervan|location=Grand Rapids, Mich.|isbn=0310244927|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenofbible00jean/page/214 214]|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofbible00jean/page/214}}</ref>

===Cleopas and companion on the road to Emmaus===
{{See also|Resurrection appearances of Jesus}}
[[File:Kloster Maria Engelport (2013-07-09 04b) Altar - Emmaus.JPG|thumb|Jesus with two disciples in Emmaus]]
In Luke, [[Cleopas]] is one of the two disciples to whom the [[Resurrection appearances of Jesus|risen Lord]] appears at [[Emmaus]] (Luke 24:18). Cleopas and an unnamed disciple of Jesus are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day of Jesus's resurrection. Cleopas and his friend are discussing the events of the past few days when a stranger asks them what they spoke of.  The stranger is asked to join Cleopas and his friend for the evening meal.  There the stranger is revealed, in blessing and breaking the bread, as the risen Jesus before he disappears. Cleopas and his friend hasten to Jerusalem to carry the news to the other disciples, to discover that Jesus has appeared there also and will do so again. The incident is without parallel in Matthew, Mark, or John.

==Discipleship==

==="Love one another"===
{{Main|New Commandment}}
A definition of disciple is suggested by Jesus's self-referential example from the [[Gospel of John]] 13:34–35: "I give you a [[The New Commandment|new commandment]], that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (NRSV)   Further definition by Jesus can be found in the [[Gospel of Luke]], Chapter 14.  Beginning with a testing trap laid out by his adversaries regarding observance of the [[Shabbat|Jewish Sabbath]], Jesus uses the opportunity to lay out the problems with the religiosity of his adversaries against [[Ministry of Jesus|his own teaching]] by giving a litany of shocking comparisons between various, apparent socio-political and socio-economic realities versus the meaning of being his disciple.

==="Be transformed"===
The [[Gospel#Canonical gospels|canonical gospels]], [[Acts]], and the [[Pauline epistles]] urge disciples to be imitators of Jesus Christ or of God himself.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Being imitators requires obedience exemplified by moral behavior.<ref>Richard N. Longenecker, ed., ''Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament'' (Eerdman’s, 1996) 1, 5, 141.</ref> With this [[Bible|biblical]] basis, [[Christian theology]] teaches that discipleship entails transformation from some other [[worldview]] and practice of life into that of Jesus Christ, and so, by way of [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] theology, of God himself.<ref>"[[Rick Warren]]’s Definition of Disciple" at {{cite web|url=http://blog.exponential.org/2012/11/warren-on-discipleship/ |title=Rick Warren's Definition of Discipleship &#124; Exponential |access-date=2013-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001244/http://blog.exponential.org/2012/11/warren-on-discipleship/ |archive-date=2013-12-03 }}</ref>

[[Paul the Apostle]] stressed [[wikt:transformation|transformation]] as a prerequisite for discipleship when he wrote that disciples must "not be conformed to this world" but must "be transformed by the renewing of [their] minds" so that they "may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect."<ref>{{bibleverse|Romans|12:2|NRSV}}</ref> Therefore, a disciple is not simply an accumulator of information or one who merely changes moral behavior in conformity with the teachings of Jesus Christ, but seeks a [[Metanoia (theology)#Metanoia today|fundamental shift]] toward the ethics of Jesus Christ in every way, including complete devotion to God.<ref>''Tyndale Bible Dictionary'' (Tyndale House, 2001),  s.v. "Disciple."</ref>

In several Christian traditions, the process of becoming a disciple is called the ''[[Imitation of Christ]].'' This concept goes back to the Pauline epistles: "be imitators of God" (Ephesians 5:1) and "be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).<ref name=Bowden285 >''The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology'' by Alan Richardson, John Bowden 1983 {{ISBN|978-0-664-22748-7}} s.v. "Imitation of Christ, The," 285-286.</ref> ''[[The Imitation of Christ]]'' by [[Thomas à Kempis]] promoted this concept in the 14th century.

===The Great Commission===
{{Main|Great Commission}}
Ubiquitous throughout Christianity is the practice of [[proselytism]], making new disciples. In Matthew, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when calling his earliest disciples—Simon, Peter, and Andrew—he says to them: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" ([[Matthew 4:19]]). Then, at the very end of his ministry Jesus institutes the Great Commission, commanding all present to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20a).

===Family and wealth===
{{See also|Evangelical counsels}}
Jesus called on disciples to give up their wealth and their familial ties. In his society, family was the individual's source of identity, so renouncing it would mean becoming virtually nobody. In {{bibleverse||Luke|9:58-62}}, Jesus used a [[hyperbole|hyperbolic]] metaphor to stress the importance of this, and another in {{bibleverse|Luke|14:26}}: "''If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.''" There are different interpretations of this text on [[counting the cost]] of discipleship.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity: Chapter I] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625142206/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html |date=June 25, 2015 }}, Vatican Council</ref>

===Discipleship Movement===
{{Main|Shepherding Movement}}
The "Discipleship Movement" (also known as the "Shepherding Movement") was an influential and controversial movement within some British and American churches, emerging in the 1970s and early 1980s.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The doctrine of the movement emphasized the "one another" passages of the New Testament, and the mentoring relationship prescribed by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:2 of the Holy Bible. It was controversial in that it gained a reputation for controlling and abusive behavior, with a great deal of emphasis placed upon the importance of obedience to one's own shepherd.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The movement was later denounced by several of its founders, although some form of the movement continues today.<ref>{{cite news| title = Charismatic Leaders Concede They Went Too Far: 'Shepherding' was often accused by outsiders and former members of being cultlike in requiring members to obey leaders in all aspects of their personal lives.| work = Los Angeles Times| date = March 24, 1990}}</ref>

===Radical discipleship===
Radical discipleship is a [[Christian movements|movement]] in [[practical theology]] that has emerged from a yearning to follow the true message of Jesus and a discontentment with mainstream Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |title=William Stringfellow in Anglo-American Perspective |last=Dancer |first=Anthony |year=2005 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=9780754616436|pages=16–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=de-LhhZNLd4C&q=practical+theology+Radical+discipleship&pg=PA18 }}</ref> Radical Christians, such as [[Ched Myers]] and Lee Camp, believe mainstream Christianity has moved away from its origins, namely the core teachings and practices of Jesus such as [[turning the other cheek]] and rejecting [[Economic materialism|materialism]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus |last=Myers |first=Ched |year=1988 |publisher=Orbis Books |url=https://archive.org/details/bindingstrongman0000myer|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World |last=Camp |first=Lee C. |year=2003 |publisher=Brazos Press |isbn=9781587430497 |url=https://archive.org/details/merediscipleship0000camp|url-access=registration }}</ref> Radical is derived from the Latin word ''radix'' meaning "root", referring to the need for perpetual re-orientation towards the root truths of Christian discipleship.

Radical discipleship also refers to the [[Radical Reformation|Anabaptist Reformation]] movement beginning in Zurich, Switzerland in 1527. This movement grew in part out of the belief that the [[Protestant Reformers]] such [[Martin Luther]], [[John Calvin]] and [[Ulrich Zwingli]] were not going far enough in their respective reforms.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

==See also==
* [[Disciples of Jesus in Islam]]
* [[Athol Gill]]
* [[John Hirt]]
* [[Jesuism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Barton | first=S.C. | title=Discipleship and Family Ties in Mark and Matthew | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Monograph series / Society for New Testament Studies | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-521-01882-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQCghR-U6xkC}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mattes |first=M. |year=2012 |title=Discipleship in Lutheran perspective |journal=Lutheran Quarterly |volume=26 |pages=142–163 |url=http://www.lutheranquarterly.com/uploads/7/4/0/1/7401289/26-2-mattes.pdf |access-date=2018-04-05 |archive-date=2018-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417153349/http://www.lutheranquarterly.com/uploads/7/4/0/1/7401289/26-2-mattes.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Disciple|last=Souvay |first=Charles Léon |volume=5}}
* Stassen, Glen H. and David P. Gushee. ''Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context'', InterVarsity Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-8308-2668-8}}.
* Stassen, Glen H. ''Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance'', Jossey-Bass, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7879-7736-5}}.
* Weddell, Sherry. ''Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus''. {{ISBN|978-1-61278-590-5}}.
* Wilkins, M. J. (2004). Unique discipleship to a unique master: Discipleship in the Gospel according to Mark. ''Southern Baptist Journal of Theology'', 8(3), 50–65.
* {{cite journal |last=Vaage |first=Leif E. |title=An Other Home: Discipleship in Mark as Domestic Asceticism |journal=Catholic Biblical Quarterly |volume=71 |pages=741–761 |number=4 |year=2009 |jstor=43726614}}

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{{New Testament people}}
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[[Category:Practical theology]]
[[Category:Followers of Jesus]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:New Testament Latin words and phrases]]