Who Is An Apostle?
Crucial to Wagners argument is recognizing the New Testament office of apostle as alive and well in churches today which constitutes the biggest leap with which many readers [including this reviewer] of this book will be confronted. (p. 46). Much of his argument rests on Ephesians 4:11-12, which the Church has long debated how to understand. Various answers have been offered. Some commentators argue that Ephesians (4:11) teaches that apostles and prophets will always be given to the church. Others see them as figures of the past, with evangelists and pastors replacing them. Wagner calls this later group Cessationists. He represents the former school of thought, often called Restorationists, that is popular with some members of the charismatic branch of the contemporary church. Wagner offers this definition of an apostle: The gift of apostle is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to assume and exercise general leadership over a number of churches
