When I hear someone call themselves or someone else an apostle or prophet, I’m skeptical. I think we all should be. I accept that apostles and prophets were once part of the church. However, I don’t think God calls people to those roles anymore. God may call people to other roles—pastors, evangelists, teachers, deacons, or bishops, to name a few—but there are no more apostles and prophets today. I think this is best illustrated by comparing two passages from Ephesians.
Some Apostles, Some Prophets?
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
(Eph 4:11)
Five church offices are listed here, prophets and apostles being among them. I remember a demonstration from one of my former pastors. He used the fingers of his left hand to demonstrate. The thumb is like the apostles. They can touch each of the other fingers. The index finger is like the prophets. They point where to go. The middle finger (please do not make any jokes) is like the evangelists. They reach out farther than any other finger. The ring finger is like pastors. They are married to the church. And the pinky is like the teachers. They get in your ear. (Imagine putting your pinky finger in your ear to clear it out).
This would have been a good demonstration for the church at Ephesus in the first century. The problem I have is I can’t find any credible references to apostles and prophets in the church after the first century. Earlier in the same letter, we have this.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
(Eph 2:19-20)
There are plenty of references to evangelists, pastors, and teachers throughout church history. They have been with us all along and are still with us today. Not so with apostles and prophets. And yet, the author of Ephesians says they are the foundation of the Christian community. Why then are there no references to apostles and prophets after the first century? How could the church have continued without its foundation?
I think I’ve found an answer for it. It was not the answer I wanted, but it’s the only one that makes sense to me. In Ephesians 4:11, the author is clearly referring to apostles and prophets as officers of the church. But 2:20 says the Christian community is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Maybe in 2:20, apostles and prophets do not refer to offices in the church.
Think about it. If God is still calling apostles and prophets and speaking to them, that means the Bible is still being written. We need to add what they are saying on behalf of God to the Bible. So far, we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. If God is adding to the Bible, what testament would that be? The Post-New Testament? The Bible is finished. The Old Testament tells about the promise of a Messiah. The New Testament tells about its fulfillment in Christ Jesus. That is why he is the cornerstone that joins the two together. The Bible, with Christ Jesus as our Messiah, is the foundation of the Christian community.
The Church’s One Foundation
Who gave us the Old Testament? The prophets. Who gave us the New Testament? The apostles. Our foundation is the Old and New Testaments, and Christ Jesus is the cornerstone that joins them together. Of the offices listed, they were the only ones directly involved in writing the Bible. Once the Bible was written, the apostles and prophets had served their purpose.
In the same way, the temple once served the purpose of atoning for sins and giving access to God. But after Christ, the temple was no longer necessary. The office of priests in the temple was no longer necessary. I believe the same thing happened with the offices of apostle and prophet. They served their purpose in writing the Bible. They received the word of God directly from the Holy Spirit. We receive it now in what they wrote.
I admit that answer does not satisfy me completely. It sounds so complicated. I mean, why can’t apostles and prophets just mean apostles and prophets, as in the people God calls to serve in those offices? But again, I have never seen any credible references to apostles and prophets after the first century. If this theory is correct, we still have our foundation, even if God is not calling apostles and prophets anymore. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized this is the way it had to be, because the canon is closed.
Who Is Writing the Bible?
Think about it. If God is still calling apostles and prophets and speaking to them, that means the Bible is still being written. We need to add what they are saying on behalf of God to the Bible. So far, we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. If God is adding to the Bible, what testament would that be? The Post-New Testament? The Bible is finished. The Old Testament tells about the promise of a Messiah. The New Testament tells about its fulfillment in Christ Jesus. That is why he is the cornerstone that joins the two together. The Bible, with Christ Jesus as our Messiah, is the foundation of the Christian community.
Sometime around the end of the first century, God determined that the foundation was finished. After you finish a foundation, do you keep building it? No, you build your structure on top of the foundation. How many times do you lay a foundation? Once. When a foundation is finished, it is finished. Time to start building your structure. The author of Ephesians says the Christian community is that structure. Everything we have built since then has been on that foundation. If we remember Jesus’ commands to love one another, that foundation will be “Solid” as a rock.
Cessationism vs. Continuationism
This is a prime example of a debate between two philosophies, cessationism and continuationism. Cessationism is the belief that some things we read about in the Bible were for that time only. They have ceased, hence the term cessationism. Continuationism believes that everything in the Bible is or should have continued from the beginnings of the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) to the still-awaited return of Christ. This has mainly to do with supernatural gifts and activities mentioned in the Bible, e.g., miracles, healings, prophecies, speaking in tongues and such. The argument extends also to whether or not we should expect God to call people to be apostles and prophets anymore. You can probably guess I am on the cessationist side. However, that is a recent development.
The Word of Faith folks are among the continuationists. When I was in that movement, I was definitely a continuationist. Even after I left, I still expected to be able to perform at least some of the miracles I read about in the Bible. I expected God to speak to me directly, even if I wasn’t a prophet or apostle. I expected some people would flow in the gift of prophecy. I thought every believer was supposed to speak in tongues to give evidence that the Holy Spirit dwelt in them. After decades of disappointment, I finally had to admit that cessationism made a whole lot more sense.
Continuationists or Restorationists?
Even continuationists admit the church went without apostles and prophets after the first century. They claim those offices are being restored in this generation, because we are in the last days. If you ask them when the restoration began, they might point to the Azusa Street revivals of 1906, or maybe one the Great Awakenings in America. But that still begs the question, why is there such a big gap in our history with no apostles or prophets? I never heard them give a satisfactory answer to that.
So they actually admit the offices of apostle and prophet were discontinued. If they believe apostles and prophets are being restored now, that means they ceased at some point. Instead of continuationists, they should call themselves restorationists. But putting that inaccuracy aside, I suppose it is possible. If God wants to restore living apostles and prophets to the church, who am I to tell God, “You can’t do that”? But by the same token, if God has decided the apostles and prophets have fulfilled their purpose and are no longer needed, you can’t tell God to bring them back. Believe me, I tried.
Some people today call themselves prophets or apostles. In the Bible, you will find when God called apostles and prophets, God did not expect people to believe them just because they said so. God gave signs to prove what they spoke really was the word of God. The prophets prophesied in the name of the Lord, and their prophecies came true. The apostles performed miracles and healings that only God could do. Do we see that from so-called apostles and prophets today? All I’ve seen are prophecies that don’t come true, false signs, lying wonders, healings that are nothing more than the placebo effect, and parlor tricks they claim are miracles, but even they have to know they are not. Has any one of them healed one case of Covid-19? Of course not. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Their whole shtick is getting back to the Bible. “Forget about your dead traditions. Forget about history. Just read the Bible and do it. You don’t have your proof, because you don’t believe the Bible.”
Well, the Bible says real prophets and apostles showed proof they were sent from God. The Bible says,
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
(1 Jn 4:1)
It does not tell us, “If they say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ believe every word they say and don’t ask for any proof.” Test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Why do we need to test them? Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Even when there were legitimate prophets, there were also many false prophets. How much more do we need to test them today? If they claim to speak for God, you are not being unfaithful by asking for proof. You are just doing what the Bible says.
David Anderson 
Because of potential spam, I am leery of posts with links and no explanation of why it is relevant to the discussion.
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Is, then, the entire foundation of the Church, Christ the cornerstone, and the rest of it a dead and unresponsive book filled with heavily edited threats and lots of unclear meanings? Does that explain why the superstructure of the Church is splintered into thousands of small and disconnected and flimsy shacks and caked in so much blood and ash? Sounds like the Holy Spirit not only stopped working, but is standing idly by while His poor craftsmanship rumbles and rots under how well the believers have been “filled” and “regenerated” by conversion to what’s how just another dead religion.
When one of Jesus’ promises expired, all of them expired. Paul drove that home by abolishing the law of Moses against Jesus’ will.
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Thanks for commenting. I agree the Bible is problematic in some ways (to say the least). I’ve found that a lot of those problems clear up if you read it in context, something the vast majority of people don’t do, if they read it at all. Hence we have the mess you described. It is only a suitable foundation if you recognize Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. I believe the Bible tells one story that leads to Jesus. The Old Testament talks about the promise of a Messiah. The New Testament talks about its fulfillment in a man called Jesus of Nazareth. If he is the Messiah, and the purpose of the Bible was to tell his story, what are we supposed to learn from him. You can learn it while standing on one foot. “In everything, do to others as you would have them to do you. This is the law and the prophets.” In Jesus’ time, the law and the prophets were the Bible. So he said the whole point of the Bible is to get us to treat each other the way we want to be treated. That is a foundation I can believe in, and I hope you can too. Just think how different the church, the world, and history would be if we all did that.
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The LDS church (Mormon) believes that their church Presidents are all ‘prophets, seers and revelators’. They just ‘become that, without question, at the time they assume the Presidency. The also have their own ‘Quorum of the Twelve Apostles’? Never seemed quite justified to me?
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Thanks for your comment. I don’t know enough about the LDS church or their system of government to comment. It’s just that so far everyone I once believed were apostles or prophets fell short. A real apostle or prophet will have some kind of signs to prove they are what they say they are. So as far as I’m concerned, anyone who claims to be one needs to prove it.
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On the point of the LDS faith having prophets and apostles today I think is so important. The way they are set is Jesus Christ as the head of the church and the chief cornerstone and the 12 apostles and prophet is the foundation of the church as mentioned in Ephesians 2:19-20. I think something that is important to realize as well with apostles and prophets that they are not perfect humans. We can see this throughout the scriptures where even Peter denied Christ three times. But the way we can judge if someone is a false prophet or not is by taking what Christ teaches in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 7 that we shall know them by the fruits they bare and if it is a good tree it cannot produce evil fruit.
The best way to judge the LDS faith having prophets or not would be to study the works of Joseph Smith, more specifically the Book of Mormon because if that’s true then it would confirm Jesus being the Savior of the world as a second witness of the resurrected Jesus (Deuteronomy 17:7 and 19:5; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1) and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God along with the prophets and apostles that are helping lead the Church today.
And to your point of if there are prophets and apostles today that we should be writing down the things they teach there is something called the Doctrine and Covenants that provides many of the teachings and revelations for the church given to Joseph Smith. There is also a broadcast that the church puts together twice a year called General Conference where the leaders of the church give sermons teaching and talking about Christ that is available online!
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Thanks for your comment. I have no problem with you believing Joseph Smith was a prophet, or if you believe the Book of Mormon is on the same level of inspiration as the Bible. I don’t. Nothing personal. The Mormons I have known have been good people who love God and love Jesus. I don’t believe Joseph Smith was a prophet for the same reason I don’t believe anyone after AD 100 was a prophet. After the Bible was written, the apostles and prophets served their purpose, and there haven’t been any since. If anyone wants to say I’m wrong, I say prove it the same way the Biblical prophets and apostles proved it. Mainly, with miracles and prophecies that actually come true.
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This article is a little shortsighted because the apostles didn’t know they were writing “the bible” while they were writing their letters. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that nobody knew they were writing any sort of Scripture at all until it was canonized at a later time by someone else. The first mention of the word Scripture is in Acts chapter 2. So did Jeremiah tell himself, “I’m writing scripture” when he was documenting his journey? Did Paul think to himself “I’m writing scripute” when he was writing his letters to the various gentile churches? Non of them knew they were writing the bible, or scripture.
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Thanks for commenting. That is true. I agree most of the authors did not know they were writing scripture. If Paul saw what happened after he died, he was probably as surprised as anyone that his letters became scripture. Did the Old Testament prophets know they were writing scripture? That’s more likely, but still we can’t be sure. They just wrote what they believed God was saying to them, and over time they were recognized as scripture. And my argument is weakened when we consider we didn’t officially have “the Bible” until around the end of the fourth century. But even so, by the end of the first century, everythying that would become what we call the Bible had been written. After that, as I said, I find no credible references to anyone as apostles or prophets in the church. If God ever decides to restore those offices, I believe they will show evidence like the apostles and prophets in the Bible did. Until then, count me a cessationist.
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Great article.
Apostleship and revelatory prophecy are things of the past.
Personal prophecy, in the form of the Holy Spirit speaking your personal direction and guidance to you, is the truth that Christians live by.
The Bible is finished, Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. We need nothing more to be revealed until the last day,, when Christ reveals it to us, and He will reveal the New thing, personally.
We just need to spread the good news that has already been proven and provided. God’s people have never had it so good.
Thank you
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Thanks for responding. Personal prophecy has been kind of hit or miss for me, but if it works for you, that’s great. The one thing I know Christ wants me to do is treat others the way I want to be treated (Mat 7:12), and the more I do that, the more I find that’s all I need.
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I’m glad personal prophecy has worked for you. As for me, it quite literally ruined my life.
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In doing some personal research online, I came across your website and found your views on “No More Apostles and Prophets” very interesting. I hope you won’t mind if I weigh in on the discussion. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I just wanted to share a few things alluded to in the comments section of your article. Please note that I have taken most of my explanation from direct sources for accuracy.
The New Testament affirms that Christ established His Church while He was on the earth, as is evidenced by calling 12 Apostles and conferring the priesthood authority to carry out His work upon the earth. We, too, look to the same scriptures found in Ephesians 4 that you cited above stating that the foundation of the Church was to be built upon apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers. More importantly, is WHY! This is found in Ephesians 4:12-13, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” I believe that this same perfecting work is still necessary for us today through this same foundation as established by Jesus Christ.
You also wrote that you could not find any mention of apostles and prophets after the first century. We believe this is because the Church had fallen into apostasy and these essential truths were lost as the original apostles died and the priesthood authority to call and ordain others was also lost. This apostasy was also foretold by Jesus Christ to His apostles in Matthew 24 and also spoken of by the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s Restored truth. Please note the following words from the Prophet and Apostles from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Restoration Proclamation:
“Two hundred years ago, on a beautiful spring morning in 1820, young Joseph Smith, seeking to know which church to join, went into the woods to pray near his home in upstate New York, USA. He had questions regarding the salvation of his soul and trusted that God would direct him.
“In humility, we declare that in answer to his prayer, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph and inaugurated the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) as foretold in the Bible. In this vision, he learned that following the death of the original Apostles, Christ’s New Testament Church was lost from the earth. Joseph would be instrumental in its return.
“We affirm that under the direction of the Father and the Son, heavenly messengers came to instruct Joseph and re-establish the Church of Jesus Christ. The resurrected John the Baptist restored the authority to baptize by immersion for the remission of sins. Three of the original twelve Apostles—Peter, James, and John—restored the apostleship and keys of priesthood authority. Others came as well, including Elijah, who restored the authority to join families together forever in eternal relationships that transcend death.
“We declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized on April 6, 1830, is Christ’s New Testament Church restored. This Church is anchored in the perfect life of its chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and in His infinite Atonement and literal Resurrection. Jesus Christ has once again called Apostles and has given them priesthood authority. He invites all of us to come unto Him and His Church, to receive the Holy Ghost, the ordinances of salvation, and to gain enduring joy.
“Two hundred years have now elapsed since this Restoration was initiated by God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Millions throughout the world have embraced a knowledge of these prophesied events.
“We gladly declare that the promised Restoration goes forward through continuing revelation. The earth will never again be the same, as God will “gather together in one all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10)
“With reverence and gratitude, we as His. Apostles invite all to know—as we do—that the heavens are open. We affirm that God is making known His will for His beloved sons and daughters. We testify that those who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
I hope this clarifies why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has prophets and apostles today and why they are essential. I would also like to clarify the calling of the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that was mentioned in the comment section. This is how a new prophet is called, ordained, and sustained:
“When a prophet dies, Heavenly Father has a way to call a new prophet. He calls the new prophet from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“The man who has served as an Apostle the longest, besides the Prophet, is the President of the Quorum of the Twelve. When a prophet dies, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve becomes the next prophet. He prays and calls two new counselors.
“In general conference, we raise our hand to sustain the new prophet. This means that we promise to do our best to follow what he teaches.”
I hope you will find this helpful. Thanks for allowing me to share this.
Let me know if you would like information on evidence that they are true apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ.
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Thanks for your thoughtful comments. First, a correction. Chapter 4 of Ephesians does not talk about the foundation. That’s chapter 2, which says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (Verses 2:19-20 NRS).
The apostles and prophets are the foundation. The prophets wrote the Old Testament, the apostles wrote the New, and Christ Jesus is the cornerstone that fits them together. This makes sense when you realize the Old Testament outlines the promise of the Messiah, and the New Testament tells us how that promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So in this case I take the apostles and prophets here to refer to the authors of the Bible, not offices of the church that were mentioned in chapter 4. As a result, we don’t have apostles and prophets anymore. That’s how I read it.
I just came to that conclusion recently. Before then, I followed several ministers claiming a restoration of apostles and prophets and supernatural gifts. I believed it was possible. They all turned out to be frauds. At this point, if anyone makes that claim, I’m not going to believe it unless they can prove it. I won’t believe it because some book says so. I won’t believe it because of testimonials that cannot be verified. I won’t even believe it because of some Bible verses. As far as I’m concerned, that was real at the time the Bible was written. But I haven’t found any credible witnesses or evidence of signs, wonders, miracles, or accurate prophecies since then. If there are real apostles or prophets today, let them prove it with the same kind of signs that Jesus and the apostles and prophets of the Bible showed.
I don’t mean to speak badly of your faith. You sound like you genuinely believe what you’re saying, and I respect that. I once believed similar to you, though not in a Mormon context. I still believe in Jesus and his call to love God by loving our neighbors. I am a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and that works for me. But I can’t believe in modern day apostles and prophets anymore.
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Hebrews 1:1-2
“[1] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. “
Corresponding to the Bible is still being written
Revelation 22:18-19
“[18] I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; [19] and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Deuteronomy 4:2
“[2] You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. “
Daniel 9:24
[24] “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. “
Perhaps at places where the Bible is prohibited like places in China God can show someone the way to proclaim to others the message, but it’ll align with scripture. Yet here in America we have the Bible accessible, yet still Christ will reveal it to you or not when you read scripture. For scripture says many will believe they are following the right God but their not.
What must I do to be saved?
https://youtu.be/eBCIPgBG0gg?si=Gqbx4QND_su-XK3l
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Thanks for your comment. What must you do to be saved? Jesus said it. Love God by loving your neighbor as yourself. Any kindness you show to others, especially those who are poor and downtrodden, he will count as if you did it for him. (Matthew 25:31-46; cf. Luke 10:25-37; Matthew 7:12)
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