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APOSTLES TODAY 
 
 

Mark Schuler 
(emeritus, Concordia University, Saint Paul) 

 
 
 

Abstract: This paper begins by offering a sampling of apostolic claims in church 
communities in various parts of Africa. It next outlines several theological principles 
drawn from the Bible and from our shared Lutheran heritage that may be helpful while 
navigating this topic. Finally, the paper identifies what participants see as the most 
critical issues of apostleship facing the church today and which principles should be kept 
at the forefront as the church goes about its commission to make disciples of all nations. 

 
 
 

INTRODUCTION 
 

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul asserted, “Each of us was given grace according to the measure of 
Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7). Then he enumerated, “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles…” 
(Eph 4:11). These verses set the itinerary for our time together. Who or what are these “apostles”? And 
what is the significance for today of this gift that Paul said Christ gave to the Ephesians? 

First of all, we looked at Biblical materials to ascertain the origins of early Christian apostolicity. 
The most important conclusions of this initial study of apostolicity were twofold: that we must seek our 
understanding from the words of the New Testament and that various New Testament writers do not use 
ἀπόστολος in the same way.  

Paul uses ἀπόστολος as his primary self-designation and fills that word with his particular 
experience –What God made of and did through Paul is the primary meaning that Paul gave to the term 
ἀπόστολος. But it was not the only meaning, for Paul could use the term as a designation for other fellow 
workers and even the “apostles and prophets.” For Paul, the term is specific to himself but also applies to 
others. 

Luke has a narrower range of usage. For the most part, the ἀπόστολοι are the Twelve, especially 
in their roles as leaders of the community and authoritative witnesses to the words and deeds of Jesus. 
This usage also is replicated in most other occurrences of ἀπόστολος in the New Testament. 

Who or what is an apostle? And who were the first apostles?  The usage in the New Testament is 
not uniform. It depends on the writer and the situation being addressed by the writer. 

In the post-apostolic period, a synthesis emerged in the second half of the second century that 
ἀπόστολος referred to the Twelve and Paul. No other carried that designation. The authority exercised by 
the apostles was transferred to the bishops through a process of succession that developed in response to 
disunity in the church. This apostolic succession protected the teaching of the church and clarified 
authority within the church. Simultaneously but more gradually, the canonization of the New Testament 
came to preserve the content of apostolic witness and teaching about Jesus, his death and resurrection, and 
the theological implications of his person and work for the church. The church catholic emerged with a 
bi-polar structure that vested authority in a monarchical bishopric succeeding the apostolate and a 
canonical text preserving the teaching of the apostles. 

Over the centuries the church would grow and spread and struggle about matters of apostolic 
authority and teaching, which continue to impact the church today. We are gathered here because Africa 
is a place where such topics swirl and where Mekane Yesus is uniquely positioned to help the church 
navigate issues of apostolic authority today. 



Schuler, “Apostles Today” 
 

 

Global South Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2023):  22 

In this session, I propose to do three things. I shall begin by offering a sampling of apostolic 
claims in church communities in various parts of Africa. Secondly, I shall outline several theological 
principles drawn from the Bible and from our shared Lutheran heritage that may be helpful as you 
navigate this topic. Thirdly, I will turn to you and ask you to identify what you see as the most critical 
issues of apostleship facing the church today and which principles you think should be kept at the 
forefront as the church goes about its commission to make disciples of all nations. 

Let us begin, in the name of Jesus. 
 

A SAMPLING OF CLAIMS FROM AFRICA 
 

Walter J. Hollenweger, professor emeritus in Missions, Birmingham University, has written:  
That Christianity is growing more quickly than the world population is due to the 
churches in the Third World and in particular to the African Initiatives in Christianity and 
their relatives…. The center of gravity of Christianity is shifting to the South-certainly 
numerically but also, I would suggest, theologically.1 

Serious contemporary study of Christian theology can afford to ignore the southern continents, 
particularly Africa.2 

No one understood that fact better than Pope John Paul II who made twelve trips to Africa 
between 1980 and 2000. His interest in Africa was driven largely by the rapid expansion of the Church 
during those years. Vatican sources said the church gained 2.5 million new adherents in Africa in 1989 
alone. During his travels he was not afraid to criticize Marxism, apartheid, or the attempts to impose 
Islamic law on Christians in Sudan. In a homily in Lome, the Togolese capital, he said he wanted to 
preach a faith that was “authentically Christian and authentically African” in response to the matter of 
Catholicism adapting to traditional African practices. His visit to Angola coincided with the 500th 
anniversary of the coming of Christianity to the Central African country. In 1995, he came to South 
Africa and was welcomed by President Nelson Mandela. Pope Benedict the XVI would visit Africa twice. 
And Pope Francis has visited four times.3 

Nearly one out of every five Africans – 19.2% – is Catholic. The Pew Research Center expects 
the number of African Christians south of the Sahara, including Catholics, to double by 2050. During the 
transition from colonialism to independence, Catholic leaders often spoke in favor of that transition and 
supported movements toward independence.  

To many Africans today, in the wake of independence and the church’s support for it, the 
Catholic Church has distanced itself from its colonial past to become an institution associated with 
sociopolitical reform, education, and health care. This accounts in part for its substantial growth. But the 
church faces new challenges. In 1970, Pentecostals represented less than 5% of all Africans. They now 
stand at 12%, a significant shift. And Islam is growing faster in Africa than Christianity. By 2050, African 
Muslims south of the Sahara are expected to increase from 30% to 35% of Africa’s population. Visits by 
popes, then, reflect a strategic commitment to the continent, for good reason.4 

This papal commitment also keeps alive a form of apostolicity that goes back to the earliest 
centuries of Christianity. For even humble and referential popes represent a monarchial bishopric 
grounded in apostolic succession. This connection to the origins of Christianity is part of their appeal. It is 
a powerful claim to be the holy catholic and apostolic church. And that claim impacts most of Africa. But 

 
1 Walter J. Hollenweger, “Forward,” in African Initiatives in Christianity: The Growth, Gifts, and Diversities of 

Indigenous African Churches : A Challenge to the Ecumenical Movement, by John S. Pobee and Gabriel Ositelu, Risk Book 
Series (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1998). 

2 Cephas Omenyo, “Essential Aspects of African Ecclesiology: The Case of the African Independent Churches,” 
Pneuma 22, no. 2 (2000): 231. 

3 “A Timeline of Papal Visits to Africa: From Paul VI to Francis,” accessed April 9, 2023, 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/1/timeline-of-papal-visits-to-africa. 

4 Joseph Hellweg, “Africa’s Catholic Churches Face Competition and a Troubled Legacy as They Grow,” The 
Conversation, September 10, 2019, http://theconversation.com/africas-catholic-churches-face-competition-and-a-troubled-legacy-
as-they-grow-122611. 



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Global South Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2023):  23 

is also a claim attended by problems including the dangers of clericalism and the historic tension between 
church authority and the authority of the Scriptures, as was the case during the Reformation 

Interestingly, a Catholic theologian in Nigeria, Fr. Peter Okafor, concerned about a tendency 
toward clericalism in the exercise of ministerial authority, broadens apostolic succession to apply not just 
to the bishop but to the whole church, understanding authority as service. He advocates for the use of an 
African Palaver model of leadership which is to a large extent characteristic of traditional African society 
in its political organizations. This model involves the consultation of the people on a wide scale and 
deliberation at many levels with the aim of arriving at a consensus. The decisions made in this process 
usually reflect the opinion of the people governed. In Africa, leadership is traditionally a function to be 
shared by all villagers or community members, rather than invested in one person.5  

A second more contemporary claim of apostolicity has arisen across Africa in rough parallel with 
the movement from colonialism to independence.  

Take, for example, the African Apostolic Church of Zimbabwe. A key figure in its development 
was Ernest Paul Mamvura Mwazha. He was born on 25 October 1918 at Holy Cross Mission in 
Zimbabwe. Having first learned from a Roman Catholic catechism, he then studied in Methodist and 
Salvation Army colleges. Through a series of visions, he became convinced that God had called him for a 
special task: to be an apostle to Africa. First of all, in 1946 he had a vision in which he saw Jesus Christ 
sitting on a cloud. He noticed himself in a field ready for harvest, but birds and animals were destroying 
the crop. Jesus Christ faced him, reminding him of the task at hand. Secondly, the name of the African 
Apostolic Church of Zimbabwe was received in a divine revelation and the day of worship was changed 
from Sunday to Saturday (Sabbath) in 1979. Thirdly, Mwazha was reportedly ordained by an angel to be 
the Archbishop of Central Africa, giving the movement strong ties to the African terrain. The guiding 
ideology of the African Apostolic Church of Zimbabwe is to bring the gospel message of salvation to 
Africans in an African idiom.6 His preaching calls for a recreation of Africa. Notably, while claiming a 
direct call, Mwazha employed both the biblical term, apostle, and a term of apostolic succession, 
archbishop, as he went about his work. In a way, his usage is more like that of Paul, than the more 
institutionalized language of Luke. 

Botswana presents a second interesting case, for in the country’s move toward independence, 
there was a parallel struggle involving new independent Christian groups, now labelled the African 
Independent Churches. After becoming the Republic of Botswana in 1966, the first five years of 
independence saw a phenomenal increase in the number of religious societies. In 1972, the Societies Act 
was passed requiring all societies, including religious societies, to be registered. The purpose of the Act 
was to regulate and control the activities of societies and to minimize the chances of citizens being 
exploited by unscrupulous persons masquerading as leaders of what may be doubtful organizations and to 
ensure the orderly development of societies.7 

Obed Kealotswe has detailed the historical background of these churches and offers a five-part 
typology of what arose. Earliest were were a cluster of churches that adhered to the policies and practices 
of the Mission churches, although independently of them. The Zionists transformed elements of Botswana 
traditional religious beliefs and practices, some by special use and appeal to the Old Testament. The best 
example of such a church is the Head Mountain of God Apostolic Church in Zion of Bishop Mthembu. 
Notice the terminology. The Apostolics claim to be the followers of the Apostles, imitate their practice of 
the laying of hands in healing, and strongly attack traditional African religious beliefs and practices. The 
Indigenous churches are those which accept and practice many African traditions. And then there is the 

 
5 Peter Okafor, “Authority as Service in the Nigerian-African Church: Challenge of the Twofold Apostolic Heritage,” 

Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology 17 (2005): 54. 
6 Ezra Chitando, “The Recreation of Africa: A Study of the Ideology of the African Apostolic Church of Zimbabwe,” 

Exchange 32, no. 3 (2003): 244–45. 
7 Obed N Kealotswe, “The Rise of the African Independent Churches and Their Present Life in Botswana: Who Are the 

African Independent Churches (AIC): Historical Background,” Studies in World Christianity 10, no. 2 (2004): 217. 



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Global South Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2023):  24 

collection of churches that have broken off from there other groups.8 Notice again the claims of 
apostolicity and usage of ecclesiological terminology characteristic of a monarchical bishopric.  

Theologically, many African Independent Churches in Botswana have indigenized the Christian 
message. They use some aspects of Setswana culture in their interpretation of the Bible and as a result 
attract many people. Socially, they generally treat people from all sorts of ailments and give them the 
courage to face the difficult realities of life in Botswana.9 

These two examples illustrate a broad trend across Africa of independent churches that indigenize 
the Christian message. This trend is often associated with a cross pollination with Pentecostalism. Laura 
Premark offers an interesting thesis that Aldura movement in Nigeria grew out of relationships among 
Nigerian prophets, British missionaries, and American evangelists in the 1930s and 1940s. Further, she 
argues, that there is mutuality in the formation of American, British, and Nigerian Pentecostalism; instead 
of emerging first in the US and UK and then being taken to Africa, Pentecostalism's development across 
the Atlantic worked both ways.10  

Nigerian historian Ogbu Kalu and British Pentecostal historian Allan Anderson have also refuted 
the scholarship that postulates an Azusa Street origin for African Pentecostalism. Kalu identifies three 
phases in its development. The first was early expressions of indigenous Christianity while retaining 
aspects of the missionary Christianity. The second response to missionary Christianity was the prophetic 
movements that lasted from 1910 to 1950. The current Pentecostal/charismatic phase of African 
Christianity is the “third response” to the Christian gospel where Pentecostal Christians take the 
indigenous worldview seriously and apply biblical resources—especially with an emphasis on the work of 
the Holy Spirit—to experiences and demands of Africans.11 

Although many African Independent Churches do not refer to themselves as “Pentecostal,” most 
are. “‘Pentecostal’ refers here to African churches that, in common with Pentecostalism worldwide, 
emphasize the working of the Spirit in the church, particularly with ecstatic phenomena like prophecy and 
speaking in tongues, healing and exorcism.”12 These churches are known collectively by different names 
like “prophet-healing” and “Spirit” or “spiritual” churches. They include “Zionists” and “Apostolics” in 
Southern Africa, “spiritual,” “prayer healing” or “Aladura” (prayer) churches in West Africa, and 
“spiritual” or “Holy Spirit” churches in East Africa.13 Also in the grouping are churches of western 
Pentecostal origin, such as the Assemblies of God.  

At the upper end, according to the World Christian Database, are Zimbabwe, South 
Africa, Ghana, Congo-Zaire, Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Zambia and Uganda, in all of 
which Pentecostals and charismatics represent more than 20% of the national 
populations. At the lower end are Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, 
Cameroon, Madagascar and Sudan, where Pentecostals and charismatics make up less 
than 10% of the population. Countries where the Pentecostal and charismatic population 
is between 10% and 20% include Congo-Brazzaville, the Central African Republic, 
Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia and Mozambique.14 
Most African Independent Churches including those identified as Pentecostal or Charismatic use 

terms for their leaders like “prophet,” “apostle,” “bishop,” and “archbishop” quite freely.15 Philip Jenkins 
says that “Africa has now for over a century been engaged in a continuous encounter with Pentecostal 

 
8 Kealotswe, 217–18. 
9 Kealotswe, 219. 
10 Laura Premack, “Prophets, Evangelists, and Missionaries: Trans-Atlantic Interactions in the Emergence of Nigerian 

Pentecostalism,” Religion 45, no. 2 (April 2015): 224, https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2014.992108. 
11 Ogbu Kalu et al., African Pentecostalism: Global Discourses, Migrations, Exchanges, and Connections, The 

Collected Essays of Ogbu Uke Kalu (Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, 2010), 12–55. 
12 Allan H (Allan Heaton) Anderson, “African Independent Churches and Pentecostalism: Historical Connections and 

Common Identities,” Ogbomoso Journal of Theology 13, no. 1 (2008): 22. 
13 Anderson, 22. 
14 “Overview: Pentecostalism in Africa,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project (blog), October 5, 

2006, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2006/10/05/overview-pentecostalism-in-africa/. 
15 Anderson, “African Independent Churches and Pentecostalism,” 25. 



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fires, and the independent churches have been the most obvious products of that highly creative 
process.”16 It is a process that uses some ancient ecclesial terminology as a means of asserting that 
validity of its theology. 

As I have been reading about African Independent Churches (and there is a lot of literature out 
there about them), I have also noted two emerging variations that may have some promise.  

Peter White points to the Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches’ leadership which is based on Ephesians 
4, the same text that is the basis for these lectures. It includes five roles: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, 
Pastor and Teacher. White looks at them through the lens of missiology and concludes that “is not enough 
to discover one’s spiritual gift or calling; these gifts should be developed and nurtured through mentoring 
and proper theological education, with the ultimate purpose being to participate in the Missio Dei.”17  
This shift from the individual to the mission is important and quite consistent with a Pauline 
understanding of apostleship. 

A second example comes from Nigeria involving the “apostles in the marketplace.” This 
development derives from Sunday Adelaja who was convinced that “the church must do more than just 
address the spiritual needs of its members; the needs of society affect all people, he believes, including 
Christians as well as non-Christians. Even more important, in this view, is the idea that the unmet needs 
of society impede the realization of the kingdom that God wants his followers to establish on earth.”18 As 
a result of Adelaja’s influence on a group of pastors in Lagos, the Pentecostals there began shifting their 
focus to social problems. According to Apostles in the Market Place pastors, the followers of 

Jesus must not only focus on learning and implementing God’s spiritual laws but also on learning 
and implementing God’s kingdom laws, which govern society.19 This move is somewhat like our 
Lutheran understanding of Two Kingdoms. 

In summary, “apostles” and the corollary designations have a prevalent place in Christianity 
across Africa. There are two primary focal points for apostolicity. One is within the Roman Catholic 
Church which has navigated the move away from colonialism through a deep concern for the challenges 
of life in Africa. In this space, some seek to move away from the dangers of clericalism through an 
embrace of a leadership that listens and builds consensus in the best tradition of village life.  The other 
focal point is in the African Independent Churches, the vast majority of which are Pentecostal in theology. 
They take the indigenous worldview seriously and apply biblical resources—especially with an emphasis 
on the work of the Holy Spirit—to experiences and demands of Africans. Here I see focus on Missio Dei 
in Ghana and the kingdom theology of the Apostles in the Marketplace in Lagos, Nigeria, to be 
potentially fruitful developments.  

 
IMPLICATIONS 

 
How does one in the tradition of Martin Luther react to this powerful, creative, and vibrant world of 
African Christianity and its claims of apostolicity in the church today? What about apostles today?  

It seems to me that there are potential positives and potential negatives. As an heir of the 
reformation, I know that a bi-polar system of authority (church leader/bishop and scripture will at some 
point led to conflict, and I am on the side of Sola Scriptura. One cannot serve two masters. Likewise, 
when one claims a direct call from God, as did the apostle Paul and Ernest Paul Mamvura Mwazha and 
Sunday Adelaja, how does one weight the subjective experience of the individual?  

 

 
16 Philip Jenkins, The next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, 3rd ed (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 

2011), 51. 
17 Peter White, “A Missional Study of Ghanaian Pentecostal Churches’ Leadership and Leadership Formation,” HTS 

Theological Studies 71, no. 3 (2015): 1, https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v71i3.2865. 
18 Danny McCain, “Addressing Urban Problems through Kingdom Theology: The ‘apostles in the Market Place’ Model 

in Lagos, Nigeria,” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 32, no. 1 (2013): 64. 
19 McCain, 75. 



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On the other hand, the indigenization, the focus on mission to the non-Christian, the creative 
rethinking of apostolic succession, shifting the role of gifts from their impact on the individual to the 
mission, and even what looks to me somewhat like two-kingdom theology – all have potential. Paul 
described their experience when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “The gifts he gave was that some would be 
apostles.” Certainly, Christ continues to give gift to the church today. But in what form? 

Before we move to answer that question, we must make a shift in perspective. As a theologian 
from the west, where Christianity is not thriving but dying, where the only hope for Christianity in my 
culture rests with the many immigrants to my country who bring with them a vibrant hope in Christ, it 
would be wrong of me to attempt to answer these questions for you. You are the ones who must discern 
for yourselves the place of apostolicity in the mission of the church. You are not the church of the global 
south, as you are often characterized in the west. You are the majority church; you are the present and 
future church; yours is the discernment the church needs. 

 
THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES 

 
Instead, I wish to point you to biblical and theological principles of our common heritage that you may 
wish to consider as you hear Paul’s words from Ephesians 4, “Each of us was given grace according to 
the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7). “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles…” (Eph 
4:11). You are the ones who must answer, Who or what are these “apostles”? And what is the significance 
of this gift of Christ for the church today? 

A first principle comes from the Old Testament out of the reality that among God’s people there 
were both true and false prophets. Jeremiah lived at such a time. His call was to speak God’s judgment on 
Judah but also to present the promise of a New Covenant. Many opposed his preaching and he got in 
trouble for it. But he also provided a test to discern a true prophet: “when the word of that prophet comes 
true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet” (Jeremiah 28:9). Discernment 
involves waiting, not just waiting to see, but waiting to see what the Lord does. 

Similarly, Jesus warns about false prophets, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in 
sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:15–16). 
Principle 1: The truth matters. 

In addition to such calls for discernment, the Bible gives a second principle that aids discernment: 
the content matters. Isaiah made that point against false prophets: “See, I and the children whom the Lord 
has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. Now if 
people say to you, ‘Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people 
consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living, for teaching and for instruction?’ surely, those who 
speak like this will have no light!” (Isaiah 8:18–20). Paul was blunter with the Galatians, “I am astonished 
that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a 
different gospel— not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to 
pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel 
contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!” (Gal 1:6-8). Principle 2: The content 
matters. 

And as a third principle, the Bible is quite specific about that content. “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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come 
in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:1-2). Principle 3: Christology matters. It is not about you; its about 
Jesus. John the Baptist is direct, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). 

These three biblical three principles that call for discernment. But the Bible also offers a caution. 
It is a fourth principle.  Near the end of 1 Thessalonians, Paul strings together seven short instructions. 
They seem to be a common block of material, perhaps even an early Christian poem or hymn. The 
structure seems to be significant with two generic statements at the beginning --“rejoice always” and 
“pray without ceasing”-- and two at the end – “hold fast to the good” and “abstain from evil.”  In between 
are three short instructions that seem to interpret each other: “Do not quench the Spirit”; “Do not despise 



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the words of prophets”; “but test everything.” “Quenching” involves putting out a fire – a significant 
metaphor about the working of the Spirit that cautions against excessive hesitancy.  The Spirit can do new 
things and does so. It is not our place to limit God. Principle 4: The Fire matters. 

In addition to these four general principles, there is in the Bible a case study on indigenizing 
Christianity. It comes from the correspondence between Paul and the house churches at Corinth of which 
we have two of at least four letters that Paul wrote. Our 1 Corinthians, the second actual letter, takes up 
many problematic issues, two of which involve practices from the local culture and how these new 
Christians might, if you will, indigenize them. 

One was the practice of eating meat sacrificed to idols. As Paul points out, since these idols are 
not really gods, Christian freedom would allow eating the meat from their sacrifices. But that freedom 
must be tempered by concern for the weaker sister or brother. Principle 5: The weak on matters. 

But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to 
the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, 
might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food 
sacrificed to idols? So, by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are 
destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their 
conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their 
falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall (1 Cor 8:9-13). 
The second example in this case study involves glossolalia, the indigenizing of the religious 

practice of ecstatic speech, famous in Greece from the oracle at Delphi. Concerning this practice, Paul 
writes: “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless, in church I would rather 
speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 
Cor 14:18-19). Principle 6: Clarity matters. 

From the Scriptures come several principles that may be applicable as you discern for yourselves 
the place of apostolicity in the mission of the church: 

1. Wait to see if the word of a prophet comes true. By their fruits you will know them. The truth 
matters. 

2. There is no other Gospel. Content matters. 
3. It is about Jesus. Christology matters. 
4. Don’t quench the Spirit. The Fire matters. 
5. Consider those who are weaker. The weak one matters. 
6. Clarity matters. 

In addition to these six, I wish to propose for your consideration a seventh principle, one that 
comes from our shared Lutheran heritage, one that you of Mekane Yesus have as a unique gift to offer to 
your Christian sisters and brothers in Africa: the Solas. 

Recall the point of the second lecture – that the passing of the apostolic generation caused two 
parallel and competing responses: apostolic succession and the canonization of the New Testament. This 
bi-polar structure of authority became the central point of contention in the sixteenth century as the 
medieval church asserted the ultimate authority of the bishop at Rome to determine doctrine and Martin 
Luther asserted at the Leipzig Disputation that a simple lay person armed with Scripture is greater than 
the mightiest pope.20  

Luther and other Reformers asserted the authority of the Scripture alone, as opposed to tradition 
and church hierarchy.  They maintained that salvation comes by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith 
alone, by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.  These phrases or theological principles are often 
called the “Five Solas of the Reformation” (sola being the Latin word for “alone” or “only”): Sola 
Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria. 

These Solas are the heritage of our church and are criteria by which we discern doctrine and 
practice. As heirs of the Reformation, our one and only concern in the church is that which “illumines and 

 
20 Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Hendrickson Classic Biographies (Peabody, Mass: 

Hendrickson Publishers, 2009), 107. 



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Global South Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2023):  28 

magnifies the honor of Christ and brings the abundant consolation that devout consciences need” (Ap IV 
2). Leadership in the church is not about titles and authority (Matt 20:26); but seeking and serving the 
lost. 

I have offered for your consideration seven principles of biblical and evangelical origin that may 
be of help to you in the process of discernment.  

From the Bible: 
1. Truth matter 
2. Content matters. 
3. Christology matters. 
4. The Fire matters. 
5. The weaker one matters. 
6. Clarity matters. 

And from the reformation: 
7. Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Soli Deo Gloria 

But, I say again. You are the ones who must discern for yourselves the place of apostolicity in the 
mission of the church. You are the majority church; you are the future church; yours is the discernment 
the church needs. 

 
AFTERWORD 

 
These lectures over the last three days have explored three topics: The First Apostles, After the Apostles, 
and Apostles Today. In our work together, I have been presenting a methodology for addressing the big 
questions that face the church.  

That methodology begins with scripture, looking at key texts in the original languages, seeking 
the meaning of those texts for those who first heard them, and then drawing out principles that endure 
through the centuries and across cultures. The second step is to consider the history of Christianity with 
an emphasis on our shared Lutheran theology. Third is the application of biblical and theological 
principles to the challenges at hand in a way that the gospel predominates, that Christ is glorified, and that 
the sinner is comforted and encouraged. 

I pray that in this task and all those tasks ahead of you, you might be faithful to the sacred 
scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation, that you be faithful to our shared heritage and 
those insights that grew out of the Reformation and the struggles of Martin Luther and his colleagues, that 
you are faithful with your outreach all for whom Christ died, and most of all that you are committed to 
Christ alone. He gives his gifts to you for the church today. His Spirit will prosper all that you do. 

In the name of Jesus. 
 
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	Introduction
	A sampling of claims from Africa
	Implications
	Theological principles

	Afterword
	Sources Cited

