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[ what is a
'disciple'? - some heavyweight views ]
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The following excerpts from a variety of
sources may help us to understand what the word disciple
means...
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From IH Marshall, BA, MA, BD, PhD, DD, Professor of
New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen writing
for the IVP Study Bible, 3rd Edition1
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A disciple (from Latin
discipulus, ‘pupil, learner’) is basically
the pupil of a teacher. The corresponding Hebrew term is
somewhat rare in the Old Testament but in the rabbinical
writings the talmîd is a familiar figure as the
pupil of a rabbi from whom he learned traditional lore.
In the Greek world philosophers were likewise surrounded
by their pupils. Since pupils often adopted the
distinctive teaching of their masters, the word came
to signify the adherent of a particular outlook in
religion or philosophy.
Although Jesus (like John) was not an officially
recognized teacher (Jn 7:14f), he was popularly known as
a teacher or rabbi (eg Mk 9:5), and his associates were
known as disciples. The word can be used of all who
responded to his message (eg Lk 6:17), but it can
also refer more narrowly to those who accompanied him on
his travels (eg Mk 6:45), and especially to the twelve
apostles (Mk 3:14).
Discipleship was based on a call by Jesus (eg
Lk 9:59–62). It involved personal allegiance to
him, expressed in following him and giving him an
exclusive loyalty (Mk 8:34–38; Lk 14:26–33). In
at least some cases it meant literal abandonment of
home, business ties and possessions (Mk 10:21, 28), but
in every case readiness to put the claims of Jesus
first, whatever the cost, was demanded. Such an
attitude went well beyond the normal pupil–teacher
relationship and gave the word ‘disciple’ a new
sense.
According to Luke, the members of the early church were
known as disciples (Acts 6:1f, and frequently
thereafter). This makes it clear that ... the pattern
of the relationship between Jesus and his earthly
disciples was constitutive for the relationship between
the risen Lord and the members of his church.
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So much for the historic meaning, what of more
contemporary thinking? David Watson’s book
"Discipleship" was published in 1981 (and is still in
print). In the introduction he writes 2
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Discipleship sums up Christ's plan for the world.
Yet for all its brilliant simplicity, it is the one
approach that most western churches have neglected.
Instead we have had reports, commissions, conferences,
seminars, missions, crusades, reunion schemes,
liturgical reforms - the lot. But very little
attention has been given to the meaning of discipleship.
...
... the basic idea of discipleship was widely
accepted by the time Jesus began his own ministry.
At the same time, when he took the initiative himself in
calling people to follow him, when he called them
primarily to him and not just to his teaching, when he
expected from them total obedience, when he taught them
to serve and warned them that they would suffer, and
when he gathered around him a thoroughly mixed crowd of
very ordinary people, it became obvious that Jesus had
created a radical and unique pattern of discipleship.
...
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And more recently from Richard Foster (1999) 3,
who selects Dietrich Bonhoeffer as his contemporary
paradigm for the virtue-filled life
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Bonhoeffer took Jesus’ call
to discipleship seriously. He felt this call most
powerfully compressed in Jesus’ robust and prophetic
Sermon on the Mount. ... [which] he understood to be
Jesus’ universal call to obedience - a call issued to
all people, at all times, in all places. In a
letter to his brother ... he wrote, “I have begun to
take seriously the Sermon on the Mount. That is
the only source of power capable of blowing up the whole
phantasmagoria [implied: Hitler and his rule] once and
for all.”
The most systematic treatment of this matter is found
in The Cost of Discipleship, where Bonhoeffer
argues for ‘costly grace’. ... This he contrasts
with ‘cheap grace’ ... “the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism
without church discipline, Communion without confession,
absolution without personal confession.” 4
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