{"id":23730,"date":"2025-09-17T14:07:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/?p=23730"},"modified":"2025-09-17T14:07:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:07:45","slug":"acts-115-26-the-twelve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/acts-115-26-the-twelve\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts 1:15-26 – The \u201cTwelve\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Problem:<\/strong> Numerous alleged Bible discrepancies arise because skeptics frequently interpret figurative language in a literal fashion. They treat God\u2019s Word as if it were a dissertation on the Pythagorean theorem rather than a book written using ordinary language. They fail to recognize the inspired writers\u2019 use of sarcasm, hyperbole, prolepsis, irony, etc. Such is the case in their interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:5. Since Paul stated that \u201cthe twelve\u201d (apostles) saw Jesus after His resurrection, these critics claim that Paul clearly erred, because there were not \u201ctwelve\u201d apostles after Jesus\u2019 resurrection and before His ascension. There actually were only eleven apostles during that time. [Judas already had committed suicide (Matthew 27:5), and Matthias was not chosen as an apostle until after Jesus\u2019 ascension into heaven (Acts 1:15-26).] Skeptics claim Paul\u2019s use of the term \u201ctwelve\u201d when speaking about \u201celeven\u201d clearly shows that the Bible was not given \u201cby inspiration of God.\u201d
\n
\nSolution:<\/strong> The simple solution to this numbering \u201cproblem\u201d is that \u201cthe twelve\u201d to which Paul referred was not a literal number, but the designation of an office. This term is used merely \u201cto point out the society of the apostles, who, though at this time they were only eleven, were still called the twelve, because this was their original number, and a number which was afterward filled up\u201d (Clarke, 1996). Gordon Fee stated that Paul\u2019s use of the term \u201ctwelve\u201d in 1 Corinthians 15:5 \u201cis a clear indication that in the early going this was a title<\/b> given to the special group of twelve whom Jesus called to \u2018be with him\u2019 (Mark 3:14). Thus this is their collective designation; it does not imply that all twelve were on hand, since the evidence indicates otherwise\u201d (1987, p. 729, emp. added).<\/p>\n

This figurative use of numbers is just as common in English vernacular as it was in the ancient languages. In certain collegiate sports, one can refer to the Big Ten<\/strong> conference, which consists of 14<\/strong> teams, or the Atlantic Ten <\/strong>conference, which is also made up of 14<\/strong> teams. At one time, these conferences only had ten teams, but when they exceeded that number, they kept their original conference \u201cnames.\u201d Their names are a designation for a particular conference, not a literal number. In 1884, the term \u201ctwo-by-four\u201d was coined to refer to a piece of lumber two-by-four inches. Interestingly, a two-by-four still is called a two-by-four, even though today it is trimmed to slightly smaller dimensions (1 5\/8 by 3 5\/8). Again, the numbers are more of a designation than a literal number.<\/p>\n

Critics like Steve Wells, author of the Skeptic\u2019s Annotated Bible<\/i>, misrepresent the text when they claim Paul taught: \u201cJesus was seen by all<\/b> twelve apostles (including Judas<\/b>) after Judas\u2019 suicide and before Jesus\u2019 ascension\u201d (2001, emp. added). Paul did not teach that Jesus was seen by all<\/b> twelve of the original<\/b> apostles (including Judas). The text says simply that Jesus \u201cwas seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.\u201d As already noted, skeptics reject the explanation that Paul used the term \u201ctwelve\u201d in a figurative sense (yet they must admit that such numbers can be, and frequently are, used in such a way). These critics also disregard the possibility that the twelve may have included Matthias, the apostle who took Judas\u2019 place (Acts 1:15-26). Although in my judgment Paul was using \u201cthe twelve\u201d in a figurative sense, it is possible that he was including Matthias with \u201cthe twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthias had been chosen as one of the apostles long before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, and we know he was a witness of the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21-22). In fact, it is very likely that he was part of the group that \u201cgathered together\u201d with the apostles when Christ appeared to them after His resurrection (Luke 24:33). When Paul wrote of \u201cthe twelve,\u201d it may be that he was using a figure of speech commonly referred to as prolepsis (the assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it). Thus no one can say for sure that Matthias was not included in the twelve apostles mentioned by Paul.<\/p>\n

Does Paul\u2019s reference to \u201cthe twelve\u201d in 1 Corinthians 15:5 contradict Jesus\u2019 appearances to ten of the apostles on one occasion (John 20:19-23) and eleven on another (John 20:26-29)? Not at all. Either he simply used a figure of speech common to all languages\u2014where a body of persons (or groups) who act as colleagues are called by a number rather than a name\u2014or he was including Matthias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Problem: Numerous alleged Bible discrepancies arise because skeptics frequently interpret figurative language in a literal fashion. They treat God\u2019s Word as if it were a dissertation on the Pythagorean theorem rather than a book written using ordinary language. They fail to recognize the inspired writers\u2019 use of sarcasm, hyperbole, prolepsis, irony, etc. Such is theContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,8,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-errors","category-bible-study","category-bible-teaching","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23730\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}