Discípulo

(Cristianismo)

No Cristianismo , um discípulo é um seguidor dedicado de Jesus . Este termo é encontrado

no Novo Testamento apenas nos Evangelhos e em Atos . No mundo antigo, um discípulo é
um seguidor ou adepto de um professor. Discipulado não é o mesmo que ser estudante no
sentido moderno. Um discípulo no antigo mundo bíblico imitava ativamente tanto a vida
quanto os ensinamentos do mestre. [1] Foi um aprendizado deliberado que fez do discípulo
totalmente formado uma cópia viva do mestre. [2]

Jesus dando o Discurso de Despedida ( João 14–17 (https://bible.or

emus.org/?passage=John%2014%E2%80%9317&version=nrsv) )
aos seus discípulos, após a Última Ceia , da Maestà de Duccio ,
1308–1311
O Novo Testamento registra muitos seguidores de Jesus durante seu ministério . A alguns
discípulos foi dada uma missão , como a Pequena Comissão , a comissão dos setenta no
Evangelho de Lucas, a Grande Comissão após a ressurreição de Jesus , ou a conversão de
Paulo , tornando-os apóstolos , encarregados de proclamar o evangelho (a Boa Nova ) Para o
mundo. Jesus enfatizou que ser seus discípulos custaria caro.

Antecedentes do termo
O termo "discípulo" representa a palavra grega koiné mathētḗs ( μαθητής ), [3] que geralmente
significa "aquele que se envolve na aprendizagem através da instrução de outro, aluno,
aprendiz" [4] ou em contextos religiosos como a Bíblia , "alguém que está constantemente
associado a alguém que tem uma reputação pedagógica ou um determinado conjunto de
pontos de vista, discípulo, adepto.” [5] A palavra "discípulo" chega ao uso em inglês por meio
do latim discipulus , que significa aluno, mas dado seu contexto bíblico, não deve ser
confundida com a palavra inglesa mais comum "estudante".

A disciple is different from an apostle, which instead means a messenger, more specifically
"messengers with extraordinary status, especially of God’s messenger, envoy."[6] But
predominately in the New Testament it is used of "a group of highly honored believers with a
special function as God’s envoys."[7][8] While a disciple is one who learns and apprentices
under a teacher or rabbi, an apostle is one sent as a missionary to proclaim the good news
and to establish new communities of believers.

The meaning of the word "disciple" is not derived primarily from its root meaning or
etymology but from its widespread usage in the ancient world. Disciples are found in the
world outside of the Bible. For example among the ancient Greek philosophers, disciples
learned by imitating the teacher’s entire way of life and not just by remembering the spoken
words of the teacher.

The first-century philosopher Seneca appeals to the "living voice and intimacy of common
life" of the disciple–teacher relationship of many different philosophers:

Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard
his lectures; he also shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and
watched him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. Plato, Aristotle,
 and the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way,
derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates.[9]

In the world of the Bible, a disciple was a person who followed a teacher, or rabbi, or master,
or philosopher.[10] The disciple desired to learn not only the teaching of the rabbi, but to
imitate the practical details of their life.[2] A disciple did not merely attend lectures or read
books, they were required to interact with and imitate a real living person. A disciple would
literally follow someone in hopes of eventually becoming what they are.[11]

A Christian disciple is a believer who follows Christ and then offers his own imitation of
Christ as model for others to follow (1 Corinthians 11:1). A disciple is first a believer who has
exercised faith (Acts 2:38).[12] This means they have experienced conversion and put Jesus
at the center of their life and participated in rites of Christian imitation. A fully developed
disciple is also a leader of others who attempts to pass on this faith to his followers, with the
goal of repeating this process.(1 Corinthians 4:16–17; 2 Timothy 2:2). A special form of
passing on leadership through discipleship is called apostolic succession.

Great crowd and the seventy

In addition to the Twelve Apostles there is a much larger group of people identified as
disciples in the opening of the passage of the Sermon on the Plain.[13] In addition, seventy (or
seventy-two, depending on the source used) people are sent out in pairs to prepare the way
for Jesus (Luke 10). They are sometimes referred to as the "Seventy" or the "Seventy
Disciples". They are to eat any food offered, heal the sick and spread the word that the
Kingdom of God is coming.

Undesirables
Jesus practiced open table fellowship, scandalizing his critics by dining with sinners, tax
collectors, and women.
Sinners and tax collectors
The gospels use the term "sinners and tax collectors" to depict those he fraternized with.
Sinners were Jews who violated purity rules, or generally any of the 613 mitzvot, or possibly
Gentiles who violated Noahide Law, though halacha was still in dispute in the 1st century, see
also Hillel and Shammai and Circumcision controversy in early Christianity. Tax collectors
profited from the Roman economic system that the Romans imposed in Iudaea province,
which was displacing Galileans in their own homeland, foreclosing on family land and selling
it to absentee landlords. In the honor-based culture of the time, such behavior went against
the social grain.

Samaritans
Samaritans, positioned between Jesus' Galilee and Jerusalem's Judea, were mutually hostile
with Jews. In Luke and John, Jesus extends his ministry to Samaritans.

Women who followed Jesus

In Luke (10:38–42), Mary, sister of Lazarus, is contrasted with her sister Martha, who was
"cumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the
better part," that of listening to the master's discourse. John names her as the "one who had
anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair" (11:2). In Luke, an
unidentified "sinner" in the house of a Pharisee anoints Jesus' feet. Luke refers to a number of
people accompanying Jesus and the twelve. From among them he names three women:
"Mary, called Magdalene, ... and Joanna the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and
many others, who provided for them out of their resources" (Luke 8:2–3). Mary Magdalene
and Joanna are among the women who went to prepare Jesus's body in Luke's account of
the resurrection, and who later told the apostles and other disciples about the empty tomb
and words of the "two men in dazzling clothes". Mary Magdalene is the most well-known of
the disciples outside of the Twelve. More is written in the gospels about her than the other
female followers. There is also a large body of lore and literature covering her.

Other gospel writers differ as to which women witness the crucifixion and witness to the
resurrection. Mark includes Mary, the mother of James and Salome (not to be confused with
Salomé the daughter of Herodias) at the crucifixion and Salome at the tomb. John includes
Mary the wife of Clopas at the crucifixion.

Tabitha (Dorcas) is the only female follower of Jesus named in the New Testament and
explicitly called a disciple.[14]

Cleopas and companion on the road

to Emmaus

Jesus with two disciples in Emmaus

In Luke, Cleopas is one of the two disciples to whom the risen Lord appears at Emmaus (Luke
24:18). Cleopas and an unnamed disciple of Jesus are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus
on the day of Jesus's resurrection. Cleopas and his friend are discussing the events of the
past few days when a stranger asks them what they spoke of. The stranger is asked to join
Cleopas and his friend for the evening meal. There the stranger is revealed, in blessing and
breaking the bread, as the risen Jesus before he disappears. Cleopas and his friend hasten to
Jerusalem to carry the news to the other disciples, to discover that Jesus has appeared there
also and will do so again. The incident is without parallel in Matthew, Mark, or John.
Discipleship

"Love one another"

A definition of disciple is suggested by Jesus's self-referential example from the Gospel of
John 13:34–35: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have
loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another." (NRSV) Further definition by Jesus can be found in
the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14. Beginning with a testing trap laid out by his adversaries
regarding observance of the Jewish Sabbath, Jesus uses the opportunity to lay out the
problems with the religiosity of his adversaries against his own teaching by giving a litany of
shocking comparisons between various, apparent socio-political and socio-economic
realities versus the meaning of being his disciple.

"Be transformed"
The canonical gospels, Acts, and the Pauline epistles urge disciples to be imitators of Jesus
Christ or of God himself. Being imitators requires obedience exemplified by moral
behavior.[15] With this biblical basis, Christian theology teaches that discipleship entails
transformation from some other worldview and practice of life into that of Jesus Christ, and
so, by way of Trinitarian theology, of God himself.[16]

Paul the Apostle stressed transformation as a prerequisite for discipleship when he wrote
that disciples must "not be conformed to this world" but must "be transformed by the
renewing of [their] minds" so that they "may discern what is the will of God—what is good and
acceptable and perfect."[17] Therefore, a disciple is not simply an accumulator of information
or one who merely changes moral behavior in conformity with the teachings of Jesus Christ,
but seeks a fundamental shift toward the ethics of Jesus Christ in every way, including
complete devotion to God.[18]
In several Christian traditions, the process of becoming a disciple is called the Imitation of
Christ. This concept goes back to the Pauline epistles: "be imitators of God" (Ephesians 5:1)
and "be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).[19] The Imitation of Christ by
Thomas à Kempis promoted this concept in the 14th century.

The Great Commission

Ubiquitous throughout Christianity is the practice of proselytism, making new disciples. In
Matthew, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when calling his earliest disciples—Simon, Peter,
and Andrew—he says to them: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).
Then, at the very end of his ministry Jesus institutes the Great Commission, commanding all
present to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have
commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20a).

Family and wealth

Jesus called on disciples to give up their wealth and their familial ties. In his society, family
was the individual's source of identity, so renouncing it would mean becoming virtually
nobody. In Luke 9:58–62 (https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke%209:58%E2%80%9362&v
ersion=nrsv) , Jesus used a hyperbolic metaphor to stress the importance of this, and
another in Luke 14:26 (https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Luke%2014:26&version=nrsv) :
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." There are different
interpretations of this text on counting the cost of discipleship.[20]
Discipleship Movement
The "Discipleship Movement" (also known as the "Shepherding Movement") was an influential
and controversial movement within some British and American churches, emerging in the
1970s and early 1980s. The doctrine of the movement emphasized the "one another"
passages of the New Testament, and the mentoring relationship prescribed by the Apostle
Paul in 2 Timothy 2:2 of the Holy Bible. It was controversial in that it gained a reputation for
controlling and abusive behavior, with a great deal of emphasis placed upon the importance
of obedience to one's own shepherd. The movement was later denounced by several of its
founders, although some form of the movement continues today.[21]

Radical discipleship
Radical discipleship is a movement in practical theology that has emerged from a yearning to
follow the true message of Jesus and a discontentment with mainstream Christianity.[22]
Radical Christians, such as Ched Myers and Lee Camp, believe mainstream Christianity has
moved away from its origins, namely the core teachings and practices of Jesus such as
turning the other cheek and rejecting materialism.[23][24] Radical is derived from the Latin
word radix meaning "root", referring to the need for perpetual re-orientation towards the root
truths of Christian discipleship.

Radical discipleship also refers to the Anabaptist Reformation movement beginning in Zurich,
Switzerland in 1527. This movement grew in part out of the belief that the Protestant
Reformers such Martin Luther, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli were not going far enough in
their respective reforms.

See also

Disciples of Jesus in Islam

 Athol Gill
John Hirt
Jesuism

References

1. Köstenberger, Andreas J. (1998). "Jesus

as Rabbi in the Fourth Gospel" (https://bib
licalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bbr/rabbi_kostenb
erger.pdf) (PDF). Bulletin for Biblical
Research. 8: 97–128.
doi:10.5325/bullbiblrese.8.1.0097 (http
s://doi.org/10.5325%2Fbullbiblrese.8.1.00
97) . S2CID 203287514 (https://api.sema
nticscholar.org/CorpusID:203287514) .
2. Sri, Edward (2018). "In the Dust of the
Rabbi: Clarifying Discipleship for Faith
Formation Today" (https://review.catechet
ics.com/dust-rabbi-clarifying-discipleship-
faith-formation-today) . The Catechetical
Review (#4.2): online edition.

3. "μαθητής" (http://www.htmlbible.com/sac
rednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRGRK31.
htm#S3101) .

4. Danker, Arndt, W., W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich,

F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of
the New Testament and other early
Christian literature (3rd ed). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. p. 609.

5. Ibid.
6. A Greek-English lexicon of the New
Testament and other early Christian
literature., p. 122.
 7. Ibid.
8. "Christian History: The Twelve Apostles"
(http://www.christianity.com/1153638
1/) . Retrieved 2007-11-19.

9. Seneca. Epistles 1-65. Trans Richard M

Gummere, Loeb Classical Library 75.
pp. Epist. 6.5–6.6, p. 27–28.

10. Talbert, Charles H. and Perry L. Stepp.

" "Succession in Mediterranean Antiquity,
Part I: The Lukan Milieu" Society of
Biblical Literature 1998 Seminar Papers:
and "Succession in Mediterranean
Antiquity, Part 2: Luke-Acts" ". Society of
Biblical Literature 1998 Seminar Papers:
148–168 and 169–179.
11. McKellar, Scott (2014). "Taking on the
"Smell of the Sheep": The Rabbinic
Understanding of Discipleship" (https://re
view.catechetics.com/taking-%E2%80%9C
smell-sheep%E2%80%9D-rabbinic-underst
anding-discipleship) . The Sower (#35.2,
April–June): 8–9.

12. Born again#Catholicism

13. Luke 6:17 (https://bible.oremus.org/?pass
age=Luke%206:17&version=nrsv)

14. Syswerda, Jean E. (2002). Women of the

Bible: 52 Bible studies for individuals and
groups (https://archive.org/details/wome
nofbible00jean/page/214) . Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan. p. 214 (https://archive.
org/details/womenofbible00jean/page/21
4) . ISBN 0310244927.
15. Richard N. Longenecker, ed., Patterns of
Discipleship in the New Testament
(Eerdman’s, 1996) 1, 5, 141.

16. "Rick Warren’s Definition of Disciple" at

"Rick Warren's Definition of Discipleship |
Exponential" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20131203001244/http://blog.exponenti
al.org/2012/11/warren-on-discipleship/) .
Archived from the original (http://blog.exp
onential.org/2012/11/warren-on-disciples
hip/) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved
2013-11-26.

17. Romans 12:2 (https://bible.oremus.org/?p

assage=Romans%2012:2&version=nrsv)

18. Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Tyndale House,

2001), s.v. "Disciple."
19. The Westminster Dictionary of Christian
Theology by Alan Richardson, John
Bowden 1983 ISBN 978-0-664-22748-7
s.v. "Imitation of Christ, The," 285-286.

20. Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity:

Chapter I (https://www.vatican.va/archiv
e/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/docum
ents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolica
m-actuositatem_en.html) Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2015062514220
6/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_co
uncils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-i
i_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuosit
atem_en.html) June 25, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine, Vatican Council
21. "Charismatic Leaders Concede They Went
Too Far: 'Shepherding' was often accused
by outsiders and former members of
being cultlike in requiring members to
obey leaders in all aspects of their
personal lives". Los Angeles Times.
March 24, 1990.

22. Dancer, Anthony (2005). William

Stringfellow in Anglo-American
Perspective (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=de-LhhZNLd4C&q=practical+theo
logy+Radical+discipleship&pg=PA18) .
Ashgate Publishing. pp. 16–18.
ISBN 9780754616436.

23. Myers, Ched (1988). Binding the Strong

Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story
of Jesus (https://archive.org/details/bindi
ngstrongman0000myer) . Orbis Books.
24. Camp, Lee C. (2003). Mere Discipleship:
Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World
(https://archive.org/details/meredisciples
hip0000camp) . Brazos Press.
ISBN 9781587430497.

Further reading

Barton, S.C. (2005). Discipleship and

Family Ties in Mark and Matthew (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=EQCg
hR-U6xkC) . Monograph series /
Society for New Testament Studies.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-
0-521-01882-1.
Mattes, M. (2012). “Discipulado na
perspectiva luterana” (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20180417153349/http://
www.lutheranquarterly.com/uploads/
7/4/0/1/7401289/26-2-mattes.pdf)
(PDF) . Luterana Trimestral . 26 : 142–
163. Arquivado do original (http://ww
w.lutheranquarterly.com/uploads/7/4/
0/1/7401289/26-2-mattes.pdf) (PDF)
em 17/04/2018 . Recuperado
em 05/04/2018 .
Souvay, Charles Léon (1909).
"Discípulo" (https://en.wikisource.org/
wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Dis
ciple) . Em Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
Enciclopédia Católica . Vol. 5. Nova
York: Robert Appleton Company.
Stassen, Glen H. e David P. Gushee.
Ética do Reino: Seguindo Jesus no
Contexto Contemporâneo , InterVarsity
Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8308-2668-8 .
Stassen, Glen H. Vivendo o Sermão da
Montanha: Uma Esperança Prática para
Graça e Libertação , Jossey-Bass,
2006. ISBN 0-7879-7736-5 .
Weddell, Sherry. Formando Discípulos
Intencionais: O Caminho para Conhecer
e Seguir Jesus . ISBN 978-1-61278-590-
5.
Wilkins, MJ (2004). Discipulado único
para um mestre único: Discipulado no
Evangelho segundo Marcos. Jornal
Batista do Sul de Teologia , 8(3), 50–65.

Vaage, Leif E. (2009). "Um Outro Lar:

Discipulado em Marcos como
 Ascetismo Doméstico". Trimestral
Bíblico Católico . 71 (4): 741–761.
JSTOR 43726614 (https://www.jstor.o
rg/stable/43726614) .

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