Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I think that Paul took it upon himself to appoint elders in environments in which the sheep were only just beginning to have some appreciation for the shepherd's voice.
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Doesn't seem to fit the known facts, to me.
In Acts 11, after the scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem following Stephen's martyrdom, some wound up in Antioch, although at first they were only preaching to Jews until the Cypriots and Cyrenians showed up preaching to the Hellenists. By the end of Acts 11, there were a large number of believers in Antioch already when Barnabas retrieved Saul from Tarsus, and they stayed with that assembly for a whole year.
Acts 13 expressly states that there were "prophets and teachers" in Antioch and that assembly eventually sent forth Saul and Barnabas in accordance with the speaking of the Holy Spirit.
Yet Acts 14:21-23 seems to fairly clearly say that Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in Antioch as one of the "every" assemblies.
Then, oddest of all, the letter from Jerusalem in Acts 15 strikingly omits reference to any "elders" in Antioch, although making express reference to the "apostles and elders" in Jerusalem.
Were there "elders" in Antioch or not?
Why weren't they addressed by the big shots in Jerusalem?