Chap. 3. the. 3. Diuision.
And although some Ecclesiasticall wryters doe call sometymes good ministers successors of the Apostles, yet that is to be vnderstanded bicause they propounde the same doctrine that they did, not bycause they succeeded into the same kind of function, which they could not do. S. Paule doth vse this word sometimes in his proper and natiue signification, for him that is publikely sent from any to other, as when he speaketh of the brethren that were ioyned with Titus, whiche were sent by the Churches with reliefe to the poore Church in Ierusalem and Inry, and where he calleth Epaphroditus an Apostle. But that is with addition and not simply, as in the first place he calleth the brethren the Apostles of the Churches, that is, not the Apostles of all Churches, or sente to all* 1.1 Churches, but the Apostles which certayne Churches sent with the reliefe to other certaine chur∣ches: and Epaphroditus he calleth not an Apostle simply, but the Apostle of the Philippians, that* 1.2 is, which the Philippians sent with reliefe to Paule, being in prison at Rome, as it appeareth in the same epistle.
The writers of ye Magdelb. historie cal Epaphroditus an Apostle in the same sense* 1.3 that they cal Paule, and the rest of the Apostles: & M. Caluine thinketh the name of an* 1.4 Apostle to be taken in that place generally, pro quolibet Euangelista: for any preacher of the gospell. Ambrose saith: erat eorum Apostolus à Paulo factus, dum illum ad exhortationem* 1.5 eorum mittebat ad eos: he was made their Apostle of Paule, when as at their request he sente him vnto them. And Theodoret in plaine wordes doth call him an Apostle, bycause he* 1.6 was byshop of the Philippians. If these say true, as no doubt they do, thē is not Epa∣phroditus called an Apostle only in that signification, that you say he was. In that he* 1.7 calleth them Apostles with an addition of the Churches, not of all Churches, he con∣firmeth my saying, for it argueth that there may be Apostles though they haue com∣mission but for one kingdome or prouince only, as Epaphroditus was the Apostle of the churches of the Philippians, bycause he was sent vnto them to preach. Thus doth both Ambrose, Chrysostome, Theodoret, Caluine, and others write.