Rockerduck,
You're missing the distinction between
divine calling and
church recognition. Anyone can claim "Jesus chose me" - Joseph Smith did, Muhammad did, countless false teachers have. That's why the early church required verification.
What "sponsorship" means in this context:
Sponsorship means an established apostle vouched for someone in their writings, confirming that person was a trusted fellow worker and their teaching was sound. It's how the church distinguished genuine teachers from false ones.
Example: Paul
Yes, Jesus chose Paul. But Paul didn't just show up saying "trust me, Jesus appeared to me" and expect that to be enough. Look at what happened:
- Paul needed Barnabas to vouch for him to the apostles (Acts 9:26-27)
- The Jerusalem apostles had to give him "the right hand of fellowship" (Galatians 2:9)
- Peter validated Paul's writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16)
Without that validation chain, Paul would've been just another guy claiming divine revelation - no different than any heretic.
Example: Luke
Luke wasn't an apostle. Who sponsored him? Paul did. Paul calls Luke "beloved physician" and "fellow worker" in his epistles (Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11, Philemon 1:24). When Luke's Gospel circulated, churches could verify: "Paul vouched for this man in letters Peter already recognized as Scripture."
The problem with James and Jude:
If they weren't among the Twelve, where's their sponsorship? There's no verse where Peter or Paul says "James is my fellow worker" or validates Jude's teaching. The validation chain doesn't exist.
About Martin Luther:
You mentioned Luther doubted James. So what? Luther wasn't an apostle. Peter didn't validate Luther. Luther showed up 1,500 years after the canon was closed and questioned James because it contradicted his theology ("faith alone" vs. James 2:24).
Peter validated Paul in 2 Peter 3:15-16. No apostle validated Luther. See the difference?
The actual evidence:
Scripture tells us Mary had sons named James and Judas (Matthew 13:55). There were apostles named James (son of Alphaeus) and Judas/Thaddaeus - not Iscariot (Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:16). Paul calls James "the Lord's brother" and identifies him as an apostle (Galatians 1:19). Jude calls himself "brother of James" (Jude 1:1).
That's not three different James and three different Judas - it's the same people. Jesus' brothers were among the Twelve. They didn't need sponsors because they were apostles themselves.
Your move: Show me where James and Jude were sponsored by an apostle. If you can't, then either their books don't belong in the canon (which you don't believe), or they were apostles themselves (which is what I'm arguing).
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Rev 22:18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;
Rev 22:19 and
if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Perhaps Luther should have known this passage.
That's not "you'll be corrected later" or "you'll lose some rewards." That's
exclusion from eternal life.
