noun.
A member of one of certain ascetic sects which at various times professed to imitate the practice of the apostles.
adjective.
Pertaining to an apostle, or to the apostles, their times, or their peculiar spirit
adjective.
According to the doctrines of the apostles; delivered or taught by the apostles.
adjective.
Of or pertaining to the pope or the papacy; papal.
adjective.
See under Brief.
adjective.
a collection of rules and precepts relating to the duty of Christians, and particularly to the ceremonies and discipline of the church in the second and third centuries.
adjective.
the Christian church; -- so called on account of its apostolic foundation, doctrine, and order. The churches of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were called apostolic churches.
adjective.
directions of a nature similar to the apostolic canons, and perhaps compiled by the same authors or author.
adjective.
early Christian writers, who were born in the first century, and thus touched on the age of the apostles. They were Polycarp, Clement, Ignatius, and Hermas; to these Barnabas has sometimes been added.
adjective.
a title granted by the pope to the kings of Hungary on account of the extensive propagation of Christianity by St. Stephen, the founder of the royal line. It is now a title of the emperor of Austria in right of the throne of Hungary.
adjective.
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adjective.
a see founded and governed by an apostle; specifically, the Church of Rome; -- so called because, in the Roman Catholic belief, the pope is the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, and the only apostle who has successors in the apostolic office.
adjective.
the regular and uninterrupted transmission of ministerial authority by a succession of bishops from the apostles to any subsequent period.