EVANGELIST: A word which occurs three
times in the New Testament
(Acts xxi. 8;
Eph. iv. 11;
II Tim. iv. 5);
not found in the Septuagint and other Greek versions, in the Apostolic Fathers,
or in the Didache, and not in
classical Greek use. It is from the same root as the words translated
"Gospel" (Gk. euangeliore)
and "to preach"
(euangelizomai). In
Eph. iv. 11
evangelists are enumerated along with apostles, prophets, pastors,
and teachers, but thin does not mean that they were
a distinct order of church officials. Deacons,
presbyters, and apostles
(Acts viii. 25;
I Cor. i. 17;
etc.), all might exercise evangelistic functions.
Timothy, the bishop-presbyter, was exhorted to
"do the work of an evangelist"
(II Tim. iv. 5);
and Philip, one of the seven deacons at Jerusalem, is
called an evangelist
(Acts viii. 5,
axi. 8). The evangelists are to be regarded as
itinerants, traveling from place to place. This was the case with
Philip, who preached in Samaria, expounded the
word to the eunuch on his way to Gaza, and then
labored in C>I'sarea and the cities round about
(Acts viii. 40).
They acted independently
(Acts viii. 4),
but largely as "fellow laborers" and
assistants of the apostles, accompanying them on
their journeys, and laboring under their direction.
Theodoret (Ad Eph. iv. 11) was the first to restrict
the term to itinerant preachers, and aJcumenius
applied it for the first time strictly to the authors
of the Gospels. The term is used at the present
time in both these senses. In later liturgical
language the name was given to the reader of the
Gospel for the day.
Bibliography:
O.
Zöckler, Diakonen and Eroasigelialen,
Munich, 1893; T. Zahn, Miaeionamethoden im Zeitaltar
der Apostel, Leipsic, 1888; J. Reville,
Les Origines de
Z'6piacopaE, Paris. 1889; C. von WeiasLeker,
Apostolic Age, 2 vols., London, 1894-95; DB, i. 795-797.
