Apollos

Saint Apollos
Epaphroditus, Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas and Caesar
Born	1st century Alexandria, Egypt
Died	1st century
Venerated in	Anglican Communion Coptic Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches Roman Catholic Church

Apollos (Greek: Ἀπολλώς) was a 1st century Alexandrian Jewish Christian mentioned several times in the New Testament. A contemporary of Paul the Apostle, he played an important role in the early development of the churches of Ephesus and Corinth.

Apollos is first mentioned as a Christian preacher who had come to Ephesus (probably in the year 52-3), where he is described as "being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John" (Acts 18:24-25). Priscilla and Aquila, a Jewish Christian couple who had come to Ephesus with the Apostle Paul, instructed Apollos:

The differences between the two understandings probably related to baptism with the Holy Spirit, since Apollos "knew only the baptism of John". Later, during Apollos' absence, recounts an encounter between Paul and some disciples at Ephesus:

And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Before Paul's arrival, Apollos had moved from Ephesus to Achaia and was living in Corinth, the provincial capital of Achaia. Acts reports that Apollos arrived in Achaia with a letter of recommendation from the Ephesian Christians and "greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus (Acts 18:27-28).