Were there really only twelve apostles?

There are 2 groups of apostles. Both in a sense, means being sent out (ambassadors). But the first office is the 12. Many say that the 12 were ordinary Christians who happened to live at the same time as Jesus. Not true, they were specially appointed by God for a specific reason. Someone above said they noticed the emphasis on the number 12. SThe same is with the 12 apostles because they are another caliber of Christians. Yes, they were sinners like you and me, and yes they were men, but there office was divine specific.

Revelation 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

There were specific requirements of being an Apostle of Christ. One being the witness of the resurrected Christ. (Acts 1:22, 1 Corinthians 9:1). Another being able to perform signs and wonders (2 Corinthians 12:12, Hebrews 2:4).

There is some debate over who replaces Judas. Matthias or Paul. Matthias was the only not directly appointed by Jesus Christ. Anyways, this office wasn't as some confuse with disciples. They weren't ordinary Christians. One example of not ordinary is the writings of the New Testament. The writing and teaching of the apostles weren't received by a man or bok, but directly from Christ.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

This verse was given directly to the apostles. I understand the we can claim this verse in a sense, but in it's context it was to the apostles to lay the foundation of the church. And to reveal the mystery of Christ.

Ephesians 3:4-5 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

The second group were apostles that were called by man. They were appointed by the apostles and the church. These were not the same as the 12. This group had the title of an apostle, but not the office. Hope that makes sense. The main group are apostles of Christ. The secondary group are apostles appointed by the church.

Acts 14:14 says when the apostles Barnabas and Paul. So it names Barnabas as an apostle. And that's in the BIble. If anyone wants to get technical.

There were many apostles named in the new testament. Here is a list of them along with scriptures.

There are 11 named here

Acts 1:13, "Peter and John, and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James."

Judas Iscariot was another apostle not named there.

After this point there are 9 more that I can find for sure and a few theoretical ones.

James, the half brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church—Galatians 1:19

Barnabas–Acts 14:14

Paul–Acts 14:14 and many other references

Apollos– Corinthians 4:6-9

Timothy and Silvanus– I Thessalonians 1:1 and 2:6

Epaphroditus–Philippians 2:25. While the King James Version translates the word as “messenger”, the Greek word (apostolon) is actually “apostle”.

Two unnamed apostles–Second Corinthians 8:23. A brother of fame among the churches, and a brother tested–“As for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.” Again, the Greek word is “apostoloi” but is translated here as “messengers”.

That adds up to 22 right there.

Andronicus and Junia–Romans 16:7 “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” Were these genuine apostles or were they, as some (Charles Ryrie and others) translate, “well-known to the apostles”? If we count Andronicus and Junia, the total jumps to 24.

most of my sources are http://bmarkanderson.com/how-many-apostles-in-the-new-testament-12-or-25/ check it our for more in depth info.

The Recursive Great Commission

The Greek word from which apostle is derived literally means "one who is sent out". To be sure, every believer is in effect an apostle who is sent out to proclaim Christ to the world. The Great Commission is, in a sense, recursive. Those that received that command were to make disciples and them those disciples everything Jesus had commanded them, which included the Great Commission.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 ESV

The Special Designation of the Twelve

However, there was a specific designation of apostleship that was reserved for twelve specific men whose names are identified for us.

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out... Matthew 10:1-5a ESV

In a very real sense, the disciples/learners/students became apostles (ones sent out) at this moment in time when Jesus specifically sent them out with a purpose.

There were twelve Apostles to begin with, whom Jesus chose and ordained as special witnesses of his ministry. These were different from disciples, like everyone else here said, who were followers. But there are two recorded instances in the Bible where more men were called Apostles. The first is in the early chapters of Acts where Matthias is chosen to fill the void that was left after Judas killed himself. It seemed very important to fill that void immediately. It is more likely that the "12 Apostles" is more of a quorum that is to always maintain 12 members.

Later on, of course, Paul is denoted as an Apostle and a lot of the New Testament books are from his short writings. But, we have no record of him being ordained or of who may have died to leave a vacancy in the quorum. Anyway, there were definitely more than twelve, though the group may have only had twelve at any one time.