“In the Pauline Letters, exegetes of authority have noted a
difference between two formulas used by the Apostle: he writes indiscriminately
‘My fellow workers’ (Rom. 16:3; Phil. 4:2-3) when referring to men
and women helping him in his apostolate in one way or another, but he reserves
the title 'God’s fellow workers’ (1 Cor. 3:9; cf. 1 Thess. 3:2) to
Apollos Timothy and himself, thus designated because they are directly set
apart for the apostolic ministry and the preaching of the Word of
God.”Inter Insigniores, §
16.
Reply
A careful analysis of the facts shows that the supposed distinction is
not valid, and does not imply any substantial difference.
“Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ
Jesus” (Romans 16,3) is equivalent to “God's fellow
workers”.
In 1 Corinthians 3,9 the expression ‘God's fellow
workers’ is demanded by the rhetoric of the composition: “For we are
God's fellow workers; you are God's field; God's building;
etc.”
The reading ‘God's fellow workers’ in 1 Thessalonians 3,1
is textually suspect.
Timothy is implied to be among ‘God's fellow
workers’ in 1 Corinthians 3,9 (and perhaps in 1 Thessalonians 3,1), but
Paul calls him ‘Timothy, my fellow worker’ in Romans
16,21.
Paul called ordained ministers ‘my fellow workers’,
such as Titus (2 Corinthians 8,23); Epaphroditus (Philippians 2,25); and Mark
and Luke (Philemon v. 24). He used the same term of women involved in the
ministry, such as Prisca (with Aquila; Romans 16,3) and Evodia and Syntyche
(Philippians 4,1-3).
To draw any valid conclusions from the two expressions, one would need
to show that such a distinction was in the mind of St.
Paul when he wrote these texts. It will be clear from the above analysis
that this cannot be done. Rather, we see that Paul uses the two expressions
indiscriminately and that he did not entertain the presumed distinction of
clergy and laity implied in Rome's text.
See also: E. Earle Ellis, ‘Paul and his Co-Workers’,
New Testament Studies 17 (1970/71) pp. 437 - 452; R.J.Karris, ‘The
Role of Women according to Jesus and the Early Church’, in Women and
Priesthood, ed. C.Stuhlmueller, Liturgical Press, Collegeville 1978, pp.
47-58, here pp. 51-52.
