Apostle vs adherent

Apostle and adherent both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
Apostle	Yes	No	No	No
adherent	Yes	Yes	No	No

As nouns, adherent is a hypernym of Apostle; that is, adherent is a word with a broader meaning than Apostle:

Apostle: (New Testament) one of the original 12 disciples chosen by Christ to preach his gospel
adherent: someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another

Other hypernyms of Apostle include Christian, disciple.

Apostle (noun)	adherent (noun)
(New Testament) one of the original 12 disciples chosen by Christ to preach his gospel	someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another
any important early teacher of Christianity or a Christian missionary to a people

Apostle (adjective)	adherent (adjective)
	sticking fast