Apostolic Succession (From Wikipedia)
Apostolic Succession is transmitted in an episcopal consecration by
the laying on of hands.In Christianity, Apostolic Succession refers to
the uninterrupted lines of bishops which are historically traceable
back to the original Twelve Apostles. Apostolic Succession is
transmitted during episcopal consecrations (the ordination of bishops)
by the laying on of hands of a bishop previously consecrated with
Apostolic Succession. Generally, all pre-Protestant Reformation
churches including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental
Orthodox claim Apostolic Succession. Due to the sacramental theology
of these churches, Apostolic Succession is considered necessary for
the valid ordination of priests and bishops, which are in turn
necessary for the validity of several of the other sacraments,
including the Eucharist, Confession, Confirmation, and the Anointing
of the Sick.
Apostolic Succession is claimed by all of the pre-Protestant
Reformation churches, including the Assyrian Church of the East, the
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Armenian Apostolic Church,
the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the original Thomas
Christians in India, and other Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox
churches. Apostolic Succession is claimed by the Old Catholic Church
and the Polish National Catholic Church, which separated from Roman
Catholicism after the reformation. The churches of the Anglican
Communion also claim Apostolic Succession. While their claim is
recognized by some Eastern Christian churches, it is not officially
recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, based on Pope Leo XIII's
papal bull Apostolicae Curae. However, since the promulgation of
Apostolicae Curae, Anglican bishops have acquired Old Catholic lines
of Apostolic Succession recognized by Rome.
The Roman Catholic Church further asserts that Jesus Christ gave Saint
Peter a unique primacy among the apostles, which has been passed on in
the office of the Papacy. Eastern Orthodox theology and ecclesiology
teaches that each bishop is equal to the other bishops, even the
E***enical Patriarch, who is first amongst equals, continuing the
ancient practice of the church, who considered the Roman Pontiff to be
first but not superior to the rest of the bishops.
Apostolicity as doctrinal continuity
" Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them
unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from
the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs]
bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one
of the apostles or of apostolic men "
--Tertullian
While many churches within the historical episcopate argue that Holy
Orders are valid only through apostolic succession, most Protestant
Churches would deny that the apostolicity of the Church rests on an
unbroken episcopacy. They generally hold that one im****tant
qualification of the apostles was that they were chosen directly by
Jesus and that they witnessed the resurrected Christ. According to
this understanding, the work of these twelve (and the Apostle Paul),
together with the prophets of the twelve tribes of Israel, provide the
doctrinal foundation for the whole church of subsequent history
through the Scriptures of the Bible. To share with the apostles the
same faith, to believe their word as found in the Scriptures, to
receive the same Holy Spirit, is the only sense in which apostolic
succession is meaningful, because it is in this sense only that men
have fellow****p with God in the truth (an extension of the Reformation
doctrines of sola fide and sola scriptura). The most meaningful
apostolic succession for most Protestants, then, is the faithful
succession of apostolic teaching. There is, of course, much
disagreement among various Protestant churches about the exact content
of apostolic teaching. In addition, Protestants state that the
teaching of Apostolic Succession did not arise until 170-200 A.D. [2]
It is worth noting, however, that the First of the Epistles of Clement
which is commonly dated to the first century and claims to be written
by the Church of God in Rome which was established by the apostles
presents a belief in apostolic succession as do also the Epistles of
Ignatius of Antioch. Also worth noting is the fact that others beside
the twelve apostles and Saint Paul are called "apostles" in the New
Testament. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Apostle Paul, though
given spiritual authority directly by Christ, did not embark on his
apostle****p without conferring with those who were apostles before him
as he notes in his Epistle to the Galatians. By contrast, some
Protestant charismatic and restorationist churches include "apostles"
among the offices that should be evident into modern times in a true
church, though they never trace an historical line of succession or
attempt to confer, like Paul, with those who were "apostles" before
them. It is frequently the case that the founders or senior leaders of
a restorationist church grouping will be referred to as the apostles.
Church planting is seen as a key role of these present-day apostles,
but the concept of apostolic succession which protected the faith and
inter-communion of the Christian churches through the first three
centuries of persecution and cross-cultural, translinguistic
evangelism has been lost in these new movements.
Those who hold to the im****tance of episcopal apostolic succession
would counter the above by appealing to the New Testament, which, they
say, implies a personal apostolic succession (from Paul to Timothy and
Titus, for example) and which states that Jesus gave the Apostles a
"blank check" to lead the Church as they saw fit under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit.[3] They appeal as well to other do***ents of the very
early Church, especially the Epistle of St. Clement to the Church at
Corinth, written around 96 AD In it, Clement defends the authority and
prerogatives of a group of "elders" or "bishops" in the Corinthian
Church which had, apparently, been deposed and replaced by the
congregation on its own initiative. In this context, Clement
explicitly states that the apostles both appointed bishops as
successors and had directed that these bishops should in turn appoint
their own successors; given this, such leaders of the Church were not
to be removed without cause and not in this way. Further, proponents
of the necessity of the personal apostolic succession of bishops
within the Church point to the universal practice of the undivided
early Church (up to 431 AD), from which, as organizations, the
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox (at that point in time one Church until
1054, see Great Schism), as well Oriental Orthodox and the Assyrian
Churches have all directly descended.
At the same time, no defender of the personal apostolic succession of
bishops would deny the im****tance of doctrinal continuity in the
Church.
These churches hold that Christ entrusted the leader****p of the
community of believers, and the obligation to transmit and preserve
the "deposit of faith" (the experience of Christ and his teachings
contained in the doctrinal "tradition" handed down from the time of
the apostles, the written ****tion of which is Scripture) to the
apostles, and the apostles passed on this role by ordaining bishops
after them.
Roman Catholic, Orthodox theology additionally hold that the power and
authority to confect the sacraments, or at least all of the sacraments
aside from baptism and matrimony (the first of which may be
administered by anyone, the second of which is administered by the
couple to each other) is passed on only through the sacrament of Holy
Orders, and an unbroken line of ordination of bishops to the apostles
is necessary for the valid celebration of the sacraments today. Roman
Catholics recognize the validity of the apostolic successions of the
bishops, and therefore the rest of the clergy, of the Eastern
Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and some
Independent Catholic Churches. Since 1896, Rome has not fully
recognized all Anglican orders as valid. The Eastern Orthodox do not
universally recognize Roman Catholics, Anglicans, or any other group
as having Apostolic Succession. Until the time comes when the
practices of the Orthodox Church are unified, the validity of any
priest's ordination will be decided by each Autocephalous Orthodox
Church.[4] Neither the Roman Catholic nor the Orthodox Church
recognize the validity of the apostolic succession of the clergy of
the Protestant churches, in large measure because of their theology of
the Eucharist.
The traditional doctrine
" Wherefore we must obey the priests of the Church who have succession
from the Apostles, as we have shown, who, together with succession in
the episcopate, have received the certain mark of truth according to
the will of the Father; all others, however, are to be suspected, who
separated themselves from the principal succession.[4] "
--Irenaeus
As a traditional ecclesiastical doctrine, Apostolic Succession
provides an historical basis for the spiritual authority of the
bishops of the Church (the episcopate). Apostolic Succession is
usually described as the official authority that has been passed down
through unbroken lines of successive bishops beginning with the
original Apostles selected by Jesus, or on a similar basis. Put
another way, bishops (in sects subscribing to the doctrine) are only
created bishops by other bishops; thus, every bishop today is the end
of an unbroken line of bishops, extending all the way back to one (or
more) of the Apostles, through which authority descends.
This doctrine is claimed by the ancient Christian Churches (the Roman
Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox), and other
ancient Churches, and as well as by the traditional Episcopal and
Anglican Churches (Anglo-Catholic), and by several of the Lutheran
Churches; it is referenced favorably by other churches. Some
Protestant churches do not accept this doctrine as it has been
commonly described, but rather will redefine it in a different way.[5]
Papal primacy is an issue different though related to Apostolic
Succession. The Catholic Church has traditionally claimed a unique
leader****p role in that the apostle Peter, believed to be named by
Jesus as leader of the apostles and as a focus of their unity, became
the first Bishop of Rome, whose successors would accordingly become
leaders as well. Churches not in communion with Rome do not agree
completely or at all with this Catholic interpretation.
The literature on this traditional doctrine is substantial. Many
inferences from it may be drawn.[6] Some eastern Christians hold that
the Roman church and, by extension, her Protestant offspring lost
claim to apostolic succession by an illegitimate addition to the
Nicene Creed (the Filioque clause) required by the Bishop of Rome just
prior to the Great Schism in AD 1054. The rift resulted in the loss of
apostolic succession in the western churches and the consequent
doctrinal changes and excesses (e.g., Anselmian penal substitution,
indulgences, etc.), resulting in the Protestant Reformation and the
further splintering of Western Christendom.
The early Creed of the Church, adopted by the first e***enical Council
of Nicaea in 325, affirms that the Church is "One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic."[7] Virtually all Christian denominations consider
Apostolic Succession im****tant in some fa****on, although their
definitions of the concept may vary, in some cases vary greatly (see
below).
Churches claiming Apostolic Succession
Churches that claim the historic episcopate include the Roman Catholic
Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Independent
Catholic, the Anglican Communion, and several Lutheran Churches (see
below). The former churches teach that Apostolic Succession is
maintained through the consecration of their bishops in unbroken
personal succession back to the apostles.[8] The Anglican and some
Lutheran Churches do not specifically teach this but exclusively
practice episcopal ordination.
These churches generally hold that Jesus Christ founded a community of
believers and selected the apostles to serve, as a group, as the
leader****p of that community....
Endquote.
Peace.
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