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Yes, you will find apostolic succession in early church history.
The definition of apostolic succession by the earliest church historians was to teach the same as the apostles. The emphasis was on truth, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
Apostolic succession is handing down that truth which was learned from apostles. Those teachings alone are true.
The apostles appointed a plurality of elders in each congregation. Those elders had the duty to pass the teachings of the apostles down to the people. As elders died off, new elders replaced them. They were appointed by the remaining elders and the congregation themselves. New elders would continue to pass along “the faith once delivered to the saints.”
All of the above is recorded in early church history.
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
I can provide quotes from early church historians to support the above if anyone is interested.
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
It's both! Along with the conferring of Apostolic authority through the physical act of laying on of hands, comes the burden of passing on the truths of the Faith once for all delivered to the saints!
Yes, you will find apostolic succession in early church history.
The definition of apostolic succession by the earliest church historians was to teach the same as the apostles. The emphasis was on truth, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
Apostolic succession is handing down that truth which was learned from apostles. Those teachings alone are true.
The apostles appointed a plurality of elders in each congregation. Those elders had the duty to pass the teachings of the apostles down to the people. As elders died off, new elders replaced them. They were appointed by the remaining elders and the congregation themselves. New elders would continue to pass along “the faith once delivered to the saints.”
All of the above is recorded in early church history.
Glad to see you finally coming around!
Yes, we can clearly see apostolic succession in scripture as well - if we understand the historical context that it was written in!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissKate12
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
I can provide quotes from early church historians to support the above if anyone is interested.
Yes, since she was steering the boat since the beginning, we can see her defining/documenting divine revelation on all matters pertaining to faith and moral life!
Glad to see you finally coming around!
Yes, we can clearly see apostolic succession in scripture as well - if we understand the historical context that it was written in!
Yes, since she was steering the boat since the beginning, we can see her defining/documenting divine revelation on all matters pertaining to faith and moral life!
Nice try! lol
The definition of apostolic succession by the earliest church historians was to teach the same as the apostles. The emphasis was on truth, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
It's both! Along with the conferring of Apostolic authority through the physical act of laying on of hands, comes the burden of passing on the truths of the Faith once for all delivered to the saints!
Afraid not. Early church history disagrees with you.
The definition of apostolic succession by the earliest church historians was to teach the same as the apostles. The emphasis was on truth, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
It's both! Along with the conferring of Apostolic authority through the physical act of laying on of hands, comes the burden of passing on the truths of the Faith once for all delivered to the saints!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissKate12
Afraid not. Early church history disagrees with you.
The definition of apostolic succession by the earliest church historians was to teach the same as the apostles. The emphasis was on truth, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
My post and yours do not disagree or conflict; unless you explicitly reject as illegitimate the practice of laying on of hands for ordination...
My post and yours do not disagree or conflict; unless you explicitly reject as illegitimate the practice of laying on of hands for ordination...
No I don’t reject the laying on of hands where found in Scripture. What I reject is how the Catholic Church defines apostolic succession.
It’s best to examine each occurrence of laying on of hands so they can be viewed in context.
Our congregation recently appointed two new elders. And guess what? Our other elders laid hands on them and prayed over them. What I really liked was how we arrived to that point. Over several weeks, the sermons were centered on elders, their duties, qualifications, etc. The congregation was asked by the elders to submit the names of men whom they considered to be qualified. After the elders considered the names, they put forth the names of those who they believed were qualified. This took place after weeks of hearing sermons about elders. At the end of worship, the congregation was asked if anyone disagreed with the choices. No one did. The two men were wonderful selections. In front of the entire congregation, the elders laid their hands on the two men and publicly prayed over them. It doesn’t get any more Biblical than that. It was like the church in the first century did.
Except that the bible is neither a 'cookbook' of heavenly bread, nor an instruction manual on how to organize a (Christ's) church - as these things both were already in existence prior to any NT writing; just read any of the NT letters, they obviously show that those to whom they are written have already been taught the faith and are being sent a reminder or a clarification of some detail!
The word of God is indeed an instruction model.
The instructions were in place by the spoken word, and a very short time later by the written word of the apostles and other penmen God chose to record His directions.
It's both! Along with the conferring of Apostolic authority through the physical act of laying on of hands, comes the burden of passing on the truths of the Faith once for all delivered to the saints!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissKate12
The Catholic Church (and others) have given apostolic succession a whole new meaning. They have redefined it, giving it some type of "physical continuity as priests" rather than passing down the truth given by the apostles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EscAlaMike
My post and yours do not disagree or conflict; unless you explicitly reject as illegitimate the practice of laying on of hands for ordination...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissKate12
No I don’t reject the laying on of hands where found in Scripture. What I reject is how the Catholic Church defines apostolic succession.
Then I'm not sure what you're objecting to. Passing down the truth as given by the Apostles is just as much a part of Apostolic succession as the physical continuity via laying on of hands.
"In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them 'their own position of teaching authority'. Indeed, 'the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.'"
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