The Early
Fathers believed that authentic teaching and authority came through apostolic
succession and the Church of Christ would exist only within the walls of this
succession. To be sure, the succession
required is not merely an historical succession but a succession of the same
Life and Truth. In other words, true
Apostolic Succession is a two-sided coin and neither side can be omitted. There must be an historical succession that
can be traced directly back to the Apostles but also a succession of the same
Teachings and Practices. Thus, the
Orthodox do no consider the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran succession to
be true since they have departed from the succession of the Apostolic Teachings
and have followed false teachings invented by the Pope, Luther and others. And, of course, the Protestants/Evangelicals
make no claim of and see no need for any Apostolic Succession.
Clement of Rome (first century), third bishop of Rome after the Apostle
Peter, taught:
Our Apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ
that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason,
therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have
already been mentioned, and afterwards added the further provision that, if
they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry (Letter to the Corinthians 44:1 [A.D. 95]).
Ignatius of Antioch, first century, third bishop of Antioch and student
of the Apostle John. Some ancient
traditions tell us that he was the child whom the Saviour set in the midst as
an example of the child-like humility required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, taught:
You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ
follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Reverence the
deacons as you would the command of God. Let no one do anything of concern to
the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which
is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop
appears, let the people be there… (Letter
to the Smyrnaeans 8:1 [A.D. 110]).
Irenaeus, second century bishop of Gaul taught:
It is possible, then, for everyone in every Church,
who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the Apostles
which has been made known throughout the whole world. And we are in a position
to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the Apostles, and their
successors to our own times: men who neither knew nor taught anything like
these heretics rave about [Gnostics]. For if the Apostles had known hidden
mysteries which they taught to the elite secretly and apart from the rest, they
would have handed them down especially to those very ones to whom they were
committing the self-same Churches. For surely they wished all those and their
successors to be perfect and without reproach, to whom they handed on their
authority (Against Heresies 3:3:1
[A.D. 180-199]).
It is necessary to obey those who are the
presbyters in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the
Apostles; those who have received, with the succession of the episcopate, the
sure charism of truth according to the good pleasure of the Father. But the
rest, who have no part in the primitive succession and assemble wheresoever
they will, must be held in suspicion (ibid 4:26:2).
Tertullian of Carthage, first – second century, taught:
Moreover, if there be any [heresies] bold enough to
plant themselves in the midst of the apostolic age, so that they might seem to
have been handed down by the Apostles because they were from the time of the
Apostles, we can say to them: let them show the origin of their Churches, let
them unroll the order of their bishops, running down in succession from the
beginning, so that their first bishop shall have for author and predecessor
some one of the Apostles or of the apostolic men who continued steadfast with
the Apostles. For this is the way in which the apostolic Churches transmit their
lists: like the Church of the Smyrnaeans, which records that Polycarp was
placed there by John; like the Church of the Romans where Clement was ordained
by Peter. In just this same way the other Churches display those whom they have
as sprouts from the apostolic seed, having been established in the episcopate
by the Apostles. Let the heretics invent something like it. After their
blasphemies, what could be unlawful for them? But even if they should contrive
it, they will accomplish nothing; for their doctrine itself, when compared with
that of the Apostles, will show by its own diversity and contrariety that it
has for its author neither an Apostle nor an apostolic man. The Apostles would
not have differed among themselves in teaching, nor would an apostolic man have
taught contrary to the Apostles, unless those who were taught by the Apostles
then preached otherwise.
Therefore, they will be challenged to meet this
test even by those Churches which are of much later date – for they are being
established daily – and whose founder is not from among the Apostles nor from
among the apostolic men; for those which agree in the same faith are reckoned
as apostolic on account of the blood ties in their doctrine. Then let all
heresies prove how they regard themselves as apostolic, when they are
challenged by our Churches to meet either test. But in fact they are not
apostolic, nor can they prove themselves to be what they are not. Neither are
they received in peace and communion by the Churches which are in any way apostolic,
since on account of their diverse belief they are in no way apostolic (The Demurrer Against the Heretics 32:1
[A.D. 200]).
Firmilion of Caesarea, third century, taught:
But what is his error, and how great his blindness,
who says that the remission of sins can be given in the synagogues of the
heretics, and who does not remain on the foundation of the one Church which was
founded upon the rock by Christ can be learned from this, which Christ said to
Peter : "Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound also
in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed in
heaven;" and by this, again in the gospel, when Christ breathed upon the
Apostles alone, saying to all of them; "Receive the Holy Spirit: if you forgive
any man his sins, they shall be forgiven; and if you retain any mans sins, they
shall be retained." Therefore, the power of forgiving sins was given to
the Apostles and to the Churches which these men, sent by Christ, established;
and to the bishops who succeeded them by being ordained in their place (Letter to Cyprian 75:16 [A.D. 255-256]).
