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APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION
Sections.
1.A. CHRIST AND HIS
MISSION -
To Teach, Rule, and Sanctify
1. part B NOW THAT WE HAVE THE BIBLE,
WHY IS APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION NECESSARY ??
- To define what is the Bible and what it means.
2. HAND - AUTHORITY
- A Word study on “Hand” in Old Testament showing that
the “laying on of hands”
was the method of passing on authority.
3. THE CHURCH IS THE
FAMILY OF GOD -
We are not Orphans. Bible study on John 14:18
4. APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - Authority is passed on by laying on of hands.
5. CHURCH IS HIERARCHICAL
- Saint Peter
6. CHURCH’S THREEFOLD MISSION
7.
THE EARLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
-
an off site article
1. CHRIST
AND HIS MISSION
John 14:6
“Jesus said to him, ‘I
am the way, and the truth,
and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by
me.’ ”
There are three aspects to the mission of Jesus Christ.
1. To teach,
-
truth see Mark 1:38 which depicts His role
as the Prophet; See
Bible. We need to know with an infallible certainty of how to get to heaven. 2. To rule, - way see
Revelation 17:14
depicting
Him as the King of Kings; Jesus set up a kingdom. 3. To Sanctify,
- life see Hebrews 5-10
especially 7:21- 8:6 depicting His role as the High Priest. Jesus
came to make us holy and fit for heaven where nothing that is unclean will be
able to enter, Revelation 21:27.
John 5:19
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly,
I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what
he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.’
” RSV
John 12:49 “For I have not spoken on my own authority;
the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and
what to speak.”
By His example Jesus gives us a model of humility to
imitate in regards to our approach and attitude toward Truth and how reluctant
we should be in promoting our own ideas or our own thinking.
Jesus does not send Himself. He is not a self-ordained preacher. He in
turn will ordain and send others, the Apostles, who have the authority to send
others.
John 20:21-22
“Jesus said to … As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had
said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Apostle literally means “one who is sent.” We need to know who is sent and
therefore
has true authority, as opposed to those who falsely claim that authority. See word study in John on
“sent.”
Jeremiah 23:21
“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.”
Through Apostolic Succession we know who has this authority.
Just as Christ was sent by the Father, He sends the Twelve
Apostles. He entrusts and empowers them with this three fold mission
of His.
Luke 22:29-32
“ … and I assign to you, as my Father
assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table
in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you
like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail;
and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.’ ”
RSV
Now that we
have the Bible, Why is Apostolic Succession Necessary ?
There are over 32,000 different Protestant denominations who
claim to be following the Bible Alone. And yet, they all contradict
each other on what is to be believed. Jesus promised in
John 17:20-21
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me
through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are
in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may
believe that you sent me.”
Since it is Jesus who made this prayer we know
that the Church He established has perfect unity. [See
Note 1]
Jesus prays for a visible unity so that it will be an apologetic sign
to the whole world that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.
Therefore, there must be some visible authority -
John 17:20-21,
Matt. 18:17 - through
which God reveals what is the correct and infallible interpretation of the
Bible. It is unacceptable to hold that Jesus has failed in His
mission and has failed to provide
us a way of knowing how to follow Him to heaven, or what the Bible
means.
The Old Testament reveals a hierarchical
structure for God’s people. It should be noted that nowhere does
Jesus dispense with this type of hierarchical structure. In fact
he even defends its authority when those in charge are corrupted, that
is, not following its own teachings. Its teachings of course are
protected from error by the Holy Spirit. See
Matthew 23:1-3. John 11:49-53.
In regards to the New Testament Church see
Luke
10:16.
We also need to recognize that the Sacred
Scriptures that came to make up the contents of the Bible where not
collected into one work until the latter part of the fourth century.
The earliest complete and accurate list of which books comprise the New
Testament, the 27 Books, is 367 AD. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles give
us a written list of the Books that belong in the Bible.
It was the Catholic Church at the Council of
Rome 382 AD, and confirmed by the subsequent Councils of Hippo 393 AD,
Carthage 397 AD, and Trent 1546 AD, that settled the issue, and all of
which agree on which of
the 400 plus books really belonged in the New Testament. Based on their
guidance of the Holy Spirit they chose which books they believed were
approved and passed on by the Apostles through oral tradition.
So, before the fourth century there was no
definition as to what constituted the Bible. Without a hierarchical
Church there is no authority to decide the issue of, “What is the
Bible, which books belong in it ?” And without that Church there is
also no way to infallibly define what the Bible means, and what is the
true path to salvation. Remember there are over 32,000 different
Protestant, Bible Alone claiming churches. It is through Apostolic
Succession that Christ's mission is carried out through the Church.
The Church is “the pillar and foundation of
truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15
Note 1. The Catholic Church is One. Her definitive teachings have been
consistent from the Church’s “birthday” on Pentecost Sunday almost 2000
years ago. Pope John Paul II made it clear that those who dissent from her teachings by that very fact, put themselves outside
of the Church.
2. HAND
- AUTHORITY
This authority to teach, to govern, and to sanctify is passed
on to others through Apostolic Succession by the laying on of hands.
This authority has been passed on in an unbroken line down to the present
day Bishops of the Catholic Church. In order to see this we
first need to do a Bible word study on the word “hand” and
the phrase “laying on” of hands.
In the following examples the translation
for the Hebrew word for hand, is underlined.
These examples demonstrate that it means authority.
Strong’s #3027 meaning “hand”
2 CHRON 31.13
“…Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the
hand
of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the
king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.”
KJV [the New American Standard Bible translates “hand”
as “authority.”]
NUMBERS 33.1
“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which
went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the
hand
of Moses and Aaron.” KJV
“These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they
went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the
leadership
of Moses and Aaron.” RSV
In today’s language we have an idiom that retains the use
of the word “hand” to signify authority. “To rule with a heavy hand,”
is used to refer to someone who has a lot of authority and he doesn’t
let anybody forget it.
Consecrate - literally in Hebrew “fill
their hand” = Strong’s: #4390 meaning-
“to fill” [plus]
#3027 meaning- “hand”
The English word that is translated for the Hebrew word
for “fill their hand” is underlined below.
In the RSV it is translated as “ordain.”
EXODUS 28: 39-43
“And thou shalt
embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine
linen, … 41And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons
with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify
them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. …
43And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto
the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar
to minister in the holy place;” KJV
“41 And you shall put them upon Aaron your brother,
and upon his sons with him, and shall anoint them and
ordain them
and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests”
RSV
EXODUS 29: 29-30
“And the holy
garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein,
and to be consecrated in them. And that son that is
priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into
the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.”
KJV
LEVITICUS 16: 32-33
“And the
priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate
to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the
atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary”
KJV
NUMBERS 3: 3
“These are the names
of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he
consecrated
to minister in the priest’s office.”
KJV
“these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed
priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest’s office.”
RSV
The laying on of hands in the Old and New Testament drew
from this context. Thus the "laying on" of hands was the way
of passing on one’s own authority to another and filling up his hands with
authority. Moses passed his authority onto Joshua by this method.
Numbers 27:15-18, 22-23
“Moses said to the Lord,
‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over
the congregation, who shall go out before them and come in before them,
who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the
Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.’
And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua the son of Nun, a
man in whom is the spirit, and
lay your hand upon him…’
22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him
to stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he
laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the Lord directed through
Moses.” RSV
Deuteronomy 34:9
“And Joshua the son of Nun was
full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had
laid his hands upon
him; so the people of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord had commanded
Moses.”
Thus we can see that the hierarchical structure of authority
was passed on by the laying on of hands. Just as it was true in
the Old Testament it also is true in the New Testament.
It is important to note that if those in authority were
morally corrupt, they did not lose their authority. Jesus says
in
Matthew 23:2-3
“The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the
chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things
whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they
preach but they do not practice.”
3. THE
CHURCH IS THE FAMILY OF GOD
Romans 8:14-16
“For those who are led by
the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you received a spirit of
adoption, through which we cry,
‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God”
In John 14:18 Jesus promises not to leave us orphans.
However, we cannot appreciate this promise unless we clearly distinguish what it
means to be an orphan.
What is an “orphan” ?
Most people assume that they know what this word means, while in actuality they
do not. Their assumptions are best tested so that they may become humble
enough to accept a better definition. This will also help startle them
enough to better remember the the significance of Jesus’ promise. So, it is
usually best
to ask them,
“What does it mean to be an orphan ?”
They will usually respond by saying, “An orphan is someone without a
mother or father.”
NO ! That is wrong. An orphan has a father. His father may be in heaven, hell, or
purgatory, but he has a father. The following example helps to
clarify the meaning of the term.
A man writes his last will and testimony on how to
divide up his family fortune among his kids. He and his wife die,
but the children find the will and testimony can be interpreted in
various and conflicting ways. The oldest child, who was very close
to his father, believed with all his heart that he knew his father and
his wishes because this son had a close intimate relationship with him.
And this child really believed that he knew the spirit in which the
father wrote the last will and testimony, so he believed that his
interpretation was correct. However, the other children also
claimed to have a close intimate relationship with their father and they
also claimed to know the spirit with which he wrote his last will and
testimony. And they disagreed on how to interpret certain passages
on how to divide the family fortune.
And so, a great disagreement arose between them.
Some of the children no longer even wanted to speak to the others.
The rift became so bad that these siblings no longer wanted to live
together or share a common meal. And because of this great
division which arose among them all the children moved out and built
their own houses.
Therefore, we can see that an orphan is someone who
cannot hear an audible voice from his father giving a clear and
infallible interpretation of the words that his father has previously
spoken or written.
The Bible is infallible in what it's authors intended to teach. It does not teach error.
However, the question remains on how
to interpret it. This has led to over 32,000 different Protestant denominations
who all contradict each other on what it means and yet each of those
denominations claims to be
following the Bible and the Bible alone. And the position that no one
can infallible interpret the Bible leaves it as a book that serves no certain
and definite purpose.
John 14:18
“I will not leave you orphans”
However, because we are not orphaned we must be able in
some way to hear God’s voice spoken to us through His Church. Jesus
comes to us through the Church that He established. And it is the
Holy Spirit working through the Holy Father, the vicar of Christ, that overcomes
any personal sins that Pope might have to give us an infallible guidance of what
we should do to get to heaven. Cf. Acts 9:4-5. The term “Pope” comes from the term “papa” which
means father. His authority over us is as a father over his spiritual
children.
Luke 10:16
“He who hears you hears me, and he
who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent
me.”
The Church that Christ built [ See Matthew 16:18 below] is
the pillar and foundation of truth which God works through to guide us
in how to follow Jesus Christ and what it means to have faith in Him.
1 Timothy 3:15
“But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation
of truth.”
A Fatherly Office
The priest is also a father Judges 17:5, 10. And Judges 18:19.
Judges 18:19
“Come with us and
be our
father and priest. Is it better for you to be priest for the
family of one man or to be priest for a tribe and a clan in Israel ?”
Saint Paul also call himself a father and passes on to Timothy
this office of Priesthood. (The word for Priest comes from the word
presbyter, which means elder in a literal sense, yet Timothy was young.)
1 Corinthians 4:15-17
“Even if you should
have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many
fathers, for
I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Therefore,
I urge you, be imitators of me. For this reason I am sending
you Timothy, who is
my beloved and faithful son
in the Lord; he will remind you of my ways in Christ (Jesus), just as I
teach them everywhere in every church.” NAB
So this office in the Church, the Priesthood is to be understood
not as a Chief Executive Officer, but as a fatherly service to the Church.
The Bible uses this “father" “son" description
of this office.
Ephesians 3:14-15
“For this reason I bow
my knees before the Father, from whom every
family in heaven and on
earth is named …” RSV The Greek word that is translated to “family" in this verse
is actually based on the Greek word for "father" and could be
translated as “fatherhood."
The Church Faithful Are
Governed By A Father - Son Relationship
1 Timothy 1:2, 18
“… to Timothy, my true
child in faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
our Lord. … 18 I entrust this charge to you,
Timothy, my child, in accordance
with the prophetic words once spoken about you. Through them may you fight
a good fight” NAB
2 Timothy 1:2
“to Timothy, my dear
child: grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
2 Timothy 2:1
“So you, my child, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Titus 1:4
“to Titus, my true child in our
common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
savior.”
1 Corinthians 4:17
“For this reason I am
sending you Timothy, who is
my beloved and faithful son in the Lord; he
will remind you of my ways in Christ (Jesus), just as I teach them everywhere
in every church.”
Philippians 2:22
“But you know his worth,
how as a child with a father he served along with me
in the cause of the gospel.” NAB
This fatherly office of the Priesthood / Bishop was passed
on by the laying on of hands. We see this position of authority being
passed on this way in the next study of Apostolic Succession in the
New Testament.
4. APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Romans 10:13-15
“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are
sent?”
The word “sent” in Romans 10:15 is a translation of the Greek
word “apostalosin,” Strong’s # 649. This word has the
same root as the words “Apostles” and
“Apostolic.”
It is necessary that the early church to have been able to distinguish the
validity between one preacher’s interpretation and another preacher’s interpretation
who contradicted the first. Jesus did not write out a Bible, however
He sent out the twelve Apostles who had been given His authority.
[ See Luke 22:29-32 above] These Apostles in turn sent
out others to carry on their mission. And these ordained others down
through history. No one has the authority to send himself as the authority
comes from above. In Jesus’ prayer to the Father
He speaks about the special Twelve that He had chosen.
John 17:18
“As you (Father
in heaven) sent me into the world, so I sent them (the Apostles) into the
world.” (contextual clarification added in brackets)
As Apostles, the chosen Twelve, had the authority to reveal
the new teachings of Jesus Christ. They also had the office of Bishop
to oversee the Church and safeguard those truths. They passed on
the office of Bishop to their successors by the laying of hands as was
done in the Old Testament. We can have no new doctrines since the
fullness of the teachings of Christ was passed on by the Apostles.
Those teachings and the correct understanding of them are safeguarded by
their successors.
Peter points out in Acts how after Judas died, they needed to
appoint a successor to his bishopric, or office.
Acts 1:20
“ … His
office
let another take.”
The Greek word that is translated above as “office”
is “episcope,”
Strong’s number 1984. Literally it means “one who oversees” or
“one who supervises.” This Greek word is translated as “overseers”
below.
Acts 20:28
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy
Spirit has appointed you overseers, in
which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood.”
“Episcope”
is translated as “bishop” in 1 Timothy 3:1,
and in Titus 1:7. The office that is transmitted is “bishop”
not Apostle.
1 Timothy 3:1
“If any one aspires to the
office of bishop, he desires a noble task.”
Some object to this passing on of the office because of
the following restrictions.
Acts 1:21-22
“Therefore, it is necessary
that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came
and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on
which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
However, it can be shown that these restrictions were not
perpetual, but only temporary. Paul, who was not originally a follower
of Christ, is also a Bishop. 1 Thess. 2: 3-7 and 1 Timothy
2:7. Besides Timothy was very young when Ordained by
Paul as a Bishop and was not an original follower of Christ, yet he becomes
a Bishop as well. Philippians 2: 19-22. 1 Timothy 4: 12-16.
2 Timothy 1:6 First Timothy was written in about
60 AD and it refers to Timothy as young, so obviously these restrictions
were not binding on him. In fact the note at the end of Second Timothy
in the King James (Authorized) Version says that Timothy was the first ordained
Bishop of Ephesus.
Others object by saying that the number of Bishops was always
restricted to twelve. However, this view is not in keeping with the
view of Christ that the Church is like a seed that grows into a big beautiful
tree.
Luke 13:19
“It is like a grain of mustard
seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became
a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
We see this progress and growth of the Church already taking
place in the Letter to Titus.
Titus 1:5
“This is why I left you in
Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and
appoint elders in every
town as I directed you …”
This authority was passed on through the laying on of hands.
Acts 6:6
“These they set before the
apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.”
The Bishops passed on their authority to their successors
by the laying on of hands.
Acts 9:15-19
“But the Lord said to him, ‘Go,
for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles
and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my name.’ So Ananias departed and entered
the house. And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the
Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has
sent
me that you may regain your sight and be
filled with the Holy Spirit.’
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained
his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened.
For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus.”
RSV
God called Paul in a unique and personal way. Yet
God still chose to work through an officer /minister in His Church
to administer grace to him. Paul remained with them and became
an officer /minister of the Church himself.
Acts 13:2-3
“While they were worshiping the Lord
and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them
off.”
Colossians 1:24-26
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister
according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the
word of God fully known …” RSV
1 Timothy 1:3
“As I urged you when I was
going to Macedonia, remain
at Ephesus that
you may charge certain persons
not to teach any different doctrine” RSV
1 Timothy 4:11-16
“Command and teach
these things. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers
an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Till
I come, attend to the public reading of scripture,
to preaching, to teaching.
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance
when the council of
elders laid their hands upon you. Practice
these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that,
for by so doing
you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
1 Timothy 5:22
“Do not be hasty in the laying
on of hands, nor participate in another man’s sins; keep yourself
pure.”
2 Timothy 1:6
“Hence I remind you to
rekindle the
gift of God that is within you
through the laying on of my hands”
Paul tells us that he is about to be martyred.
2 Timothy 4:6
“For I am already on
the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.”
Instead of setting up a church based on Sola Scriptura,
the Bible alone, he shows that the Church is an authoritative teaching Church
that passes on her teachings through oral Tradition.
This oral Tradition is that
which is
“heard.”
2 Timothy 2:2
“ … and what you have heard
from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able
to teach others also."
The need for an authoritative teaching Church, as opposed
to each person using his own interpretation, is demonstrated by the following.
2 Timothy 4:1-4
“I charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the
dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
preach the word, be urgent
in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing
in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people
will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn
away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.”
Titus 1:5, 9
“This is why
I left you in Crete,
that you might amend what was defective, and
appoint elders in every town
as I directed you…9 he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that
he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute
those who contradict it.”
Titus 2:15
“Declare these things; exhort
and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
Simon Magnus tried to obtain this authority but Saint Peter
denied it to him.
Acts 8:17-20
“Then they
laid hands on them
and they received the holy Spirit. When Simon saw that
the Spirit was conferred
by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said,
‘Give me this power too, so that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive
the holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your money
perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God
with money …” NAB
Thus we can see that the individual could not obtain this power
or authority on his own private relationship with God. These
graces and this office come to us through a hierarchical structured
Church. And it comes through the laying on of hands by those who
have had that authority passed onto them by the same manner.
This hierarchical
structure is even more apparent in the next study, the Church is
Hierarchical.
5. CHURCH
IS HIERARCHICAL
John 5:19
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly,
I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what
he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.’
” RSV
John 12:49 “For I have not spoken on my own authority; the
Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to
speak.”
Matthew 20:23
He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right
hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has
been prepared by my Father.”
Even though the Son is equal in dignity and greatness with God the
Father (John
5:18), He shows how he humbly embraces the will of God the Father.
The Church He establishes, and promises to build on Saint Peter in
Matthew 16:18 has a hierarchical aspect.
Luke 6:13
“And when it was day, he called his
disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles”
1 Corinthians 12:28
“And God has appointed
in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers
of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various
kinds of tongues.”
The Church has a hierarchical aspect as can be seen in
the manner in which the authority was passed on to others. It is the
type of authority that a
Father possesses. For example, a father does
not say to his children, if you agree that my decisions are correct and persuasive,
then and only then are you bound by them. Like a good father who disciplines
as needed, the Church also governs to safe guard the faith for the people as
a service to them.
2 Corinthians 13:10
“I write this while
I am away from you, in order that when I come I may not have to be severe
in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and
not for tearing down.”
Clearly the early Church had a hierarchical structure of
authority where the leaders had supreme authority to teach, rule or govern.
This hierarchical aspect can be clearly seen in Paul’s claim to have the
power to excommunicate another. To excommunicate is the most hierarchical
aspect that a person can have. It essentially is the power for one
person to be able to say that he is in the Church, but that another person
is not. This power demonstrates very clearly the visible characteristic
of the Church.
Of course the final judgment of the soul is left to God.
1 Corinthians 5:2-5
“… The one who did this
deed should be expelled from your midst.
I, for my part, although
absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present,
pronounced
judgment on the one who has committed this deed, in the name of (our) Lord
Jesus: … with the power of the Lord Jesus,
you are to deliver this man to
Satan for the destruction of his
flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” NAB
Notice that Saint Paul does not defend his right to excommunicate
this other person. He assumes that they already know this apparently
basic hierarchical aspect of the Church.
God has giving us a Church that has specific purposes.
By the power of the Holy Spirit she proposes the unity of Christ to all
the world so that they might embrace it, and thereby direct their efforts
in a common direction for the effective accomplishment of that Church’s
goals. This is done for the good of its own members as well as for
the good of the whole world. This unity of purpose is essential for
any society.
Mark 3:24-25
“If a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided
against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”
John 17:17-21
“Consecrate them in
the truth … so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I
in you, that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent
me.”
So, the Church has a visible aspect and she can be identified. She is a visible apologetic sign to the world that Christ was sent by the
Father. The Church has perfect unity (cf. CCC 813 - 822), it is
just that some of those who attempt to follow Christ do not accept and
receive that perfect unity because of their dissent from the Church’s teaching.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
“But we beseech
you, brethren, to respect those who
labor among you and
are over you in the
Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of
their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” RSV
Jude 3-12 “… I found it necessary to write appealing to you …
For admission has been secretly
gained by some who long ago were designated for
this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God
into licentiousness … Yet in like manner
these men in their
dreamings defile the flesh, reject
authority, and revile the glorious ones…. But
these men revile whatever they do not understand, …Woe to them! For
they walk in the way of Cain, … and
perish in Korah’s rebellion. These are blemishes
on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after
themselves; waterless clouds … twice dead …”
Korah's rebellion, as can be seen below in Numbers
16, is committed by those who reject the hierarchical authority over
themselves. And as the passage above
in Jude points out there are still those who reject the authority of
those over them today.
The Old Testament showed three different levels of
the priesthood. There was the High Priest, the ministerial
priesthood, and the common priesthood of all believers. And in
the New Covenant we also have 3 categories of Priests, Jesus Christ
who is the High Priest, the ministerial priests, and the common
priesthood of all believers.
Cf. Numbers 16:1-33
“Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi …
took two hundred and fifty Israelites who were
leaders in the community, members of
the council and men of note. They stood before
Moses, and held an assembly against Moses and Aaron, to whom
they said,
‘Enough from you! The whole
community, all of them, are holy; the LORD is in their midst. Why then
should you set yourselves over the LORD’S congregation?’ …
Moses also said to Korah, ‘Listen to me, you Levites! Is it too
little for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the
community of Israel, to have you draw near him for the service of
the LORD’S Dwelling … and yet you now seek the priesthood too. … Then each of your two hundred and fifty followers shall take his own
censer, put incense in it, and offer it to the LORD; and you and
Aaron, each with his own censer, shall do the same.’ … and the
LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Stand apart from this band, that I may consume them at once. …
Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the space around
the Dwelling’ (of Korah, Dathan and Abiram). … No sooner had he finished saying all this than the ground beneath
them split open, and the earth opened its
mouth and swallowed them and their families (and all of Korah’s men)
and all their possessions. They went down alive to the
nether world with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them,
and they perished from the community.” NAB
The head of the Church is Jesus Christ in Heaven. However, he has
left us a visible earthly head that He works through. First
Corinthians refers to the Church as the Body of Christ and this
earthly head.
1 Corinthians 12:12, 13, 21
“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the
parts of the
body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. … 21
The eye
cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’
nor again the
head to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’”
The reference to “head” above cannot refer to Jesus Christ
because it would be presumptuous, and therefore wrong, for St. Paul to
tell God what He could or could not say and presumptuous to say that God
could not tell a person that he was not needed.
Saint Peter
Luke 22:29-32
“ ‘… and
I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel. Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan demanded to have you
(plural in Greek),
that he might sift you
(plural in Greek) like wheat, but I have prayed for you
(singular in Greek)
that your (singular
in Greek)
faith may not fail; and when
you (singular in Greek)
have turned again,
strengthen your
(singular
in Greek) brethren.’ ”
RSV (emphasis added in
parenthesis to clarify the Greek text.)
The King James version retains the meaning of the original
Greek where Satan had demanded to have “you -plural,” - meaning
all of the disciples - but Christ says that He prayed for
“you -singular” meaning Peter uniquely.
Luke 22:31-32
“And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift
you as
wheat: But I have prayed for
thee, that
thy
faith fail not: and when
thou art converted,
strengthen
thy
brethren.”
KJV
Christ only started one Church. And He built that Church
on Saint Peter. Peter, who as only a man is weak is now made strong
by the power of the Holy Spirit. And he is entrusted with special and
unique
guidance to lead the Church and strengthen the other Apostles. The
passage below shows that it was God the Father who singled him out
for this special role.
Matthew 16:15-19
“He said to them,
‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And
Jesus answered him,
‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona ! For flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you ( in the Greek it is
“you - singular”) the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’
”
RSV
(emphasis added in parenthesis
to clarify the Greek text.)
That the
“the powers of death” or
“gates of Hades,” as some translations put it,
“shall
not prevail against it”
implies that after Peter’s death there will be a successor to the
position that Christ is referring to here and which will be given to
St. Peter after the Resurrection. Cf.
See Papacy
by Karl Keating.
To find the context of the meaning of the keys we look
to the Bible, Isaiah 22.
Isaiah 22:15,
19-24
“Thus says the
Lord, the GOD of hosts: Up, go
to that official,
Shebna, master of the palace…
19 I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station.
On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will
clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash,
and give over
to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
I will place the key
of the House of David on his shoulder; when
he opens, no one shall shut,
when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg
in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family; On him shall
hang all the glory of his family: descendants and offspring, all the little
dishes, from bowls to jugs.” NAB
Isaiah 36:1-3
“In the fourteenth year of
King Hezekiah, … 3 there came out to him the
master of the palace, Eliakim,
son of Hilkiah, and Shebna the scribe, and the herald Joah, son of Asaph.”
NAB
The keys represent absolute power to rule. They are
owned by the King of Israel who entrusts them to his representative the
“master of the palace.” Christ is the true King of Israel who gives
his keys to Peter.
The key of the
“house of David” implies succession
because King David had been dead for hundreds of years at the time of
King Hezekiah’s rule. Just as the king had a successor so did the
head of the household, or the
“master of the palace.”
Or in today’s language we might use the terms
“prime minister” or
even better “the king’s regent,”
“viceroy,” or
“vicar” since
he had absolute authority under the king. His office was one
of being a father to the people, Cf Isaiah 22: 21.
John 21:15
“Jesus said to Simon Peter,
‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these ?’ He
said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
He said to him,
‘Feed my lambs.’ ” NAB
Jesus gave over to Saint Peter the care of all of His sheep.
Now the only question is how many Christian sheep belong to Jesus ?
……………Answer: All of them.
Saint Peter, and the Church's mission to care for the sheep
is manifested by carrying out Christ's mission to teach, to rule,
and to sanctify all those who are called to Him. The Church’s
mission is made more abundantly clear in the next study, the
Church’s Threefold Mission.
See separate article demonstrating that the office bestowed
on Peter by Jesus Christ implies a succession.
Succession for Peter’s office
6. CHURCH’S
THREEFOLD MISSION
If Jesus does not fulfill this mission through His Church, then his
success lasted only until His Ascension into heaven two thousand years ago,
whereas in regards to modern times He would have to be termed as a failure.
But, He did not fail.
It is through this Apostolic Church that the Catholic Church’s
earthly leaders can be
traced back through history. See external link to see the
list of Popes going back to Saint Peter. Also, see the
list written by St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, around
180 - 199 AD, see sections two and three. And it is through
these earthly leaders that our heavenly leader Jesus Christ carries
out His mission to teach, to rule,
and to sanctify.
1. To Sanctify :
The Church Receives The Mission
Of Priesthood To Make God’s People
Holy By The Transmission Of God’s Grace
Jesus makes us holy through His Church, through His
Sacraments. We need this because “ … but nothing unclean will enter it
[heaven,] nor any (one) who does abominable things or tells lies.” Revelation
21:27
If the validity of God’s Sacraments depended on
the holiness of the minister giving them then we would be in quite a
quandary because we are forbidden to try to
judge
another person’s holiness. Fortunately, it is Jesus Christ who
works through the minister who has been validly ordained by the
Church that He established. And it is Jesus Christ who makes
the sacrament valid.
John 20:21-23
“Jesus said to them
again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send
you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and
said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.’ ”
Matthew 28:18-20
“Then Jesus approached and said
to them, ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit … ”
2. To Teach :
The Church Receives The Mission
Of Teacher To Teach In God’s Name.
Acts 8:26-31
“ … Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official
of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of
her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was
returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet
Isaiah. … Philip … said, ‘Do you understand
what you are reading?’
He replied,
‘How can I, unless someone
instructs me?’
”
The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. All
that it teaches is true. However, even though a person may
have access to the Bible he still needs instruction on how to
interpret it. Private interpretation has led to a tremendous
disunity among those who seek to follow Jesus and a certain
obscurity of His teachings.
Jesus did not give us a Book for each man or woman
to interpret however they wished. He gave us a Church that He
established to guide us in how to follow Him.
Matthew 28:18-20
“… Jesus … said to them, ‘All power in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, …
teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the
end of the age.’ ”
John 17:17-21
“Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth. As you sent me into
the world, so I sent them into the world. And I
consecrate myself for them, so that they also
may be consecrated in truth
… so that they may
all be one, as you, Father, are in me
and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may
believe that you sent me.”
John 16:13
“When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own
authority, but whatever he hears he will speak ...”
1 Timothy 3:15
“ … the
church of the
living God, the pillar and bulwark
of the truth.”
These scriptures below show how Timothy and Titus could
declare that their interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures was correct, but the
interpretation of others was incorrect.
2 Timothy 4:1-4
“I charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the
dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
preach the word, be urgent
in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing
in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people
will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn
away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.”
Titus 1:5, 9
“This is why
I left you in Crete,
that you might amend what was defective, and
appoint elders in every town
as I directed you…9 he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that
he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute
those who contradict it.”
Titus 2:15
“Declare these things; exhort
and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
The fact they had this authority is
evidence of the Apostolic Authority they had received from Saint Paul.
3. To Rule or Govern :
The Church Receives From Christ The
Power, The Right, And The Duty To Govern And To Pass
Binding Decrees So As To Fulfill Her
Responsibility To Serve Those Who Are
Her Spiritual Children In Christ.
The Catholic Church promotes religious freedom and
respects the obligation that everyone has to follow their conscience. Each
person has an obligation to discover the truth that God has revealed.
However, some people will fail to discover and recognized the authority of the
Catholic through invincible ignorance. The Church recognizes this.
No one is forced to become a member of the Catholic Church as the Church
recognizes only genuine and freely given conversions. So, the Church rules
by invitation not by force. At the end of time God will hold accountable
those who disobeyed.
Matthew 10:1
“Then he summoned his twelve disciples and
gave them authority over unclean spirits to
drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.”
Luke 10:17-19
“The seventy (-two) returned rejoicing, and said,
‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us
because of your name.’ Jesus said, ‘I
have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power
‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of
the enemy and nothing will harm you.”
2 Corinthians 13:10
“I write this while I am away from you, in order that
when I come I may not have to be severe in my
use of the authority which the Lord has given me for building
up and not for tearing down.”
Titus 2:15
“Declare these things;
exhort and reprove
with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
Matthew 18:17
“If he refuses to listen to them,
tell it to the church; and if he refuses to
listen even to the church,
let him be to you as a Gentile and
a tax collector.”
Notice that Jesus does not say that
the final authority is a book, but rather a Church, which by
necessity had to be a visible Church in order to be identified so
that we could listen to it and obey its decisions.
John 17:20-21
“I [Jesus] pray not only for them, but also for those who
will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you,
Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us,
that the world
may believe that you sent me.”
Therefore, the Church that Jesus established has a visible unity, unlike
the false claim to an invisible unity that Protestants claim to have, and
this unity is a visible sign, or a visible apologetic, pointing to the
world that Jesus is the Messiah.
This Church and her Apostolic Tradition working along with Sacred Scriptures would be the final authority,
“the pillar and foundation of truth” 1 Timothy 3:15,
in determining what God had revealed. It is by the authority of the
Church that Christ founded, being guided by the Holy Spirit, that we know
which books are truly the inspired Word of God and which are not, therefore
we can know with infallible certainty which books belong in the Bible and
which do not. This Church, whose teachings are protected by the Holy Spirit,
shows us the correct interpretation of the Bible.
Luke 10:16
“He who hears you hears me, and
he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent
me.”
7. The
Early Fathers Also Tell Us That This Authority Was Passed On To
The Apostles Successors - an off site article at Catholic Answers
THE EARLY
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
Also see the Origin of the name “Catholic
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