Apostolic Succession

Rating:
Summary: Excellent examination of Apostolic succession
Review: In this 40-page booklet, Fr. Gregory Rogers, a PhD. candidate at the University of Chicago in the History of Christianity, examines the subject of Apostolic succession from the view of the Historic Orthodox Church. Apostolic succession, so important to the first-century Church, is often misunderstood and even tossed aside by many of today's churches and theologians.

Fr. Gregory begins with the Biblical foundation of Apostolic succession, examining the authority Christ gave His Apostles in Matthew 16:13-19. He looks at how this authority is carried out at the Council of Jerusalem and throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles. He points out the catholicity and oneness of the Apostolic Church of the New Testament and refutes modern claims that Paul acted independently of the Apostles.

He goes on to describe the passing on of this Apostolic authority through the laying on of hands to disciples, such as St. James, the Brother of the Lord, who was the first bishop of Jerusalem. The second chapter focuses on the writings of the Apostolic Fathers: the Apostles' successors. He shows that the early Church was a eucharistic community under the authority of bishops. Apostolic succession was the means by which bishops, priests, and deacons, and even baptised lay people could prove that they were part of the same eucharistic body as the Apostles. This is evident in the writings of St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, etc.

He goes on to describe the difference in the view of the Eastern Orthodox Church on Apostolic succession, which mirror those of the early Church, and the view of the Western churches, which mirror the views of St. Augustine. St. Augustine's view was that anyone who could trace his succession back to the Apostles, regardless of whether or not he was in communion with the rest of the Church, had valid Apostolic succession. Such was not the view of the early Church, and is still not the view of the Orthodox Church today.

This is not simply a scholarly book about Apostolic succession. Rather, it is the "personal testimony of a Bible-believing evangelical Protestant who examined the data and emerged an Orthodox believer." [taken from back cover] I highly recommend this book about this often misunderstood subject.

Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction
Review: This slim essay is a great place to start in your examination of the doctrine of apostolic succession in the New Testament documents as well as the Patristic sources. The author is an Eastern Orthodox convert from "bible only" Protestantism and is fair and evenhanded in his assessment of the need for criteria other than one's own interpritation of the Bible as a guide for the Christian community.

Another book that examines the same topic from a Lutheran and a Roman Catholic is Carlos Steger's "Apostolic Succession in the Writings of Yves Congar and Oscar Cullmann". Although I found his conclusion a bit weak, it was very useful in presenting their respective approaches. You may also enjoy reading Congar's "Tradition and Traditions".

Enjoy!