APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. The phrase refers in sum to the continuity of the authority of the twelve Apostles (q.v.), in particular via the Church’s episcopate. The underlying idea is that the Church of today is fundamentally one with that of the Apostles and of Christ, with the bishops the primary guarantors of this continuity. The phrase, or at least the idea, surfaces earliest in Clement of Rome and, in particular, in Irenaeus of Lyons’s arguments against gnosticism (qq.v.).

Christian gnosticism claimed to be representing the true faith of Christ’s disciples, or at least of the select few whom the Savior led into an alleged secret tradition. Irenaeus replied that the faith of the chosen was never hidden, but indeed is proclaimed openly in the “apostolic” sees. The communion among these sees and with all “catholic” (q.v.) communities demonstrates that the teaching succession of the Apostles is not the property of a select few. It is one and the same with the teaching proclaimed by all the bishops throughout the world who remain in communion with one another. The idea of the succession will later acquire its association with the physical laying on of hands in the service of the consecration of bishops.