Come, Follow Me Home #7: Apostolic Succession of the Bishops in the New Testament

In reading the ancient Church Fathers and documents from early Mormon history, I found it immensely important to discover whether the Catholic Church or the LDS Church had a more coherent and historically grounded claim to apostolic authority (1). Modern mainstream Mormons and all of the voices of Catholic history hold that hierarchical, visible authority is a key dimension of the divine establishment of the Church. But, owing to some variations in the names of offices in the Bible and the evolution of Joseph Smith’s notion of authority, the question my Mormon self asked was not “Is visible authority required”, as the debate so often is between Catholics and evangelical Protestants, so much as “Who has that authority?” Do the bishops truly possess the apostolic office or are the apostles in a separate, higher “quorum”?

The records of the New Testament and the Church Fathers leave us with abundant answers about how the first, second, and third generations of Christians answered these questions; God made a way for His Church to thrive and continue after He ascended to Heaven and the apostles died.

Apostles & Bishops in the New Testament

St. Matthias, the first apostolic successor to the bishoprick

Our first evidence that the apostles were bishops and that the bishopric constituted a true and apostolic office is in the first Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. After the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord, the Apostles declared that they must select someone worthy from among the community of Christians to succeed Judas, who died in suicide. Speaking for the Church, St. Peter declares the following:

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his [Judas’s] habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:20-26, KJV (see also Greek interlinear version)

This scene demonstrates the responsibility the original Apostles felt to establish apostolic succession in the case one of them died. This is a natural and reverent assumption given how Christ wanted the Apostles to continue His work after He ascended into heaven and became invisible to the public. If Christ and the Apostles did not mean for anything of enduring salvific substance to become of the ancient Church, then the scriptural description of apostolic succession in a manner that the Church could reliably sustain for generations afterward is nonsensical. It is plain that the original twelve, by themselves, could not “make disciples of all nations” in their lifetimes. Our Lord knew others would succeed them so that His gospel and presence could fill the earth “until the end of the age” as He said, which He clearly settled immediately after making the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). For “there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45)

Ordination to a holy order by the imposition of hands

Furthermore, St. Peter applies the positions of bishoprick and apostleship to the same person. This would not make sense if the titles of bishop and apostle were mutually exclusive and the former title was not bound up in some way with the later title. How does the Greek text make sense of this?

The Greek words for Apostle and Bishop, while necessarily not different in office, signify two very different prerogatives of the same governors of the Church. The English word for apostle comes from the Greek word apostolos/ἀπόστολος. Throughout the New Testament, it means “one who is sent.” In other words, equivalent words for “apostle” in English include delegate, messenger, or envoy. This rightly describes how the original twelve along with all succeeding bishops are sent by Our Lord Jesus Christ out to the world to preach the good news of salvation. The Church, recognizing that the original twelve were directly sent out by God, gives the title of apostle to these and also, very notably, to St. Barnabas and the soaring St. Paul as a token of reverence for these fourteen (2). But, that doesn’t make later succeeding bishops any less “sent” to preach the gospel as delegates of Christ. They are also apostolic, with their authority and teachings proceeding from the original apostles.

Continuing, bishop, bishoprick, and episcopate are all translations of one word root, episkopé/ἐπισκοπή, a word which means to oversee or visit with judgment. The form used in Acts 1:20 is episkopēn/ἐπισκοπὴν, which literally translates as “overseership” or governing position. Interestingly, this is the same word root St. Paul uses in his letter to begin his description of a holy bishop.

This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop [episkopēs/ἐπισκοπῆς], he desireth a good work.

1 Timothy 3:1, KJV (see also Greek interlinear version)

Also in his letter to Titus.

For a bishop [episkopon/ἐπίσκοπον] must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre…

Titus 1:7, KJV (see also Greek interlinear version)

The chief of the Apostles, Peter, uses this word to describe Jesus Christ!

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop [Episkopon/Ἐπίσκοπον] of your souls.

1 Peter 2:25, KJV (see also Greek interlinear version)

Further, this is even the same root St. Paul uses to address the “overseers” who receive a curiously similar charge to St. Peter, who received it directly from Christ, to feed (“shepherd” or “rule” in the Greek) the Church of God and to feed (or tend) the lambs of Jesus (John 21:17, see Greek interlinear). While the earlier context applies the passage to the “elders of the Church” (see Acts 20:17). Bishops also have the powers of priests or “elders” in the early literature. See footnote 3), its usage doesn’t exclude the presence, necessity, or apostolicity of bishops, but rather continues to emphasize the authority and prerogatives of the clergy as we will see in Acts 15.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers [episkopous/ἐπισκόπους], to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Acts 20:28, KJV (see also Greek interlinear version)

St. Paul, the Apostle of Christ

The apostles who possessed bishopricks (overseeing positions) received virtually the same divine charge as those elders later called “overseers” , rendering those bearing these titles as possessing practically identical prerogatives as each other.

Even further, it is clear from Acts 15 that both the “apostles and elders” were involved in coming to an official, apostolic decision about whether Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised. Acts 15:22-25 cites the “apostles and elders with the whole church” being pleased and writings letters to other Churches as the authorities to make and proclaim this decision (for further analysis of the Catholic dimensions of this chapter, including Peter as the Pope, see Joshua Charles, Becoming Catholic #12: Why Acts 15 Led Me to the Catholic Church, 2019).

All this evidence from scripture demonstrates the fourteen apostles and later bishops and elders possessed mutual prerogatives, carried forward the same principle of apostolic succession in the bishoprick (or episcopate) when an authority died, and made binding and authoritative decisions for the entire Church with the apostles. Thus begins the evidence for the case that these individuals were holding sufficiently identical and equivalent authority, showing God preserved His precious Bride, the Church, throughout all generations. (4).

Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations to the age of the ages. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21, italics added

But there’s more. In the next post, I will show how those bishops who immediately succeeded the apostles, the apostolic Church Fathers, potently confirmed the identity of the apostolic office of bishop.

Footnotes

(1) We should also note LDS objections to the Church Fathers often have a pre-colored view of the priesthood because of Joseph Smith’s claims to a priesthood restoration. Joseph Smith Jr. and Oliver Cowdrey, five years after the fact in 1834, reported angelic visitations from John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John that restored aspects of “priesthood” authority necessary to govern the LDS Church in 1829. I will discuss in another article how I discovered these stories are untenable as an alternative to Catholicism.

(2) Of important note, the Bible doesn’t restrict the number of apostles to those twelve Our Lord directly invested with His authority. Even though Latter-day Saints, in my anecdotal discussions, have been disposed to claiming that these twelve apostles constituted a full quorum as though no more seats had to be filled despite the total of 15 official apostles (including the First Presidency) in the ranks of the LDS general authorities, the Bible doesn’t support or mention this constraint. The New Testament not only calls St. Matthias as partaking of the apostleship, but also St. Barnabas and the illustrious St. Paul alive at the same time as the original twelve.

Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of [the pagan sacrifices being done in their name], they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out…

Acts 14:14, KJV

(3) The Greek word for elder being presbyteros/πρεσβύτερος, referring either to the Jewish elders (Matt. 26:3) or the Christian elders. This word would eventually become the English word for priest.

(4) One passage Mormons often employ in arguing for a strict and distinct office titled “apostle” comes from the list of roles St. Paul gives to the Ephesians.

And he [Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers…

Ephesians 4:11, KJV

Both Mormons and Catholics accept that the visible office of bishop is integral to the hierarchy of the Church. But, this passage from St. Paul doesn’t intend to give the exhaustive list of offices. Proving by example, Mormons don’t have an official office titled pastor (though apostles, bishops, and elders/priests in the New Testament all possess that prerogative of shepherding the Church) or evangelist in the sense of “preacher” given by the Greek (Smith’s late association of evangelist with patriarch in the LDS priesthoods is linguistically arbitrary). Whereas, Catholics have honorary titles for both roles, along with teacher, which in the Latin translates to the title of doctor. The position of bishop is also not explicitly listed among the roles here, along with the orders of priest and deacon (nominally shared between Mormons and Catholics). Furthermore, Catholics and arguably Mormons recognize that one doesn’t need to hold ecclesial authority (or even be a man!) to be a prophet, which St. Paul distinguishes from apostles and pastors. We see this further reflected in apostolic Christian documents. Lastly, it is clear the original apostles, who held bishopricks with authority, were still alive and preaching the gospel in Paul’s time. Of course, as the bishops proceed from the apostolate, the role of apostle is continuously fulfilled in the Church as we, in union with the Bishop, hold to the apostolic traditions received from the apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15). It cannot be said that the apostles ceased to participate in the Catholic Church after the deaths of the original twelve.

Obviously, therefore, neither Mormons nor Catholics can presume that this is an exhaustive list of administrative assignments or holy orders. Rather than being an exhaustive list of offices, this passage describes roles, vocations, duties, and charisms Christians might have as they participate in the body of Christ, being various and unique members working as one mystical whole. This makes Ephesians 4:11 ineffective for discovering the number and types of official offices or holy orders in the early Church. At most, one might argue that “apostles” refers to one of the fourteen apostles (or others not in the Bible), whom we have demonstrated held authority to “oversee” bishopricks. But, such conjecture is fruitless. As Bishop Duane Hunt notes, “…in the narratives of the early Church other titles are mentioned, such as prophet, evangelist, teacher and pastor, but it is evident that these do not refer to officials who were distinct from priests and bishops.” (Bishop Duane G. Hunt, The Continuity of the Catholic Church, 1959, republished by Ecclesia Press in 1996).