On the Orthodox Catholic Model of Apostolic Succession

Introduction

One of the challenges facing a movement is how to transmit authority from a founder to succeeding generations of participants. The problem of authority transmission entails at least two parts: 1) determining new leaders and 2) unambiguously communicating that the new leaders are endowed with legitimate authority. The problem of authority transmission often is the cause of splits in religions. For example, the underlying difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims can be characterized as two different answers to the question, “Who is Muhammad's legitimate successor?” Christianity from very early on has had to face this same challenge, and, not surprisingly, different approaches have resulted in multiple communities that self-identify as Christian but consider the other communities to be defective in some way. The purpose of this paper is to explain one model of authority transmission, namely that used by churches self-identifying as Orthodox Catholic. This model is internally called apostolic succession, but since other communities also refer to their model as apostolic succession, we will disambiguate by referring to the model under discussion as the Orthodox Catholic Model of Apostolic Succession (OCMAS). Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotes will be from the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.

The Second Generation

Given that Christianity is an eponym for Christ Jesus of Nazareth, it is considered axiomatic in OCMAS that Jesus of Nazareth was the founder in whom was vested full and legitimate authority. So the first question is whether Jesus intentionally transmitted authority to a second generation? And if so, how and to whom?

The Transmission of Authority

According to OCMAS, the answer is that Jesus hand-selected a group of men called the Twelve Apostles and gave them exousia (ἐξουσία), “authority”:

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority [exousia] to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:13-19)

There are other passages that also explicitly reference the transmission of exousia to the Twelve Apostles:

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. (Matthew 10:1)

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. (Mark 6:7)

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2)

In OCMAS, there is another distinct group of seventy (or seventy-two, depending upon the manuscript tradition) people called the Seventy Apostles to whom Jesus also transmitted authority:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go ... And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:1, 18-19)

There is a general sense in which the authority of the Seventy was less than the Twelve, but pinning down details of this distinction is beyond the scope of this paper.

The Scope of the Authority

In the above passages, we saw that Jesus transmitted authority over demons and diseases to the Twelve Apostles. This is different than investing the Twelve with authority as second generation leaders over human followers. However, having this type of authority over demons certainly legitimized the claims of the Twelve to have authority as second generation leaders. In order to understand the scope of the authority Jesus transmitted to the Twelve, we need to consult other passages.

Authority to Administer Church Discipline

The first domain of authority is with regard to church discipline, that is, managing membership in the covenant community, or identifying who should be reckoned as included in the community. There are two passages in Matthew where Jesus transmits this authority. In the first case, it is to “the disciples”, which is a superset of the Twelve Apostles. In the second case, it is to Peter, who is a subset of the Twelve Apostles. Taken together, the OCMAS goes for a middle ground and understands the authority to be transmitted to the Twelve Apostles and their successors (to be defined later):

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said … “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:1-3,15-20)

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you 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.” (Matthew 16:18-19)

The term bind is understood to mean “to ban someone from inclusion in the covenant community”, and loose is relatedly understood as “to lift such a ban”. Since the covenant is closely related to forgiveness (Matthew 26:28), John records transmitting this same authority to “the disciples” using forgiveness language:

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending 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 them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:19-23)

In addition to forgiveness language, Jesus also transmits the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, which will be important in the next section.

Authority to Transmit The Holy Spirit

As we saw in the previous passage, Jesus transmitted the Holy Spirit when He transmitted authority to the apostles. In the book of Acts, we see apostles have the unique authority to transmit the Holy Spirit to believers. Consider this fascinating passage:

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.

But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!....” (Acts 8:4-20)

Two things are important to consider here: 1) The deacon Philip had authority over demons and diseases and authority to baptize in water, but he lacked authority to transmit the Holy Spirit since he was not an apostle. 2) Peter refers to the power to transmit the Holy Spirit as “the gift of God”.

In the Acts of the Apostles, in almost every instance where someone receives the Holy Spirit, an apostle is present. Compare 2:1-4, 10:44-48 and 19:1-7. The one instance where an apostle is not present is when Saul receives the Holy Spirit (9:10-18), but this is less an exception to the rule than evidence that He was contemporaneously being commissioned as an apostle himself.

Stewards of the Mysteries of God

In the Orthodox Catholic Church, the administration of church discipline is realized ritually. There are specific rituals for initiation into, maintenance within, exclusion from, and reconciliation to the covenant community. These are baptism in water and transmission of the Holy Spirit (chrismation), eucharist, anathematizing, and confession. With the obvious exception of anathematizing, these rituals are called mysteries, or sometimes sacraments. The Twelve Apostles and their successors logically then have the authority to enact these rituals as they administer church discipline. Thus, another way to represent their authority is by the expression “stewards of the mysteries of God”. St. Paul in his written defense of his right to the title apostle used this expression: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1)

The Third Generation

The Office of Bishop

In the New Testament the term apostle is applied to more than just the Twelve, implying acknowledged transmissions of authority to second generation leaders not using the same method as for the Twelve. Of all these occurrence, one provides a clue for how transmission would happen to third generation leaders: Matthias.

After Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve, betrayed Jesus, he committed suicide, leaving only eleven apostles. Twelve being a highly symbolic number in Jewish numerology, the remaining eleven decided it was best to replenish the ranks of the Twelve Apostles, and they appointed Matthias, and it was said of him that “he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26). Apart from the fact that the Twelve felt empowered to appoint another second generation leader (i.e., an apostle), Peter’s choice of words in the process laid the foundation for the relationship between second and third generation leaders. Quoting Psalm 109:8, Peter says, “Let another take his office [episkopē]” (Acts 1:20). The word translated “office” is episkopē (ἐπισκοπή), which is very closely related to episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος) elsewhere translated “overseer” or “bishop”. Thus, another perhaps more historically informed translation of the word could be bishoprick (as it was in the KJV) or episcopate. In other words, there is an office of bishop that is succeedable.

Furthermore, given the expected expansion of the covenant community, each subsequent generation of Christians would have more persons filling that office than in previous generations. Peter refers to Jesus as the singular first generation bishop: “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer [episkopos] of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25). As cited above, Peter understood the Twelve Apostles as filling the office of bishop (episkopē). Later, Paul links both words when he explains the qualifications for third and later generation leaders: “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer (episkopē), he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer (episkopos) must be above reproach ...” (1 Timothy 3:1-2). Thus in the OCMAS, the episcopate is the legitimate authority in the community. Jesus uniquely held the first generation episcopate; the second generation holders of the episcopate are called apostles; and subsequent generations of the episcopate are legitimately called “successors of the apostles”.

The Motive For Exercising Authority

Given the fact that authority has often been abused throughout history, it is important at this point to emphasize that regardless of the generation, the motive for transmitting, receiving, and exercising authority is love. This is very explicit in two passages:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopos), to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

Therefore an overseer (episkopos) … must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? (1 Timothy 3:2,4-5)

Furthermore, just as it was for the apostles, so later generation of bishops have a stewardship and thus will have to give an exacting account of themselves on the Day of Judgment whether they have exercised their authority for the purpose of caring for God’s church: “For an overseer (episkopos), as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain ….” (Titus 1:7)

The Mode of Transmission

It is at this point that the OCMAS begins to diverge from the models of other communities. There are three main reasons: 1) As most New Testament scholars acknowledge, at the time of the writing of the New Testament, there was not yet the fine distinction between the words for bishop (episcopos) and elder (presbyter) that would later develop in history. 2) The sparse Biblical data only describe a general pattern of transmission rather than prescribing a specific mechanism. And 3) the OCMAS relies on apostolic oral tradition, which was only recorded by later generations of leaders, and thus is rejected by many communities as lacking prescriptive authority.

In the OCMAS, as apostles traveled and evangelized in each geographic region, they selected a certain man to be their successor in that region, laid hands on him, transmitted their authority to him, and consecrated him to the office of bishop. Eventually the apostles all died, and so when the Gospel reached a new geographic region, the bishops from at least two but preferably three adjoining regions would consecrate a man to be the bishop in that new region. Similarly, when a bishop died, at least two but preferably three bishops from adjoining regions would consecrate his successor. In this way in theory at least, every bishop throughout history could trace his spiritual lineage to one or more apostles, thus legitimizing his authority as a successor to the apostles.

Biblical Data

As stated earlier the sparse Biblical data allows for this model but certainly does not require it. Assuming as later tradition states, Timothy was the bishop of Ephesus, then this passage arguably could refer to his consecration as bishop:

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders (presbyter) laid their hands on you. (1 Timothy 4:14)

Consonant with Acts 8:20 quoted above, the office of bishop is understood as a gift, and the transmission of authority occurs through the laying on of hands by a group of other leaders. As also noted above, because of the fluidity of terminology at the time, the presbyters in this passage might be referring to men who would have been called bishops in a later age. This author does have a misgiving about this interpretation. Since Timothy worked closely with the apostle Paul, there would have been no compelling reason for the transmission to occur through a council of elders since Paul could have personally transmitted the authority.

The other passage describing a process of transmission is this one addressed also to Timothy:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

This does have “many witnesses”, which might represent the quorum of bishops to transmit, but again this author feels that the passage merely communicates the same sentiment that Asaph expressed in Psalm 78:5-7 rather than prescribing a concrete mechanism for transmitting episcopal authority:

He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments ….

Oral Apostolic Tradition

The OCMAS assumes that the apostles in fact orally communicated the legitimate mode of transmitting authority to the third generation leaders, but never inscripturated it. Thus, appeal must be made to the writings of the leaders of later but still early generations, most notably the apostolic fathers. We will look at just two, both from Clement, who was a bishop of Rome and consecrated by the Apostle Peter. He wrote the following passage:

The apostles have preached the Gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. Both these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way, according to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand. And thus preaching through countries and cities, they appointed the first-fruits [of their labours], having first proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should afterwards believe. Nor was this any new thing, since indeed many ages before it was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus saith the Scripture in a certain place, “I will appoint their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith.” (Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 42)

This passage describes how authority was transmitted to third generation leaders. Incidentally, the creative appropriation of the Old Testament is a reference to Isaiah 60:17, which I will quote both from the ESV as well as from the LXX since Clement would have been using the LXX:

Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
and your taskmasters righteousness. (ESV)

Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold, and instead of iron, I will bring you silver, and instead of wood, I will bring you bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will establish your rulers in peace and your bishops in righteousness. (OSB)

The second is also by Clement:

Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore, that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole Church, and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry. For our sin will not be small, if we eject from the episcopate those who have blamelessly and holily fulfilled its duties. Blessed are those presbyters who, having finished their course before now, have obtained a fruitful and perfect departure [from this world]; for they have no fear lest any one deprive them of the place now appointed them. But we see that ye have removed some men of excellent behaviour from the ministry, which they fulfilled blamelessly and with honour. (Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 44)

Many other ancient authors describe and/or prescribe apostolic succession but fail to claim that the mode itself is of apostolic origin. Many times ancient authors use the lack of apostolic succession as an argument against the spurious claims of some self-proclaimed Christian leaders. This passage is crucial because it explicitly claims that the apostles gave oral instructions to the third generation leaders on how to transmit authority to leaders in later generations.

Delegation and General Priesthood of the Believer

In the OCMAS the bishop transmits authority in three ways: consecration, ordination, and chrismation. If he is irrevocably duplicating his full authority in order to invest another in the office of bishop, he will consecrate a new bishop. If he is revocably delegating a portion of his authority for specific tasks in God’s household, then he will ordain a presbyter or deacon. For these two transmission types, the bishop needs to be physically present. As we saw above, the transmission of the Holy Spirit also only takes place at the hands of the apostles or their successors. However, due to the large number of the faithful and their potential geographic distance from a bishop, a different mode of transmission has been adopted for the sake of expediency. The bishop blesses special oil called myron and distributes it to the presbyters under his authority, and these presbyters chrismate (anoint) the faithful with it and thereby transmit the Holy Spirit and initiate them into the general priesthood of the believer.

Conclusion

This paper explored the theory and practice of authority transmission within the Orthodox Catholic Church. In general it can be said that authority is transmitted along episcopal lines, with Jesus being the unique first generation bishop, the apostles being the second generation bishops, and the successors of the apostles being subsequent generation bishops. Third generation bishops would have been consecrated by an apostle. Fourth and subsequent generations of bishops are consecrated only through the laying on of hands by a quorum of other bishops.

Given the sparsity of Biblical data for transmissions beyond the second generation, it is no surprise that other models have arisen. The OCMAS is certainly venerable due to its attested antiquity. Given the fact that the apostles did pass on authoritative oral instructions (2 Thessalonians 2:15), the normativeness of Clement’s description is at least credible.

This author’s has two reservations about this model 1) Has the Holy Trinity in fact chosen to limit Itself to using only the OCMAS. Having lived in regions where the closest Orthodox bishop was thousands of miles away, this author wonders whether extraordinary circumstances might not persuade the Holy Trinity to use extraordinary measures on occasion. And 2) given the following saying of Jesus', might not the energy directed defending the legitimacy of lines of transmission be better spend on expanding the covenant community:

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” (Luke 22:24-27)