RWTW – 6: Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession

The concept of apostolic succession isn’t one that tends to come up in the majority of religious discussions.  Nevertheless, it acts as a central core for the Roman Catholic Church claiming its legitimacy as the owner of the “One True Religion” title, and disagreements over apostolic succession has been at the root of several major schisms within the Church.  The long and short of the belief is the idea that the apostle Peter was the first Pope, with the other apostles functioning as bishops, and the line of catholic papacy has run in a direct succession from that point to today.  As the Witnesses, much like every single other religion out there, believe that they are the “One True Religion”, it comes as no surprise that they consider the idea of apostolic succession to be incorrect.

Several primary points are involved when considering the idea.  First, that the Peter and the apostles functioned with divine authority.  Secondly, that their authority was transferable (leading to a succession).  Third, that this succession of apostolic authority continued past the original apostles.

Was divine authority conferred to Peter and the apostles?

A primary scripture held to show that Peter held a primary authority is Matt. 16:18, in which Jesus tells him “Also, I say to you, You are Peter, and on this rock-mass I will build my congregation”.  In the Greek text, two different words are used: Petros being translated “Peter,” and petra, “rock.”  This would seem to indicate that Jesus did not mean that Peter was the rock on which he would build his congregation, especially when we note that Petros is masculine and petra feminine.

Jesus, however, would have been speaking in Aramaic, not Greek, and in that language the same word ke′pha is used in each instance.  The 7/15/1957 Watchtower, points out that “in his expression “on this rock” Jesus used a feminine demonstrative pronoun, translated “this,” which he would not have done had he meant that Peter is the rock on which his congregation was to be built. It was, no doubt, because this feminine demonstrative pronoun made it apparent that Jesus intended to distinguish between Peter and the rock on which his congregation was to be built that Matthew when translating into Greek used two different nouns, Petros and petra.”

While those two words were synonyms, meaning “small stone” and “large rock” in some ancient Greek poetry written centuries before the time of Christ, that distinction had largely  disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek.  The result is that the difference in meaning the Watchtower refers to can only be found in the much older Attic Greek; the New Testament, however, was written in Koine Greek – an entirely different dialect in which both petros and petra simply meant “rock.”  As a distinction, if Matthew had wanted to indicate a distinction between large and small, the Greek lithos would have been used.

Looking beyond the grammatical, there is additional evidence to support the elevation of Peter to a greater authority among the apostles:

• When the apostles were listed, Peter is consistently named first (Matt. 10:1-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13); additionally, sometimes the apostles were referred to as “Peter and those who were with him” (Luke 9:32).
• In the majority of cases, Peter was the one who typically acted as the spokesman for the apostles (Matt. 18:21, Mark 8:29, Luke 12:41, John 6:68-69)
• He is commonly figured in many of the most dramatic scenes (Matt. 14:28-32, Matt. 17:24-27, Mark 10:23-28).
• Peter was the first to preach to the crowds on Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), and he worked the first healing in the Church age (Acts 3:6-7).
• It is Peter’s faith that will strengthen his brethren (Luke 22:32) and Peter is given Christ’s flock to shepherd (John 21:17).
• An angel was sent to announce the resurrection to Peter (Mark 16:7), and the risen Christ first appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34).
• He headed the meeting that elected Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:13-26), and he received the first converts (Acts 2:41).
• He inflicted the first punishment (Acts 5:1-11), and excommunicated the first heretic (Acts 8:18-23).
• He led the first council in Jerusalem (Acts 15), and announced the first dogmatic decision (Acts 15:7-11).
• It was to Peter that the revelation came that Gentiles were to be baptized and accepted as Christians (Acts 10:46-48).

The idea of apostolic authority, further, is backed up in many other portions of scripture.  From a scriptural standpoint, there is a basis to support that:

• Jesus acted with divine authority transferred to him (John 7:16-17; 12:49)
• The apostles were given divine authority that included the powers to bind and loose (Matt 16:9; 18:8), forgive sins (John 20:21-23), baptize (Matt 28:18-20), and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20)
• Christianity is an apostolic religion, founded on the apostles (Eph 2:20)
• The apostles constituted a hierarchy of authority that the first century church looked to for guidance (Acts 15:1-30; 2 Cor 2:5-11; 1 Cor 11:27)

Was apostolic authority transferable?

We’ve already seen that the apostles acted with divine authority.  With that, the second point in question is whether this authority was transferable, and more importantly, did the apostles do that?  The answer is clear – with the betrayal of Judas, his authority as an apostle was transferred to Matthias (Acts 1:20-26).  The authority of his office is respected notwithstanding his egregious sin.

Was there a transfer of authority past the original apostles?

Again, the answer to this question has scriptural basis.  As the number of Christians grew, and with it the need for additional oversight, the apostles put in place a transfer, or succession, of authority to additional men, stating “So, brothers, search out for yourselves seven certified men from among you, full of spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them over this necessary business; … and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and holy spirit, and Philip and Proch’orus and Nica’nor and Ti’mon and Par’menas and Nicola’us, a proselyte of Antioch; and they placed them before the apostles, and, after having prayed, these laid their hands upon them.” (Acts 6:3-6).  This practice continued in other congregations (Acts 14:23)

Also consider:

• Col 1:25 – Paul refers to the his position as an official position (a stewardship)
  • It is of interest that, as can be seen in Isaiah 22:22, the position of a steward was used by kings in the Old Testament as someone to serve under them in a position of great authority, trusted by the king to rule over the inhabitants of the kingdom.
• 1 Tim. 5:22 – Timothy is advised to be cautious about those he appoints to positions of authority, indicating the power inherent in the position
• 2 Tim. 2:2; 4:1-6 – Paul institutes a succession of apostolic authority to Timothy and indicates that the succession should continue

Differing Views

After considering all this it’s important to note that, inasmuch as a significant amount of scriptural basis can be found in support of the concept, there is just as much basis to reject the idea.  Further, the Witnesses are not unique in that stance, as a rejection of the Catholic claim of their legitimacy through apostolic succession is a major factor in the schism between Catholicism and the Protestant branches of Christianity.  Points such as a disagreement that the apostle Peter was ever in Rome, as well as criticism of the historical behavior of the Papacy come into play as well.  Ultimately, the question of apostolic succession begins to seem like a moot point.  All religious organization claim their belief system to be the “One True Religion, with the Witnesses being no different – the choice of whether to follow one doctrine or another, or to abandon them as the inherently flawed product of superstition and mythology, should be made only after a careful, rational, logical and objective examination of not only the beliefs and consistency of the religion, but more importantly the behavior of its leaders and the organization as a whole.

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