Apostatic succession is true.
My argument on whether or not apostatic secession is true.
Apostolic Succession: Authority Received
The question presents two possibilities: Does apostolic authority continue through an unbroken succession of bishops, or does it belong to those who faithfully preserve the apostles’ teaching?
The authority is transmitted through a visible office, and that office exists to preserve and teach the apostolic faith. Succession without fidelity becomes an abuse of authority. Fidelity claimed without succession becomes self appointed authority.
Christ Established a Visible Teaching Church
Jesus did not simply preach a message and leave future Christians to organize themselves. He selected twelve apostles and gave them authority that He did not give indiscriminately to every believer.
Christ told them:
- “He who hears you hears me” (Luke 10:16).
- “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21).
- “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (John 20:23).
- “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).
Christ also gave Peter the keys of the kingdom and the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 16:18–19). Later He commanded Peter to strengthen his brethren and feed His sheep (Luke 22:32; John 21:15–17).
These were not merely instructions to preach good ideas. Christ gave particular men a real office with authority to teach, govern, forgive sins, administer the sacraments, and guard His Church.
Scripture Shows That the Office Continued
When Judas died, the apostles did not conclude that there would simply be eleven apostles from then on. Peter quoted Scripture: “His office let another take” (Acts 1:20). Matthias was then chosen and numbered with the eleven.
The importance of this event is easy to miss. Judas’s personal ministry ended, but his office remained and was filled by another man. The authority belonged to an office that could be passed on, not permanently to one individual.
We see the same pattern throughout the New Testament. Paul and Barnabas appointed presbyters in the churches (Acts 14:23). Paul instructed Titus to appoint presbyters in every town (Titus 1:5). Timothy received a gift through the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).
Paul then instructed Timothy to entrust what he had received to faithful men who would be able to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). That verse presents several generations of transmission: Christ’s teaching passes from Paul to Timothy, from Timothy to faithful men, and from those men to still others. This is apostolic teaching being handed on through an appointed ministry, not reinvented independently in each generation.
The Earliest Christians Understood It This Way
Apostolic Succession was not invented centuries later by medieval Catholicism.
In the first century Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome explained that the apostles appointed bishops and deacons and made provision that, after their deaths, “other approved men should succeed them in their ministry.” This is an explicit description of succession from the generation that still knew the apostles.
Early in the second century, St. Ignatius of Antioch connected the bishop, priests, deacons, and a valid Eucharist. He instructed Christians to remain united with their bishop and wrote that wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.
Later in the second century, St. Irenaeus refuted heretical teachers by pointing to the public succession of bishops in churches founded by the apostles. He specifically listed the succession of the Church of Rome and argued that apostolic teaching had been preserved through that succession.
Therefore, the earliest Christians did not understand the Church as an invisible collection of people independently interpreting Scripture. They understood it as a visible, sacramental Church governed by bishops who had received their ministry from those before them.
Succession and Fidelity Cannot Be Separated
Apostolic Succession is not a magical family tree that permits a bishop to invent a new religion. A successor is a steward of revelation, not its owner. The Church’s teaching office is “not above the word of God, but serves it,” guarding and explaining what has been handed down.
At the same time, correctly repeating apostolic doctrine does not give someone apostolic office. A Catholic layman may defend the Real Presence more clearly than a confused priest, but that does not give the layman the authority to consecrate the Eucharist. A person may explain Confession correctly, but that does not give him the authority to absolve sins.
Truth can be spoken by anyone. Apostolic office, however, must be received from those authorized to confer it.
If simply believing that one has preserved the apostles’ teaching were enough to establish authority, then every preacher could declare himself the true successor of the apostles. That would make private judgment the highest authority. Each person would effectively become his own pope.
Corrupt Churchmen Do Not Destroy Christ’s Church
Apostolic Succession does not mean every bishop is personally holy, every administrative decision is wise, or every informal statement is protected from error. Peter himself sinned and was publicly corrected by Paul (Galatians 2:11–14). Judas betrayed Christ despite possessing apostolic office.
The Church is protected by Christ, but her ministers remain fallen human beings.
This guards us against two opposite errors. We must not treat every prudential decision of a bishop as infallible. But neither may we conclude that scandal, weak catechesis, liturgical abuse, or confusing leadership gives us authority to declare the hierarchy illegitimate and create a church according to our own judgment.
The answer to unfaithfulness within the Church is repentance, correction, reverence, sound catechesis, and reform in continuity with Tradition, not rejection of the authority Christ established.
Why Apostolic Succession Matters
Apostolic Succession matters because Christianity is not merely a collection of opinions. Christ gave us a visible Church and real sacraments. The Eucharist is truly His Body and Blood. Confession truly reconciles the sinner to God. Holy Orders truly confers a sacred ministry.
These gifts require more than sincerity. They require authority received from Christ through the apostles and their successors.
The Catholic Church therefore teaches that she is apostolic in three inseparable ways: she is founded upon the apostles, she preserves their deposit of faith, and she continues to be taught and governed through their successors. The bishops united with the successor of Peter. "Catechism of the Catholic Church, 857–862"
Apostolic Succession is true because Christ intended His mission to continue until the end of time. He did not leave His followers to manufacture authority for themselves. He established a Church, promised to remain with her, and entrusted His truth and sacraments to a ministry that would continue from one generation to the next.
The authority is received through succession. The truth entrusted to that authority is preserved through fidelity. Remove either one, and the full apostolic character of the Church is lost.