Apostolic Succession Part 3: Pentecost

In this last article of my series on Apostolic Succession (1,2), I will run through the story of the beginning of the Church in Acts with my Catholic lens. I will go through the Ascension, Peter’s speech, and explain what I understand as the transition of mission from Christ to his Apostles with the Holy Spirit. After examining scripture, I will continue into tradition, looking at Church fathers contemporary to the Apostles and their successors. Acts begins describing how Christ, post resurrection, both acted and taught the Apostles, preparing them for their mission ahead (Acts 1:1-5). Many Apostles, if not … Continue reading “Apostolic Succession Part 3: Pentecost”

Apostolic Succession Part 2: Heresy, Hooligans, and the Holy

This article is a continuation of a previous post, where I begin my three article journey responding to Zach. In this piece I will look at Apostolic Succession through a historical lens, bringing together many of the “Fact Checks” from my previous post. We will clearly define what is meant by Apostolic Succession and why theological cohesion was sought by the early Church, as well as the condemnation of heresy. In my next article I will discuss scriptural and historical evidence for Apostolic Succession. As with many debated topics, Apostolic Succession can be made into a straw man by its … Continue reading “Apostolic Succession Part 2: Heresy, Hooligans, and the Holy”

Apostolic Succession Part 1: Addressing History

Zach posted a series of articles (here, here, here, and here) from early Church history into the middle ages. While I found the first article agreeable, it is clear that he is painting a Reformed interpretation of Church history. In my patient waiting for him to complete his series I have been able to do some research and provide a bit of a fact check on the narrative he put forward. In this first article I will simply be responding to some of the logical jumps Zach makes that aren’t merited. In my next article I will explain why Apostolic … Continue reading “Apostolic Succession Part 1: Addressing History”