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Apostolicity of the Church

Meaning: The Church represents, conserves and develops the spirit, the doctrine, and the
structure which is received from Christ in the persons of the Apostles.

The Term “Apostolic”

Not a biblical word but based on a biblical idea:
1. Continuity and identity between the mission of the Son from the Father, and the
apostles from Jesus. (Jn 17:7; 20:21; Mt.28:18-20)
2. Since the apostles represent the New Israel (12 tribes), the Church grows from the
them as Israel grew from the 12 sons of Jacob.
3. Rev 21:12-14: the New Jerusalem, the Church, is founded on the twelve apostles
of the Lamb

The term comes from an ancient source – implicitly and explicitly. It was used by the
Fathers of the Church.
1. It seems to have first appeared in Ignatius of Antioch, and then appears again in
the martyrdom of Polycarp; used also by Irenaeus and Tertullian. Earlier, the idea
appeared implicitly in the epistle of Clement of Rome.
2. Refers always to having a direct link with the apostles.
3. We also speak of the “apostolic fathers” – disciples of the apostles and the
disciples of their disciples.

From the 2nd and 3rd centuries the term took on the additional meaning of “like the
apostles”
1. Ascetical meaning – implies the renunciation of earthly goods, and marriage
2. the desert monks of the East, and then the Western monks, and finally all clerics
lived what is called an “apostolic life”

Only at a later stage did the word take on the pastoral and active meaning that we
associate it with today – apostolate, apostolic work, apostolic spirit, etc.

Theologically, when we speak of the Apostolic Church, we mean the Church in its
connection and relation to the apostles. The other two meanings are secondary.

Who do we mean by “apostles”: A review

1. There are two main prerequisites for being an apostle in the NT: [a] must have
“seen” the Risen Christ; [b] must have been given commission to preach.
2. “Apostle” is a wider concept than just the “twelve”
3. Paul makes a strong defense of his apostleship
a. Barnabas and others are called apostles
b. The Twelve were considered probably at the core of the apostles, the
apostles “par excellence”

The Meaning of Apostolicity

1. Apostolicity as a result of union with the Trinity:
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a. Like the dimensions of unity, catholicity and holiness, the apostolicity of

the Church is rooted in the Church’s unity with the Trinity and the sharing
of its divine life. Because of this, it shares in the trinity’s outflowing love
for humankind, its missions.
b. The essence of the Church is the sharing and continuing of the mission of
Christ.
c. Jesus was sent by the Father (Jn 20:21). He hands on that mission to the
Apostles (the twelve and others especially commissioned).
d. The apostles are the foundation of the Church (Eph 2:20; Rev 21:12-14)
and the Church grows on that foundation.
e. The Church is the Church insofar as it is apostolic – insofar as it is faithful
to its apostolic foundation. Tertullian expressed all of this: the Church
holds all that which it receives from the apostles, the apostles from Christ,
and Christ from the Father.
f. In its deepest sense, apostolicity therefore means that Church, by its union
with the trinity, is made faithful to its mission; it received that mission
from the apostles, who received it from Christ, who receives it from the
Father.
g. Apostolicity is both a gift (“is”) and a task (“called to be”).

2. Living out apostolicity

a. The apostles remain the IRREPLACEABLE foundation of the Church.
They couldn’t pass on their being the foundation.
b. The apostles are gone. There are no new apostles but the apostolic mission
n remains, and will last until the end of time: to share in Jesus’ mission of
preaching the Kingdom of God. This is a mission based on obedience to
the apostles as the first witnesses of the resurrection.
c. The Church is apostolic in as much as it obeys the apostolic mission (in
two ways): Faithfulness to the apostolic witness and faithfulness to the
apostolic ministry.
i. Witness:
1. The Church must constantly confront itself with and call
itself to the apostolic message of acknowledging the
Lordship of Christ changing one’s life and giving all to the
Gospel. (Acts 2)
2. The Church, in other words, must be always radically
faithful to the witness of the Gospel. The Gospel must
come first before the safety of the Institution, the honor of
the people, its comfort, etc. A good example for this is in
Acts 5:27-32.
ii. Ministry
The Church can only be true to the Gospel through Service. It
is called to be as Servant Church. 1 Cor 4:9-14
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A New Understanding of Apostolic Succession

1. Because the church is Apostolic, there is an apostolic succession – this is something
the Church has as a whole, and something its leaders possess as well. The Church is
(We are) the successors of the Apostles (all of them, as a college). The bishops are
successors of the apostles (not of individual apostles but for the apostolic college) –
except the Pope who can be considered the successor of Peter in his role of Primate
and head of the Apostles.
2. Formerly, succession was conceived of rather physically – one could trace back the
leadership of the Church in an unbroken line of succession, of laying on of hands to
one of the apostles.
3. Today as a result of ecumenical dialogue, such a physical apostolic succession, while
seen as still important, is not seen as the essence of apostolic succession by many
important theologians (R. Brown, E. Schillebeeckx). Fidelity to the apostolic witness
and ministry counts more.
4. Brown (Priest and Bishop, pp. 82-86) and Schillebeeckx (The Catholic Understanding
of Office in the Church”, TS 1969, pp.574-576) speak of a Protestant church as being
at least “imperfectly apostolic”