Apostolic Succession in Early Christianity

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Direct teaching

and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times;

Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Direct teaching

...riginal records of their churches. Let them unfold the list of their bishops, coming down in proper succession from the beginning, in such a way that their first bishop can show that his ordainer and predecessor was one of the apostles or one of the apostolic men, and moreover, a man who remained faithful with the apostles. For this is how the apostolic churches pass down their records. The church of Smyrna records that Polycarp was placed there by John. In the same way, the church of Rome says that Clement was ordained by Peter. In exactly the same way, the other churches also present their own notable men. Since these men were appointed to their places as bishops by apostles, the churches regard them as those who pass on the apostolic seed. Let the heretics invent something similar. After their blasphemy, what is unlawful for them to attempt? But even if they manage to invent such a thing, they will gain nothing by it. For when their doctrine is compared with the doctrine of the apostles, its very difference and opposition will show by itself that its author was neither an apostle nor an apostolic man. As the apostles would never have taught things that contradicted each other

Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Supporting witness

let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs ] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men, — a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the apostles.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

so that no other teaching will have the right of being received as apostolic than that which is at the present day proclaimed in the churches of apostolic foundation.

Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Supporting witness

Indeed, it is on this account only that they will be able to deem themselves apostolic, as being the offspring of apostolic churches.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

2. Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church,—those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

...fe after consistently teaching what he had learned from the apostles and what the Church has passed down as the only truth. All the Asian Churches testify to this, as do the successors of Polycarp to this day—a man of far greater significance and a more steadfast witness of truth than Valentinus, Marcion, and the other heretics. He was the one who, coming to Rome during the time of Anicetus, led many away from these heretics to the Church of God, declaring that he received this singular truth from the apostles—that which is transmitted by the Church. Some heard him recount that John, the disciple of the Lord, went to bathe at Ephesus, and upon seeing Cerinthus inside, rushed out without bathing, shouting, "Let us flee, lest the bath-house collapse, because Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside." Polycarp himself also replied to Marcion, who once encountered him and asked, "Do you know me?" “I do know you, the firstborn of Satan.” This illustrates the disdain the apostles and their disciples held against even speaking with anyone who corrupted the truth; as Paul also says, “A heretic, after the first and second warning, reject; knowing that such a person is warped and sins, co

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

... For this reason, we must avoid them and diligently choose the Church's teachings, holding onto the tradition of the truth. In the event of a dispute over a significant question among us, should we not turn to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles frequently interacted and learn from them what is certain and clear about the matter at hand? What if the apostles had not left us their writings? In that case, wouldn’t it be necessary to follow the tradition they passed down to those to whom they entrusted the Churches?

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

so, seeing there are many who think they hold the opinions of Christ, and yet some of these think differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of the Church, transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles, and remaining in the Churches to the present day, is still preserved, that alone is to be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

So then, they kept the tradition of the blessed teaching that came directly from the holy apostles Peter, James, John, and Paul. The sons received it from the father, though few were like the fathers. By God's will, they also came to us to place in us those ancestral and apostolic seeds. And I know well that they will rejoice. I do not mean that they will be pleased with this tribute, but only with the preservation of the truth, just as they handed it down. For I think that an outline like this will be welcome to a soul that wants to keep the blessed tradition from slipping away. In a man who loves wisdom, the father will be glad. Proverbs 29:3 Wells, when they are drawn from, give purer water. But water that no one uses turns rotten. Use keeps steel brighter, but lack of use makes it rust. In a word, exercise produces a healthy condition in both souls and bodies. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that it may give light to those counted worthy of the feast. Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21 For what use is wisdom if it does not make the person who can hear it wise? For the Savior still saves, and always works, just as He sees the Father do. For by teachi

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

Well, they preserving the tradition of the blessed doctrine derived directly from the holy apostles, Peter, James, John, and Paul, the sons receiving it from the father (but few were like the fathers), came by God's will to us also to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

5. For which reason you must diligently observe and keep the practice delivered from divine tradition and apostolic observance, which is also maintained among us, and almost throughout all the provinces;

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...anged," he says, "let nothing be maintained except what has been handed down." From where does that tradition come? Does it come down from the authority of the Lord and of the Gospel, or does it come from the commands and letters of the apostles? For God bears witness and warns that the things written must be done, saying to Joshua the son of Nun, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it" Joshua 1:8. Also, when the Lord sent His apostles, He commanded that the nations should be baptized and taught to observe all things that He commanded. If, therefore, it is either ordered in the Gospel, or contained in the letters or Acts of the Apostles, that those who come from any heresy should not be baptized, but should only have hands laid on them for repentance, then let this divine and holy tradition be observed. But if heretics everywhere are called nothing other than adversaries and antichrists, if they are declared to be people who must be avoided, and to be perverted and self-condemned, why then should they not be considered worthy to be condemned by u

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness

12. Concerning whom we thus believe, even as the Apostolic Church believes.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

...For if what they've published is the Gospel of Truth, yet completely differs from what the apostles handed down, it's clear, as the Scriptures themselves affirm, that what is handed down from the apostles should no longer be deemed the Gospel of Truth. But these Gospels alone are true and reliable, allowing neither an increase nor decrease in their number, as I have proven through numerous arguments. Since God created everything in proportion and harmony, it was also fitting for the outward appearance of the Gospel to be well-organized and consistent. Therefore, having examined the views of those who passed the Gospel down to us, from their very origins, let us also proceed to consider the remaining apostles and investigate their teachings regarding God; then, in due course, we shall listen to the words of the Lord.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...ut what Stephen has said, as if the apostles forbade those who come from heresy to be baptized, and handed this down also to be kept by their successors, you have answered very fully. You showed that no one is so foolish as to believe that the apostles handed this down, when it is well known that these heresies themselves, hateful and detestable as they are, arose later. For even Marcion, the disciple of Cerdo, is found to have brought in his sacrilegious tradition against God long after the apostles, and a long time after them. Apelles also, agreeing with his blasphemy, added many other new and more serious things opposed to faith and truth. And the time of Valentinus and Basilides is also clear, that they too rebelled against the Church of God with their wicked lies after the apostles, and after a long time. It is plain that the other heretics also later brought in their evil sects and twisted inventions, just as each one was led by error. It is evident that all of them were self-condemned and declared against themselves an unavoidable sentence before the day of judgment. And the one who approves the baptism of these people, what else does he do but judge himself along with th

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... seems to you to be a bishop who, after a bishop had been appointed in the Church by sixteen fellow bishops, strives through bribery to be made a corrupt and outsider bishop by the hands of deserters. And although there is one Church, which Christ has spread throughout the whole world into many members, and also one episcopate spread abroad through the united number of many bishops, he still tries, in spite of God's tradition and in spite of the joined and firmly connected unity of the Catholic Church everywhere, to make a merely human church. He also sends his new apostles through very many cities, so that he may set up some new foundations of his own choosing. And although in every city and throughout all the provinces bishops have already been ordained—men advanced in years, sound in faith, proved in trial, and condemned in persecution—this man dares to create other bishops over them, and false ones at that. It is as if he could either roam through the whole world with the stubbornness of his new effort, or tear apart the structure of the ecclesiastical body by spreading his own discord. He does not know that schismatics are always fervent at the beginning, but they cannot gr

Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness

This word, therefore, is to be carefully observed, we have received, and it is enjoined upon us according to the tradition.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

for as the teaching, so also the tradition of the apostles was one.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

Galatians 5:3 In other respects, however, these consent to all the traditions delivered to the Church by the Apostles.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

Concerning the ordination of presbyters, I who am loved by the Lord give this constitution to you bishops: When you ordain a presbyter, O bishop, lay your hand on his head in the presence of the presbyters and deacons, and pray, saying: O Lord Almighty, our God, who created all things through Christ, and in the same way takes care of the whole world through Him. For He who had power to make different creatures also has power to take care of them according to their different natures. Because of this, O God, You take care of immortal beings simply by preserving them, but of mortal beings by succession: of the soul by the giving of laws, and of the body by supplying its needs. Therefore, now also look down on Your holy Church, and increase it, and multiply those who preside in it, and grant them power so that they may labor both in word and work for the building up of Your people. Now look down also on this Your servant, who is placed into the presbytery by the vote and decision of the whole clergy, and fill him with the Spirit of grace and counsel, to help and govern Your people with a pure heart, in the same way as You looked down on Your chosen people and commanded Moses to choose

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...ed among us, you yourselves are not ignorant of them. For you certainly know that those named by us bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, were made so by prayer and by the laying on of hands, and that the difference in their names shows the difference in their duties. For not everyone who wants to be ordained is ordained, as was the case in that spurious and counterfeit priesthood of the calves under Jeroboam, 1 Kings 13:33, but only he who is called by God. For if there were no rule or distinction of orders, it would be enough to perform all the offices under one name. But being taught by the Lord the order of things, we distributed the functions of the high-priesthood to the bishops, those of the priesthood to the presbyters, and the ministration under both of them to the deacons, so that the divine worship might be performed in purity. For it is not lawful for a deacon to offer the sacrifice, or to baptize, or to give either the greater or the lesser blessing. Nor may a presbyter perform ordination. For it is not agreeable to holiness for this order to be perverted. For God is not the God of confusion, so that those in lower rank should tyrannically take for themselves the fu

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

I, Simon the Canaanite, also make a constitution to decide how many bishops should elect a bishop. Let a bishop be ordained by three or two bishops. But if anyone is ordained by one bishop, let both him and the one who ordained him be removed from office. However, if there is a necessity for him to have only one person ordain him, because more bishops cannot come together, as in a time of persecution or for similar causes, let him bring the approving vote of more bishops.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

... Your Christ in the flesh; of which the Holy Spirit is the witness, by Your apostles, and by us the bishops, who by Your grace are here present; who have foreordained priests from the beginning for the government of Your people—Abel in the first place, Seth and Enos, and Enoch and Noah, and Melchizedek and Job; who appointed Abraham, and the rest of the patriarchs, with Your faithful servants Moses and Aaron, and Eleazar and Phinehas; who chose from among them rulers and priests in the tabernacle of Your testimony; who chose Samuel for a priest and a prophet; who did not leave Your sanctuary without ministers; who delighted in those whom You chose to be glorified in. Pour down, by us, the influence of Your free Spirit, through the mediation of Your Christ, which is committed to Your beloved Son Jesus Christ; which He bestowed according to Your will on the holy apostles of You, the eternal God. Grant by Your name, O God, who search the hearts, that this Your servant, whom You have chosen to be a bishop, may feed Your holy flock, and discharge the office of a high priest to You, and minister to You blamelessly night and day; that he may appease You, and gather together the number

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

not that which is conferred by wicked heretics, but that which is conferred by unblameable priests, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matthew 28:19 and let not that which comes from the ungodly be received by you, nor let that which is done by the godly be disannulled by a second.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Hebrews 5:4 For such sacred offices are conferred by the laying on of the hands of the bishop.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...n named and approved, let the people gather on the Lord's Day, together with the presbytery and the bishops who are present, and let them give their consent. And let the chief of the bishops ask the presbytery and the people whether this is the man whom they desire as their ruler. If they agree, let him ask further whether he has a good testimony from all men concerning his fitness for so great and glorious an authority; whether everything relating to his piety toward God is right; whether he has practiced justice toward men; whether he has managed the affairs of his household well; and whether he has been blameless in the course of his life. And if the whole assembly together truthfully, and not out of prejudice, bears witness that he is such a man, let them ask a third time, as before God the Judge and Christ, with the Holy Spirit also present, as well as all the holy ministering spirits, whether he is truly worthy of this ministry, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established, Matthew 18:16. And if they agree the third time that he is worthy, let them all be asked for their vote. When they all give it willingly, let them be heard. And when sile

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

Therefore the power of remitting sins was given to the apostles, and to the churches which they, sent by Christ, established, and to the bishops who succeeded to them by vicarious ordination.

Acts 1:25 Direct teaching

to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”

Acts 1:22 Direct teaching

Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

Acts 14:23 Direct teaching

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 6:6 Direct teaching

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

2 Timothy 2:2 Direct teaching

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.

1 Timothy 4:14 Direct teaching

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

1 Corinthians 12:28 Supporting witness

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

Acts 15:22 Supporting witness

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Supporting witness

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

1 Corinthians 11:2 Supporting witness

Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

1 Corinthians 11:23 Supporting witness

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

Acts 2:42 Supporting witness

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.