A number of religions practice so-called apostolic succession. Roman Catholics believe the man they call “Pope” is the successor of the apostle Peter. Mormons claim twelve to fifteen apostles at all times. Many Pentecostal congregations identify their preachers as apostles. Such claims are totally inconsistent with the scriptures.<\/p>\n
It is written, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword<\/em>” (Acts 12:1-2). There is absolutely no record, not even the slightest implication, that a replacement apostle was named when James was murdered.<\/p>\n Judas Iscariot was succeeded, but it was not his death that prompted the vacancy. In the process of replacing him, the eleven prayed and spoke of the “apostleship from which Judas by transgression<\/strong>\u00a0fell<\/em>” (Acts 1:25). It was not his death, but his sin which removed Judas from office. Therefore, to suggest a need for modern apostles is to incriminate all previous apostles.<\/p>\n When the eleven sought out Judas’ successor, they identified the qualifications, saying, “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection<\/em>” (Acts 1:21-22). The criteria for an apostolic candidate were that the man was a companion of Jesus and the twelve from the days of John’s ministry until the ascension of Christ and that he was a witness of the Lord’s resurrection. These conditions were so limiting that, even in those early days, just two men could be found who met them (Acts 1:23). Those who claim to be modern-day apostles ignore the severely limiting qualifications of the original.<\/p>\n Furthermore, apostles were chosen by Christ (Luke 6:13). Even Judas Iscariot’s replacement was decided by the Lord. “They cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles<\/em>” (Acts 1:26). Scripture affirms this was God’s doing, for “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord<\/em>” (Proverbs 16:33). None who claim modern apostleship can substantiate the notion that they were chosen by Jesus.<\/p>\n He wrote, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.\u00a0Then last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.<\/strong>\u00a0For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me<\/em>” (I Corinthians 15:3-10).<\/p>\n Paul claimed to have been the last person to witness the resurrected Christ. Not even his detractors disputed this (I Corinthians 9:1). Certainly, none since he can accurately claim this most essential qualification.<\/p>\n Moreover, Paul identified his role as an apostle by describing himself as “one born out of due time<\/em>.” He was the unique apostle, the only one exempt from the qualification to have accompanied the other apostles during Jesus’ earthly ministry, although he was most definitely chosen by Christ (Acts 9:15), like the rest.<\/p>\n If dozens, scores, and even hundreds of apostles have walked the earth since Paul, his claim to have been “born out of due time” is altogether meaningless. In fact, if the claims of the so-called modern-day apostles are true, then those “born out of due time” were the original twelve! Modern claimants must turn the scriptures upside-down or ignore them altogether to assert their contrived apostolic authority.<\/p>\n Just as Satan, the master of deception and father of lies, can transform himself into an angel of light, so those who serve him can transform themselves into righteous ministers, even apostles of Christ (I Corinthians 11:13-15). “Those who say they are apostles and are not<\/em>” will be found liars when tested (Revelation 2:2).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bryan Matthew Dockens A number of religions practice so-called apostolic succession. Roman Catholics believe the man they call “Pope” is the successor of the apostle Peter. Mormons claim twelve to fifteen apostles at all times. Many Pentecostal congregations identify their preachers as apostles. Such claims are totally inconsistent with the scriptures. The Apostles of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[656,170,493,1599],"class_list":["post-55017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-anglican-church","tag-apostles","tag-episcopal-church","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30355,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/apostolic-succession\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":0},"title":"Apostolic Succession (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Acts 20:17-36 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do you prove that your brand of Christianity is real? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For some, the argument is based on who was around the longest. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A religion that just recently started is declared to be suspect. If the church has been around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59745,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sola-scriptura-or-sola-papa\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":1},"title":"Sola Scriptura or Sola Papa?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chuck Durham via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 7, No. 9, Sept. 2007. Pope Benedict XVI released a Vatican document on July 10, 2007, that reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as providing the only true path to salvation. The document claims that the Roman Catholic Church is the only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35516,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-church-exist-without-a-succession-of-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":2},"title":"How can the church exist without a succession of apostles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I happened upon your website today and you mention a few things I've been wondering about. I've studied Catholicism quite a bit, and am continually searching for Truth, and you seem to be headed there as well. Of course, Jesus is Truth, but how well has that Truth been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-the-presbyterians-and-the-episcopals-come-by-their-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":3},"title":"How did the Presbyterians and the Episcopals come by their names?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Recently we studied the qualifications of elders and I mentioned the Greek words, Presbuterous (elder, presbyter) and Episkopos (bishop, overseer), and one of the members here asked if this is how the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches came up with their names for identifying their churches. I did some research\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26766,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-papacy-biblical\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":4},"title":"Is the Papacy Biblical?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 16:13-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The world was fascinated with the process the Roman Catholic Church used to pick a new pope. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were given detailed accounts of all the traditions surrounding a pope\u2019s selection \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were shown the events step by step. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But in all the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-new-testament-canon\/","url_meta":{"origin":55017,"position":5},"title":"The New Testament Canon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On the night of Jesus\u2019 betrayal, Jesus promised his troubled disciples that he would send a helper - John 14:16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The helper would be the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth - John 14:17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His purpose in coming would be to teach and to remind the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Qualifications of Apostleship are No Longer Attainable<\/h3>\n
The Apostleship of Paul was Exceptional<\/h3>\n
Beware of False Apostles!<\/h3>\n