Apostolic Succession?
Claims of apostolic succession by themselves, then, are not only meaningless, they can easily become idolatrous, substituting temporal continuity for the discontinuous new-creating work of the Spirit. According to the Creed, only the Spirit is the “Lord and Giver of life.”
Thus, we should not be surprised when it turns out to be relatively new churches that are the true heirs of the wealth of the past. It is what we should expect, when we realize that our God “makes all things new.”
James B. Jordan, The Sociology of the Church, p. 132.
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Institutionally, the Roman church is a memorial to the dividing, life-preserving judgment of God. It is an empty cicada shell, now gold-plated by men to cover the word Ichabod engraved on its forehead. And all churches are subject to such assessment.
