R
Randy_Carson
Guest
No and yes.
The Bible teaches that the early Church sought to preserve, protect and proclaim the Good News with which it had been entrusted by means of a visible, hierarchical Church structure.
Beginning with Peter and the other original Apostles, the Catholic Church has maintained an unbroken line of Apostolic Succession in a real, tangible sense to this very day. The Protestant Church has rebelled and rejected the Apostolic Succession and Authority of the Catholic Church, and the Protestant view of a “spiritual, invisible” Church is an unbiblical interpretation of scripture required by this rebellion against the true Church of Christ.
A Visible, Hierarchical Church
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)The role of apostolic succession in preserving true doctrine is illustrated in the verse above. To make sure that the apostles’ teachings would be passed down after their deaths, Paul instructed Timothy to choose reliable men who could be entrusted with the gospel.
In this passage, we see four generations of believer represented: 1) Paul, 2) Timothy, 3) men to whom Timothy would pass along the Gospel message, and 4) those that Timothy’s students would teach. Paul does not say something to the effect that “all believers everywhere would be direct descendants of the Apostles”; he specifically charges Timothy with choosing men who would be qualified. By implication then, Timothy was to avoid those men who might have heard the gospel but would not be suited to the task of faithfully preserving, protecting and proclaiming the teachings of Christ.
Clearly, the Bible indicates that the Word of God was to be passed on from one faithful steward to the next and that not all would be worthy of that role. These were not members of an “invisible Church” as Luther claimed. They were real men of flesh and blood – not a “spiritual” superset of all believers.
Paul also outlined the beginnings of Church hierarchy (as well as the qualification for Church office) in his first letter to Timothy.
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
“Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.” (1 Timothy 3:1-10)
These verses illustrate that by the time this letter was written in the late first century, the Church had already established several positions of leadership: Apostles (Peter being the foremost among them), Overseers (or Bishops) and Deacons. This is the genesis of the hierarchy seen in the Catholic Church today.