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“Peter's Succession Plan”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford.jpg)
The claims of the Catholic Church to spiritual authority depend on two doctrines. The first is apostolic succession, which argues that bishops are the successors to the authority of the apostles. The second is Petrine succession, which views the popes as the authoritative successors of Peter. If both apostolic and Petrine succession are valid, the Catholic Church is indeed the one true church.
Not surprisingly, the oral traditions of the Catholic Church confirm both doctrines. However, from a cynical perspective, this looks an awful lot like, “You have to listen to me because I said so!” Only those who already have accepted the spiritual leadership of Rome will find these arguments persuasive.
What of the Scriptures? Unlike oral tradition 2000 years old, all Christians acknowledge their authority. The New Testament is filled with the words and writings of the apostles in general and of Peter in particular. If indeed the various succession doctrines were intended to be the bedrock of the Church until the end of time, we would expect first-century speakers and writers to have a lot to say about it.
This isn’t the case. Catholic apologists point to 2 Timothy 2:2 as evidence for apostolic succession, but it reads to me like a command to teach rather than a grant of authority. Besides, who says Timothy was a bishop anyway? At the time of the writing of 1 and 2 Timothy, he was still a young man, unlikely to be qualified by first-century standards.
Things are even hazier when it comes to Petrine succession. No less an authority than Joseph Ratzinger (the former Pope Benedict XVI) concedes in the tract “Peter and Succession”, “There is no explicit statement regarding the Petrine succession in the New Testament.” If we want justification for Petrine succession, we must needs look outside the word.
Nor is that all. Peter may not have mentioned handing off his authority to Pope Linus or anybody else, but he did explicitly set out his plans for ensuring that Christians would be taught after his death. They appear in 2 Peter 1:13-15. He says, “I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.”
Basically, 2 Peter was Peter’s succession plan. He, along with the other apostles and prophets, ensured that his inspired teaching would be carried forward by writing it down. Today, 2000 years later, we still can “recall these things” by reading what they wrote.
This doesn’t help the Catholic Church much, but it helps us tremendously. We don’t have to rely on somebody who claims to have secret knowledge in order to figure out what God wants us to do. Instead, we only have to open the Book. Peter and the other writers will tell us all we need to know. It’s up to us to obey it.
