Apostolic Succession

Rome claims that the apostle Peter was the first pope. I looked at all the evidence in support of this claim in a recent podcast. The evidence was found wanting. In this podcast, I look at the Roman Catholic claim that there is such a thing as apostolic succession from Peter being the first pope all the way through to today. By this claim, the Roman Catholic church claims to be the “one true church” and thereby denies the status of a true Christian church to all other branches of Christendom. In this video, I review the evidence from the New Testament about succession in principle, what it means and what it does not. Then I review the context of several of the major statements used by Roman Catholic apologists when they claim the early church fathers also believed in apostolic succession of the supreme authority of the papacy. The early church does speak about succession but never in the way that Rome would need them to. In fact, the early church fathers writings support the protestant view of succession. Some of the writings of the early church fathers are quite convoluted in style, please bear with me as I work through them.

I hope this helps you both understand the Roman Catholic view and also why it is un biblical, and hence incorrect. Please let me know what you think in the comments.