As long-time readers may know, one of my favorite documents from the early church is the Didache, on which I have posted from time to time.
And now we have this treat, the blog Energetic Procession, which is Orthodox, has a decent post arguing that the Didache is in harmony with Ignatius' monarchial episcopate. Check it out and decide for yourself for successful the argument is.
Apostolic Succession in the Didache
5 comments:
Well, I don't have time to read all that. But still, my two cents worth is that there is a lot of overlap in the New Testament's terminology when it comes to church leadership. Could be a result of differences from one region to the next. So I wouldn't get too stuck on the terms.
-Abu Tulip
The biggest problem with this isn't whether the two offices are equivalent or not. The biggest problem is, if this is so, why don't bishops these days exercise the prophetic gift in the way the Didache (and the NT) envision it?
No.
But it shows that the early Christians had no problem with considering someone "archpriest", unlike modern Protestants do.
Abu Tulip, I suspect you are correct. I have no problem with a sort of messiness in the very early church, and that is what I teach my students.
Don: That's a nice twist on the topic! What I focus on with the 'apostolic succession' (which I do believe in) is that the core of that succession is linked to apostolic ministry, which means taking the Gospel to those who do not have it.
Lvka: yes, it is clear that there was no time in the early church when there was not some kind of parallel with the Levitical system, as we see in both the Didache and 1 Clement.
I have to check but it seems to me that Cal Danielou thought the same way ...
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