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 LI B RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVLR^SITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS
 
 3 
 
 APOSTOLICAL SFOOESSION. 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD F. LITTLEDALE, LL.D., D.C.L 
 
 PRIEST OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ^jetonb €)ntxon, ^zbmli. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 G. J. PALMER, 32, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, 
 
 Lincoln's inn fields. 
 
 1876. 
 
 Price Threepence.
 
 CAMBKIDGE :— PRINTED BY J. PALMER.
 
 APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 
 
 I. Every person who sets up a claim to be a 
 minister and pastor of the Christian rehgion must 
 do so in one or other of these four ways : 
 
 a. He may claim to have been sent directly bv 
 God Himself. 
 
 b. He may claim to derive his commission in 
 regular fashion from those whom God did send 
 directly, empowering them to send others in their 
 turn. 
 
 c. He may claim to be the elected choice of the 
 congregation to which he ministers, or of the 
 society of which he is a member. 
 
 d. He may simply act on his own judgment of 
 his fitness to be a teacher. 
 
 II. Only in the first and second cases can he 
 be really God''s messenger, with a right to speak in 
 His Name. In the third case, he is only maris 
 messenger. In the fourth case, he is nobody's 
 messenger but his own. 
 
 III. A man who claims to have been sent 
 directly by God must have some token or proof to 
 show the people that his claim is a sound one. He 
 may feel quite certain of the fact himself, but that 
 is no evidence to anyone else. The only evidence 
 which could be received at all would be the power 
 of working miracles. Even that would not be
 
 enough, if his teaching contradicted the old Gos- 
 pel (Gal. i. 8), but nothing less could be accepted 
 for a moment, because no religious delusion is 
 commoner in people who are over-enthusiastic or 
 out of their mind than to fancy they have a Divine 
 call. 
 foHiX^AC IV. The second way is the Bible way, both 
 a^vfdlf^'^- under the Law and under the Gospel. God sent 
 a.^di^ the first regular and lawful ministers, and left it 
 ^A^^^fM. ^Q them to keep up the supply afterwards. Under 
 ^^"^ /^^^*^e Law, He made Aaron High Priest, and his 
 ^^-A^^y^^ons lower priests beneath him (Exod. xxviii. i); 
 ^ A ^'^"brdained that the Priesthood should remain in 
 their fami ly alone (Numb, xviii. ij : and passed 
 - ^ "sentence'oT^death on all others who should attempt 
 ,£^£f^J^2^o take the office on themselves (Numb, xviii. 7); 
 
 iJ^T^ 7k sentence which was actually carried out by a 
 'j\\f miracle in the case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram 
 n r/(Numb. xvi. 31, 35). 
 
 V. Thus all men of Aaron's family were plio-ible 
 
 to become Priests ; but though they were born with 
 
 <n *SfiLu^(/2. right to the Priesthood, they could not exercise 
 
 ^ — /it till they had been regularly consecrated by those 
 
 who were Priests before them (Exod. xxix 29 : 
 
 ^Thij Numb, iii. 3 ). Many hundred years after Aaron's 
 
 time, Uzziah, King of Judah, was struck with 
 
 leprosy for attempting to offer incense in the 
 
 Temple at Jerusalem (2 Chron. xxvi. 16 — 21), 
 
 (jy^ XioX. being a Prie st. 
 
 VL There were other ministers of religion be- 
 sides the Priests under the Jewish Law. First 
 were the Levites, of the same tribe as the Priests, 
 but not of the same family in the tribe. They 
 were regularly commissioned by God to assist the 
 Priests in the minor parts of their duties (Numb. 
 
 r\ 
 
 -"Wfll 
 
 /
 
 iii. q ; xviii. 2 ). Besides these were certain ex-^*^^^"*^*^^^ 
 tra-ordinary ministers, named Prophets or Seers, f^^^t 
 whom God raised up at times, and sent directly, f\ V 
 such as Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Daniel. ^^^^'"^ 
 These all had to show, and did show, some proof ^'^^ 
 of their special commission (i Sam. iii. 30; xii. 16; 
 I Kings xviii. ^6; 2 Kings ii. 20; iv. 33, 42 ; vii. i ; 
 Isa. vii. 3; Dan. ii. 19), for it was as strictly for- 
 bidden by the Law, under the same penalty of 
 death, for any man to take on himself the office 
 of a Prophet as the office of a Priest (Deut. xiii. 
 I j xviii. 20). 
 
 VII. Under the Gospel the ^-^x^^ principle holds 
 good, though the way of working it is different. 
 Our Lord came to set up a kingdom on earth, and 
 He chose the Twelve Apostles to be its chief 
 officers (St. Matt. x. i). He also chose seventy 
 of the disciples as inferior officers (St. Luke x. i). 
 When a vacancy happened amongst the Apostles 
 by^ the. death of Judas Iscariot, the eleven others 
 elected St. Matthias by lot into their company, 
 and set him apart for his office (Acts i. 23, 26). 
 But more Apostles were added later. St. Paul, 
 though especially converted and commissioned by 
 Christ Himself, and given the power of working 
 miracles, nevertheless was regularly ordained by 
 the other Apostles at Jerusalem, as also was St. 
 Barnabas, who is given the same title of Apostle 
 (Acts xiii. 2 ; xiv. 14); and later on we find 
 Andronicus and Junia called Apostles too (Rom. 
 xvi. 7). 
 
 VIII. Thus it appears that the only difference 
 between the Jewish and the Christian Church 
 about ministers of religion is that under the Law 
 the office of the Priesthood was confined to one
 
 family, but under the Gospel anyone, Jew or 
 Gentile, might be chosen and ordained by the 
 Apostles to the Apostleship (Acts xiii. 2), to the 
 rank of Elder or Priest (Acts xiv. 23), or to be 
 Deacons (Acts vi. 5, 6); just as Elijah was em- 
 powered to set Elisha apart as a Prophet (i Kings 
 xix. 16, 19). And in this way St. Paul not only 
 sent Timothy and Titus, but gave them power 
 to ordain and send others (i Tim. iv. 14, 2 Tim. 
 i. 13, ii. 2, Tit. i. 5). Neither under the Law nor 
 the Gospel could a man take the office on himself 
 (Heb. V. 4), nor accept it at the hands of persons 
 who had no right to give it (Judg. xvii. 5, 6, 10, 12; 
 I Kings xiii. 2iZi 34 5 2 Cor. xi. 13 ; Rev. ii. 2). 
 
 IX. For fifteen hundred years after Christ, the 
 body of the faithful everywhere throughout the 
 world retained the three same ranks in the Chris- 
 tian ministry as those named above. Only, in 
 honour of the first Apostles, they soon dropped 
 that title as too sacred for their successors, and 
 gave the highest order of ministers the title of 
 Bishops a name which is sometimes applied in the 
 New Testament to the second order of ministers, 
 the Elders or Priests (Phil. i. i ; i Tim. iii. i). 
 To these Bishops alone the right of ordaining 
 others to their own office or to any lower one in 
 the Church was strictly confined, and just as the 
 regular Jewish Priests born as sons of other priests 
 in lawful wedlock formed the Aaroiiic or Levitical 
 Succession, so the whole body of Christian Bishops 
 and Priests, who have been duly set apart for 
 their office generation after generation, form the 
 Apostolical Succession. 
 
 X. We find this three-fold ministry of Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons in full working just after the 
 
 I
 
 death of the Apostles, and mentioned by St. 
 Clement, St. Paul's friend and companion (Phil, 
 iv. 3), St. Ignatius, friend and pupil of St. John, 
 and St. Irenasus, who was taught by St. Polycarp, 
 another of St. To hn's p upils, and who died a 
 martyr in a.d. i 78. 1 just Fje venteen hundred_^^fi<irs 
 ago. The last of tliese, though_Jater-'lHan the • 
 others, had just as goo^..a«-t5pp^unity of knowing ^^ 
 what St. John^^tatlgHt and practised as an aged (Tr^ 
 Weslevae^lln nister now has of knowing what John 
 WosIqLfee^ tcTffd:! As to St. Clement, he tells us 
 plainly that tne Apostles, foreseeing that there 
 would be disputes about the rulership of the 
 Church, laid down that they themselves first, and 
 certain chosen men after them, should appoint to 
 the ministerial office when those originally set 
 apart had died, and so keep up a succession. Nor 
 can the slightest trace be found, save in a few 
 secret and obscure sects, of any other mode of 
 appointing Christian ministers for fifteen hundred 
 years, though the laity long retained the right 
 which they were given when the first Deacons 
 were made, of choosing the persons whom the 
 Apo stles or Bishops were to ordain (Acts vi. 3, 5, 6); 
 
 '^ nmnnrst ^nrre l v 
 
 appoints a High Sheriff 
 
 or three 
 
 otJi^^^S^^krtmTitfeT _ 
 
 XI. This is the only way in wnich any man, 
 not directly and miraculously sent, can now claim 
 to have any commission from God to be a pastor 
 and minister in His Church. There is not any 
 sect of Protestant Dissenters in Great Britain or 
 America which has any claim to possess such a 
 commission. In a very large number of sects 
 
 ^>)^
 
 8 
 
 it. Jt^-Q' 
 stance, have 
 
 there is no pretence to it. [ The QualLib dlJ^ 
 Plymouth Brethren, for instance, have no sta^d 
 ministry at all, and even regard one as sinfuijf in 
 plain opposition to Holy Scripture. Ai^ngst 
 several bodies, such as the Independent^ choice 
 or election by the flock makes the p^or, and 
 any additional ceremony performedXby other 
 ministers of the body is merely for /he sake of 
 decency and orderliness, and as a mmk of friendly 
 recognition. But such pastors a^ sent only by 
 their own lay folk, and not by QK)d. They differ 
 from a real Priest of God's CJj^rch, much as any 
 man in a crowd, whom two of three others choose 
 as their private umpire ocMreferee for the settle- 
 ment of a dispute, differs i^m a Judge of one of the 
 regular Courts of Lawyappointed by the Crown. 
 
 XI I. The Baptist^re in the same position as 
 the Independents,y^ whom they are an offshoot. 
 The Methodists «fo not even pretend to have any 
 other claim th^ as followers of John Wesley; 
 they never ua^ ordination by laying on of hands 
 till 1834, fo^-three years after his death; and they 
 now disobey the plain command of their founder 
 by prof^sing to administer the Holy Communion, 
 whicb^he most strictly forbad. So they have 
 forMted even such a c ommi ssion as he could 
 
 ^Q t heiiTy I^UiCuZu^ U-^ So /Ourt^^' 
 
 Xm. Some of the Proobytcrianc tftlio up " ti 
 diffrrrnt jn-mmrli Thijr agree with Churchmen 
 that a real minister of God's Church must have 
 a regular commission, and be sent by the laying 
 on of hands of those who have received their com- 
 mission in regular succession from the Apostles. 
 But they say that the second order of ministers, 
 the Elders or Priests, possess the right of ordain-
 
 ing as much as Bishops, and that in this fashion 
 they themselves retain the ApostoHcal Succession, 
 through certain Priests or Presbyters who founded 
 their communion at the Reformation. 
 
 There are three answers to this. First, there is 
 not one instance to be found in the Church for 
 fifteen hundred years of any one lower than a 
 Bishop conferring the priesthood or diaconate, 
 though several Priests often joined in the act of 
 ordinati on a s a token of public consent and ap- 
 proval, t a » in fart ii rlnnp ntill in th^ Fnrlkh 
 Ordinal: Wext, even if it could be showiv^ifiat 
 i^^e Primitive Church the Elders did/<5rdain, 
 yet tl|£y had certainly lost that powere^rywhere 
 sixteen^undred years ago. The wnole Church 
 took it frSm them somehow, and/mey cannot take 
 it back fo^^hemselves withotrt leave from the (XJhJ 
 whole Churcm^Just so, n^^ne but the Queen 
 or one of her\^ceroys/tan now make a man 
 a Knight of Grea^^main. Formerly any one 
 who was himself a^T^ight could give that rank 
 to any one eho/^ NovV this practice has quite 
 died out, and/no one ^^^d allow that a man 
 knighted bj/a mere Knight%vithout the Queen's 
 permissiojif had really been knl§jhted at all. And 
 in liko/^manner Presbyters no^^annot ordain 
 othec/Presbyters, even if they ever coS^^Jiay e dom) 
 &©5^f which there is no evidence whatever. Third- 
 ly7|the chief Presbyterian body in these islands, 
 "TTmt of Scotland, which is the parent of the English, ^^^^ 
 Irish, and American societies, was begun in 1560 ^/^2/C 
 on the Independent model, by John Knox, with- .^^^^^ 
 out any ordination of ministers by laying on of '*y 
 hands at all. This was added as an afterthought ^Htutvui^^ * 
 many years later, but without ordaining in this way
 
 lO 
 
 the ministers first chosen, very few of whom had 
 been formerly Priests in the old Church, or any- 
 thing but mere laymen. So, even when ordination 
 did come in, many, if not all, of those who had 
 once been priests were dead, and tlie new batch of 
 ministers had laid on them the hands of those who 
 had never been thus set apart themselves ; and 
 thus, even if the Presbyterian opinion that priests 
 can ordain were true, it is of no use for defending 
 Presbyterian Orders in this country, since they do 
 ^^'^'j^ not come from presbyters, but from laymen. 
 ^ , ^ XIV. On the other hand, the Church of England 
 ^^^^wChas been extremely careful to preserve the suc- 
 /l^^^^"^ cession of her ministers free from every break or 
 irregularity. She can trace back the line of her 
 Bishops unbroken for twelve hundred years, and 
 can show that the s ource whence they came then 
 is continuous also. lAnd she lays down in^he 
 Prayer-book, first, tliat there always lmi»e been 
 Bishops, Priests, and Deacons from/the time of 
 the Apostles till now ; and next, that no man shall 
 be allowed to act in any of^^tnese offices in her 
 service who has not beenx^ularly ordained by a 
 ^JaJ Bishop. So a RomanX^tholic or a Greek Priest 
 who came over toJmQ Church of England would 
 be allowed to o^frciate at once; but a Dissenting 
 minister of any kind would have to be ordained 
 before he^emild hold the smallest curacy. The 
 Bishops -cind clergy of the Church of England now 
 are the old line in regular order, and all other 
 reiigious teachers in England are virtually tres- 
 
 XV. Several objections are raised against the 
 doctrine of Apostolical Succession. Despite the 
 plain Bible facts already mentioned, people say :
 
 II 
 
 Obj. I. All Christians are "a holy priesthood, a 
 peculiar people" (i S. Peter ii. 5, 9), and there is 
 thus no distinction of order between them, and no 
 separate class of priests. Ans. This is exactly 
 what Korah said to IMoses and Aaron : "A ll the 
 congregation are holy" (Numb. xvi. ^'I.^^ AVlllUl 
 hi bniil tlv Trnvrnnr nf fYiV ^—n -— ^jjj ''Ye 
 shall be unto ]\Ie a Kingdom of Priests, and a 
 holy nation" (Exod. xix. 6), and therefore he 
 claimed to be as real a Priest as Aaron, for which 
 God slew him. And the Apostle St. Jude tells 
 us that "the gainsaying of Core" — /.<?., Korah — 
 is a sin which can be committed by professing 
 Christians (St. Jude 11). Besides, no Dissenters 
 who have any stated ministry (and there are very 
 few who have not) have a right to use this argu- 
 ment at all, even if it were true, since they them- 
 selves make a marked distinction between pastors 
 and flocks. It may be added too, that all Christians 
 are called "Kings" as well as "priests" (Rev. i. 6; 
 v. 10), but that does not put every man or woman 
 in England on a level with the Sovereign. 
 
 Obj. 2. When the Apostles saw a stranger cast- 
 ing out devils in Christ's Name, and forbad him, 
 they were told not to forbid him, because " he that 
 is not against us is for us" (St, Luke ix. 50). A71S. 
 But this will not apply now, for these three reasons. 
 First, the man did work a miracle in Christ's Name, 
 and proved thereby his right. The sons of Sceva 
 tried to do the same thing afterwards, and failed 
 miserably (Acts xix. 13, 16). Next, at Ujg. time 
 when the Apostles complained, our Lordf;a(? not 
 yet regularly set up nor organized the Chui-ch. 
 That was not done till the Day of Pentecost after 
 His Ascension, since which time the Church acts 
 
 (TPn. 
 
 J 
 
 ^ 
 
 1
 
 12 
 
 with His direct authority, and is the only body 
 which does so. Lastly: Dissenters are against the 
 Church. They set up rival assemblies, and try to 
 draw away people from the Church. The only 
 ones that ever so much as professed to help the 
 Church were the Methodists, and now they do like 
 all the rest, and would never refrain from building 
 a meeting-house in any parish, because the parish 
 church was big enough for all, or because the 
 parson was a good and pious man who preached 
 the Gospel. So they come under that other text : 
 ''He that is not with Me is against Me, and he 
 that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad" (St. 
 Matt. xii. 30). There is only one example in the 
 New Testament of a man setting up on his own 
 account as a religious teacher from good motives. 
 That was Apollos, an eloquent man, mighty in the 
 Scriptures. But the moment he was taught better, 
 he joined the Church and worked with St. Paul 
 (Acts xviii. 24, 26; I Cor. iii. 6; xvi. 12). 
 
 Obj. 3. The Apostolical Succession, even grant- 
 ing that it once existed, must have been broken 
 and destroyed long ago, amidst all the violence 
 and irregularity of ancient and mediaeval times ; 
 for if one link in the chain ever failed, the whole 
 chain must have dropped asunder at once, and 
 there can be no doubt that links did fail several 
 times in one way or other. Ans. Nobody could 
 raise such a plea who had taken the trouble to 
 find out the real facts. This danger has been 
 guarded against from the very earliest times by 
 making it the general rule that three Bishops shall 
 always join in consecrating any fresh person to be 
 a Bishop. One consecrator is enough, but three or 
 more have been the custom all along. So, then, if
 
 13 
 
 A, B, and C, three Bishops, meet to ordain D as 
 a Bishop also, and even A and B, two out of these 
 three, are not real Bishops at all, yet if C be a real 
 Bishop, D will become one also ; and all the harm 
 A or B may have done dies out with the men they 
 ordained by themselves to be Priests. And as 
 time goes on, so many more lines of succession 
 meet in every fresh Bishop, that it becomes im- 
 possible to break the descent. Apostolical Suc- 
 cession is, therefore, not like a chain of single links, 
 but like a very closely twisted netAvork of rings, 4 
 
 every one of which fastens on to three or more 
 others, so that many single rings might be broken 
 away in different places Avithout Toally woakcning I 
 
 fT^Q c-fv^pn^j-)-) pf j-]^p y^ I |i|i| II Y destroying -^t— \ 
 
 altogether. >^ d^A^*^ * * 
 
 Obj. 4. It is very uncharitable \.o deny the Orders ^ 
 of good and pious men, such as many DijjLiiLini,- l0ffCZ3ZJ? 
 BftinictoP ii. Ans. This is just what unbelievers say 
 when Christians tell them that if they want to be 
 saved they must believe in Christ. They answer 
 that it is very "uncharitable" to limit God's good- 
 ness in such a way. The real charity is to tell the 
 truth; and if well-meaning men be deceiving them- 
 selves and others by taking on them an office 
 which is not theirs, it is the truest kindness to warn 
 them of their mistake. But, as a fact, Churchmen 
 do not deny that Dissenting ministers are all that 
 they now actually claim to be, and can do all they 
 profess to do. Dissenters do not attempt to show 
 any Divine commission, they do not undertake to 
 offer the Sacrifice of the Lord's Body and Blood, 
 nor to bind and loose the sins of men. These are 
 the special privileges of the Christian Priesthood, 
 and as Dissenters do not claim to have them, nor
 
 14 
 
 even to believe in them, there is no want of charity 
 in saying that they certainly have not got them ; 
 though they may perhaps often do a great deal of 
 good in their own irregular fashion, by preaching 
 even part of the Gospel. 
 
 Obj. 5. Even if Apostolical Succession be true 
 as a theory, it cannot matter in practice whether 
 any Christian Society has got it or not, so long as 
 the Gospel is truly preached by pious men. Piety 
 is the true Apostolical Succession, and no other is 
 wanted. Ans. It is part of the true Gospel to obey 
 Christ and His officers, instead of doing like those 
 who "heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
 ears" (2 Tim. iv. 3); for people who choose 
 ministers of their own, cut themselves off thereby 
 from God's Church ; (]'rffT_m ii[^ number of English 
 citizens were to declare tnat the^s^ould not-^ey 
 the Queen, the Parliament, or the^S^tstrates, but 
 would make their own civilJaw^T^^n^^^ioose their 
 own civil officers. IfjJ^e^^id, they wmSd at once 
 be outlaws in C9jid:tict, no matter how qu^>^ they 
 behaved; aad^f over and above all this]^>4hey 
 resistecL^^di opp osed the lawful authorities, tm 
 
 ^ Piety, besides, has nothing to do 
 with the \2.\\^ights of the matter. Eli's sons were 
 bad men, but they were real Priests (i Sam. ii. 12); 
 Judas Iscariot was a bad man, but he was a real 
 Apostle (St. John vi. 70); and it would have been 
 no defence for anyone taking upon himself to act 
 as a Priest or an Apostle, to say that he was a 
 better man than Hophni and Phinehas or than 
 Judas Iscariot. Two wrongs will never make a 
 right ; and though it is quite true that a Christian 
 minister who is not personally pious will do little 
 good; it is also true that piety alone no more
 
 15 
 
 makes any man a lawful pastor, than fairmindedness 
 and knowledge of law make a man a judge of the 
 land, m default of a regular commission from the 
 Crown. And true piety will not usurp functions 
 which have not been duly given. 
 XVI. In sum: 
 
 a. Apostolical Succession is the doctrine of the 
 Bible. 
 
 b. Apostolical Succession is the unbroken custom 
 of the Avhole Church. 
 
 •N> ^pnrtnlirnl S'linoorcidiu iu i1il lavi aild prd^ticd 
 r^flnp p]-|iiHi rf rnHnii 
 
 d. Apostolical Succession is not an uncharitable 
 doctrine. 
 
 e. Apostolical Succession is needful for all pas- 
 tors who do not wish to violate the laws and defy 
 t he offi cers of the Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 jg u uk uuL all Lliu I C Alb LUiefull 
 
 Those who desire fuller iprormation may 
 con^^tthe following books :- 
 
 Bishop*=^^eriirs Genesi^f the Church. 
 
 Haddan's^^ostolicaL-^uccession in the Church (jtpxJ 
 of England. 
 
 Hickes on the Ej'ie^t^od. 
 
 Mitchell, Plg^ Statemfeat on Church Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 PercivaP^Apology for the Apost^^^l Succession. 
 
 ArcJ:>mshop Potter on Church Govl!^^ent. 
 )bs, Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum. 
 
 ^Thorndike on the Government of Churches^
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
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