Apostolicity: Structures of the Missionary Church

I. Definitions of "Apostle"
apostolos: Jesus (Heb. 3:1), the Twelve (Matt. 10:2),
Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:14), others (Rom. 16:7, Phil. 2:25, 2 Cor. 8:23)

Witness to the resurrection (Acts 1:26)

Head of Israel (Rev. 21:14)

Foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20)

Missionary of the Gospel (Matt. 10:2)

II. From Apostles to Apostolicity
1. The Twelve Apostles are irreplaceable foundations of the later Church
2. Apostolicity names the later Church's fidelity to the earliest Church
3. Apostolicity describes the Church's center and its expanding boundaries

III. Catholic Apostolicity
The Holy Spirit communicates the Church through apostles' successors
Thus bishops (episkopoi) and elders (presbuteroi) (Acts 20:28, Titus 1:5)
Antioch, Rome, and other prominent cities had monarchical bishops:
Polycarp of Smyrna, 100; Clement of Rome, 90; Ignatius of Antioch, 67

IV. Protestant Apostolicity
Formal apostolicity at odds with "real" apostolicity
Reformers: Fidelity to the apostles' canonical writings (Scripture)
Polity might change (Reformed, radical) or stay the same (Anglican, Lutheran)
No clear New Testament pattern replaces episcopal leadership
General models: Episcopal, presbyterian, congregational

V. Ordination as (Sharing Christ's) Anointing
All assume Church leadership is charismatic (Spirit-given) leadership
Must charismata have a formal episcopal medium (Acts 8:17, 1 Tim. 4:14)?
Or arise spontaneously (Acts 10:44-48) and be confirmed in other ways?
Models of Spiritual giving of leadership: Hierarchical; congregational; inspirational; popular; immediate; unpredictable

VI. Missionary Apostolicity
Being sent into the world commits the Church to new works of the Spirit
Results: Organic open-endedness, organizational variety
Apostolicity shifts as Scripture is canonized and creeds are developed
Apostolicity changes further as the Church becomes "Constantinian" and as the Gospel moves beyond the Roman world
Conclusion: Alongside Catholic and Protestant models, a progressive (eschatological and pneumatological) account of apostolicity

VII. All Roads Don't Lead to Rome
No particular model has the last word on Church organization
Development, or primitivism?
Development and primitivism: The Church changes to stay the same
Apostolicity discerns deep continuity with the original apostles and the Holy Spirit's sending into the eschatological frontier

 

VIII. Case Studies
1. Women's eligibility to the ordained congregational pastorate
2. Celibate male priesthood
3. Parachurch independence from churchly accountability