LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 71

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THE DOCTRINAL ESSAY 71

death by the sword. They inherited the promises be-
fore the apostolic age. Obviously the confessors at
Nicea did not justify the existence of the church or rest
its authority on the lineage of the church, honorable as
it is, when they described the church as apostolic.

Not “Historic Episcopacy”

The apostolic continuity of the church is not based
on a theory or myth of apostolic succession, with
claims for what is often called the “historic episcopacy,”
that Christ intended His authority to be transmitted
and continued in a succession of bishops. If this theory
were to be accepted seriously, it would mean that the
dominical promise of Christ that the gates of hell would
not prevail against His church would be dependent on
episcopal succession. Under the theory of apostolic suc-
cession, should there ever come a time in which Chris-
tendom would crumble to the point where there was
not a single lay congregation on earth, the continuity
of the body of Christ would be assured by the ex-
istence of, say, three bishops and their successors. The
difficulty with this notion, as several have pointed out,
is that it makes the Word dependent on an office rather
than the office dependent on the Word of God.

While there are many sincere proponents of apos-
tolic succession as a necessary ingredient to the con-
tinuity of the church, there is no justification in Scrip-
ture or in history for the idea that bishops have been
made custodians of the continuity of the church. Indeed,
even Roman Catholic theologians have been pointing
out lately that no one can take the place of Christ,
who Himself promised to be with His church alway,
even unto the end of the world. No one is the custodian
of the Holy Spirit, who Himself will lead the church
into all truth. The bearer of the truth is the church it-
self, the people of God, the body of Christ. Christ Him-
self has assured the continuity of the church, for He
Himself is its Head.

A special gift of God to the church is the ministry
of the Gospel. The ministry itself receives special gifts
for the good of the body, for the proclamation of the
Word, for the administration of the sacraments. How-
ever, all are gifts to the whole church. The ministry is
not regarded in Scripture or in history as the custodian
of the continuity of the church. Indeed, when the min-
istry comes to be looked upon as a collection of cus-
todians rather than bearers of the Word, the church
has always been weakened, and lay people have become
spectators rather than participants in the life -of the
church. ;

Apostolic Church Life

_ Life in the apostolic church is described pretty
graphically in the account of Pentecost. Peter preached,
people were baptized, some three thousand of them, and
then they continued in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship,
breaking of bread, and in prayers. They persisted in
learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship
of believers, sharing in the fellowship meals, and engag-
ing not in the formalities of piety but in prayers that
meant something now that Christ had authorized them
to pray in His name. There was about the early Chris-

tian community not the “odor of heartiness” which
Kierkegaard so much deplored in the Danish church of
his day, but joyous and unostentatious fellowship and
worship without exhibitionism, that have always charac-
terized the church at its best.

First of all, the apostolic church persisted in, was
devoted to, the teaching of the apostles or being taught
by the apostles, The didache of the apostles, their teach-
ing of Christ—the teaching they had received from
Him and gave regarding Him — was the spark igniting
the flame that burns brightly even today. This is what
makes the church apostolic in the 20th century: that
people who are alive today are warmly attached to the
apostolic doctrine and are willing to be taught the
teaching of the apostles. The prayer of our Lord has
come true: there will always be those who believe on
Him through the word of these men whom He chose to
be His apostles.

The Word of the apostles is the Word of Christ Him-
self, “He that heareth you heareth Me,” said Christ.
The Word of the apostles is the Word of God to us
today, coming to us with all the authority of God. The
same authority that stood behind the preaching of the
apostles stands behind the written Word the apostles
have given us in the New Testament and the proclama-
tion of that Word today.

Not Their Own Word

The apostles themselves were conscious of the fact
that they were bringing Christ’s Word to the world, not
their own word. “We preach not ourselves,” said Saint
Paul, “but Christ Jesus our Lord, and we ourselves
your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who first said,
‘Let there be light,’ has shined in our hearts to give us
the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of
Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:5-6)

We have God’s Word for all of this in our own
humble preaching: It pleased God to save the world in
this way, through this Man, who humbled Himself unto
death and was given a name which is above every name;
it pleased God to convey to the world this saving
knowledge through the foolishness of preaching and
teaching. .We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so
to speak, that the glory might be of God.

Same as Old Testament

The New Testament is the Word of God in the same
way that the Old Testament is the Word of God. Of the
Old Testament St. Paul said all Scripture is given by in-
spiration of God for certain profitable uses to make a
man mature in the faith. The Word of the apostles,
now that Christ has come, has the same authority and
the same purpose. The church has been built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the Keystone. The church believes not
in the apostles and prophets but in Jesus Christ, in
whom the whole building is fitly framed together. The
authority for the message and for faith is the teaching
of the apostles and the word of the prophets, inspired
by God for a great purpose: that people might hear of