APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. In a sense all ministers of the Christian Church who carry on the teaching of the Apostles share in the Apostolic Succession. They are doing the same work on the same authority. It may be claimed however, with reason, that the vitality of the Christian Church can best be explained on the supposition that a personal force or influence has since the days of Jesus, its founder, been transmitted from one person to another. The Apostles were the first agents; and there is therefore a deeper sense in the apostolic succession than is implied in a mere preaching of the Gospel. The power or influence of the Apostles may have been imparted to any person who came in contact with them, and may in this way have been disseminated widely. When there fore a person receives "a call " he may have come under this power or influence. In the Church of England the next step required is ordination, first as deacon, then as priest; but the Church of England " does not deny that men chosen in other ways are lawfully called to the ministry, and, in fact, from 1559 to 1662, presbyterian ministers often officiated and held dignities in the Church " (B. Whitehead. Church The Church of England maintains that " episcopacy is necessary to the well-being,' but not to the being ' of a Church, in other words, that it is the best form of ecclesiastical polity." If, however, it could be shown that the apos tolic power or influence was directly and deliberately transferred to certain persons, and that through them it has been transferred uninterruptedly to others, apostolic succession will have a still deeper meaning than those already mentioned. This kind of apostolic succession is.
as a matter of fact, claimed for the bishops of Rome. of the Greek Church, and of the Church of England. The Bishop of Rome claims to be the successor of the Apostle Peter. As regards the Church of England, the Catholic Church existed in Britain (Wales) before the Roman mission. The first Welsh bishop is supposed to have been Aristobulus, who is said to have died in A.D. 67. The claim is best supported in the case of the Greek Church (Antioch and Alexandria). The Church of Rome claims. in addition, a peculiar universal jurisdiction in virtue of its relationship to Peter, to whom Jesus is said to have addressed the words : " Thou art Peter. and upon this rock I will build my church . . . I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what soever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven " (Matthew xvi. 18 f.). We are told that " it is Peter only, who had any individual successor in his primacy and his universal jurisdiction " (Addis and Arnold). See Prot. Diet.; Oath. Diet.