The Authority of the Church (Part 2)

Now that we have established the Biblical basis for the Authority of the Church we can move on to the extra-biblical, the evidence in the writing of the disciples of the Apostles and those that followed them. We’ll look at The Didache, the writings of the Ante Nicene Fathers and the Councils of the Church around the time of the Council of Nicea. The oldest is The Didache.

Before I start on these, however, one further word on Scripture. Unfortunately we don’t have the original manuscripts of any of the New Testament…that is the documents written directly by the hand of the Apostles and others. These are called in Theological circles “The Autographa”. But we have manuscripts that date to approximately 20 – 25 years after the end of the Apostolic Age…about the same time as many of these writings we’re going to be talking about. Those who wish to dismiss the writings of the author of The Didache and the Early Church Fathers need to also dismiss those manuscripts because it was their job to maintain and preserve those writing prior to the compiling of the Canon. More on this aspect when we discuss the Councils.

The Didache

The word “Didache” (pronounced dee-deh-kay) comes from a Greek word that means “the teaching”. It’s the oldest document we have beside the manuscripts. Most Scholars date it to around 150 AD and the author is unknown. But it has been accepted by scholars from the time it was written to the present. It is available for you to read here (it’s not a hard read).

Many Protestants try to say that much of what we know and do in the Catholic Church today developed over the space of a couple centuries. But The Didache indicates otherwise. For instance, look at Section 7 where Baptism is discussed. Many Protestants teach that Baptism may only be done by full immersion and that pouring is invalid. Yet the author of The Didache lists several methods of Baptism and pouring is among them.

Further interesting sections relevant to our discussion are Sections 9 and 14, which deal with the Eucharist and The Lord’s Day. Note that in Section 9 they use the term “Eucharist” even though many Protestants say that this term didn’t arise until much later. In addition, Section 14 speaks of Confession prior to receiving. It also repeats an injunction contained in the Gospel of Matthew that if your brother has anything against you (or vice versa) go and make it right before partaking of Communion.

Section 15 is also of interest in that it talks about the appointing of Bishops. Finally students of Bible Prophecy should find Section 16 of interest.

The Ante Nicene Fathers

The term “Ante Nicene Fathers” refers to those men of God who wrote in the period between the end of the Apostolic Age (100 AD) and the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. We’ll talk about the Council when we look at the Councils of the Church and what they accomplished. Many of the writers were either the disciples of the Apostles (such as Clement and Polycarp) or the disciples of the disciples. Some, like Clement of Rome, were Popes and others Bishops. What they say about the practices and structure of the Church has direct bearing on our examination of the Church’s Authority. We’ve already established it from Scripture and from The Didache, which continued much of the practices mentioned in the New Testament, but also included terms and practices which we use today. The text of their writing is much too large to link directly to from here, but many good Bible software programs, such as E-Sword, have them in their reference libraries. They are also available to read in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. They’re not as easy a read as The Didache. We’ll discuss just one of them here, Saint Clement of Rome who was a disciple of the Apostle Paul.

In his letter to the Corinthian Church, written around 100 AD and sometimes called 1 Clement, he talks about the succession from the Apostles to those who followed after them up to Clement’s day. In Chapter 44 he says that the Lord gave instruction to the Apostles on selecting men to succeed them upon their passing. This shows the outline of what is called “Apostolic Succession” and is a major part of the Authority of the Church. He also stated the primacy of the Church in Rome over the affairs of the Church of Christendom.

I recommend that any serious student of Christianity take the time to read through these works. I promise your faith as a Catholic will be enriched by what you read. The Catholic Church was not invented in 325 AD as some would have you believe, but flows in a steady line from the Lord Jesus to us. In the final article we’ll take a look at some of the Councils that established much of what everyone who names the Name of Christ within the pale of orthodoxy affirms today.