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• apostolic succession
  apostolic succession

  noun

  the unbroken line of succession beginning with the apostles and perpetuated through bishops, considered essential for orders and sacraments to be valid.
• Apostolic succession
  Apostolic succession

  noun

  the doctrine that the authority of Christian bishops derives from the Apostles through an unbroken line of consecration

apostolic succession

American  

noun

Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Anglican Church.

1. the unbroken line of succession beginning with the apostles and perpetuated through bishops, considered essential for orders and sacraments to be valid.

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Apostolic succession British  

noun

1. the doctrine that the authority of Christian bishops derives from the Apostles through an unbroken line of consecration

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Etymology

Origin of apostolic succession

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apostolic succession Apostolic succession

The blessing the Holy Father brings to us – and the reason why we salute him so joyfully – is the reaffirmation of our Catholic faith, grounded in the apostolic succession and tradition.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2013

This made him wonder how many bishops a space colony would have to take along to uphold apostolic succession.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2011

The cultlike nature of Straussianism is evident from the pride that many Straussian intellectuals take in delineating the apostolic succession that links them to the prophet himself.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2010

Decade after decade, her greatest writers form an apostolic succession of the alerted conscience.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is such a thing as universal truth, and there is such a thing as apostolic succession, made not by edicts, bulls, and church canons, but by an interior life divine and true.

From The Magnificent Montez From Courtesan to Convert by Wyndham, Horace

When he was asked once whether he believed in the Apostolic succession, he replied that he had never thought of it, and aimed only to become a "real Christian."

From A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee by Cooke, John Esten

There were people who could trace the Apostolic succession of the old Cornish bishops, and people who could pronounce authoritatively upon the exact distinction between justification and remission of sins.

From Philistia by Allen, Grant

The natural result of this changed organization was the doctrine of Apostolic succession.

From The Next Step in Religion An Essay toward the Coming Renaissance by Sellars, Roy Wood

Age was joined again to age in the unbroken sequence of continuous recollection, and Greece laid her hands to transmit an Apostolic succession of memory on the bowed and studious head of the modern world.

From The Library and Society Reprints of Papers and Addresses by Bostwick, Arthur Elmore

The Clementines were composed later in the century, when Pauline Christianity was giving way to the new school, and the dogma of an Apostolic succession had taken possession of the church.

From The Christ Of Paul Or, The Enigmas of Christianity by Reber, George