Apostolic Succession was an early doctrine of the Church. While this doctrine can be substantiated from the Bible, it is beneficial to see how it was applied in the early Church. While Irenaeus is not the first to teach the doctrine, he does lay out the succession of the Church of Rome from Peter in his classic Adversus Haereses, which is a refutation of Gnosticism. You can see here that he does not only use the Bible to refute the heresy, he uses the Apostolic Tradition handed down from the beginning.
A refutation of the heretics, from the fact that, in the
various churches, a perpetual succession of bishops
was kept up
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1. It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church,
who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly
the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the
whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those
who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the
Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these
men to our own times; those who neither taught nor
knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about.
For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which
they were in the habit of imparting to “the perfect” apart
and privily from the rest, they would have delivered
them especially to those to whom they were also
committing the Churches themselves. For they were
desirous that these men should be very perfect and
blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving
behind as their successors, delivering up their own
place of government to these men; which men, if they
discharged their functions honestly, would be a great
boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the
direst calamity.
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2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a
volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the
Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in
whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by
vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion,
assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,]
by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of
the very great, the very ancient, and universally known
Church founded and organized at Rome by the two
most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also means
of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of
necessity that every Church should agree with this
Church, on account of its preeminent authority — that is,
the faithful everywhere — inasmuch as the Apostolic
Tradition has been preserved continuously by those
who are everywhere. potentiorem principalitatem
necesse est omnem convenire ecclesiam, hoc est eos
qui sunt undique fideles, in qua semper ab his qui sunt
undique, conservata est ea quâ est ab apostolis
traditio].
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3. The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built
up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the
office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes
mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded
Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the
apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric. This man,
as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been
conversant with them, might be said to have the
preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and
their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in
this], for there were many still remaining who had
received instructions from the apostles. In the
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time of this Clement, no small dissension having
occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in
Rome despatched a most powerful letter to the
Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their
faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately
received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God,
omnipotent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator
of man, who brought on the deluge, and called
Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt,
spake with Moses, set forth the law, sent the prophets,
and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels.
From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may
learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was
preached by the Churches, and may also understand
the apostolical tradition of the Church, since this Epistle
is of older date than these men who are now
propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence
another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all
existing things. To this Clement there succeeded
Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from
the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him,
Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus;
after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Sorer having
succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the
twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of
the episcopate. In this order, and by this succession, the
ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the
preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this
is most abundant proof that there is one and the same
vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church
from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth. (book 3chptr3)
This writing is a treasure of the Church and clearly demonstrates the early teaching of the doctrine of Apostolic succession. You can also witness in these writings an early teaching on the primacy of the See of Rome.
For it is a matter of
necessity that every Church should agree with this
Church, on account of its preeminent authority — that is,
the faithful everywhere — inasmuch as the Apostolic
Tradition has been preserved continuously by those
who are everywhere.
I hope to examine the Biblical proofs of Apostolic Succession in the next few days.
St. Irenaeus Pray for Us
