Apostolic succession
the unbroken line of succession beginning with the apostles and perpetuated through bishops, considered essential for orders and sacraments to be valid.
noun
the doctrine that the authority of Christian bishops derives from the Apostles through an unbroken line of consecration
noun
in Roman Catholicism, the doctrine maintaining that present-day successors to Jesus’s apostles, i.e. the bishops, have the same spiritual authority, power, and responsibility conferred upon them as did the original apostles
Usage Note
religion
Read Also:
- Apostolic vicar
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- Apostolicity
of or characteristic of an . pertaining to or characteristic of the 12 . derived from the in regular succession. of or relating to the pope; papal. Historical Examples This second authority, however, is not appealed to without the support of apostolicity. The Making of the New Testament Benjamin W. Bacon The catholicity of Rome […]
- Apostolos
a book containing parts of the Epistles and parts of the Acts of the Apostles. a reading from this book.
- Apostrophe
the sign (‘), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o’er for over, or pronounced, as in gov’t for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man’s; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.’s, 3’s. a digression in […]
- Apostrophic
the sign (‘), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o’er for over, or pronounced, as in gov’t for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man’s; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.’s, 3’s. a digression in […]