Original scientific paper

Succession in the New Testament World

Perry L. Stepp ; Biblijski institut, Zagreb

Abstract

This article surveys the use of succession as a concept in Mediterranean literature from around the time of the New Testament. Ancient Mediterranean writers and readers understood succession with much more variation and depth than is found in modern ecclesiological writings, where “succession” virtually always refers to “apostolic succession” in hierarchical denominational structure. The author demonstrates that literature from the ancient Mediterranean uses succession for a variety of objects and with a variety of degrees of replacement. The article concludes with readings of several New Testament passages where the more flexible understanding of succession is important for understanding the text.

Keywords

Bible; church; New Testament; Greco-Roman literature; Jewish literature; ecclesiology; ecumenism; apostles; apostleship; succession; apostolic succession; unity; Pauline literature; Pastoral Epistles; Luke-Acts

Hrčak ID:

215583

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/215583

Publication date:

5.12.2016.

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