Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 4 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
The Claims of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy  /  Apostolic Succession – Part 2  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 4
Clement says successors could be appointed by “other acclaimed men with the consent of the whole church,” and Bercot highlights that ordination/appointment is not treated as irrevocable; how would that early Christian practice confront modern fears about congregational involvement, instability, or “lack of covering,” and what might it reveal about how God expects His people to guard the church?
Another way to ask: If Clement says respected men, with the whole church agreeing, can appoint new leaders—and that appointments aren’t always permanent—how does that challenge modern fears about congregations having a say? What might it show about how God expects believers to protect the church?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests early churches expected the whole congregation to participate in recognizing leaders and to remove leaders for cause, rather than relying on a distant hierarchy as “covering.” That confronts modern fears by implying God expects the church community itself to guard faithfulness through consent, discernment, and moral accountability.

Support from Transcript:

  • Clement: leaders could be appointed “afterwards by other acclaimed men with the consent of the whole church.”
  • Bercot stresses Clement does not say “other bishops” or people with succession—just “other acclaimed men,” meaning those “viewed highly by the church.”
  • He notes Clement “uses the word appoint, not ordain,” downplaying sacramental framing.
  • Bercot says the letter shows “an ordination is not irrevocable”: not “once… ordained, you can’t do anything,” but you shouldn’t remove them “unless you have good cause.”
  • He highlights Clement’s twofold structure of leadership (“bishops… same as presbyters… and deacons”), suggesting simpler governance.
  • Later, Bercot ties this to Cyprian: the people have “the power of either choosing worthy priests or of rejecting unworthy ones.”
Discussion Follow-ups How can congregational consent be practiced without becoming mob rule? What “good cause” standards would keep a church stable but still holy and accountable?

Jumpstarter 4 of 10
Back Questions Next