What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church

by Gavin Ortlund

The first testimony of the emergence of a clear distinction between the office of bishop and that of presbyter is found in the letters of Ignatius, who staunchly affirms the authority of bishops. However, Ignatius has no conception of apostolic succession: He nowhere speaks of bishops as successors of the apostles, but instead identifies the presbyters as “in the place of assembly of the apostles.”19 He also characterizes bishops as having a congregational rather than diocesan jurisdiction. As Herman Bavinck summarizes, “In the writings of Ignatius, the episcopal idea is still at the beginning of its development. The bishop, here, is not the bearer of tradition, nor a New Testament priest, nor an apostolic succession. . . . He is an office-bearer in a local church and has no authority outside of it.”20

He might have no idea of apostolic succession, but there is no doubt he saw the bishops as having some kind of apostolic authority.