What is the Church? - Why Apostolic Succession is Necessary

Have you ever wondered why the earliest followers of Christ had completely different beliefs and practices than the ones held by today's Christians?

For anyone who's only ever known the modern, westernized expression of Christianity, this is one of the questions that earnest truth-seekers inevitably end up asking, once they begin to acquaint themselves with church history.

In this video, we'll review the biblical doctrine of the Church in light of ancient patristic sources, and outline why these teachings--in their original context--are the only, truly authentic Way of knowing and living the faith.
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Introduction - 00:00
Analogy of "Parts" - 00:37
Preface - 03:53
Apostolic Succession Defined - 07:36
Monarchical Trinitarianism - 08:23
The Invisible Church - 12:11
Authority in Scripture - 15:14
Common Objections - 22:49
Translations are Contingent - 27:37
Context is Conditional - 30:45
Implications of Protestantism - 32:18
Temporarily Apostolic - 35:45
Structure v.s. Mechanism of Transmission - 36:25
Syllogism on Authority - 38:33
Canonical Boundaries Erased? - 43:02
Spiritual Gifts v.s. Spiritual Office - 45:21
Conflicting Doctrines - 51:07
Different Classes of Authority - 57:10
Source of Inspiration/Authority - 58:21
The Canon Conundrum - 1:02:38
Who We Trust - 1:04:38
Presuppositional Bias- 1:11:41
The Seriousness of Ordination - 1:14:47
Communion is the Evidence - 1:18:17
Doctrinal Continuity - 1:23:42
Communal Continuity - 1:25:11
Questioning Paradigms - 1:27:25
Trust = Consistency - 1:32:17
Why Authority Is Rejected - 1:34:19
What Rejecting It Means - 1:38:33
What Faith Entails - 1:42:59
Faulty Principles - 1:44:30
Ending Summary - 1:47:01
Concluding Thoughts - 1:48:32

[orthodox_soul]

When seeing the stark contrasts between Orthodoxy and Protestantism, what the viewer *must* understand--if they are a sincere, truth-seeking, Christ-loving person--is that these distinctions are not just a matter of *preference*, where we simply choose whichever course feels right to us personally.

The status of one paradigm's legitimacy v.s. the other is not proven by just stringing together enough "evidence" for or against either system and then just deciding whether or not we're convinced (according to our own standard for whatever quality and amount of evidence is sufficient)--it's about analyzing the very *foundations* of two vastly different epistemologies, and identifying when a particular framework you've adopted is 1) subjective 2) arbitrary 3) internally inconsistent 4) logically incoherent 5) subject to change 6) ahistorical 7) unbiblical and 8) operates according to numerous double-standards that are *necessary* for the system to sustain itself.

My contention is that Sola Scriptura is precisely this kind of foundation--it's a system built on sand. So, all other arguments are utterly moot--all disagreements over higher-order theology or anything else Orthodox-related that people struggle to understand or accept doesn't matter, because the alternative is already rendered untenable. There is no other recourse.

To rectify this, one must be prepared to surrender their preconceived notions about the faith, and whatever doctrines they've wedded themselves to that are incompatible with the historic witness of the Church that *gave* you the Bible. Any other course of action is to doom oneself to be forever locked into a viscous stalemate of self-inflicted ignorance and/or delusion. But this is not what Christ wants for any of us! And, to ensure this would not be our fate, He made a Way.

All we have to do is follow Him.
Enjoin yourself to the Body of Christ, being mystically received into His one, true Church.
Come to Holy Orthodoxy.

[makingsmokesince]

Almost two hours of not only thought provoking, but also high production value content?… Glory to God for all things! Thank you and may it be blessed.

[TheChadmiral]

Hands down one of if not the easiest to understand and precise EO apologetic video essay I’ve seen. You did an excellent job laying out the material in a way that meets the average Protestant at their own educational level in terms of scriptural understanding and church history. I say this as someone who spent years wrestling with these questions myself before finally coming home. I’ll be referring people to this video as the opportunities present themselves, God bless ☦️.

[UncensoredChristian]

I’m in the process of leaving Protestantism. The evidence for orthodoxy is overwhelming!

[AlphaOmegaTruth]

Keep making videos, I'm only 30 minutes in and I'm already thinking how this is one of the best Orthodox vids on utube I have watched in a while. All love and peace from God on High and God within, to you my Orthodox friend and brother.

[MoniqueMathiesen]

This is the best orthodox video I’ve seen. Production is fantastic and the content even better 🙏🏻 Thank you for this!

[JosiahM]

Deeper rooted me in conversion. Yet not able to attend the Church, however confident I'm where God wants me to be at the moment. Thank you brother and may God bless continuously you, your family, and Parish!

[alexlight]

My priest emailed this vid out to the parish today, so theres one Like for you

[tabre_]

How will the Protestants ever recover from this?

Another S-tier video
☦️☦️☦️ Glory to God!

[pharobron]

You put in some crazy effort for this. Thank you for your time energy and effort.

Also you're hilarious 😂

[Journey_of_Abundance]

Excellent video that God-willing reaches many!

If I may, I would argue that from 1 and 2 Timothy, we can conclude that the ministerial authority was passed on to third and fourth generation Christians. Thus, the objection that apostolic succession ceased with 2nd generation Christians not only has no merit but is disproven by these verses which directly contradict it:

"Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22)

Paul is instructing Timothy to be careful who he lays hands on. This presumes Timothy has the authority to pass on ministerial authority to 3rd generation Christians.

"and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:2)

The Greek word "hikanoi" is translated here as "able, " but a more precise definition is "qualified." This means that Paul says the mechanism he lays out to Timothy to pass on the faith WILL produce competent and qualified men to lead and teach.

[_stars_at_nite_]

Definitely sharing! Great presentation and God bless. 🙏🏼

[adonisjryoutubr]

Agreeing with all the comments here. Absolutely phenomenal work and content. This will be shared a great many times!!!

[Based_Orthooo]

I have to say, I've learned alot from you brother. Glory to God! ☦️

[curiouse]

Thanks for this very well argued and detailed video.

[ljordan]

The most comprehensive video about EO. I salute you Sir. If I don’t meet you in this lifetime, then I will embrace you in the here after. God bless you, my brother in arms 🙏

[Donnielucas]

I am new to your channel and was baptized and Chrismated on Lazarus Saturday this year.

I love this video. Thank you for the time and research. I know it's laborious.

I was raised in a oneness Pentecostal church, I was 4th generation in that movement, and later went on to Trinitarian Pentecostalism. I still have friends and family that are oneness Pentecostal and particularly a lifelong friend who now pastors the church we grew up in. He is fairly knowledgeable, but contends that oneness folks, and "Jesus name baptism" has existed through various groups in the first few centuries particularly.

I would love for you to tackle the topic of heresies in the first 3 centuries and how the church maintained continuity.

Thanks again for your service. May God Grant You Many Years

[Marstang]

Amazing work! Grateful for this and the immense amount of time this took to make. May it lead those searching to find.

[josephkusabs]

This was really well presented — clear, coherent, compelling and creative. Thank you!

[david_n_nettey]

This was very well produced and articulated! Keep up the good work and God bless!