Many of us wonder what happened after the events of the Bible. Jesus came as the Messiah to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament. He chose 12 Apostles from among the people to learn from Him for 3 years. He died on the cross and on the 3rd day Resurrected from the dead.
Sometimes we think that is where the story ended, and somehow a Church just happens to exist today that believes in Jesus. How did we get from Jesus to today? Is there any evidence as to what happened in the Early Church?
In the first century, we have historical documents and Church documents giving evidence the Apostles went out, established churches in various cities and towns, appointing other leaders as the Church grew. We have written letters from the Apostles and some of those leaders who came after.
This is a brief review of some key events in Scripture where Jesus indicated His Church to continue, how the Apostles interpreted that, and proof of the Church continuing after the Bible.
Jesus Promises His Church will continue
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says his Church will continue, as He promises the gates of evil will not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
Jesus begins to give us clues as to how that will occur. Will His Church be a 100% democracy where everyone has equal say as to what is taught and allowed, or will there be some kind of structure? In the Gospels, we have some proof it is not a straight democracy as Jesus didn’t preach to everyone equally all the time.
At times he chose 72 disciples to go out and heal the sick. He did not grant this to the average person who was just listening in on one of his talks for the day.
Jesus gives the 12 Apostles even more authority by giving them both the authority to heal and drive out demons. (Luke 9:1, Matthew 10:1) Throughout the gospels, Jesus gives more responsibility to the 12 Apostles, over the course of 3 years, preparing them to continue the Church.
The Prime Minister in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament (Isaiah 22:20-22) the passage speaks of a Prime Minister’s office who is given the keys of David, the authority to open/shut bind/loose on behalf of the king. This office is ongoing as we witness it changing from Sheban to Eliakim.
Isaiah 22:22
I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder;
what he opens, no one will shut,
what he shuts, no one will open.
In the Gospel of Matthew, right after Peter professes Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus gives Peter keys to the kingdom.
Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
A Jewish Christian reader would have connected this to the authority the king gave the Prime Minister. Just to be sure we aren’t mistaken, Jesus uses the 2nd part of the phrase as well…
Matthew 16:19
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This is a remarkable statement! Jesus is not just giving Peter authority over an earthly kingdom, but connecting Peter to heavenly authority as well.
- We only believe this because Jesus said it.
We know Jesus’ words can’t be dependent on Peter being perfect. We see Peter sin in at least 3 other places.
- Jesus’ words are not dependent on a sinless person, just as God’s promise was not dependent on sinless leaders to carry His promise through the Old Testament to Jesus.
However, Jesus still takes Peter, as a sinful man, renames him from Simon to Rock (Peter) as a foundation stone of the Church.
Peter fails in the next passage and later denies Jesus 3 times. How does Jesus respond? After the Resurrection, Jesus finds Peter and asks him 3 times if he loves him and for Peter to tend His sheep, to watch over His flock. Jesus will soon Ascend and not be there, so he is re-affirming his choice in Peter to lead His Church next.
In other passages, all the Apostles are given responsibilities. They are tasked to feed the people in the multiplication of the loaves. At the Last Supper, they are asked to do that in memory of Jesus. After the Resurrection. Jesus gave them all the authority to bind or forgive sins.
Acts of the Apostles
In Acts of the Apostles, we no longer have to guess if Peter was given a leadership role by Jesus as he is the one that takes on the leadership role.
When it comes time to decide about what to do about the vacancy left by Judas, Peter speaks up and says they need a replacement.
Replacing Judas with Matthias gives us an important clue about the future of the Church. The 12 Apostles are not going to gradually fade out, but their positions will be replaced.
As the Church grows quickly, 12 Apostles cannot keep up with all the needs of the people, so they appoint 7 to help in administering to the poor. We also see these 7, as indicated by Philip, (Acts 7) as having the authority to Preach Scripture and to Baptize. The 7 received their authority through the laying on of hands. Some refer to these 7 as the first Deacons.
The laying on of hands
The laying on of hands is another important clue for us. The Early Church was already facing false teachers who were charismatic leaders, eloquent speakers, and skilled magicians. It was not always easy to recognize a false teacher who was crafty with words.
How would people know who had the true teachings and authority from Jesus? Would the people have to spend months or years observing the fruits of every teacher, all of whom were sinners and had failures of some sort or another? Even that would be an opinionated debate.
Those who were appointed by the Church through the laying on of hands had clear authority from the Church over those who did not.
We see this when Philip the Deacon confronts Simon the Magician. We see it when Barnabus and Paul as Bishops confront Elymas Bar Jesus. Barnabus and Paul had received the laying on of hands in Acts 13:3 (possibly even earlier).
The laying on of hands was a clear way to know someone was appointed by the Church to safeguard the teachings of Jesus. It was not a new idea. The Jews knew this concept very well. It was the same way God protected the promise of the Messiah all the way through the Old Testament.
In Acts of the Apostles, we see various roles forming…
- Apostles (Bishops/ Episcope)
- Priests (Presbyters)
- Deacons (the Seven)
All ministering in service to the people in the Church.
When Paul and Barnabus go out on various journeys, we see evidence of the next generation of succession as they appoint leaders in the towns they visit. Timothy was one of those disciples who Paul brought on his journeys and appointed priest (with laying on of hands) (1 Timothy 4:14) (2 Timothy 1:6)
Gnostics
Towards the end of Pauls’ life, we see a new set of false teachers who stressed ‘knowledge’ (gnosis). The Gnostics would be one of the earliest heresies of the Church, emphasizing the divinity of Jesus without the humanity and mixing in other belief systems.
In his later years, Paul writes Timothy about how to care for a flock of his own, and about responsibilities of Bishops, Deacons (1 Timothy 3), and Priests (1 Timothy 5:17-25). It appears Timothy is a Bishop by this time as Paul instructs him about being careful who he chooses to lay hands on (1 Timothy 22). He exhorts Timothy to guard what had been entrusted to him and avoid the absurdities of the so-called knowledge (Gnostics) who have deviated from the faith.
For people who forgot the authority and authentic teaching came through the Apostles, through careful selection of the laying on of hands, the Gnostics could easily confuse people away.
- By the end of the Bible, some Church organization is forming with the Bishop as the shepherd over a region. As with the Apostles, the Bishop could not be everywhere as the Church grew. Priests and deacons helped serve the people in many local towns.
Paul speaks to Timothy of remaining faithful to following what has been handed down. There was no New Testament yet.
No New Testament yet.
Paul speaks to Timothy about following the Scriptures, but at this point, he is speaking of the Old Testament since the New Testament events are still occurring, some not yet completed. It would be another 300 years before the NT Canon was decided to be included in the Bible.
- At this point, Paul is speaking of following a combination of Old Testament Scriptures, letters, and verbal instructions that have been passed on; A combination of Church leadership, Traditions, and Scripture.
The Church continues on. Jesus did not write and did not tell the Apostles to write. The laying on of hands was one clear and quick way to know who was united with the Church.
Peter and Paul
Tradition tells us that both Peter and Paul ended their missionary lives as martyrs in Rome under the persecutions of Emperor Nero. Nero, wanting to re-build Rome in his own name was suspected of burning it for his own purposes. The Roman historian, Tacitus, records the events and how people were stopped from putting out the fires.
Whether or not Nero started the fire is not the main point. What matters is that he was being suspected of doing it and looked for a scapegoat. it was easy to blame the Christians. The Christian leaders, Peter and Paul, and many others were killed at this time in Rome.
Tacitus, a Roman historian, explains that a Christian community was in Rome by this time. These events agree with tradition that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome (at the Vatican hill) and Paul beheaded (outside the walls) because he was a Roman citizen and it was unlawful to kill a Roman citizen within Rome or by crucifixion.
Clement of Rome
Outside of the Bible, we have evidence of the continuation of the Church in Rome. Tradition says that Peter was martyred there. Peter is listed as the first Bishop of Rome, followed by Linus, Cletus, and Clement.
- We have a letter from this Clement, Bishop of Rome, dated around 95 A.D.
We have an actual letter from Clement of Rome from the end of the first century. This letter helps prove Peter established Bishops there and passed on the office of the keys as Jesus had given to him.
- Just as Matthias was chosen to replace the role of Judas, the other roles of the Apostles, including Peter, were continued.
Clement writes of many things in his letter, but one surprising thing is that he is not writing to his own flock at Rome, but correcting another flock in Corinth. By other historical documents, we know the people of Corinth listened to Clement and highly regarded his letter for many decades.
Going back to Jesus giving the keys of the kingdom to Peter and granting him authority to lead the Church (as Peter did in Acts of the Apostles) to make key decisions, it would make sense that Peter passed the office on just as Paul passed on his role to others like Timothy and Titus.
Clement of Rome’s actions is consistent with tending the sheep of the whole flock as Jesus asked Peter to do (John 21), not just to local matters in Rome.
John the Apostle
From tradition, the Apostles went out to various parts of the world, all reaching a martyr’s death except John. However, John was not without persecution. He was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. He was believed to have settled in or near Ephesus in Asia Minor and live until around 100 A.D. His long age helped establish other leaders in the Early Church.
2 Bishops from John
The Church did not end with the death of the last Apostle John. Before the turn of the first century, we have written evidence of two other Bishops, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna, both disciples of the Apostle John. There were probably many more.
- Ignatius born c 35 A.D.
- Polycarp born c. 69 A.D.
This indicates Ignatius and Polycarp would have been around at least 30 years while the Apostle John was still alive to learn from him. Ignatius being older than Polycarp, even lived through most of the time period described in Acts of the Apostles (30-35 years) and likely would have known or been aware of other Apostles. Antioch was like a home base to Paul so Ignatius would have been well aware of Paul’s work.
Ignatius of Antioch
One Tradition is that Peter founded the Bishops in Antioch, appointing Evodius and then Ignatius.
- We have 7 letters from Ignatius in his final days (dated c. 107 A.D.), on his way to Rome, to be fed to the lions as a martyr for the faith.
Like Paul in his old age giving instruction to Timothy and Titus to continue the Church, Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be fed to lions, also gives a strong witness. Like Paul, he warns of false teachers (like the Gnostics).
Ignatius’s answer on how to solve many problems is for the people to faithfully follow their Bishops., who received their office through the laying on of hands from the Apostles.
Ignatius also mentions belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and uses the term ‘Catholic’ in referring to the One Church founded by Christ. He is trying to preserve the unity of the Church against false teachers and those instigating dissent.
Polycarp
Although we don’t have any direct writings left from Polycarp himself, as the Bishop of Smyrna, we do have writings about him. One of the seven letters from Ignatius of Antioch is addressed to him. Writers in the 2nd and 3rd centuries also write about him. There is sufficient evidence to know he was a real person, a disciple of John the Apostle, and a Bishop, and a friend of Ignatius. More of his life is in the 2nd century so we leave that for another time.
Summary
We can see from Acts of the Apostles and other written documents, both from secular and Church sources, that the Church did not end after the events of the Bible, only to spring up suddenly in later centuries. The Church continued into the 2nd century. Jesus promised, the gates of the netherworld will never prevail against it. We see how it started, how it grew, and how it continued.
The Church was continued in a designated succession by the laying on of hands. As Paul instructed Timothy, the existing Church retained the right to choose (or not to choose) a person to be the next succession.
In Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s letters, Clement’s letter, and Ignatius’ letters, it is apparent there is no shortage of false teachers trying to warp the teachings of Christ and trying to pull people away.
- They all made it clear to only follow those who were chosen by the Church.
- Otherwise, anyone at any time can claim they have better knowledge to lead people astray.
Jesus had sinners in His Church. Jesus had traitors in His Church. The Church thereafter would also have its share of sinners and traitors, but the alternative, having no succession, was chaos; anyone could then make up whatever they wanted to believe.
That is not the end of the story… The Church continued on in this manner from succession to succession, year after year. The historical proof only grows more and more each century thereafter.
To read about how the Church was instrumental in the making of the Bible, please read How was the Bible Created.
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Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.