Scripture & Authority

Apostolic Succession — the Priest Who Has No Successor

Hebrews says Christ has no successor — and the Catholic Church agrees. So what is apostolic succession? A priesthood can pass by blood or by conferral; Hebrews closes the bloodline deliberately, Scripture closes self-appointment, and the New Testament shows the third thing happening: hands laid on, city by city, in a chain the very next generation could recite from memory.

Sola Scriptura — Who Interprets the Bible?

Scripture supplies the content of the faith — Catholics have always said so. The harder question is what happens when two sincere readers hold the same Bible and reach opposite doctrines. The Trinity is the lead exhibit: the doctrine is in Scripture, but the explanation that stopped it being explained away took a council — and there is no Scripture-alone account of that act.