Vatican's claim of link to apostles parallels Baptist successionism
RICHMOND, VA – The Vatican's recent reaffirmation that the “true church” lies in an unbroken line of succession all the way back to Christ and his apostles might resonate in an unlikely place – among conservative Baptists who trace the roots of their denomination back to Jesus and sometimes beyond, to John the Baptist.
Baptist successionism – a theory which emerged on the 19th-century American frontier -- claims to find a line of historical continuity in doctrine and practice from Jesus himself to today’s Baptist churches. True Christian churches, so goes the theory, are marked by distinctive baptistic characteristics, such as autonomous government, closed (members-only) communion and baptism by immersion. Such churches have existed since New Testament times and can be traced through history in dissenting groups such as the Donatists, Albigenses, Cathari, Waldenses and Anabaptists.