The Ancient Apostolic Continuum
A Theological Rationale for Embracing Historic Apostolic Continuity
A unified call for historic apostolic continuity
Executive Summary
This document presents the theological rationale for embracing the Ancient Apostolic Continuum (AAC) rather than apostolic terminology and paradigms implying something restored or new. Hence, the Ancient Apostolic Continuum (AAC) is the ongoing historical, theological, and missional continuity of the apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ and His apostles, preserved through Scripture, affirmed by the consensus of the historic church, and continually expressed through Spirit-empowered ministry until Christ’s Bodily return.
This is not meant to be a comprehensive theological or historical treatise that illustrates all the historical theological differences among each expression of the church.
What “Continuum” Means in This Context
Continuity without uniformity
Development without contradiction
Renewal without reinvention and novelty
The central thesis of this document is that apostolic and prophetic ministry did not disappear from the life of the Church after the apostolic era only to be restored in modern times. Although the ministry functions of the apostolic, the prophetic (and to some extent the evangelist) have always been present, the church has often (and shamefully) sought to suppress and delegitimize these functions and callings in favor of the “orders of the pastor and the teacher.” (A serious issue many in the Body of Christ should repent of.) However, these ministries have continued throughout the history of the Church in various forms and expressions under the sovereign direction of the ascended Christ. Consequently, the contemporary Church does not require a new apostolic restoration but a recognition of the Church’s historic apostolic continuity.
The Apostolic Is Not a Restorationist Movement
Almost all forms of restorationism within Protestant Christianity depend on a narrative of the church’s fall from a more pristine or pure state. While we affirm that the church is in constant need of renewal, it has never fallen into a state where the apostolic and the prophetic ceased to be at work.
