AikiChristian, I'd just like to add my personal view on the scriptures you cited.
Luke 10:16: "The one listening to you listens to me, and the one rejecting you rejects me" is very interesting in that it is speaking about "seventy others" (not apostles, but 'ordinary' disciples) - see verse 1.
Romans 13:1-2: This is talking about the Roman government to whom the people would be paying taxes (see verse 6). It is not talking about Christian 'authority'. The writer is dealing specifically with agents of the state.
Matthew 28:18-20: Here Jesus says that "all authority" was given to him. His disciples were merely to teach others all the things he had commanded them, rather than wielding authority over them.
Ephesians 2:19-20: The "cornerstone" is Jesus and the foundation is the "apostles and prophets". The apostles were those who were directly appointed by Jesus, the only exception being Judas' replacement. The foundational teaching that they laid down should therefore have remained unchanged. There is no scriptural proof that I am aware of that more apostles were appointed at later dates, thus carrying on some special authority that would ultimately result in a single 'supreme' representative of Jesus on earth.
Deuteronomy 17:8-12: This scripture relates specifically, of course, to the nation of Israel with a special system of worship and way of life. If one wishes to use this as a principle for Christian 'authority' then one is free to do so, but such is simply a personal interpretation and cannot be tagged on as an addition to New Testament teaching.
Lk 10:16 does indeed reference 72 "appointed" (key word). The importance of their position and their authority to teach is emphasized in verse 16. So, the idea of people appointed to teach is clearly expressed here. It is also inline with the Church's position on its authority to teach Christ's teachings to others. Christ may have appointed 72 "others" but he also sent out his apostles, who were also certified to teach.
Matt 10:18-20 does say that all authority was given to Christ. However, Christ appoints his apostles and gives them the authority to teach all that He had commanded. The Church as an unbroken lineage of pope's and hierachigal structure which stretches back to Peter, the ONLY apostle with the "keys to heaven", which symbolize authority (Matt 16:19, Rev 3:7) as the supreme steward to the master's house (Isaiah 22:22). If anybody comes close to the structure, its the Catholic Church, and it can prove it more than any other Christian denomination, esp. Post-Reformation ones.
Eph 2:19-20 the Church has had this belief all along. Christ is the cornerstone and the foundation is the apostles. It stems from Christ's earlier statement of "on this rock I will build my church". The struture of Christ's Church is consistent thus far in the NT. Not to continue the lineage of appointed teachers with the authority to teach all the Christ had commanded would allow the Church to dissolve as it spread over time and geography. The Church really didn't begin to seriously split until the Protestant Reformation. And the Protestants didn't reform any doctrine of the Church, they just broke off.....from the only institution which could even come historically close to Apostolic times and its lineage. I'll post Scriptural references in my next post.
Deut 17:8-12 is just to show that such a structure is nothing new. It also showed how unified the whole thing was, until the Protestant Reformation. Everything was a hierarchy, even our relationship to God, the Protestants ended democratizing the whole thing and fragmenting Christianity against itself.
Why wasn't my 1 Tim Scripture passage responded to?
Its 2:02AM.....good night!
