Jesus authorized the apostles as
His infallible witnesses (and therefore as the infallible authors of Scripture)
simultaneous with His authorization of the Word and sacraments of the church
(Mt 28:19-20; Lk 10:16; Jn 16:13; Acts 1:8). This correspondence suggests that
the authority of Holy Scripture and the authoritative ministry of the church
are not separable but function properly only when understood in the light of
one another. Some might object that the commissions cited above are
authorizations merely of the preaching of the Word, not of the writing of the
New Testament itself. This is an incorrect interpretation for a number of
reasons.
First, Jesus’ authorization of
the Word and Sacrament ministry of the apostles came along with His call for
the apostles to be universal (“to the ends of the earth,” Acts 1:8) and
infallible witnesses (“those who hear you, hear me, Lk 10:16). If Jesus had
intended their witness to be constituted merely by their oral preaching and not
the writing of the New Testament documents, then the Lord’s prophecy would have
failed. This is because the apostles did not literally teach the ends of
the earth. But Jesus’ prophecy has not failed: the apostles’ infallible witness
has reached the “ends of the earth” in the form of the written New Testament.
We must understand His authorization of their ministry to include writing. In
the same manner, John, the Beloved Disciple, also “abides” until Jesus comes
(Jn 21:22) through the witness of his Gospel.
Second, although the preserved
written testimonies of the apostles are infallible, the writings of those who
succeeded the apostles in the ministry were not. Contrary to what the Roman
Catholic Church claims, the New Testament does not assert the infallible
teaching authority of the post-apostolic church. Although Matthias could have
the apostolic office transferred to him and Paul could be granted the apostolic
office, they nonetheless had to fulfill the criterion of being witnesses to the
resurrection (Acts 1:22). Because no subsequent bishop of the church can
fulfill this criterion, the apostolic office and witness is sui generis and
could never be transferred to later generations. (Jack D. Kilcrease, Holy
Scripture [Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics 2; Ft. Wayne, Ind.: The Luther
Academy, 2020], 89-90)--note, their oral teachings were infallible, too
