To begin his gospel, Matthew offers the reader a genealogy of Jesus. Matthew stakes his story about the Jewish Messiah in the dramatic history of Israel. He boldly proclaims that Jesus is the Son of the God of our forefathers.
Apostolic succession is the Church's participation in that history. It's the continuation of Matthew's account of the hope of God. By preserving a historical claim to episcopal polity, the Church is preserving the seed of Eve, the seed that will eventually crush the heel of the serpent.
If you dismiss apostolic succession, you have to adopt an unfortunately low view of Christian history. Histroically, however, many felt the need to react against a heavy handed version of apostolic succession. Calvin called the doctrine"frivolous and plainly ludicrous". And understandably, when apostolic succession is used as a violent trump card in a theological dispute. But there has to be space in the Church for a full doctrine of apostolic succession beyond the divide of Catholic/Protestant. Paul never tried to assert that he had a better historical claim to Jesus than Apollos.
(Saint Trivia: bonus points for the person who can name the Saint in the picture)
