Sorry, buy that interpretation is nothing short of blasphemy. Jesus Christ is the judge of the living and the dead, and He alone decides who receives salvation. He didn’t delegate that out to your church.
“The Apostles passed this authority on, down through the millennia to their successors through the laying on of hands.”
When your “successors to the Apostles” can demonstrate that they actually hold the power of apostles, by say, raising the dead, or something of that nature, I might believe it.
” Jesus Christ is the judge of the living and the dead, and He alone decides who receives salvation.”
Would you give me the scriptures on this?
Are you referring to predestination/Calvinism?