Acts 1:21
Acts 1:2121Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
JWs cite (the replacement of Judas) to argue that organisational succession is a biblical principle — when a leader falls, a qualified replacement is appointed. This supports the Watchtower's model of the Governing Body as a continuing body of appointed leaders maintaining the apostolic pattern through institutional succession.
specifies the qualification for Judas' replacement: the candidate "must have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus carried on among us" and must be "a witness of his resurrection." These are non-transferable criteria — personal eyewitness of Jesus' earthly ministry and resurrection. The Acts 15 council (the only such meeting recorded) was attended by "the apostles and the elders" of the Jerusalem church — not a permanent body of seven or eight men. The NT records exactly one such gathering, never reconvened. From Acts 15 (around AD 49) to today, no second council is recorded. Paul himself, at the end of his ministry, does not appoint institutional successors — he commits the Ephesian elders to "God and the word of his undeserved kindness" (). The remedy for post-apostolic leadership is Scripture and the Spirit, not an organisational chain of command.