Editing Evangelical Orthodox Church (section)

=== Controversies ===
The EOC generated controversy throughout its short history, mostly regarding its view of [[apostolic succession]] and of apostolic authority. In mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy, the hierarchy of authority is based on belief in an unbroken line of apostolic succession, from which the appointment of bishops proceeds. Jack Sparks argued that any attempt to trace such a succession inevitably included false apostles and bad men. In place of the Eastern Orthodox tradition of apostolic succession, Sparks argued for "charismatic" succession.<ref>{{cite book | last=Herbel | first=D. Oliver  | title=Turning to Tradition: Converts and the Making of the American Orthodox Church | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2014 | isbn=9780199324958 | oclc=869486494 | pages=108–110}}</ref>

The EOC was itself criticized by both secular and evangelical sources for the bishops' exercise of binding authority over members.<ref>Counts, "The Evangelical Orthodox Church..."</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Wollenburg | first=Bruce | title=The Evangelical Orthodox Church: A Preliminary Appraisal | magazine=The Christian Century | volume=97 | number=23 | date=July 2, 1980 | page=700}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Barth | first=Steve | title=Local Church a 'Potentially Dangerous Situation': Sources Say EOC has Total Authority Over Members | magazine=Daily Nexus | volume=60 | number=44 | date=November 12, 1979 | page=1 | url=https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/00000114j}}</ref> The EOC was plagued with internal problems, one notable case involving disclosure of confidential communications from a penitent in [[confession]] which was taken to civil court. In that case, the [[California Courts of Appeal]] denied the EOC leaders' legal claim to [[Priest–penitent privilege|ecclesiastical privilege]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Hayden | first=Paul T. | title=Religiously Motivated 'Outrageous' Conduct: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress as a Weapon Against 'Other People's Faiths' | journal=William and Mary Law Review | volume= 34 | number=3 | date=1993 | pages=659–661 | url=http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol34/iss3/4/}}</ref>