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Bishop (elder)
See also Bishop
BISHOP (elder) (ἐπίσκοπος, G2176, overseer, πρεσβύτερος, G4565, one older in years, presbyter). In the NT the words are used interchangeably for the same officer of the Christian churches.
Source of the terms
Bishop
Classical Greek writings.
Επίσκωπος is used more commonly in the general sense of an overseer; less frequently as an official title. In Attic Gr. it was used to designate commissioners sent to govern new colonies or subject cities. In later Gr. it was used of officers and inspectors responsible for various municipal and commercial matters.
LXX.
In the Manual of Discipline and the Damascus Document an officer of the community called a מְבַקֵּר, the exact Heb. equivalent of ἐπίσκοπος, G2176, an overseer or superintendent, is referred to frequently. He was responsible for examining and preparing candidates for membership, teaching the masses the works of God, caring for them as a father for his children or a shepherd for his flock, supervising commercial transactions, and matters of litigation (1QS 6:12-20; CDC 9:18-22; 13:7-19; 14:11-13). The extent to which the Qumran sectaries may have influenced the developing Christian Church is as yet a matter of conjecture.
Elder.
Authority in the conduct of local affairs is in many societies given to a body of older men; thus the γερουσία, G1172, of Sparta and the aldermen of our day. The designation πρεσβύτερος, G4565, was used for officers of various Gr. cult organizations, and also for village magistrates in Egypt. The use of the word for an office in the Christian Church undoubtedly has a Jewish origin.
The authority of elders was recognized early in Israel’s history. Moses was commissioned to give God’s message to the elders of Israel (
In the NT, particularly the gospels, one finds frequent reference to Jewish elders. Each Jewish community had its council of elders who bore responsibilities in regard both to civil and ecclesiastical affairs. They were elected by the community and in a solemn rite were appointed for life. The most important of these councils was the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, which acted as a supreme court of the Jews. While elders were not responsible for the worship of the synagogue, they were allotted seats of special honor, and often the synagogue rulers were elected from their number. The chief function of the elders was to study and teach the law, and apply it against offenders. They had amassed a vast body of precedents in interpretation of the law, called “the tradition of the elders” (
In the Qumran covenant community, the elders enjoyed a place second only to the priests in their General Council (1QS 6:9). A council of the “especially holy,” composed of three priests and twelve laymen bore responsibility to maintain the standards of truth and righteousness. They were set apart after a two-year preparation (1QS 8:1-9:2).
Use in the NT
The word ἐπίσκοπος, G2176, is used once applying to Christ (
Development of ministry in the Early Church.
The identity of bishops and elders in the NT.
The evidence of the NT for identifying the office of bishop with that of elder is substantial: (1) Paul calls the elders of the church at Ephesus to meet him (
The term ἐπίσκοπος, G2176, is never used of an itinerant preacher, but only for a fixed leader of congregational life. The fact that the term is used only in Gr. churches may argue for a Gr. origin of the term, being more familiar to them as a term for an official than the typically Jewish πρεσβύτερος, G4565.
The qualifications and responsibilities of a presbyter-bishop.
The qualifications of a bishop are listed in
These qualifications also indicate the areas of responsibility of the bishops. They exercised in the main a twofold ministry—as rulers and instructors. These two functions may be compared with the work of pastors and teachers. They are indicated in
The appointment of presbyter-bishops.
The NT does not make clear the method of choice of office-bearers. In the case of Matthias it was by casting lots between the two nominees (
Where any mode of ordination or appointment is mentioned, it is by the imposition of hands, but one cannot give a simple answer to the question, “Whose hands?” In the case of the seven, it was the apostles’ hands. In the case of Paul, the hands laid on him in a ceremony which may have involved appointment as well as healing and confirmation were those of a humble disciple Ananias (
The development of the monarchical episcopate
The apostolic age.
In the Council of Jerusalem (
The sub-apostolic age.
Clement of Rome, writing about a.d. 96 makes no clear distinction between bishop and presbyter, but Ignatius, writing early in the 2nd cent., urges the need of obedience to the bishop, the chief officer of each local congregation, who is supported by presbyters and deacons, to maintain the unity of the church. The cause of this development cannot be stated with certainty. Clement of Alexandria quotes a tradition that the Apostle John authorized and developed the episcopal system in Asia Minor. Rothe and Gore see episcopacy as springing thus out of the apostolic office by apostolic authority. It seems more likely that it arose out of the presbyterial office through the need for one elder to assume responsibility in the local church, for presiding at the Eucharist, or for deciding which prophets and teachers should speak, or for maintaining relationships with other churches. Jerome states that it was in order to avoid schisms that the universal practice of electing one of the elders to be placed over the rest, responsible for the care of the church, was evolved.
Later development.
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the concept of the function of the bishop was modified. Whereas to Ignatius the bishop was the center of unity of the local church, to Irenaeus he was the one who by virtue of his apostolic descent could guarantee the continuance of the true apostolic faith. By the time of Cyprian, however, a sacerdotal view of the ministry had developed, and to him the bishop is the vicegerent of Christ, God’s representative to the congregation, the indispensable channel of divine grace. This view has dominated subsequent thought in the Roman Church.
Modern systems of church government
Episcopalian.
The church is governed by bishops, who have charge, not of a single local congregation, but of a diocese of many churches. Only the bishop has the right to ordain, and he may ordain to any of the three orders of ministry: bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon. Roman and Anglo-Catholics would insist that bishops trace their succession right to the apostles. Others would claim a historic episcopate tracing back many centuries. Some make no claims to historic succession, but term their elected leading ministers bishops.
Presbyterian.
The term “bishop” is not used, but a distinction is made between teaching and ruling elders (
Congregational.
The only officers recognized are pastors and deacons. In general, authority lies in the hands of the local congregation. Ordination of pastors does not convey any special endowment of grace, but is a recognition of the divine call and gift to spiritual oversight in a local congregation.
Bibliography
J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians (1868), 93-97, 179-267; E. Hatch, The Organization of Early Christian Churches (1881); C. Gore, The Church and the Ministry (1910); A. von Harnack, The Constitution and Law of the Church in the First Two Centuries (1910); H. B. Swete, ed., Essays on the Early History of the Church and the Ministry (1918), 57-214; H. W. Beyer, έπίσκοπος, in Kittel, TWNT II (1935, tr. Bromiley, 1964); K. E. Kirk, ed., The Apostolic Ministry (1946), 113-303; T. W. Manson, The Church’s Ministry (1948); K. M. Carey, ed., The Historic Episcopate (1954); T. F. Torrance, Royal Priesthood (1955); J. K. S. Reid, The Biblical Doctrine of the Ministry (1955); L. Morris, Ministers of God (1964).