Hey, everyone! :)
From my reading, it appears that there are two offices ordained for churches: elders and deacons. The elders could also be described as presbyters, bishops or pastors; all of those titles referring to the one office of church leadership. As is recorded in Acts, every church had elders/bishops/pastors ordained for the local congregation. I think we have confirmation of this pattern in some early christian writings: Clement, in his letter, and in the Didache, there seems to be the affirmation of these two church offices, elder and deacon. But, very early in church history three offices seem to emerge: a single regional bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons. The early church seems to have conformed to that structure very early on, with quite a widespread adherence. Each area would have a single bishop with ruling authority, then you would have the presbyters (elders/pastors) with a lesser ruling authority, and then finally the deacons as the servants of the church. The part that I am curious about is the origin of this ruling bishop that had a greater authority over the other leaders in the churches. In the New Testament, it seems that presbyter and elder are synonomous with bishop---and yet, very early after the New Testament record, it seems that bishop becomes a unique office with authority and station above the presbyters. Has anyone studied this? Do we have an idea where this 'regional bishop' idea came from, why it spread so quickly, and why even some of the apostolic fathers seem to have embraced it immediately?
Thanks for any thoughts!!!
Brent
From my reading, it appears that there are two offices ordained for churches: elders and deacons. The elders could also be described as presbyters, bishops or pastors; all of those titles referring to the one office of church leadership. As is recorded in Acts, every church had elders/bishops/pastors ordained for the local congregation. I think we have confirmation of this pattern in some early christian writings: Clement, in his letter, and in the Didache, there seems to be the affirmation of these two church offices, elder and deacon. But, very early in church history three offices seem to emerge: a single regional bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons. The early church seems to have conformed to that structure very early on, with quite a widespread adherence. Each area would have a single bishop with ruling authority, then you would have the presbyters (elders/pastors) with a lesser ruling authority, and then finally the deacons as the servants of the church. The part that I am curious about is the origin of this ruling bishop that had a greater authority over the other leaders in the churches. In the New Testament, it seems that presbyter and elder are synonomous with bishop---and yet, very early after the New Testament record, it seems that bishop becomes a unique office with authority and station above the presbyters. Has anyone studied this? Do we have an idea where this 'regional bishop' idea came from, why it spread so quickly, and why even some of the apostolic fathers seem to have embraced it immediately?
Thanks for any thoughts!!!
Brent
