The Gospel of the Forty Days: Bishops and Presbyters
Last week we saw that the “gospel of the
forty days” after Jesus’ resurrection (Ac 1:2-3) included that the Apostles
would appoint their successors, and we discussed the origin of the terms
“bishop” and “deacon.” There is a third term from the Greek which the Apostles
adopted as a title for an office in the early Church. The Greek OT and the NT
refer to “elder” in many different contexts, but the first time it is used as a
designation of an office in the Church is in Acts 11:30 where St. Barnabas and
St. Paul (Saul) brought famine relief to the Judean “elders.” The Greek term is
presbuteros, or in English, “presbyters.” Also in Acts 14:23 Paul and
Barnabas appoint presbyters in all the mission churches, and there are
presbyters with the Apostles at the council of Jerusalem (Ac 15:2, 4, 6, 22,
23; 16:4; cf., Ac 21:18).
In Paul’s farewell address to the
presbyters of Ephesus (Ac 20:17 ff.), he demonstrates the importance of the
presbyters: he has made known to them the “whole counsel of God” (v. 27), the
Holy Spirit has made them bishops/guardians (episkopous, bishop) of the flock
(v. 28), they are to protect the flock from dangers of error from without (v.
29) and from within (v. 30), and to follow St. Paul’s example (v. 33-35). They,
as a body, are thus guardians of the tradition of the Apostles (cf., Tit 1:9,
13, bishop) who has entrusted to them the guidance of the Church (cf., 2 Cor
11:28, Paul’s “care of all the churches”). Similarly, in 1 Peter 5 presbyters
are to tend the flock in their charge, and not for personal gain – so they must
have had charge of Church funds (v. 2), and not in domineering – so they had
governing and disciplinary power (v. 3), and being examples (v. 3), subject to
the authority of Christ (v. 4). 1 Timothy 5 indicates the presbyters are to
rule well, preach, and teach (v. 17), rebuke sinners and discipline (v. 20),
and be impartial in judging (v. 21).
Also in Acts 15 we see the collegial
aspect of the bishops and presbyters coming to decision as one body together,
and in 1 Tim 4:14 where the presbyters as a group had laid hands on St.
Timothy for ordination, likely including St. Paul (2 Tim 1:6).
For many years “bishop” and “presbyter”
were used in a similar manner and the distinction is not always clear in the NT
(per above, Ac 20:17, 28; Tit 1:5, 7); but they were not the same. Then over time there were fewer
itinerant Apostles (like St. Paul) and more resident bishops (St. James in
Jerusalem, St. Peter in Rome, St. Timothy in Ephesus, St. Titus in Crete). This
development recorded in Scripture continued in the early Church, so gradually
the Church came to designate the office of bishop as governing the Church of a
particular area, and the presbyters as the bishop’s assistants – today we call
them the parish priests.
The ordination of bishops by laying on
hands was the form of the Apostles’ passing to their successors the gift of the
Holy Spirit they had received for ministry, a consecration by God of one for a
sacred duty (Ac 1:8; 2:4; 20:22-23; 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6-7). This is the
doctrine of Apostolic Succession, that a bishop, priest, or deacon must have
received from the Apostles the unbroken succession of the Holy Spirit’s charism
for ministry. Irenaeus of Lyons about 150 AD writes of the necessity of
obeying the bishops/presbyters who “possess the succession from the Apostles,”
and he lists the line of succession from the Apostles down to the
bishops/presbyters of his time.
So we’ve seen that the Bible relates how
the Church hierarchy came into being apparently per Jesus’ instructions (Ac
1:2) to the Apostles to appoint successors, as St. Clement of Rome had testified
in his 96 AD letter to the Corinthians as quoted last week.
Dibby Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News dated August 6, 2020, slightly modified.
References:
G. Friedrich, Ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. VI, p. 665, 667.