Let's look deeper into the 1st and 2nd century pastoral system before we move on to the 3rd century.
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (Phil. 1:1).
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate... Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued. (1Tim. 2:2, 8).
You can see that their ecclesia leadership structure had only the bishops (which is the same as the elder and pastor) and then the deacons. Those were the only two leadership positions that was available in the first century. And you will find the same thing in the second century.
"Therefore, appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord." Didache (c. 80-140, E).
"Preaching throughout countries and cities, the apostles appointed the first-fruits of their labors to be bishops and deacons of those who would believe afterwards. However, they first tested them by the Spirit. This was no new thing. Indeed, many ages before, it had been written concerning bishops and deacons. For the Scriptures say in a certain place, "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faim" [Isa. 60:17, Lxx]." Clement of Rome (c. 96, W).
"It is necessary to abstain from all of these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto God and Christ." Polycarp (c. 135, E).
You can see the dates, they are all quotes from 2nd century letters. And each of them mentioned only two leadership positions; the bishop or presbytery (which means elder) and deacons. There were no other positions except these two. It was during the 3rd century that another position emerged, separating bishop from elder and setting it on a higher hierarchy above the elders.
I don't think I will be able to go through the whole story but the change was as a result of politics. Yes, the elders started playing politics among themselves, and one succeeded in exerting himself as leader over the rest. Aristotle said man is a political animal, and that man has this innate desire to exalt himself and rule over his brother. That is the nature of carnal man, he wants to govern his brother, he wants to sit on a throne and watch his brother bow before his feet. It is a perverse desire, the same desire that led Lucifer to attempt to dethrone God. He wants to rule.
God knows about this carnal nature of man, he knows how power corrupts a man, and as a result he set a structure in his ecclesia to ensure check and balance. A democratic system ensures that all the power does not go into one man's hand. It prevents anybody from becoming corrupt with power. The whole of the people share the power among themselves and help to ensure check and balance in the community, preventing excesses and the abuse of power. However, the devil entered into our midst and removed the structure of God leaving us with this thing that most of us still practice today.
The change began to take place in the late 2nd century into the 3rd.
"Innumerable commands like these are written in the Holy Scriptures, pertaining to chosen persons: some to presbyters, some to bishops, some to deacons." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E).
"According to my opinion, the grades here in the church, of bishops, presbyters, and deacons... following the footsteps of the apostles, have lived in perfection of righteousness according to the Gospel." Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E).
"To all our fellows in the ministry throughout the world — bishops, presbyters, and deacons — and to the whole catholic church under heaven." Malchion (c. 270, E).
"All these bishops, presbyters, and deacons had suffered martyrdom in the prison at Alexandria." Phileas (c. 307, E).
"Paul himself has laid our foundation, that is, the foundation of the church. And he has put us in trust of the law—ordaining deacons, presbyters, and bishops." Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320, E).
"For [the bishops] are your high priests, as the presbyters are your priests. You have the deacons in place of the Levites... But He who is above all these is the High Priest [Christ]." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E).
From two offices of leadership in the 2nd century, it turn into three in the 3rd. And the 3rd century people would argue that it has always been three, when it clearly wasn't. You see the way they twisted the teaching of the apostles, and used the Old Testament to support their perverted structure.
They started claiming that people like Timothy and Titus were appointed bishops of certain churches, and they were ordered by the apostles to appoint elders that would serve under them. They twisted the teaching and tradition of the first century Christianity and remolded it into the image of that perverse thing they were practicing. Today's theology school has adopted this twisted doctrine, they will tell you that Timothy was a bishop and the single overseer of the church in Ephesus. However, you will see no trace of such thing in the New Testament Bible.
Search throughout the Bible, you will not see one single place where Timothy was called a bishop, or was specifically asked to "oversee" the ecclesia in Ephesus. Rather he was asked to appoint bishops, and he was given to do certain apostolic ministry among the Ephesian ecclesia. But these theology schools are looking at the Bible through the lenses of the tradition of men — a tradition that developed from the 3rd century. That is why they feel Timothy was the Bishop (overseer) of the ecclesia in Ephesus. However, the truth is that Timothy was just a minister.
Reference: A Dictionary Of Early Christians Beliefs, A Reference Guide To More Than 700 Topics Discussed By The Early Church Fathers by David W. Bercot (Editor).
This post is part of a series. Below are links to the other posts in the series.
The Pastoral Office (1); Organic Process
The Pastoral Office (2); Elder, Bishop, Pastor
The Pastoral Office (3); Church Vs Ecclesia
The Pastoral Office (5); The Apostolic Workers
The Pastoral Office (6); Was Timothy The Bishop Of Ephesus
No comments:
Post a Comment