The Office of Bishop and Bishop of Rome

The Church of Rome stakes it’s claim of being the Mother Church and the only true Church on a completely false definition of the word and office of Bishop, and by applying this falsely defined office to the apostle Peter. From this point, it is claimed that today’s Pope is directly descended through an unbroken line of Roman Bishops from Peter. It is this supposed apostolic succession that makes the Bishop of Rome a superior authority over all other Christians.

The problem with this? It’s a patently FALSE claim.

Etymology of the word “Bishop”

The word “Bishop” is the English translation of the original Greek term “Episkopos” (and Latin “episcopus”). Any research into the use of the term “Bishop” is actually a search into the history of “Episkopos”.

The term “Episkopos” is a New Testament term and was used by the apostles. It simply means “overseer” or “watcher” and carries with it the idea of being “Shepherd” or “Pastor” (as in Ephesians 4:11).

Other words used interchangeably in the New Testament are “presbyter” and “elder”. Some new translations have opted to use the word Overseer in order to avoid the unbiblical connotations now attached by many to the word “bishop”.

The definition of the term in the koine Greek language can be seen to the left (Thayers Lexicon, public domain).

The term is used five times in the New Testament:

1. Acts 20:28

2. Philippians 1:1

3. 1 Timothy 3:2

4. Titus 1:7

5. 1 Peter 2:25

Bishop: Pastoral, Authority

The Overseer is the position of Pastor. Peter called Jesus the “Shepherd and Bishop” of our souls. The New Testament practice was to appoint a Bishop/Overseer/Pastor/Presbyter over each local church as the “under-shepherd” beneath Christ, serving Him as leader of His local, New Testament congregation. There is no Biblical authority over the Bishop/Pastor. Even Paul did not exert any ecclesiastical authority over local churches that he had established where a Bishop/Pastor had been appointed.

Most Bible-believing churches of the past 500 years have avoided the use of the term “bishop” and have most often used the equivalent term “pastor” simply because the term “bishop” has come to represent something totally unbiblical and unacceptable to Bible-believing churches.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary of 1897 comments, “In apostolic times, it is quite manifest that there was no difference as to order between bishops and elders or presbyters (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Pet. 5:1, 2; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3). The term bishop is never once used to denote a different office from that of elder or presbyter. These different names are simply titles of the same office, "bishop" designating the function, namely, that of oversight, and "presbyter" the dignity appertaining to the office.”

To understand the interchangeable uses of Bishop/Pastor/Presbyter, we can think of our own President as an example. He is President of the United States serving as Head of State. But he is also Commander-in-chief of our armed services and Chief Executive of our federal government. He is one and the same person, but with interchangeable titles.

Biblical Authority of the Bishop/Pastor

Any deviation from this model is wholly unbiblical and actually constitutes a departure from New Testament practice. The Deacon/Elder positions are to be made up of spiritually-gifted men who are able to teach and support the work of the Bishop/Pastor who is the Head Deacon/Head Elder of the local church.

The Bishop/Pastor is to be head of a single, local church. The only exception to this is when a new local church is being planted (mission) by the local church or by a fellowship of local churches. But once the upstart work is able to self-support, then the local church is to appoint a Bishop/Pastor and ordain the new body an independent, autonomous local church. This was the exact model used and left to us by the Apostles themselves.

NEVER in any text of Scripture do Bishops have authority over regions or multiple numbers of local churches. As a matter of fact, this practice was called Nicolaitanism (“conquer-laity”) and was condemned by Jesus Christ as something that He HATED (Revelation 2:6 & 15). At this point we must make one thing clear:

PETER WAS NEVER A BISHOP IN ROME

First, there was more than one local body in Rome with numerous elders (bishops) serving as pastor/teachers over these small groups.

Second, there is no evidence that Peter ever held such a position in Rome.

Third, there is absolutely NO evidence to support that Peter exerted power over ANY local church or number of churches in that region.

Rome has falsely referred to Peter as the first Bishop of Rome and falsely taught that Peter exerted power over the Church of Jesus Christ in that position (which he never truly held in his life!).

Heresies Regarding the Office of Bishop

Other deviations from New Testament teaching include the false teaching that a Bishop should be called “Priest”. This in spite of the fact that the New Testament teaches that we are all priests and that Christ is our only High Priest. There is not a single reference in the New Testament of any mortal man being a “priest” in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Ironically, the very man that Rome falsely claims to have been the first Pope completely abolishes any clergy-class priesthood by declaring that ALL believers are priests (1 Peter 2:5-9, Revelation 1:6 & Revelation 5:10). The Apostle Paul further makes clear that we have no need for any priest as a “mediator” between God and man, since the only such Mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5, see also Hebrews 8:6 & 12:24).

Another false teaching is regarding marriage. Rome and certain other sects ignore the general teaching of 1 Corinthians 7:6-9 and teach what Paul also called “doctrines of devils…forbidding to marry…” (1 Timothy 4:1-4 kjv) To the contrary, the Bishop is simply required to be a one-woman man [forbidden to practice polygamy or engage in adultery] if married (1 Timothy 3:2 kjv).

The Apostolic Authority of the Bishop in the First Century Church

The apostles established the “episkopos” as the sole authority of the local church and did not allow for any hierarchy above the local church level. Councils of churches were called in order to maintain doctrinal consistency and to thoroughly deal with issues and heresies in a Scriptural manner (Acts 15 kjv), but these councils only held authority to rebuke any Bishop or local church that was not in line with Biblical teachings. Councils had NO power to unseat a bishop or take over that local church. Scripture did not establish that sort of thing and the early church did not practice any such thing.

The idea of committees controlling the function and direction of local churches is foreign to Scripture. The Bishop/Pastor is the Biblical authority and all elders/deacons serve as his “supporting cast”, not as his authority. Sadly, many churches and denominations have made the Bishop/Pastor a puppet whose strings are held by a board of elders/deacons. In my former denomination, the pastor had to basically run for re-election (annually, bi-annually or other appointed number of years as required by the denominational constitution and by-laws). This unbiblical deviation is just as false and destructive as Rome’s false system of hierarchical control.

Establishing Regional Bishops Without Biblical Authority

The authority of the Bishop in the local church was established by the time the apostles had gone on to be with the Lord. But the encroachment of a hierarchy within the church can be seen in the writings of 2nd century Christians, such as Ignatius of Antioch. He rightly recognized the Bishop/Pastor as the sole head of the local church, but endorsed the idea of separate “committees” in the form of a presbytery and deacon board. Several quotes demonstrating this follow:

"Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6:1.

"...the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the diaconate of Jesus Christ" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 6:1.

"Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, united with Him, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7:1.

"Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father to the flesh, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of flesh and of spirit." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13:2.

"In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3:1.

"...follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles; and to the deacons pay respect, as to God's commandment" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8:1.

Crash Course On Church History

From this point, many churches and leaders began to adopt the idea of multiplied numbers of boards and committees with various powers over the “laity”: all of this being foreign to the doctrine of the Apostles. It was only a small stretch to begin the practice of placing Bishops over numerous local churches in one city or region.

This became the standard practice once the Bishop of Rome exerted (forced) his authority over church councils and began establishing regional rule and setting up regional bishops to basically represent the Bishop of Rome and exert his will over matters in that particular region. This actually took hold over several hundred years and, obviously, it is not practical to go into great detail within the confines of this paper. But the following historical timeline gives one a basic understanding of how this all came about:

* 313 AD: Constantine enacts Edict of Milan and begins to rule over the Church on matters as he sees fit.

* 328 AD: As Pontifex Maximus, emperor Constantine overrules “the church” and revokes the condemnation of the heretic named Arius. Constantine establishes his authority as THE FIRST POPE OVER ROME.

* 411-430 AD: Augustine establishes Roman Church authority and creates the blue print for Roman Catholicism in “The City of God”. This single work did more than any other to promote the authority of the Bishop of Rome and enter the world into the dark ages.

* 448-461 AD: Pope Leo empowers the State Church in Rome, exerting political influence on negotiations with Atilla the Hun and arguing for the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over the entire Church.

* 590 AD: Gregory the Great becomes Pope, building on the legacies of Constantine and Leo. He invents the doctrine of purgatory, develops the works-based system of salvation in sacraments and usurps all available authority under the papacy. He send Augustine of Canterbury to “convert” evangelical Christians already thriving in Britain.

The Present Abuse of Authority By Those Holding The FALSE form of the Office of Bishop

From the time of Gregory the Great, the Bishop of Rome has sought to control the entire Church of Jesus Christ and, in theory, to eventually rule over a World Religion based in Rome at Vatican City! All of this flies in the face of Biblical Christianity but is in keeping with the allegorical interpretation of Scripture introduced by Augustine and Origen which gave rise to the Dark Ages and it’s Amillennialist doctrine (that Jesus will not really rule the world for 1,000 years as the Bible says He will).

The Bible says that the next “world religion” will be lead by the Antichrist and his False Prophet—the final POPE (Revelation 13:11-18 & Revelation 17:7-18). Malachi Martin and other Roman Catholic “lay writers” actually concur with this idea of a final, evil Pope that they refer to as the “Black Pope” in reference to the blackness of his heart and not to his race or other physical features. Rome’s leadership threw the Bible out the window centuries ago and is blind to it’s own place in the fulfillment of Satan’s agenda in these last days.

What is worse is the manner in which the evil days of the Dark Ages have been reinstated with untold thousands of priests sexually molesting little boys and abusing women. Nuns tell of torture at worse and sexual abuse and intimidation at best, all at the hands of these so-called “priest” and bishops who partake in the wickedness as well as provide a haven of protection to those under their authority who commit these atrocities.

And the abuse will never stop. As the old adage goes, “Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Rome will never relinquish her power and unwarranted authority. Rome markets in “slaves, and souls of men.” (Revelation 18:11-13 kjv) and will thrive until the day of her overthrow and destruction as foretold in the entirety of Revelation 18 in the Authorized King James Bible of 1611.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. “
Romans 10:9-11 kjv

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