Bishops, Part 1

It doesn't require a whole lot of examination to discover that there are many profound differences between Orthodox Christianity and every other Christian tradition in the world today. Some of those differences are of course more obvious than others. Part of the purpose of this blog has been to address those differences and consider their consequences.

One of the more apparent differences between Orthodoxy and most Protestant and Evangelical bodies is in the matter of church government, which in the Orthodox Church includes a very clearly defined hierarchy composed of bishops, priests, deacons and laity. The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church was something that annoyed me in my youth (when I didn't even know the Orthodox Church existed), particularly in light of St Peter's mention of the "royal priesthood," which I--like all good Baptists--took to mean that any hierarchy in the church was redundant and in violation of the belief that there is "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The use of bishops and priests looked to me like the "traditions of men" that St Paul warned us about.

I have since revised my opinion of the office of bishop.

So, with that in mind, I will begin a series of posts dealing with each of the levels of clergy in the Orthodox Church, beginning with that of bishop. Specifically I will be answering questions that I myself asked as I was investigating the Church:

What is a bishop anyway?
Why don't I see bishops in the Bible?
What is the purpose of a bishop?
Are they really necessary?
And what is the difference between an archbishop and a metropolitan?

The word "bishop" is derived from the Greek word episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος), which is a combination of the words epi (ἐπί), meaning "on" or "over" (as in "epiphyte"), and skopos (σκοπός), which means "seeing" or "looking" (as in "microscope"). The literal translation of ἐπίσκοπος would therefore be "overseer," which is how it is rendered in the NIV and ESV translations of the Bible. The KJV and RSV both translate it as "bishop." Either way is valid.

St Ignatius, who, as I have mentioned before, was a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote a letter to the church in Philadelphia (in Asia Minor, not Pennsylvania!) in which he told them that nothing in the church is to be done without the consent and guidance of the bishop ("Χωρις του επισκοπου μηδεν ποιειτε." Letter to the Philadelphians 7.1 [see here for the Greek version]). In the same letter, he wrote that "The Lord forgives all who repent—if, that is, their repentance brings them into God's unity and to the bishop's council" ("...του επισκοπου." ibid. 8.1).

To the Christians in Ephesus, St Ignatius wrote: "It is right, then, for you to render all glory to Jesus Christ, seeing he has glorified you. Thus, united in your submission, and subject to the bishop and the presbytery [i.e. priests], you will be real saints." ("...υποτασσομενοι τω επισκοπω...." Letter to the Ephesians 2.2 [Greek version])

St Ignatius in his epistles reminds the Christians of Asia Minor to

"act in accord with the bishop's [επισκοπου] mind" (ibid. 4.1),
"avoid resisting the bishop [επισκοπω]" (ibid. 5.3),
"regard the bishop [επισκοπον] as the Lord himself" (ibid. 6.1),
"heed the bishop [επισκοπω] and presbytery attentively" (ibid. 20.2),
"respect [the bishop, επισκοπου] as fully as you respect the authority of God the Father" (Letter to the Magnesians 3.1),
"let the bishop [επισκοπου] preside in God's place" (ibid. 6.1),
"not do anything without the bishop [επισκοπου] and presbyters" (ibid. 7.1),
"defer to the bishop [επισκοπου] and to one another as Jesus Christ did to the Father" (ibid. 13.2),
"obey the bishop [επισκοπω] as if he were Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Trallians 2.1),
"act in no way without the bishop [επισκοπου] " (ibid. 2.2),
"submit to the bishop [επισκοπω] as to [God's] law" (ibid. 13.2)
"follow the bishop [επισκοπω] as Jesus Christ did the Father" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8.1),
"[do not] do anything that has to do with the Church without the bishop's [επισκοπου] approval" (ibid. 8.1).

He further states that "where the bishop [επισκοπος] is present...there is the Catholic Church [καθολικη εκκλησια]." (ibid. 8.2); and that "he who pays the bishop [επισκοπον] honor has been honored by God. But he who acts without the bishop's [επισκοπου] knowledge is in the devil's service." (ibid. 9.1)

An article I once read used the epistles of St Ignatius (particularly ch. 8, v. 2 of his letter to the Smyrnaeans) to demonstrate how quickly the early Church fell into error. The writer of the article, apparently suffering from a bad case of Romaphobia, took the position that, because the modern churches that he felt had gone astray--specifically the Roman Catholic and Anglican/Episcopal--had bishops and his did not, then any mention of bishops by the Fathers of the early Church could only be evidence of error/apostasy/heresy. And besides that, he didn't see bishops mentioned in his Bible.

First of all, I find it difficult to believe that a pupil of the Apostle and Evangelist St John, would disregard or misunderstand or distort the teachings of his mentor so quickly and blantantly. Especially considering that Polycarp, another student of St John, and Clement, a student of St Peter, also both wrote letters encouraging Christians to follow the spiritual guidance of their bishops. Were the Apostles really such ineffective teachers?

Secondly, the word "bishop" (ἐπίσκοπος) does, in fact, appear several times in the Bible:

"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [ἐπισκόπους]" (Acts 20.28),
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers [ἐπισκόποις] and deacons..." (Phil 1.1),
"Now the overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] must be above reproach..." (1Ti 3.2),
"Since an overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless... (Titus 1.7), "...you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] of your souls" (1Pt 2.25 ).

At least twice the word is used to refer to the office of bishop:
"'May another take his place of leadership [ἐπισκοπὴν]'" (Acts 1.20)*
If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer [ἐπισκοπῆς], he desires a noble task (1Ti 3.1) (KJV translates this as "...if a man desire the office of a bishop..."

*Here St Peter quotes Psalm 109:8, which in the Septuagint reads: "γενηθήτωσαν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ὀλίγαι καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος." (note: the numbering of the Psalms is different in the LXX than in those copies of the OT deriving from the Masoretic manuscripts. Therefore, what is identified as Psalm 109 in the NIV, is Psalm 108 in the LXX)

So the bishop was clearly an important component of the Church from very early in its history, and existed even in the Church of the New Testament.

Next time I will take a look at the role of bishops in the Orthodox Chuch.